facts

These are the facts:

Fact: Our dryer is broken. All clothes that come out of the washing machine are hung up on the clothesline, in the bathroom, in the cellar, and anywhere else we can think of. It's like we're living on the frontier. Laura Ingalls would feel right at home.

Fact: Sticking a funky hat on your head does not suddenly change your every day clothes into a legitimate halloween costume.

Fact: I was not at all delicate at Zumba tonight. I believe an appropriate descriptive would be "bull in a china shop."

Fact: Due to lack of players and sickness among the family, our traditional halloween night game of hide and go seek in the dark was postponed. I have made it my personal goal to ensure that we really do play the game another night. I'm not one to let things stand in the way of my holiday traditions, even if those traditions are on a holiday I do not celebrate. 

Fact: My new favorite quote is "Blessed are the flexible for they shall not be bent out of shape."

there were way too many numbers involved in this shopping trip

I bought skinny jeans today. 

When they first became popular I swore I was not a skinny jeans girl. I believe it all goes back to a pair of pants I had when I was young that were such a terrible version of skinny jeans that I've had a bad opinion of them since. This week during one of my late night thinking sessions I decided that since I am in need of winter clothes and I saw skinny jeans at Forever 21 for only $10.50, I'd bite the skinny jean bullet. 

That is how I found myself standing in front of the jean section of Forever 21 at half past twelve this afternoon. To fully prepare myself for the life-changing event I was undertaking, I had made sure to wear my cute flats to the store so I could get the full effect of the outfit in the dressing room mirror.

I immediately ran into a problem while searching for my size- I had no idea what all their size numbers meant. I had been size 2 forever but recently I had to buy a pair of size 4 pants. (I got married and suddenly my waistline decided to expanded unnecessarily. True story.) Forever 21 only had pants that came in double digit numbers like 26 and 38. I KNEW that there was no way I had gone all the way from size 4 to size 38 in a matter of weeks, so I was very befuddled. I finally found a pair of size 28 jeans that, when held up to my unnecessarily expanded waistline, looked like they might fit. At this point I got up the courage to ask a girl about 6 years my junior to tell me what number a size 4 wearer should try on. She looked at me as if I had lost my fashion mind and said, "are you SURE you wear size 4??" in a voice that clearly meant she thought I was aiming too low. 

Was she really questioning on the size of customers waist?

"Well," I said, trying to defend my waist, "sometimes I wear size 2. It all depends on the brand." 

She told me what size to try on but failed to educate me on why someone who wears a size 4 (or sometimes 2!) should buy a size 27. A lady at Gap once told me that the numbers on their new jeans are a direct correlation to the number of inches around ones waist. I certainly don't carry a tape measure tucked in my pocketbook for such a time as this because WHAT NORMAL GIRL DOES THAT? 

For better or for worse, for size 2 or size 52, I now own a pair of dark blue skinny jeans.

But I do hope I'm not size 52.

I'm sure my mother appreciated the clean floor

Last winter I decided to start exercising again. Since running marathons and lifting weights was slightly outside my range of expertise (or, quite frankly, my desire at the moment) and I am not a member of any gym, I chose to go the exercise video route.

To be honest, I have traveled that route many times always with the same result- I end up arguing with the woman teaching the class and become completely disgusted with the whole thing by the time 30 minutes is up. How she can expect me to keep up with all her jumping, flipping, and squatting when I've never seen the video before is beyond me. It doesn't help that I tend to get my right and left mixed up when watching said videos. The only way to fix this problem is for me to turn around so we're facing the same way, but that presents yet another problem- I CAN'T SEE THE TV. (I have found one video that I sort of like. It probably comes as no big surprise that I picked it because the words, "fun, fast, and dance" are in the title.)

 

Halfway through one video the instructor told us all, with a huge smile on her face, to "get out our weighted exercise bar because it was time to work those biceps!!" I certainly did not have any sort of weighted exercise bar hanging around my house, so I improvised and used this instead.

I don't think my biceps got too much of a workout. On the bright side, the floor was clean by the time the video was over.

Since returning home, I have started Zumba class again. I'm happy to report that Zumba is much better for both the health of my body and my mental health. Sure, we have the moments when I bang into the wall or am swinging to the right when most other people are swinging to the left, but overall it's a huge improvement. 

The only downside is that the floor doesn't get cleaned.   

Franklin and I believe in correct writing tools

When we began making plans for the move that sent Christopher off to school and me back to my family, we asked my mom if she would take the train up so that I wouldn't have to drive back to my homeland alone. We thought it would be fun to make the next few days into a mother/daughter trip!

After I dropped Christopher off at the airport Thursday morning (it was very sad event), Mom and I went to the Syracuse science museum. 

The next morning we drove to the Franklin Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.

This is the view from their house. I would have no objections to seeing this landscape every morning. 

It always amuses me to see the every day objects in these museums. Seen below, one of Franklin's pens.

I decided to recreate the above exhibit with one of my own pens. Who knows, sixty years from now people may be willing to pay fourteen American dollars to see something I wrote with.

The sign next to the pen will read:

Be sure to check the gift shop if you're interested in purchasing an authentic Sarah Olivia replica pen of your own.

she has a point...

I saw two of my favorite little girls at church today! 

Anna just cracks me up with the things that come out of her mouth. For example, the following conversation transpired between her and our friend Phil.

Phil: How are your Greek classes, Anna?
Anna: I don't take Greek classes. How are your common sense classes?

Phil: I don't take common sense classes.

Anna: Well then, MAYBE YOU SHOULD SIGN UP FOR SOME.

belated birthday wishes to important people

Due to the hubbub, topsy-turvyness, and general mayhem of my life lately, I forgot to wish two important people a public happy birthday. Perhaps this is why I have not been sleeping well at night. The OCD in me has made it very clear that this situation must be rectified pronto. 

Important person #1- Daniel the Big Brother, winner of the Cutest Couple Ever award for the past three years 

Andrew sent me a text the morning of Daniel's birthday (the 17th) that read, "Is 27 a geezer? Cuz I think dans 27." I was about to disagree wholeheartedly because Christopher will be 29 next month and if 27 is a geezer then that would mean (horror of horrors) I'm married to a geezer, but I let it go. There are some things that cannot be fully expressed in 160 characters. 

*

 Important person #2- Katie the best friend and recently twitterpated one due to the arrival of A Boyfriend

This year marks the 20th anniversary of our friendship!

Happy birthday to one and all!!!!!

Here's hoping I'll sleep better tonight.

moving on

Well.

Two weeks, forty-seven cardboard boxes, five rolls of tape, one big round of bubblewrap, four Sharpies, two packs of packing paper, and an unknown number of plastic bins, bags, and packages later, we have officially moved out of our very first apartment.

I think now would be the perfect opportunity to take a VERY LONG NAP.  

A nap, however, is not in the cards for my immediate future. Christopher and I are traveling down to the Big City this afternoon where we will go on our last date before he leaves for school in the morning. Our date plans revolve around food (obviously), the shoe store, and possibly the movie theater. I love dates with Christopher. He's my very favorite husband/roommate/person to play games with.

*

In very unrelated news, did you hear that a THIRD couple got engaged through Kelly's blog? It makes me so happy that other people are finding their one true love! (For those just tuning in, Christopher and I met through her blog last year.) I think that Christopher and I should get together with the other couples for Kelly's Korner Kouples get together. :)

I think any kind of Food Officer job would be nice

1. Christopher's parentals are up for a visit/to help us pack and move.
1a. Christopher's father is a FAST packer. 
1b. I was not given any fast packer genes, something that became quite evident after he packed the entire kitchen in half the time it took me to pack one closet.
1c. I choose to believe this is because I like to bubble wrap and tape everything within an inch of its life, and not because I am an inexperienced packer.
2. For the last month or so Christopher has been taken a special class at work. After seeing the graduation ceremony for my friend Kayla's husband, I prepared myself for all sorts of ceremony wonderfulness for my husband. (I don't know if I have mentioned it before, but I do enjoy a good Army ceremony.) There was not a chance in the world I would forget about it, but I wrote GRADUATION in very big letters on my calendar just so I could see it.  I pondered my graduation ceremony attire. I ensured the camera battery was charged.

Then the powers that be decided they didn't want "guests" at the graduation.

I was less than enthusiastic about their decision.

When Christopher told me I might not be able to attend, I offered to go as a Refreshments Officer. I was informed that my plan, while incredibly impressive (my words, not his), would not work at this event. I was slightly baffled at that because I have this theory that putting 'officer' in front of anything instantly puts one HIGH ON THE CHAIN OF COMMAND.

Apparently not.

3. Christopher got the Smarty Pants Award* for being the smartest his the class. Katie having the highest gpa of her graduating class and Christopher earning the Smarty Pants Award at his school can mean only one thing- I like to hang out with smart people.

*For those aspiring to military greatness, let me tell you something. If you ask your recruiter how to earn the Smarty Pants Award, you probably won't get anywhere because chances are he won't have heard of it. I, using the creativity given me by the Lord, came up with the name myself since I don't know the real name of the award. (While you're there, why not consider becoming a Refreshments Officer?)

You all have a lovely weekend.

Welcome to Packing Central

In former days we called it our living room. 

of apples and buffalo

To keep in the spirit of Fall activities, we went apple picking yesterday.

We had a special guest with us. (Please note how Baby's head is still attached.)

When we got to the orchard, we were presented with a myriad of activities. We did the corn maze first. It took all of 45 seconds.

Immediately after the below picture, Allison and I climbed up a small wooden tower in order to reach the yellow slide at the top. The slide was not made for people of my size, something I discovered when I got stuck immediately after entering.

Near the slide was a long tunnel that ended next to a twisty green slide. I convinced Allison it would be fun to crawl through and go down another slide. Once again I did not judge the size properly and only managed not to get stuck while crawling by wearing my sunglasses instead of having them atop my head. Half way through our long journey, a herd of wild buffalo entered the tunnel behind us. I turned around and saw four very loud little boys not three inches away from my face. They obviously had some place to be, but Allison was pondering each movement she made so I knew there was no chance we'd be out of there anytime time soon. The buffalo were getting antsy to get by us so I did the only thing I could think of- I started extolling the wonders of the yellow slide. I told them it was SO FUN! And VERY twisty! Even I went down it! After a brief conference among themselves, the herd of boys decided that if a "big kid" went down the slide, they could too. 

After going to slides and riding duckie carousels, we went on a tractor ride to the spot where we could pick apples. (It almost seemed like Allison didn't want to be in this picture with us because she REFUSED to look up.)

This picture makes me so happy. I think I'll stick Allison in my pocket and keep her forever.*

(* Do you think her parents would mind?) 

leaf peepers and birthday partiers

This weekend I introduced Christopher to leaf peeping. He had never heard of it before, so I proceded to educate him. I told him leaf peeping is the term used by authentic New Englanders when they go out to view the fall foliage. He remained skeptical and insisted that it sounded like we were about to do something sketchy. After driving 'round the countryside for upwards of four hours, he finally realized that it is indeed a innocent sport. You'd think in those four hours we'd have seen some real POPPING OFF THE TREES color, but no, we mostly saw a mixture of green and brown leaves, as well as a good number of naked trees. We did see some lovely views.

As we discovered at the end of our leaf peeping adventure, all the pretty colors were basically right outside our front door.

Leaf peeping was hardly the only activity for the day. Because Christopher will be at school on his birthday next month, I had a birthday party for him! 

Do you this it was slightly unnecessary for me to use 'me' and 'you' place cards when the only people attending the party were the two of us? Feel free to call me Queen of the Obvious.

We had a lovely meal of pot roast, cornbread, and fried okra. Mr. Almost Birthday Boy was very insistent that he did not want cake, ice cream, or dessert of any kind. I was very insistent that I absolutely would not host a birthday party without candles of some kind, because what's a birthday party without candle?? I refused to lose the candle battle, so I made us cupcakes out of cotton batting and felt with candles stuck in the top. They were very low calorie desserts. ;)

My friend Katie from church took my picture for me so I could make Christopher a photo album to bring with him to school.

After cupcakes with candles and gifts, we played Ping Pong. I let Christopher win both games because it was his party. 

The morals of today's post are thus: if you need someone to explain leaf peeping to you, I'm your girl. If you'd like a low-calorie birthday dessert made, just see me. If you'd like pointers at winning ping pong, look elsewhere.  

the tragedy at Babysitterville

The scene of the crime: the playground

The victim: Baby (how terrible does that sound??)

Eyewitness: Allison

Suspect: Sarah aka babysitter aka Mayor of Babysitterville aka me

Testimony: Around 11:04 on Monday, October 3rd 2011, Sarah and Allison were playing at the playground. More specifically, Sarah was pushing Allison on the swing. Sarah discovered that Allison thought it highly entertaining if she (Sarah) throw Baby up in the air and caught her as she came down. She repeated this process for at least ten (10) minutes. This brings us to 11:14. Sarah thought it would be brilliant to capture Allison's glee on film (or more accurately, on memory card) so once again she threw the baby up into the air. Unfortunately she failed to catch Baby.
Resulting actions: Sarah, by now the perpetrator of a terrible crime, scoped up both pieces of Baby and put them in the stroller in a way that made it seem as if everything was JUST DANDY, took Allison out of the swing, and walked home while feeling very guilty indeed. Sarah then proceeded to glue Baby's head back to her neck, as well as put a few stitches in the the back to give Baby a little more durability. All the while Allison looked at her beloved Baby who had, according to the criminal, "gotten a boo-boo but would be better VERY SOON". She kept looking at her headless Baby as if something was wrong but she couldn't quite figure out what. Meanwhile, Sarah discovered that the glue she was using was removing the nail polish off her fingernails giving Baby some lovely spots of burgandy All Nighter on her neck. Poor Baby was having a rough day.
End result: Baby has returned to her normal healthy state (although with slightly less mobility in her neck area), and Allison is happy and has barely noticed anything went wrong. Sarah has learned her lesson from the tragedy at the Babysitterville playground- for Pete's sake, don't throw a baby if you're not going to catch it!

October the 1st

I don't know if you looked at the calendar today, but it's

I personally am not overly excited about the date and even had a meeting wherein I asked September to please go on for a few more weeks, but I was not successful. The beginning of October means it's only a few weeks before Christopher goes off to a three month school and I go back home. It might be slightly sad. I might even cry. (see also: I am a girl so it's almost guaranteed there will be crying involved.)

In other news, today is Miss Ariela's two month birthday. I plan on spending a lot of quality time with her in the next three months.

I had this centerpiece on the kitchen table for the last few weeks.

I made the pumpkin out of a paper book. Christopher gave me two books he no longer wanted and since they were both the same size and I knew one had language in it, I chose the other.I didn't want a a profane pumpkin, something I think is completely understandable.  

When I told Christopher my book-picking logic, he said, "Well, the book you picked has unfaithfulness and adultery in it."

My poor pumpkin.