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Humpday Hilarities

This one is from my mother:

This one comes courtesy of one of my WOSIB sisters:

Ode to Cute

Had a good weekend. Jim, Jess, and I went down to Prattville and saw Jim’s mother. We did a bit of shopping, sight-seeing, and had some really awesome barbecue (I’m talking giving Green Top a run for its money good!!!). It rained all the way down there, and all the way back. I’m so sick of all this rain, it’s giving me headaches out the wazoo.

I woke up this morning with a headache and have been in a bit of a mood. Traffic was unreal this morning, so I was late to work. I stayed up late last night watching the Armageddon/2012 specials on the History channel, so I’m tired and a little cranky. (and when I don’t get enough sleep, I’m more prone to having a headache!)

I did get a little happy moment this morning … this bit of cute was posted to my friend Sangi’s LiveJournal:

Beaker was always one of my favorite Sesame Street characters, and I thought that was just too cute not to share!

Shopping power, I has it

Chico’s is one of my favorite places to shop. Not only do their clothing hold up and wash well, they fit and feel great. Even better: their unique sizes will make ANY woman feel good about herself (no matter what size you wear!).

I was overjoyed when I got home yesterday and read my mail. My membership has finally been upgraded!

Basically what this means is I’ll get extra benefits now, like: previews to sales and new collections, 5% off all my future purchases, free shipping (basic), and more. They also own Soma (think Victoria Secret), so it looks like I can use the card there too. My folks gave me a gift card to Chico’s for Christmas, and I’ve been itching to go get some new “going out” clothes and a few frilly numbers (sexy lingerie, squeee!).

I showed the card to Jim and said, “Guess what I’m doing this weekend!”

Christmas Meme

My best bud, Teresa, sent me this and I’m sharing my answers with y’all! 

Okay, here’s what you’re supposed to do, and try not to be a SCROOGE! Just copy (not forward) this entire email and paste into a new e-mail that you can send. Change all the answers so that they apply to you. Then send this to a whole bunch of people you know, INCLUDING the person
that sent it to you……Tis the Season to be NICE!

(Obviously, this is not email … I’m posting to my blog for more funnery! )

Jessie’s DS, and I has a LOL…

Jessie’s birthday was Saturday, but because her mother had her that day, we celebrated the night before by taking her out to a “very grown up” birthday dinner — at Logan’s Roadhouse.

We had a great time. Our waitress was a real sweetheart and hooked her up with a couple small goodies because it was her birthday. Towards the end of our meal, all the servers came around and clapped and hollered for her. She ate it up!

She opened our gifts after we ate. We gave her a crimson Nintendo DS with a Legend of Zelda game bundle. She freaked! LOL! She kept hugging the box saying “I knew it! I knew it! I knew I was getting this! I knew it!” She was so cute.

Of course now she’s got a lengthy game “wish list” going. Both Jim’s mom and my parents gave her money for her birthday, so now she’s DYING to go shopping! LOL! But at least she’s happy … she finally got her DS.

What’s that about a LOL?

While looking for a stock image for this post, I ran across a very cute image and was inspired to publish my first (PUBLIC!) LOLcat:

Wanna vote for my LOL? Clicky!!!

Summertime approaches

Summer is almost in full swing. Jessie’s heading into her last month — well, really 3 weeks — left of school and she’s SO ready for summer to get here! She and Jim have this deal, if she brings home straight A’s on her report card, he will get her the Nintendo DS and Dogs game she’s been wanting.

She’s worked REALLY hard this nine weeks, and if she’s not spot on, it will be close! She had a shaky start at the beginning of the year and this is the first year that she did not spend the whole time on an Honor Roll at all. (until this year, she’d always had straight A’s) I’m really proud of her, she found her motivation (a game system/video game … what a wonderful little geekling!) and has not let up, going full tilt boogie studying and making sure her homework was always checked for mistakes.

This geeky momma is so proud!

Her class is going to the Zoo next week, and guess who is chaperoning. Yup, yours truly. (Don’t worry, I’ll pack body armor and mace! ) She’s excited to have me coming along, and I’m just as equally excited to be going. She’s still in that cute stage where it’s OK for me to be around while she’s sitting and talking to her friends … I’d better enjoy it while it lasts! LOL!!

Shopping!

Jim and I will hopefully be resuming furniture shopping soon. The new bed is almost paid off and we now need a new mattress. We’ve been to several places and found that we both liked one of the Serta models. We tried out the Tempur-pedic from one place, but you know? I was surprised to find that I really don’t care for the memory foam mattresses.

After that, we’ll probably get a new couch, but that may have to wait until we get a new house — the den is pretty cramped as it is! We got a new dining room table from my grandmother, and we both have odds and ends still in storage.

Part of me thinks it’ll be kind of fun re-arranging and replacing everything. The ‘paying for it’ part still sucks though. ;P

Busy time and upcoming schedule of events

It’s busy time! Sorry I’ve been so quiet lately, work is busy, home is busy, and what little spare time I’ve had has been for cooking, eating, and sleeping — and pretty much in that order. Jessie’s into her last semester of the school year. Things are starting to pick back up at work. Jim’s really busy at NSR.

Coming up

My birthday is next week. Considering nobody’s asked me what I want yet, I’m hoping for something to go shopping with. *grin* Though cash would be nice … I’ve been eying a very nice Smith & Wesson .38 special. :mrgreen:

Things with Soldiers’ Angels has been going great! I’ve been gathering materials for the upcoming Magnolia Festival and will have everything I need for the event mid next week. I’m looking forward to meeting people from this and neighboring communities and will hopefully gain some new SA members from it!

Time to roll, Tide!

Alabama’s A-Day Game is this upcoming weekend, so Jess and I will be headed to T-town to meet up with Teresa and her loved ones. I’ll be gathering a few travel supplies over the next few days and (if Jim lets me borrow his camera) hopefully get some great A-Day pictures!

Time to design

I noticed on the Lunarpages blog a week or so back that they are having another WordPress design contest. YAY! I’ve started on a few designs to enter, and will post a sneak peek of the first one here when it’s ready (hopefully this weekend, but realistically early next week).

Cleaning house

Jim and I had a pretty busy weekend. I’ve spent the last few days recovering from a mentally exhausting week (last week) and physically exhausting weekend. Jim and I bought a new bed Friday night. Well, actually the first two pieces to a whole bedroom suite. We had visited several furniture stores, but kept coming back to Ashley and we both loved the bed and matching pieces.

I swear, I think I signed more paperwork there than I did when I bought my car!

So we’ve been cleaning OUT the house, getting rid of older furniture and things we don’t need. We also cleaned out our storage space and are planning to move a lot of the “must keep’s” there until we move into a bigger place.

I’m anxiously waiting for the day when we can “officially” start house shopping. :mrgreen:

Wedding vendor info, as promised

I admit, I am a bit later getting this out than I would have liked, but I think I’ve covered everything pretty well.

Vendors and Services We Used

Online Wedding Planner / Organizer: The Knot — The Knot offered a great online organizer service that allowed me to track and keep up with events associated to the wedding and the wedding planning process. They offer a ton of services, but what I found most useful was the adjustable checklist and portable guest/gift registry. I used the guest list to generate mailing labels for addressing the invitations, and the same for using the gift registry for generating mailing labels for thank you notes. I can honestly say that using The Knot’s services made my job a little easier. Wedding planning is hard work, but their website’s services helped me keep my chaos organized.

Wedding Dress: My Sister’s Closet — Someone on eBay referred me to her online store. My dress was new, never altered, and came at a very reasonable price. She shipped quickly and the dress was packaged very well.

Flower Girl Dress: Ducklings & Daffodils — Also a gem found on eBay, she shipped quickly and everything was packaged very well. Description was slightly inaccurate, but she was pretty quick to fix a mix-up, and overall I am pleased with the dress.

Wedding Location: The Birmingham Botanical Gardens — We were blessed with beautiful weather, and despite the drought all summer, the gardens were still as beautiful as ever. We paid a deposit of $100 for one hour in the Japanese Gardens. We also had the option of an hour rehearsal in the Japanese Gardens which would have had to been scheduled prior to the wedding (we ended up not needing it). The reservation also provided that we could setup as early as 30 minutes before the wedding. The gardens staff also allowed us to use their back gate so our guests would not have to walk from the visitor’s entrance at the main gate. (this has to be requested prior to the event!) All in all, we had a VERY lovely ceremony and I highly recommend the Birmingham Botanical Gardens to anyone who is looking for a wedding location.

Reception Location: Marriott Fairfield Inn & Suites — Unfortunately the reception room at the gardens was already booked for our date, so we held our ceremony here. This worked out in our favor for several reasons: 1. we needed a backup location in case of rain (the gardens’ rain shelter only holds 15-20 people); 2. we were able to start setting up the day before the wedding and did not have to rush; 3. we rented a suite in the hotel that was large enough for me, my entourage, and several others to get ready and do other wedding-related things the day before and day of the wedding; 4. the reception hall we rented was plenty large enough to hold everyone and several more, and was only right down the hall from our room so we could scurry back and forth getting things packed up during and after the reception. The Marriott staff were accommodating in every way possible and were a huge help in making our reception go as smoothly as possible. They went above and beyond when it came to customer service and we will definitely be using them again!

Miscellaneous Location / Meeting Room: Gardendale Civic Center — We used rooms at the Civic Center for several small and miscellaneous things related to the wedding. We met here with our pastor to cover the ceremony program as well as our consultation. We also used it to gather with friends and family to put together the wedding favors. The civic center staff have always been helpful and very accommodating. Their rooms are reasonably priced and book VERY quickly; so if you’re interested, give Linda Harris a call as soon as you have your event date/details!

Wedding Favors: Oriental Trading Company, The Paper Works Outlet, Elizabeth’s Treasures — My wedding favors comprised of large take-out boxes from Elizabeth’s Treasures; chopsticks, candy, magnets, and filler from Oriental Trading Company; wrapping materials by Paper Works Outlet. I had pleasant experiences with all three. The Paper Works Outlet is a local business (metro-area Birmingham), and was only a short drive from work or home. Their staff was very helpful in giving advice and ideas, as well as helping me look for anything I needed. I ordered online from both Oriental Trading Co. and Elizabeth’s Treasures; both shipped quickly and were quick to answer any questions I had.

Wedding Dress Alterations: Just Alterations (205-914-3081) — Located in the strip mall located beside the Gardendale Post Office, she was easy to work with and always very accommodating to my crazy schedule. She not only did a great job and worked quickly, she offered a lot of useful advice. I’m pleased to refer anyone I can to her, as I believe that no one else could’ve done a better job than she did with my dress!

Photography: His Hands Photography — I’ve never enjoyed having my picture taken until I met Samantha. She instantly put me at ease and I was able to enjoy the sessions and just have fun. Her husband used to work with my husband, and she was also referred by several people I know. She did both my bridal photos and wedding day photos. She’s also done a few sessions for my brother-in-law and his family as well as my mother-in-law. She does excellent work and works with you to meet any and all needs you may have. I highly recommend her services to anyone looking for a photographer for special events or for any photography needs in general!

DJ Services & MC: DJ Vez — Both my husband and I have worked with him in the past. Not only did he do a great job with the musical layout, he also helped keep the festivities rolling by making announcements and prompts when needed. We have enjoyed his company as well as his friendship and would recommend him to anyone in search of DJ’ing or music services.

Wedding Cake: Wal-mart — Yep, believe it or not, Wal-mart’s prices were very reasonable AND the cake was both lovely and delicious! The only thing they didn’t do that most everyone else did was deliver. That was no problem for us because the nearest Wal-mart was only a few minutes from the reception location. Wal-mart did a lovely job on decorating the cake and provided everything we needed to set it up as we desired. The price was the well within our budget and we even had filling added to the largest layer — our guests LOVED it!

Hair & Makeup: Merle Norman, Linda’s School of Beauty — Prior to the wedding, I had a makeover done at the local Merle Norman studio. Unfortunately they were not available to do my makeup early the morning of my wedding (they would not be open early enough for me to get it done), but they were very helpful in showing me how to do my makeup and what colors/tones to use to get the effect I wanted. Pretty much the same for my hair, Linda’s would not be open early enough for me to get mine done that day. However, I’d gained a lot of advice and tips previously and their staff (students) have always done a great job on my hair. I highly recommend both of these establishments to anyone looking for hair and/or makeup services!

Local Wedding Resources

These are various wedding-related resources that I ran across in the course of my research: Alabama Bridal Directories, Brides.com, Bama Bride, Alabama Bridal, Weddings Alabama, Alabama Wedding Magazine, Brides Club

Other

Eventective – This handy tool helped me refine my search for ceremony and reception sites. You can customize your searches based on location, need, size, etc. Not just for weddings either, you can use Eventective to look for event sites for just about any occasion. Using this site helped me narrow down my research to a select group of potential sites and provided just about all of the information I needed in order to evaluate whether or not I could use a particular company/site.

Also helpful: Frugal Bride, Cheap Wedding Ideas, Greater Birmingham Convention & Visitors Bureau, Shop for Weddings

So she says no to fur

Doug Larson said, “Few things are more satisfying than seeing your own children have teenagers of their own.”

Oh boy, ain’t that the truth! Jessie’s 10 going on 18. I’ve told Jim many times that he wasn’t ready for her to be a teenager yet. Hell, he still isn’t ready for her to be old enough to be considered a “tween,” but she’s already there. So far, we’ve had mega-attitude (combined with a quick temper yields much grounding), a smart mouth (more grounding), the rolling eyes and muttering under her breath (watch it, missie!), crushes on boys, and to top it off: she’s wanting to know when she can wear makeup.

:shock: Poor Jim. LOL

It’s not all bad though. Despite her mother’s incessant wishes for her to be grown already (jeez lady, enjoy it while it lasts!), Jessie still remains innocent enough to enjoy our time together. She hasn’t yet reached the “oh geeez, you’re embarrassing me!” stage yet … she’s maturing, and the fact that I’m not the “evil stepmother” yet means either I’m doing a lot better than I think, or she’s a really REALLY great kid. (I already think she’s great, but hey, I’m biased! )

She hit me with something the other day that seemed out of the blue, but may be foretelling … apparently she’s anti-fur.

When she and I went shopping with my mother a few weeks back, I was looking for some really cute earmuffs for her. Her school won’t let them wear toboggans or hats anymore, but earmuffs are completely acceptable, so I was on a happy hunt. I ran across an ADORABLE pair of red and black pairs that were covered in rabbit fur. When I called Jessie over to look at them, she looked at me in horror and asks, “Is that real fur?”

*blink*

I said, “Yeah, sweetie, it’s rabbit fur. Do you want to feel?” I’m allergic to rabbit fur, but she isn’t and they were adorable so I naturally thought it would have been a good find. She looks at me with these big sad eyes (you know, the kind you only see on puppies and cartoons?) and says, “I could never wear anything that hurt an animal to make it!”

I was honestly stunned for a moment. It never once crossed my mind that she would take something like that into consideration when shopping for clothes, accessories, etc.

I played it off as no big deal and we kept looking. We found a much cuter pair of earmuffs later on with plush monkeys on them. (Monkeys rule, don’tchaknow!)

When we were getting ready to leave, I asked her if she had felt that way a while about fur. She said she had, but had been afraid to say anything. (Given how her mother gets so abrasive over non-issues, I don’t doubt that she’s too scared to speak up more often!) I told her it was no big thing and I’m proud of her stating her beliefs and standing firm on them. I then asked her how she felt about leather. “Leather? That comes from animals?” she asked. I told her, “Yeah, it’s made out of cow hide. Our couch, my backpack, your sneakers, … these are all from cows.”

She paused for a moment and said, “Oh, those are ok. I just don’t want the cute furry animals to get hurt!”

You heard my child. Screw the cows.

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