Five on Friday...

Today I'll list 5 things that make me happy...



1- My Kiehl's Ultra Facial Moisturizer SPF-15. Goes on so smoothly and your skin drinks it in.






2- Birthdays! Other people's. Not mine! Happy Birthday 'Lil Brother! He lives in Frankfurt, Germany (looks like a Heineken he's holding) right now. He works for the US State Department stationed at US Consulate in Frankfurt (when he's not snowboarding in Austria, weekending in Rome, etc. Makes me sick with jealousy). Cheers Bro!



3- My boys.... mini#2 cannot keep a shirttail tucked in!











4- Nail Polish. I finally painted my finger nails yesterday. My toes are always painted, but I splurged and painted my nails. Well, I didn't splurge, go to a salon splurge, but took the time to do it myself. I recently bought Revlon's "Raven Red"- great dark shade of red.












5- SEX AND THE CITY movie - 7 day release countdown! I'm doing this right. Next Sunday night (9 days for me to wait) some of the moms from play group are going to dinner and then on to see the movie. Can't wait. It doesn't take much to excite me these days!






Be happy! It's a long weekend! We're staying put with gas in our tanks! We will go to a neighbor's cookout on Sunday. Looking forward to that, too! Happy Friday!

Wordless Wednesday...stop and enjoy these orchids!

I'm so thankful...

Ok, this may be quick. For you see I am currently sitting in a Duke University Hospital clinic while MIL is doing a 6-minute walk for her pulmonologist. We just saw her surgeon and all were impressed with her progress. Is that what it's called...progress? Seriously, this is a slow recovery, but I'm glad the docs think she is where she should be. Luckily today, the drain tube was removed and so were her staples from her massive incision. Both of these make her and ME more comfortable. I think we're on our way now. We'll know in four weeks if they want to do more chemo, but for now, she'll just try to get stronger.

Anyway, I'm thankful 1) that mini#2 is with a neighbor right now. He accompanied us to the pulmonologist appointment yesterday. Now it was MIL's first day out of the house mind you so I don't know which was harder to keep up with if you know what I mean. Mini#2 seems to think that any doctor's swivel stool in the exam room is free reign for him to amuse himself. Drives me crazy. Then he feels it necessary to interview the doctor, any doctor, and not vice versa. Bless that doctor's heart. He brought mini#2 a packaged brownie leftover from a staff lunch to busy my mini. Probably in hopes that the mini would shut his precious mouth for longer than a minute. It worked.

2) I'm thankful that I never smoked. I won't count those random cigarettes smoked in college while attempting not to choke and look cool at the same time. It really is a horrible habit/ADDICTION to break. Looking around this waiting room I see multiple people attached to oxygen tubes. MIL's oxygen is sitting next to me right now. She has to use this post surgery. I know it makes her feel embarrassed to have, like she's giving in to something she hasn't owned up to until now. Yesterday, once again, the pulmonologist confirmed they found emphysema during surgery. Secretly, I wanted to stand up and say "See, I told you it's not allergies!", but I remained silent. I have told her "Have you noticed that you have not coughed one time since surgery?" She quit 4 weeks ago. She replied, in denial, "It's because I haven't had any changes in environment." This was not a dainty cough she had. It was a huge, house rattling cough from deep within her being. Paired with my thankfulness of not smoking, I'm thankful she has finally stopped herself. I hope anyone reading this that wants to stop smoking does. For your health, for your relatives, for your quality of life find help and support and try to stop once and for all. You're worth it!

3) I'm thankful that school is almost out and this is the last week of homework! First grade ends June 10th this year and second grade will begin July 7th because we are going to year round school. Wait this is a "thankful" post so I'll just stop this here 'cause I'm not too thankful for this short break this summer.

4) I'm thankful when I woke up this morning my teeth weren't throbbing. Prior to MIL's appointment yesterday I had the pleasure of having 2 very old fillings replaced. One tooth may end up requiring a root canal so throbbing pain could be a key indicator of what's to come. However, no throbbing. I'm thankful.

5) I'm thankful for extremely nice friends/neighbors that are so willing to help me out these days. Mini#2 is having much more fun playing with our neighbor this morning (yikes is it afternoon already?)than he would have here seeing the sights of this waiting room. I can hear him now loudly asking rude questions since his mouth has no filter. My other neighbor even gave me a nice bottle of prosecco on Friday evening saying "I need it." Yes for her and for that bottle I am (was) also thankful.

So, what are you thankful for this week? Sometimes you just have to stop and think about it.

Game, gifts, and a garden basket

Well we all survived the ball game. Mini#1 even got chased by Wool E. Bull (their mascot) and then picked up and turned upside down by said bull for pulling his tail. I, unfortunately, missed that, but it happened pregame when the cub scouts/boy scouts were being recognized on the field. Is that my kid? Mini#2 (shown above in an extra shirt he added over the nice one I had picked out...of course) had fun, but claimed he didn't like it when "the boys threw the balls to us" meaning foul balls. He told everyone that the signature billboard sized bull "was smoking." The bull lights up and blows smoke through his nostrils when a home run is hit. He talked all the way home, too. I thought for sure he'd fall asleep. Mr. Pink made it through the camp out on the field with the kids. They came home Saturday morning at 8:45 and we were still asleep! Mr. Pink then slept for about 3 more hours. Uh um...not as young as he used to be. Me, I'm ageless. Wink. Wink.

Saturday I finally got the time to venture out to buy two Birthday gifts for two friends in my neighborhood. One gift is late and one is on time, but that's not too bad considering things at the White House. I found these cute black/white polka dot monogrammed address books. One with hot pink letter and one with lime green. Forgot to take a picture. However, check out this great paper my mom found at Tuesday Morning. Huge polka dots. The ribbon I picked up on sale (Mother's Day) at Hallmark. I'm into polka dots these days.

Lastly, I'll post the final product for the garden basket I created for mini#1's school spring carnival. I was pleasantly surprised by the participation of the parents. I was able to buy quite a bit when, originally, I thought I may end up having to contribute the bulk of the contents. This basket (planter) was heavy! I think I posted about me quickly trying to get it to mini#1's classroom without dropping it. Secretly, I enjoyed hearing people comment on "my" basket while at the carnival. There were some really good ones, but I'm just glad ours didn't "suck"so to speak. There's always a little bit of competition involved with things like this. The school Spanish teacher ended up winning it.

We ended up going to Home Depot today for a few more annuals for my planters. I just finished planting them before the rain came down. How's that for timing?

Lastly, thank you Amber's House Full for giving me my first blog award! That was a surprise! I don't think I deserve this, but thanks for the mention. She has 4, yes 4 boys. Bless her heart. She needs about 4 Mother's Day celebrations a year I would say. Ok, that's all for now. You're probably wondering "is she ever going to stop?" I hope everyone had a nice spring weekend!

Take me out to the ball game

It's that time again. To do something no-so-pink. That happens a lot when you're pink in a sea of blue. Many of you may remember that 80's movie Bull Durham. Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins. Well that movie was based on the real minor league team, the Durham Bulls. In college I frequently used to go to those games in their old stadium. Fast forward several years, they're in a new stadium and it's now the ultimate family experience. We have not been to a game since we returned to the area. Tonight mini#2 and I will join Mr. Pink, mini#1 and their cub scout group (opps. den.) to take in a game. Mini#2 is on cloud nine. Driving to Duke University Hospital to pick up MIL, we would pass this stadium on our way and he would always say "I want to go to the Durham Bills." Finally he'll get his wish. After this long week, I could be sitting in an auto parts store and be thrilled about it. Just to get a breather will be nice. The cool thing is that the cub scouts and Mr. Pink will be camping out on the field after the game! Mini#1 is super excited about this. Mrs. Pink will not be camping out. I will return home to MIL, comfy bed and air conditioning. There may be a glass of wine and a movie thrown in somewhere- if not too late when we return. Have a nice weekend!

Fun Music to keep us sane

As you know my mother in law is staying with us as she recovers from surgery. It was been a little hectic since Saturday to say the least. I'll bet very few of you can flush a feeding tube or set one up at night. I can. Luckily, she eats normally during the day. I feel part nurse, maid, short order cook, mom, and wife. A lot of hats to wear at once. This morning, as I gave her her meds upstairs, mini#2 seized the opportunity to indulge in peanut butter downstairs. When I came down I found him sitting on our dining room floor quietly spooning that peanut-y goodness into his mouth. He did, at least, have sense enough to actually grab a spoon and not use his fingers. He looked at me and said "mmm. delicious." I asked him "Do you want some jelly with that?" I'm trying not to lose my sanity these days.

Anyway, I wanted to pass along a fun cd I ordered from Amazon. I love jazz or jazzy music, mainly of the newer generations (love Diana Krall/Soul Ballet/Micheal Buble'). However, you can't go wrong with the true golden jazz dating back to Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald. I want the minis to embrace all types of music so we listen to just about anything around here. Now, back to this cd. It's called: Jazz for Kids: Sing, Clap, Wiggle and Shake. Ella Fitzgerald sings up tempo versions of "Old MacDonald" and "The Muffin Man" and Louis Armstrong closes the cd with his famous "What a Wonderful World." Mini#2 personally enjoys "Potato Chips" where the artist sings about not wanting lunch. All he wants is potato chips. Crunch. Crunch. It's cute. His other favorite is "Yes, We Have no Bananas." It makes me smile when I catch mini#2 singing it throughout the day. I personally love "Ain't Nobody Here but us Chickens," a chickens' response to their farmer. So that's my review. If you're looking for new preschool music for the car/house, I recommend this one. I think you'll like it, too.

Told you so...

Ahhh. True love. Shayne and Mr. Brit, ok Matt, together forever. We'll see about that. Nonetheless, I liked Shayne last night and Chelsea was getting on my nerves. Chelsea reminded me a little of a super hero in that dress at the end. Or Greek goddess? And she got a little nasty about her competition at the end didn't she? Didn't she call Shayne the "fakest" girl there? I did get so tired of Matt calling Shayne his "little monkey". That would get old. Quick. Was it just me or did that seem to be the easiest final ceremony to get through in a long time? Usually I'm biting my nails and nervous right along with them. Last night I actually relaxed, still have my fingernails, and laughed. I laughed at Shayne's comment informing Matt he had to promise not to look at any more girls from here on out because he'd already done that a little too much in their relationship. Clever. And, in the end, Mr. Brit didn't look too shabby either. All that tropical sun agrees with him. Best wishes to them both. May it be the best six (five) months they ever have.

Went out searching for the cell phone today. No luck. I feel lost without it. Did I say that in my last post? Looks like we'll be getting new phones soon. Anyway we still have Atlanta telephone numbers and we've been in NC 20 months! This is a change I think I can handle. However, I will miss the photo I had of mini#1 sitting in my very pregnant lap moments after having his tonsils out. That picture has welcomed me to my phone for 3 years now. Yes, it's definitely time for a new phone though isn't it? I think I want a pink(duh) one.