Wine Please

Posted By Colleen on June 29, 2009

So besides the awesome new look, I’ve been trying to clean things up, add a few things, pages, etc. You know, spruce things up a bit since I’ve been so neglectful the past eight or ten months. I figure that I’ve been “gone” so long, feeling so isolated because my life got so crazy, that this would be a good way to get myself back out into the bloggy world, particularly since I’m going to BlogHer in less than a month!

I’m a little nervous and very excited, to the point of near-spaziness (yes, that’s a word in our house) about going to BlogHer. And here’s why:

• I will be getting out of the house, taking a much-needed break from my family and my job. Don’t get me wrong. I love my family, but with all the extra-special “quality time” the kids and I have been getting with Justin being gone so much, having to turn down invites to join the local Mom’s Club, play dates, missed community meetings, thrice-scheduled hair appointments, and left the house more times that I can count where I hadn’t washed my face with anything besides a baby wipe from the package I keep in the car. I deserve a few days away so that I can come back feeling refreshed and ready dive into the insanity again.
• I really enjoyed going to the BlogHer-DC road show last fall. It was neat to meet other bloggers, most of them from my area. Now, this conference will be like five or ten times bigger with women (and a few brave men) from all over the country and I can’t wait to meet more folks in person! The only problem is, I’m not sure who else is coming besides goofy me and a bunch of A-listers. So I created that poll you see over on the right…please vote. Though is it really called “voting” when you’re just really answering a question? Anywhoo, I’d love to know if you’re coming so I can look for you. Or work on my Five D’s dodge-duck-dip-dive-and-dodge to avoid your pepperspray.
• Am I allowed to say I’m excited to be rooming with my roomie? Am I allowed to say who she is? Or if I divulge, will I need to utilize my Five D’s with her? At any rate, I’m very very excited to be hanging with a gal whose writing style I admire, whose blog I love reading, who seems to have a similar sense of humor, and who also is raising two silly boys. And I’m looking forward to finally meeting her in person. Can’t wait for the first time I scare her with my cackle.
• Dude…I am really looking forward to the parties! The buttons below the poll are only the beginning! *sigh* That’s one thing I really miss from ye old college days.

Now if I could just figure out what to pack!

Category: Adventures, cooking | 2 Comments »
Tags: BlogHer, BlogHer '09, ramblings of a sleep-deprived woman

Posted By Colleen on June 26, 2009

No, you haven’t surfed onto a new site. I finally got a real bloggy make-over, courtesy of the lovely, talented, and amazingly patient Napwarden!!! I’ve always admired her drawing style and designs and finally decided that I needed a new boost to my poor, tired, and not-browser friendly design.

I am not a creative person. Okay, well, I used to be, but I swear that working in a big corporate environment has beaten the creativity out of me and I’m lucky if I can create some cupcakes for my kids’ birthdays. But Napwarden is definitely creative because I told her that my family pretty much gangs up on me and she came up with the idea for the design you see above the following day. She totally gets the client, and I love that!

Interested in her designs? Look at her site, or take a look here, or here, or here.

And thanks, NW…it looks fabulous!

Category: General | 12 Comments »
Tags: new look

Posted By Colleen on June 17, 2009

Due to having all of our family out of town, most of our Christmas and birthday gifts are mailed. So Gavin got a gift from Justin’s sister, Jen, and her family early in the week, so he opened it on the morning of his birthday along with a few small gifts from us (since Justin left town that night):

Then he got one from my cousin, Jill, and her family on Wednesday night:

Then a gift arrived from Justin’s parents on Thursday:

Then my mom and stepdad arrived late Friday night and he got to open more Saturday morning before his party:

Then he had his Chick-Fil-A party on Saturday afternoon:

And Saturday night we gave him his first bike:

He also received a gift from my dad and stepmom, but he doesn’t get to open it until they come out to visit. In the meantime, he’s been looking for it, so we told him we’re keeping it on the roof until they arrive.

And you know what? That child still has the audacity to continue to ask for more presents!

This one is because I needed to show how freakishly strong Cooper is…he’s pushing a Power Wheels with Gavin in it and Gavin’s NOT pressing the accelerator:

And here he’s pulled off the vent cover…just because he could:

I swear my house has been taken over by pirates:

Category: Kids | 9 Comments »
Tags: Cooper, Gavin, milestones, pictures

Posted By Colleen on June 15, 2009

I actually had a relatively well-crafted post in my head. I mean, most of it was pics from Gavin’s party, but hey, it was still better than my posts have been for the past several months.

So I was saying I had something planned. But then life just caught up with me.

After being off a week to spend time with my family, including my mom and step-dad that drove in, I was anticipating a rough Monday back, but the kids and I got actually got out the door on-time, and with minimal fuss, considering Cooper’s working on not only his eye-teeth, but it appears his two-year old molars as well, at least what I could see from his screaming mouth for the past four days.

I get to work in a decent amount of time and since I worked a few hours last week, my email wasn’t too out of control.

But then the PMS crept up on me and slapped me with a ridiculous headache and I started feeling inexplicably fragile and helpless, as I do nearly every month. I talked to Justin during his lunch break at his latest assignment in Texas and I realized I have no idea what time he’s flying home this weekend and he didn’t know either. He was too busy to dig through his emails to check, and I didn’t have his airline login to just look it up myself.

As the day wore on, my headache refused to let up and I started to feel sore and realized last night as the kids and I left Dave and Kari’s that I completely twisted my back and strained several muscles in my arms, shoulders, and legs while trying to pick up Cooper to leave. He fought against me so hard to not leave that I actually got hurt trying to keep him from hurting himself.

I got the kids, got home, where Cooper, still having a rough day, fought with me through dinner, getting ready for bed, and going to bed (the sleep regression, his first, really, has been going on over a week). Each time I had to pick him up and he fought against me, I tweaked my back a little more, to the point where my eyes pricked with tears from the pain and frustration. Then he stood roaring and bellowing in his crib for over half and hour (I’d go in there after lengthening periods of time to remind him it was time to sleep), which really rattles your nerves after a while. Add to it that while trying to share some awful news regarding a life-long family friend, I found myself bickering with Justin. I’m not sure how it started, but after how I’d been feeling the last several hours, it was the last thing I wanted or needed.

I am just hoping that tomorrow will be better.

Category: General | 2 Comments »
Tags: ramblings of a sleep-deprived woman, suburban mom

Posted By Colleen on June 10, 2009

Saturday was Gavin’s birthday party, and despite our earlier discussions regarding birthday themes we went with a pirate theme, which was easier, and I think, a lot more fun than Batman or Wolverine. I mean, do either of those guys run around saying stuff like “arrgghhh!! where’s me booty?”

Okay. Gavin wouldn’t say it either, but I said it a lot. And I hadn’t been drinking since we hosted his party at the new Chick-Fil-A. While slightly hectic for a short time since I didn’t know any of the parents of the party attendees except for one set (because we went to his party a few months back), it actually turned out well and was a lot of fun. And definitely a lot easier than hosting nine other rambunctious children and their parents at my house. The kids ran amuck in the play area, they nibbled at fries and nuggets, gulped down a ton of fruit punch, ate some ice cream, and got crazy during the opening of the presents. Everyone had a wonderful time, which was the important part.

After partying like a chicken…or a cow…our usual group of the Williams and Zdanowskis joined us and my parents at our house to grill and give Gavin his bike. Which we don’t have pics of for some reason. So you’ll just have to believe me until I can get some pics. Since I’m off work, you’d think I’d have done that by now, but uh, no. I’d hate to overachieve like that. And plus, it’s much easier to blame Justin for not capturing the moment since it’s his job. He did do a great job of capturing pics from the party at Chick-Fil-A, however he took the camera with him on his 10-day trip and has not forwarded any to me. So I will be owing you fine readers a lot of pics in the next few days.

Category: Kids | 1 Comment »
Tags: Gavin, milestones