Happy Monday! Wait. Tuesday. Whatever.

Good morning, Kitschies!!  I was going to say something about it being Monday and all, but seeing as it's Tuesday, I guess that doesn't work.  My docs (aka: the bosses) have been out since Thursday and I've (basically) been out since Friday, so it's an *extra long* holiday weekend for me.  Especially since I'm taking today off to take Nate to Explora!  We've been there before but it's been a long time (I was still pregnant with Mason)...it should be fun.

We had a good holiday weekend.  We had our cousins over to spend the night Friday night.  The boys stayed up and played video games (the hubs and the older cousin stayed up til after midnight!) then got up bright and early and hit Lowe's for their Build & Grow program where all three of them got to build a by-plane!  Then we all hit the park and then came home for some lunch and pool time.  After a few hours, we were all a little pinker (the top of my feet got it worst!) but we had a good time.  I *finally* found a place in Albuquerque that sells tri-tip (if you know me, you know this is a BIG deal) and I made the BEST tri-tip I've ever made (also a big deal).  Other than that, we got some cleaning done around the house and talked about Mason's birthday party this coming weekend (he'll be 2 *gasp* on Thursday).  I think *all* weekends should be 3-day weekends!! 

Anyway...I have a great recipe to share with you today.  I was in the mood for a new pork recipe and did some searching and found a good one on Simply Recipes.  

Citrus Pork with Egg Noodles

1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/2 pound boneless pork loin, cut into 2x1/2-inch strips
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup orange juice
2 Tbsp cider vinegar
1/2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 medium carrots, sliced
1 Tbsp corn starch
1/2 cup sliced green onions
1/2 pound egg noodles, cooked, drained

Get the water boiling for your noodles...

In a small bowl combine cumin, salt and pepper. Add pork; toss to coat.

In a large skillet heat oil over medium high heat. Add the pork and garlic. Sauté for 2 minutes or until browned.

In a small bowl blend the broth, orange juice, vinegar, and brown sugar. Reserve 1/4 cup of the broth mixture. Pour all but the reserved broth mixture into the skillet with the pork and garlic. Add the carrots. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to medium. Cook 7-8 minutes.

Blend corn starch into reserved broth mixture. Stirring constantly, pour the corn starch mixture into the skillet to thicken the sauce. Add the green onions. Bring to a boil and simmer for 1 more minute.

Toss with the noodles. Serve immediately.
Serves 4.

For once, the pic I got looked pretty similar to the pic they used on the site!  This was soooo good.  You could easily substitute chicken for pork if pork isn't your thing.  The boys even ate this without dispute (save for the obligatory 10 minutes of Nate complaining that he doesn't want to eat *that*). 

Well, it's after 7 and Nate is still in bed...I wonder how long he'll sleep?  I miss the days of sleeping in til whenever...but those days are long gone with the kiddos.  Especially now that Mason is in a toddler bed!  All I can say is: thank jeebus for child-proof doorknob covers!  I know...I'm a mean mom.

Friday Confessions: Boring Edition

Happy Friday, Kitschies!!  It's been a LOOOOOONG week, but, oddly enough, I don't feel like I have a whole lot of confessions this week.  Maybe once I get typing, they'll just come to me.

I confess...

I'm still feeling like poo and it makes it really hard to get anything done around the house.  As a result, the house looks like a pigsty.

I confess...

I am counting down the days till I get to see my parents (15 days!) and sis and BIL.  I planned a little overnight getaway for me and the hubs...I'm looking forward to that, too.

I confess...

This time next week, I'll have a 2 year old. *tear*

I confess...

With my baby not being a baby anymore, I find myself wanting another one.  Am I insane?!  Probably.

I confess...

I'm getting a hair cut today and it will definitely be the highlight of my week.

I confess...

I've had the same mani on for 4 days.  And it's driving me insane because I don't even really like it that much.  It's just that I haven't had enough energy to change it by the time I get some quiet time at the end of the day.

I confess...

I'm looking forward to having a 4-day weekend.  Yep.  4 days!!

There ya go.  Kinda boring, but that's how I feel today.  Confess something, won't you?  It's good for you.  Promise!

WWtKW: The Musts

Good Wednesday, Kitschies!  I was stuck all day yesterday thinking that it was Monday (it was kinda my Monday) and now it kinda feels like Friday because my docs are out for a week starting tomorrow.  My days are ALL mixed up.  And then top it off with the hubs saying "Oh, it's a 3-day weekend this weekend."  Yep.  We're all messed up.

I'm linking up with a fun group of gals again for We Want to Know Wednesday.  Let's see what the beautiful Seriously Shawn has in store for us today...




1.} What must you do before you go to bed at night?
I must turn off the blue alien eye.  What's that?  You don't have a blue alien eye of death in your room?  It's the power button to the DirecTV box and I hate it.  It seriously keeps me up at night...it's *that* bright.
 
2.} What is one thing you must snack on at the theater?
Must. Have. Popcorn.  With butter, of course.  But, dang!  Why does it have to cost me almost a weeks' pay to get a ticket and a tub 'o popcorn?  And a soda - diet is good but if the hubs is sharing, he's not down with the whole "diet" thing, so then it's usually Sprite or whatever.  And something sour - like Sour Patch Kids.  YUM!
 
3.} Before going on vacation what must you do?
I must have a plan.  And a backup plan.  And it all has to go smoothly.  If we leave late, I stress out.  If the weather is bad (this usually only has to do with the Christmastime trips to visit my parents), I stress out.  I must make lists.  Lists of things to do before we leave.  Lists of things to take.  Lists.  Lists.  LISTS!
 
4.} What is one thing you must do every day?
I must drink coffee.  I didn't used to be *that* girl, but I am now.  And I've been a bad influence on the hubs because he's the same way.  I'm not saying cupS of coffee, but if I don't have my one cup in the morning (usually on the way in to work), I'm a blithering idiot.  And the coffee at the clinic is like black tar, so I do my best to make my own at home.  

5.} Is there something you do that must be done in a particular order?
At home, not really.  At work?  Yes.  I must do a patient triage (for lack of a better word) in a certain order or I forget to do a step.  I'm horrible about that.  You'd think, after 8 years at the same job, I could do something out of order, but nope.  It goes like this: hop up on the scale, get the stuffs, take the pulse and temp and then the BP.  If I don't do it in THAT order, I get all flustered and forget numbers and then I have to do it all over again.  Pathetic.  Same with explaining how one of the therapies works.  I sound like a tour guide, but I get the job done.  If I get interrupted, I don't get all the information out and I sound like I just started on the job two days ago.  *sigh*


Thanks, Shawn, for some great questions!!  Link up, will ya?  Tell me what some of your MUSTs are.

Seeing Spots

Good day, Kitschies!  So...I tempted fate one too many times on Friday.  We were at a company get-together, having a grand time and we were talking about our kids and their various sicknesses.  Of course, I was *bragging* that my kids don't get sick.  Oh, sure...the occasional sniffle, but never really sick-sick.  Guess what I woke up to at 12:30 that night?  Yep.  Mason was sick.  Like, puking sick.  We cleaned him up and got everybody back to bed only to be woken up a second (and third) time.  I decided it was useless to keep changing him and his sheets, so I slept with him on the couch.  He was a little better by morning but was rather lethargic.  Saturday was pretty good - nobody else was sick.  Sunday was good...for the most part.  The hubs woke up sick in the middle of the night on Sunday.  Nate was sick as soon as he got up on Monday morning.  And so was I.  Oh, it was horrible!!  The hubs got it together enough to take Mason to daycare, but Nate and I spent the morning in bed.  All three of us were zombies in my bed yesterday...and if you know Nate, you know he does not sit still for long and he does not spend time with us in our bed.  But, there we were, pathetic, in and out of sleep until noon.  While I'd love to sleep in til noon, this wasn't exactly what I had in mind.  Today we're all on the road to recovery today, but lemme tell ya...I *won't* be bragging about our lack of sickness any time soon!!

Enough about the sickies.  On to the good stuff!

This is one of my favorite manis I've ever done.  And it was pretty easy, too!

First, this is my work space.  My hubs got me a roll-top desk for Christmas and I love it!  It has lots of little cubbies for my nail stuffs and lots of open space for me to work (when it's not covered by 101 other things).  In the center, you can see the acrylic paints I used for this mani, along with the nail polish(es). 

So, we have pink, yellow, green, light blue and lavender acrylic paint.  Ulta polish in Black Lace (from Glam Goth) and Underground.  The different colors weren't so distinguishable IRL - the flash really washes out the dark gray.

I started off with a base of Ulta Black Lace, a super dark grey creme on all the fingers except for the ring finger, which I used Ulta Underground, a blackened teal shimmer.  Then, using varying sized dotting tools and the acrylic paint, I placed random dots in random sizes until I was happy with the pattern.

I loved this mani!  It was so fun and so simple.  I had to do something to cheer myself up because my nail had been trimmed to nubbins.  Indoors with flash.

I got tons of compliments on this mani.  Oh...and I used one rhinestone on each finger in place of a dot.  Outdoors in bright, direct sunlight.

 One more picture just because.  Indirect light, indoors.  Now that I see this, I want to do another mani like it...only in different colors.  Suggestions for colors?

Flashback Friday: Little Luna

Good afternoon, Kitschies!  It's Friday!!  It's been a pretty uneventful day here at the clinic and it's been nice.  Thing 2's butt is getting much better.  I'm feeling almost back to 100%.  Things are getting back on track.

It's been a while since I've participated in Christopher & Tia: Flashback Friday and I've had these two pics on my flashdrive for a LONG time, so it's time I linked up and shared them with you.  Yes, you.

Once upon a time, the hubs and I, when we were still dating, had 3 cats.  They were all *his* cats.  I loved them all, but they weren't mine.  We, unfortunately, lost one of the kittehs kind of suddenly and we were both pretty upset.  Don't worry...this post gets better.  Well, it just so happened that one of the hubs' co-workers had a cat that had just had a litter of 9 itty bitty little kittehs.  So, we went to visit them, just for fun.  I was sitting in the room with them all bouncing around and playing with anything that would move when all of a sudden, the hubs told me I could pick one!  I was so excited.

This is little Luna (Spanish for moon).  She was so little and cute and mine.  She hung out with me and she was my buddy.  She has the cutest little brown spot in the center of her little pink nose and a big white patch on her back.

Miss Luna will be 7 this year on July 7th.  7 must be her lucky number!  She fit in nicely with the other two kittehs.  She isn't really a lap cat, but I don't mind because she's always cuddled nearby.

Check out Christopher & Tia for other great flashbacks!  You've got to *at least* check out Tia's post - The Life of a Lovey.  She takes the best pics and her little boy is ADORABLE!

Friday Confessional: Randomness Edition

TGIF!!  It has been a long week.  No mincing words...it's time for Friday Confessions!  Let the venting begin!

I confess...

It's been a long week.  Between my respiratory whatever it was and Thing 2's diarrhea and horrible diaper rash, I'm spent (literally and figuratively).

I confess...

I've never been so happy to be in a drug-induced coma sleep.  Seriously.  I'm not saying that drugs are good (cuz drugs are bad, m'kay) but they're good.

I confess...

I'm super happy I got my car back on Wednesday.  Don't get me wrong...the rental car was AWESOME, but it wasn't *my* car.

I confess...

With the arrival of my gigantic box 'o goodies, I now, officially, have too many bottles of polish.  I already had a lot...now I have more than a lot.

90 (yes, 90) bottles of polish - arrived individually wrapped in a large flat-rate box

I confess...

I've been on a green polish kick lately and of the dozen or so green polishes I have, I *still* don't have the perfect green that I see in my head.

I confess...

I have a love/hate relationship with one of my docs.  I love him to death, but every time he says "Send a bubble to MacPractice", I want to shoot myself.

I confess...

It's my Mom's birthday and I'm a horrible daughter.  I didn't get her card sent out on time and it won't get to her til next week.  Do me a solid and jump over to her blog and wish her a hap-hap-happy birthday.  Pretty please.

I confess...

I am counting down the days (21 to be exact) til I get to see my parents.

I confess...

If you had told me 15 years ago that I would be so excited to see them, I probably would've told you you needed to have your head checked.

*whew*  I feel better!!  I hope you all enjoy your Friday and your impending weekend.  And, while you're at it, confess something for me...it'll make *both* of us feel better!

Pink Wednesday: Iconic - REPOST

This is the post that got away last week when Blogger was being super lame.  So, yeah. 

Good day, Kitschies!  It's been a day.  Nothing exciting to report other than some light rain showers earlier in the day.  Super exciting, right?  Yep.


I'm linking up with On Wednesdays We Wear Pink again to share a beautiful pink polish with you.

I'm sure you've seen this one all over the blogs, but you haven't seen it on mine yet: Cult Nails Iconic.

 

Iconic is a gorgeous berry pink with subtle gold shimmer and flakies.  These pics were taken indoors with flash.  In the brightness of the flash, you can't really see the flakies, but trust me, they're there.

You can see some of the gold shimmer and flakies in the bottle here, but again, this is bright direct sunlight.

See?  I told you. :)  There are those beautiful flakies and a bit of the gold shimmer.  This color is definitely a stunner.  This is my favorite color for nail polish...and then add some flakies in there?  *swoon*


The wear was very good with this polish.  But, if you're like me, you can't leave your polish alone if you've been wearing it for more than two days.  So, I grabbed a little something to jazz it up a bit.

You guessed it...SH Hidden Treasure.  I love Iconic by itself, and Hidden Treasure is nice, but it was a little too over the top for this one, in my opinion.


I know I said the wear was good, but I didn't tell you *how* good.  I wore this mani for *at least* 4 days with very minimal tip wear and absolutely no chipping.  If I ever need a quick, go-to mani, Cult Nails Iconic is definitely it!


Check out On Wednesdays We Wear Pink for a complete lists of blogs who participated this week.  Happy Wednesday!  See you soon. :)

Pink Wednesday: Milani Digital

Yep.  I'm baaaack.  And I'm back with another attempt at On Wednesdays We Wear Pink (since last week's post got dumped by STOOPID Blogger).  I'm not a "Plastic", but I appreciate a good pink polish.  Let's get on with it, shall we?

I picked up this polish a while back (a couple months ago?) but hadn't found a time to fit it in to the rotation.  I finally decided to give it a try for Easter (yeah, I'm behind on my mani blogging - what of it?).

This is Milani Digital.  A pink scattered holo.  It's not in-your-face like Nfu Oh 61, but it's still a pretty holo.  This was taken indoors with flash.

Outdoors, bright direct sunlight.  The thing about the Milani holos is that they're not really at their best in bright light.  It's almost like they need artificial light to really show.

Outdoors, shade.  In indirect light, you can see more of a silver sparkle than a holo flash.  Milani holos are a great option if you want something sparkly but not obnoxious.  The formula on this was a little thin, but not as thin as Hi-Tech that required I don't know how many coats, but this is 3 coats.  And the wear was a little better than average for a holo.

Happy Pink Wednesday!  Check out more Pink Wednesday blogs HERE.

WWtKW: Mamarazzi edition

Happy Wednesday, Kitschies!!  This week is flying by and I don't know what to do with myself.  LOL  I'm feeling much better (thank you for the well-wishes) and Mason is back at daycare today (for the moment).  I remember we had this *issue* with Nate when he first started at this daycare and we determined the whole diarrhea thing was from the amount of milk he was drinking.  So, away with some milk and he should be fine.  *fingers crossed*

Another thing I can't believe.  It's the fifth edition of We Want to Know Wednesdays!  How has it been 5 weeks already?!  *sigh*

This week's questions come from one of my favorite bloggers: Mamarazzi from Dandelion Wishes.  Join me, will you?

{1} If you could choose a Super Power, what would it be? 

This is the hardest one for me this week!  I think I would want to be able to go back in time and/or freeze time.  How many times I've wanted to just freeze a moment to make sure I had a strong hold on it!  How many people I want to go back and visit and really get to know.  Oooh!  Or invisibility.  Talk about really getting to know somebody!!

{2} What would be your first frivolous purchase if you were awarded a million dollars, tomorrow? 

A magical mixing machine.  What is *that*, you ask?  A KitchenAid stand mixer.  Way more than I'd ever spend on myself and way more than I'd ask anybody to spend on me!  Oh, man.  That would be the thing!

{3} What would be the hardest current luxury for you to give up? 

Having two cars.  I had to ride with my hubs to and from work for two days and while it wasn't excruciating, it wasn't the most fun.  And I hate being stranded at work.  Or at home.  Don't get me wrong.  We could do it if we had to, but I don't know what I'd do when the hubs has to go out of town.  Does that mean I didn't go to work that day?  Yeah.  I don't think so.

{4} If you were given a choice between being given great wisdom and great wealth, which would you choose?

Wisdom.  Definitely.  And I would take that wisdom and I'd make the right choices to gain that great wealth.  And then I'd have both!  Besides.  What's all the money if you don't have the wisdom to spend it/invest it wisely?

{5} If you were to be stranded on a deserted island for 100 days what 5 THINGS would you pack?
First?  Nail polish...of course.  And probably a box of, like, 5...one box of polish; that doesn't count as five things.  LOL  Second would be a large-capacity mp3 player packed FULL of music (with a never-ending battery supply).  Third is a journal - I imagine I'd have lots of time to write letters to my boys, the hubs and all my family.  Fourth?  Sunblock.  Lots of sunblock.  I'm all for a great tan, but I don't want to look like a dried out piece of leather when I get rescued 100 days later.  Fifth.  Fifth.  Ummm...a bunch of books/boxes of matches.   I love the outdoors but I probably couldn't light a fire with two sticks if my life depended on it, so I'd *have* to have some help!

Thanks for the great questions, Mamarazzi!  So, my dear readers...pick one of these and answer in the comments below.  That pile of laundry sitting in the corner can wait!

Crafty Bag *pic heavy*

Good morning, Kitschies!  I'm feeling a bit better today, but I'm still home.  Why?  Because Thing 2 has diarrhea and horrible diaper rash.  Daycare won't take him when he has diarrhea (I don't blame them) and I want to keep on top of the diaper rash.  Poor thing - he's never had diaper rash and now it seems he's making up for lost time.  I figure nothing's better than a mother's eagle eye on the problem, so we're home today.  Mason's playing with Play Doh and I'm blogging away...for now.

Early in April, I got the sewing bug for some reason.  And I knew what I wanted: a reusable bag I could take to work to carry my lunch in.  Nothing as big as those bags you can pick up everywhere for a buck and something that would be uniquely mine.  But nothing very difficult to sew because I'm not anywhere an expert seamstress.  I did a search for reusable market bag patterns and I found THIS pattern that looked to be about my skill level (one of the many, many reasons I love the internets).

I dug my machine out of Thing 2's closet, dusted it off and got it all set up.  See the soda can?  Yes.  That is a necessary piece of equipment for sewing.  I got all my tools together and I started on my bag. 

I got about 4 inches of sewing done before I ran in to a problem.  My machine just would *not* go.  I tried changing the stitch tension.  I tried re-threading the needle.  I tried re-threading the bobbin.  I tried lots of different things but *nothing* worked.  Finally, I took a close look at the needle.  This is what I found.

Um.  Yeah.  Sewing needles are *not* supposed to look like the letter J.  I have no idea how the needle got so bent.  *sigh*  Luckily, I had replacement needles.  And the right size needles, too!  But...try as I might, I could not get the new needle to stay put.  I asked one of my co-workers if she knew how to replace sewing machine needles and she said she did.  YAY!  I took my machine to work and she replaced the needle for me!  Once I got that fixed, it was smooth sailing.

It took me a while (it's been a loooong time since I've sewn using an actual pattern), but here's the finished product.

It looks good at first glance, but I noticed something pretty much right away and I was hoping nobody else would notice.  But the hubs did.  It has a "special fin".  One of the handles is wider than the other.  But not bad for my first try, right?  And this one is mine, so it doesn't matter that it's not perfect. 

This is the inside.  It looks a lot more pastel than it really is.  It looks like hot pink against the black.  I love it!  I've taken it back and forth to work since I made it.  It's sturdy and washable.  I officially got the sewing bug.

While grocery shopping by myself the following weekend, I picked up a pattern and some more material and got started on a new bag - this time for Mason.  I got a little frustrated because this was an actual pattern and while it was a little more difficult than the first bag, it still looked easy enough for me.  I ended up giving up on the actual pattern but it ended up better than the first bag. 

I love the colors in this bag, but I don't like that it's all the same fabric.  The inside isn't a different color than the outside, but it's a good durable bag for him to use at daycare.

I remembered something after making this bag.  I'm not very good at sewing around curves.  It's not horrible, but it's not as clean as I'd like it to be.  But, Mason doesn't care and it does the job of holding his quilt and sheet for daycare, so I'm happy.

I wasn't done yet!  I got better with the second bag (no "special fin" this time) so I made a trip to the fabric store one day on my lunch break.  After all...Nate didn't have a bag!!  I ended up with enough material to make two more bags. 

I love the fabric on this one!  *all pics are clickable*  It's all different robots.  Perfect for Nate.  He loved the fabric and he couldn't wait til I made his bag.  Poor kid.  It took me til *this* weekend to finish it.  I had it all traced out and pinned, but I hadn't made the time to actually sew it.

I like the inside of this bag, too.  Nate's bag is a little different from the other two - the openings aren't rounded.  Much easier for me to do.  Nate was so happy to get his new bag!  We stuffed his quilt and sheet in it for daycare and he carried it off with him on Monday. 

I had so much fun with these bags.  I have a feeling that I'll be doing so more tweaking for the next bag (a different black exterior with a red checkered pattern with little ants for the interior) and I like that I'm not confined to a specific pattern.  Each of these are unique and they get better with each attempt.  However, I don't have the drive to do the next bag like I did the first two.  I'm like that...I'll go all obsessive over some project and then once I get it out of my system, I don't follow through and finish all I've planned to do.  It's a character flaw of mine.  LOL

Well, Mr M and I are off to the store to get the makings for dinner tonight.  Have a great Tuesday!!  I'll be back tomorrow with another We Want to Know Wednesday and maybe I'll attempt another On Wednesdays We Wear Pink (since last week's addition got dumped - STOOPID Blogger). 

A Winner of a Chicken Dinner

Happy freakin' Monday, Kitschies.  I'm off work today because I still feel like warmed over death AND I don't have a voice anyway, so I wouldn't be much use at work.  Not to mention I don't have *any* energy.  I thought I was getting better yesterday and did quite a bit around the house and that might be part of the reason I feel worse today than yesterday.  I have an appointment with one of the providers at work later this morning - I don't like to take medication, but I've felt like poo for 4 days and it's not getting better, so I think it's time for some sort of intervention.  Oh, and I just realized that Blogger did dump one of my posts from Wednesday, so I have to get re-posted again some time soon.  Enough of my moping...on to the post, shall we?

I've been *really* bad about getting my pics prepped for the blog.  I have tons of manis prepped, which is good for the blog, but I've been really slacking on the recipe end.  So, I finally sat down for a while this weekend and got a bunch finished...I still have a bunch to go, but I made a pretty good dent.  This is one of my favorite, super-easy recipes.  I don't remember where I got this originally (kraftrecipes, maybe?), but it's a go-to when I don't know what else to make.

Cheesy Chicken & Rice Bake
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 1/3 cup water
3/4 cup uncooked regular long-grain rice
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 1/2 b boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Mix soup, water, rice, onion powder and black pepper in a 2-quart shallow baking dish.  Top with chicken.  Sprinkle chicken with additional pepper.

Cover and back at 375* for 45 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink and rice is cooked.

Uncover.  Sprinkle cheese over chicken.

NOTES:  I usually throw the dish back in the oven for about 5 minutes to melt the cheese.

Mmmm!  More cheeses pleases meeses!    YUM!

So, so simple and the kids eat this without any coaxing.

Update.  So. I  went to see one of the nurse practitioners I work with and she diagnosed me with an upper respiratory infection and a mild ear infection.  Nice.  So, 3 prescriptions later, I'm on the road to wellness.  And, on top of having zero energy, I get a call from daycare saying that Thing 2 has diarrhea and that we have to go pick him up.  *sigh*  When it rains, it pours, right?  I'm gonna go relax next to Mason while he watches Toy Story 3...good think I haven't already seen that movie eleventybillion times already.

One more thing.  I'm a guest writer over at just Lu today - giving a refresher course on CPR as a Housewife MacGyver.  Come over and visit, won't ya?

Friday Confessional

Good day, Kitschies!!  We survived another week...at least this one was a little less chaotic than last week.

I'm hookin' up with Mamarazzi and Glamazon for another installment of Friday Confessions.

I confess...

I had a really good Mother's Day and I didn't feel one bit guilty when I had to remind Nate that it was Mother's Day and he had to be nice to me.

I confess...

I got super irritated with my hubs and my bestie's hubs on Saturday because we were supposed to have a girls DAY but we only got a few hours.

I confess...

I found a new perfume I really, really liked at Ulta and I decided to splurge on it.  My justification?  It's my Mother's Day gift to myself.  And it should be delivered today!

I confess...

I texted my Mom on Mother's Day to wish her a great day but I opened the text with Happy Birthday!  I must've still been half-asleep.

I confess...

I'm mad.  I'm mad because I made it through the *entire* Winter sick season without so much as a cold.  Now I'm sick.  And it sucks.

I confess...

I'm also mad at Blogger.  Don't they know I have important stuffs to talk about today?!

I confess...

I am counting down the days until I get to see my parents!  It's 29 days, by the way.  And I think it's funny that Nate is excited to see them but not so excited about the 13 hour car ride to get there.

Have a great weekend!  *whew*  I feel better now that I got all that off my chest.  You should try it.  Really.  You should.

WWtKW: Faves & Hates

Good morning, Kitschies!  How can it possibly already be Wednesday?  Unbelievable.  Anyway...since I'm too lazy busy to get more pics prepped for my blog, I decided to hook up with We Want to Know Wednesday again.


This week's questions come from Janette.

1.  What game show have you always thought you could be on and totally WIN?
I think I would totally rock (pun intended) Name That Tune.  It hasn't been on in a REALLY long time (like, 1985), but for whatever reason, I can remember melodies and lyrics like nobody's business.  That, and I think my hubs and I would dominate Survivor.  What I wouldn't do to get on a show like THAT!  

2.  Do you have a tattoo(s)?  What are they and what made you chose them? If not, would you get one, yes/no/why?
I sure do!  4, to be exact.  I got #1 (a band of music notes around my right ankle) when I was 18 - I was engaged to a musician at the time and music was (and still is) a big part of my life.  I love it, but it needs some touch-up work.  #2 (a red, white and blue tribal scarab on my low back) came about shortly after I moved to Albuquerque (maybe around 2000?).  I'm patriotic and I liked the design.  There's a bit of a story with #3 (a faerie with a vine around her).  I was scheduled to get her done on 9/11.  Yes.  THE 9/11.  Of course the shop was closed so I rescheduled for 9/18.  I wanted a faerie for a long time and the guy who did #2 drew #3 for me and she is so pretty.  #4 joined me in October 2007 and is the letter N (for Nate) on my left wrist.  I want to get at least two more....some day.

3.  What is your favorite piece of jewelry that you own?
That would have to be my wedding and engagement rings.  I did a post on my rings a while back as one of "My Favorite Things".   We ordered the band out of a catalogue (how romantic, right?), but it's the inscription of "A blessing on the soul" in Ogham that makes my ring special.

4.  What is your driving pet peeve(s)?
Ooooh...I have a BUNCH of driving pet peeves but I'll go with the two biggest ones.  Not using turn signals and speeding/swerving through traffic just to get one car ahead.  I swear, it's like when people come in to New Mexico, there's some secret switch that automatically turns off their turn signals.  It's horrible.  And the speeding/swerving thing?  How far ahead do you ever really get?  If I can look over and see you sitting RIGHT NEXT TO ME, there's no point.

5.  What was your favorite sitcom growing up that you wish was still on?
I have a few.  Cheers, The Cosby Show, The Facts of Life...the list could go on and on and on!  But, of those, I think I miss The Cosby Show the most.  What a great family!


Check out the linky at the top of the page for lots and lots of other WWtKW memes.  It's always fun to blog hop and get to know new bloggy buddies!

Digging in the Dirt

Good morning, Kitschies!  I hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day.  I got a super awesome card from Nate and then we went to the park to spend some quality family time together.  After we got home and Mason woke up from his nap, the boys played outside while I washed our stoopid dogs.  The boys were so good about not getting in to the water so as a special treat, I stripped 'em down and let them play in the mud!  I had so much fun watching them - it took Mason a little while to really get in to it, but once he saw his brother playing, he played, too.

So. much. fun!  They played in the mud for a good 30 minutes.  They were SUCH a mess when they came in the house, but they had fun and that's what matters.

Back in June last year, I participated in my first Zoya exchange and one of the first colors I grabbed was Ki.  I know you've seen it all over the blogs, including mine once upon a time, but my picture taking skills have improved, so I thought I'd share it with you again.

This picture was taken in indirect sunlight. You can see that it's mostly grape purple with a hint of green/grey on the edges.  Such a beautiful, interesting color.

Now the duochrome shows more.  I love the green and the purple together.

Another indirect sunlight pic.  I really, really like how this changes colors depending on the angle.

These are both direct, bright sun.  The purple gets darker and the green turns more of a silver olive color.  Either way, so cool!

I participated in the exchange again this year, but I haven't prepped my pics yet.  I can tell you that, between the bestie and I, we bought about 20 bottles!  YIKES!

Hope you're enjoying your Tuesday.  It's been much less chaotic here now that my co-worker is back from her vacation.  I leave you today with Peter Gabriel's Digging in the Dirt - rather appropriate for my boys today.  The video quality isn't great, but you can hear the song loud and clear.  Happy Tuesday!