Here, there, and everywhere

There is just always something that needs to be done, isn't there? A book to return to the library, a bill that needs to be paid, a phone call to return. Couple the "somethings" with a full-time job and family and it can seem like life really is that cliche of a wheel in a hamster cage. It can wear you down. I've become so forgetful lately - I have a mental to-do list of things that I need to follow-up on and I only actually remember the to-do list at...oh, let's say 3:00 am. When I don't think the tile guy would appreciate a phone call! My office is a true disaster - we are currently overwhelmed with 200+ last-minute lawsuit filings that are a result of a train derailment. Plus I'm working on an ever-growing, hardly shrinking "work in progress" list for a trial I have coming up in mid-April.

BUT -

I still found time to host book club last night, make a killer quiche with green chilies and monterrey jack cheese, and laugh myself silly with the girls in the club. Of course the "laugh myself silly" may have been due in part to the fact that book club WAS at my house and I could have that extra glass of wine. I still found time to read some of another book I picked up on Saturday at the library. I found time to snuggle on the couch with Kyle while he read a full-on version of "Small Pig" which included character voices and editorial comments about how cute the pig is. And, I made time to pay the household bills, read all of my favorite blogs (keep 'em coming Melissa) and now I'm going to lie on the couch and watch some of a movie with David.

I guess that's just life - a whole lot of "somethings" that need to get done. And hey, doing nothing IS doing something, it's doing NOTHING!

The last of 100 things

19. I love my book club.
18. I don't always like the books that are chosen, but it has expanded what I read.
17. My favorite food is Italian.
16. I prefer Diet Pepsi to Diet Coke, but really love Diet Dr. Pepper.
15. I don't follow baseball, but of all the sports, I enjoying going to baseball games the most.
14. I sometimes think about writing a movie.
13. I was really shocked when I found out I was pregnant.
12. I was scared to death when I went to the hospital five weeks early and Kyle only weighed 4 pounds 10 oz.
11. I'm sad I'm getting to the end of my 100 list
10. I am great at roller skating.
9. I need to get Kyle in skating lessons.
8. I could easily be a vegetarian.
7. I hate doing yard work.
6. I love doing laundry.
5. I like myself a lot more now than I used to - maybe that's why I stopped biting my nails.
4. I color my hair.
3. I want to take the exam to become an American Bar Association-certified paralegal - it's a lot like taking the bar exam. Very intense.
2. I am so in awe of all the things my brother can do,make or fix. He is so talented.
1. The hardest thing I have ever had to say is, "I don't love you."

Getting to the end -

29. I have owned eleven cars.
28. I used to have my motorcycle license.
27. My favorite cocktail is a Ketel One Cosmopolitan
26. I also love red wine.
25. I have been an assistant at a hair salon, a daycare worker, a waitress, a clerk in a convenience store, a sales associate in electronics, a nanny (three times!), an assistant at a nanny placement agency, a custom drapery sales associate, a receptionist, a real estate title insurance agent, a legal secretary, and a paralegal. Oh, I also worked in an ice cream store and a deli. Geez, I'm well-rounded aren't I?
24. Some of the best times I've ever had were when I was traveling alone.
23. I've been to Disney Land once and Disney World once.
22. I've never been to Sea World.
21. I've been fascinated with otters my whole life and would love to see one in the wild.
20. Pot-bellied pigs freak me out.

Counting down

59. I can peel an apple in one long continuous ribbon.
58. I still love to color.
57. And play with play doh.
56. I can't wink.
55. I love shoes, but have wide feet so they almost never fit me.
54. I remember getting my Quick Curl Cathy doll for Christmas.
53. My best Christmas present when I was young was my own phone.
52. I lettered in debate in high school.
51. I was one of three speakers at my high school graduation.
50. I was crazy nervous.
49. I don't really like clean sheets.
48. I love staying in hotels though (clean sheets a must!)
47. I want to get a dog.
46. I had tons of Barbies and Barbie accessories growing up.
45. My favorite was my Barbie townhouse.
44. I don't like hazelnut anything.
43. I love coffee.
42. I have my dream house sketched out in my mind and it doesn't change much anytime I try to improve on it.
41. I dream mostly in black and white.
40. I'm having laser eye surgery in February.
39. The thing that bothers me most about the surgery is not being able to wear eye make-up for a long time.
38. Growing up I spent a lot of my summer with my grandparents in Utah.
37. I want to take my son to Utah soon.
36. I took a helicopter ride from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon and had champagne in the Canyon when we landed.
35. Las Vegas is like some alternate universe.
34. I don't think I'm smart enough to go to law school.
33. I love my hands.
32. I hate my butt.
31. I can't do sudoku.
30. I'm really good with kids.

More about me

79. I like Drake & Josh on Nickelodeon.
78. I've picked up a hitchhiker before.
77. My favorite ice cream is Breyer's mint chip.
76. I've been para-sailing, water-skiing, wake boarding, and rock climbing.
75. I've been to England, Mexico, Cayman Islands and Puerto Rico.
74. My friend Daniel and I have been friends since kindergarten.
73. His son, Luke, is my Godson.
72. I drive too fast.
71. I have slept in an airport and a train station.
70. I love Justin Timberlake (there, I admitted it.)
69. I used to bite my nails.
68. I often forget to check my gas gauge until it's almost too late.
67. I'm not sure how I miss that "need fuel" light.
66. I don't feel like I have "style" or a "look".
65. I hated school lunch...except pizza and chicken fried steak day.
64. I used my lunch money to buy junk. Not junk food, just junk.
63. I was a nanny for two years in Chappaqua, New York (that's where the Clintons live now).
62. One of the girls I nannied for is now the director of a widely-recognized children's theatre group in New York.
61. Her sister is in college.
60. Now I feel old!

Me, me, me

94. I have naturally curly hair.
93. I hate food on the bone, it just freaks me out.
92. My favorite place to be is at the beach.
91. I wanted to be a nurse until I started volunteering at the hospital.
90. Yes, I was a candy-striper.
89. I initially spelled it "candy-stripper"
88. I have two tattoos.
87. I'm a math dyslexic (Jamie in Missouri - I need help!)
86. My favorite author is John Steinbeck.
85. I cry too easily.
84. I was born in Salt Lake City, Utah.
83. We moved to North Platte, Nebraska when I was 3.
82. I used to love to snow ski.
81. I haven't been skiing since I was in a car accident.
80. The money from the lawsuit after the aforementioned car accident paid my rent for a long time and helped me get my paralegal degree.

About me

I got this great idea from another blog I read: http://millerfamilymissouri.blogspot.com/ What a great idea! Since I post in bits and pieces, I guess that's how you'll get to know me.

100 Things About Me:

100. I want to live in Italy.
99. Not in a city, but the Italian countryside, fresh fruit, olives, wine, cheese...bliss.
98. Two of my toes are webbed on each of my feet.
97. I was adopted as an infant.
96. I have all the paperwork to start the search to find my birth mother, I keep it in the trunk of my car.
95. I don't know what's stopping me.

Little things...

It really is the little things in life that control our ups and downs, isn't it?? Yesterday we went to the movie "Cloverfield" (just David and I) and it started at 4:00. We arrived to get our tickets at 3:30 - David handed them a $20 and got $1.50 back...that's right, the tickets at 3:30 in the afternoon were $9.25 each! Apparently matinee prices now end at 3:00 pm. Isn't that just crazy? So couple the cost of tickets with what we paid for the babysitter and it was a pricey afternoon/evening out. At least our dinner was free - I won a $50 gift card to Outback at the office Christmas party and apparently Outback and Bonefish Grill are owned by the same company because we could use the gift card at Bonefish. Quite tasty.

Today I scored a B I G bottle of Matrix shampoo for 75% off at Walgreen's. That was definitely an up moment - I mean there was this weird basket of stuff, total odds and ends, on the counter and I started digging through it and actually had a hard time deciding what to buy - but then I saw the shampoo and I thought, "score!" I also spent a relaxing couple hours driving to and from Barnwell, South Carolina (feel free to find that on MapQuest) to check out a motel. We're going to be in trial for two-to-three weeks in April in Allendale, South Carolina (again, MapQuest) and the area is a bit of a travel and leisure wasteland. The motel was okay, but it's older and the rooms all have exterior doors - not so safe. It looks like we'll be staying at the Holiday Inn Express in lovely Walterboro...Exit 53 off I-95, if you want to stop and see me! LOL.

While I was typing this, Kyle got his first phone call from a girl! Loralei - a cute girl from his class (that's her in the picture above, I don't know how to put the pictures down at the bottom). I really don't know why she called, other than to just say hello to Kyle, but poor Kyle turned a bright shade of red and seemed tongue-tied. And believe me, Kyle tongue-tied is not something we see very often! I spoke with Loralei for awhile then talked to her mom, who really offered no clues as to how the phone call came about. Kyle did want me to inform you that Loralei loves his "guns" - he pushed up his shirt sleeve to allow me to admire his "guns" as well!

Perfecto!

I'm back from Charleston and it was really nice. I fell in love with the TempurPedic mattress, the lovely turn-down service with chocolates on my pillow, the herbal bath salts...and that was just the hotel! Oh and I forgot room service breakfasts and the wine and cheese each evening. I could get used to a life like that! I got a lot of work done, but of course left with a crazy to-do list. We have a two to three week trial coming up in mid-April and I am stunned at how quickly that seems to be arriving.

Oh, while I was gone I missed snow in Augusta! Luckily it wasn't much and didn't stay around long...otherwise the whole town would have shut down!

How-To

Operating instructions. That's what they should give you at the hospital when they're forcing you out the door with a baby and a bag of diapers. A how-to manual, if you will. Something with sections like "Getting Started" or "Main Features" heck, even "Equipment" would be helpful. My DVD manual? Never even cracked open the cover, but the kid manual I would sure like to open it up once is awhile. Especially this weekend when I'm pretty sure I micromanaged Kyle into never wanting to eat a push-pop again. You know the kind - the ice cream on a stick thing that you push up through a cardboard tube? Now personally, I think the ice cream ends up tasting just like the cardboard tube thing, but Kyle's been asking for them for months. He had already eaten one with no trauma while David and I raked a few leaves and just generally enjoyed the outdoors for awhile. At some point he went in for another one - a bold move on his part because I would rarely let him have two of any kind of treat. But the weather must have gotten to me because I said he could have it. Then I proceeded to analyze the way he was eating and actually tried to assist him! What??? I mean it's not like we were inside on some white, zillion dollar sofa - he was outside on the deck! It's ice cream - it washes off. Sigh.

On a lighter note, I get to go to Charleston in the morning for work. Three days and two nights at a fancy hotel paid for by one of our clients! The days will be long, but at the end of the day I get to lounge aimlessly on what I imagine will be a perfectly wonderful bed and read a book or watch whatever I want to watch on television. Ooooh...and what if there's a spa tub? Color me relaxed!

I can see clearly now

Well, to be honest I can't really see clearly right now, but after February 7 my eyes will be kicking ass! That's the day I'm having laser eye surgery! Of course at the moment I'm still dealing with having my eyes dilated at like 9:30 this morning. Apparently I'm crazy-sensitive to the drops because my pupils are still giant! I have no idea why I even went to work after the appointment, I was worthless. I couldn't see the computer screen worth a darn and my main job today was supposed to be summarizing medical records - which on a good day can be nearly impossible to decipher, let alone when I'm half blind!

I've been wearing glasses since I was 10 or 11 and could never do contacts, so this is going to be a welcome change. I think the thing I'm most excited about is waking up in the middle of the night and being able to see the clock without that crazy half-squint. The thing I'm least excited about? The fact that I have to stop wearing eye make-up for the two days prior to the surgery AND not wear any eye make-up for the next TWO WEEKS! Seriously, two weeks! Me without eyeliner is sort of like looking at a bald monkey - not pretty! A co-worker laughed when I said that was what I was least excited about...apparently I should be more worried about the chance of blindness. LOL.

Snow, snow, snow!

Kyle was two the last time he got to play in the snow, BUT when we were in Arkansas it snowed enough for us to have some fun!

Happy New Year!!!

2008 - the year that will go down in history as the year I decided to try my hand at..knitting. Yep, knitting. Me. The same me that has bad depth perception, a complete lack of patience, and zero hand-eye coordination. This should go well, don't you think? I wear a scarf that was my friend Angela's first (and so far only) knitting project and I adore it - I feel comforted wearing it because it was made by her - with love. It's like wearing a hug. I used to know how to crochet, if you call an endless chain actual crocheting so I at least know my hands can move in tandem at something! Don't worry - I'll keep you posted!

Other 2008 projects? Finish the half-bath - in fact that's a January project now that I have my bonus. I had planned to lay the tile myself, but since I can't seem to get that done I'll just get our handyman to do it. He's done a couple other projects for us so what the heck. Also in 2008 I plan to get the hall bath finished as well...by March. Why March you may ask? I have a guest coming then and she probably might like to take a shower! I'm also going to get new sheets and window coverings for the guest bedroom...and a nightstand. Hmmm...it sounds like 2008 is going to be costly!

So far, I haven't really come up with any resolutions for the new year other than to start working on the 15-minute approach to cleaning and straightening my house. Just pick some area of my house to work on for 15 minutes each night during the week. I'm also going to do my best to be in the moment with my family - to realize that we don't have to be doing some fun, fantastic thing outside the house to grow closer.

I hope your new year is off to a great start! Oh, and I'm working on pictures and a post from our trip to Arkansas to share with you - we had a great time and Kyle even got to have a snowball fight!