Boob splatter

I have big boobs. And if you have big boobs like me then you know that by the end of the day your husband can glance at your chest and know exactly where you were and what you had for lunch. They attract stains. So I got this Tide to go pen to keep in my purse. All large breasted women must go buy this because it has miracle powers. I have not dropped one bit of food or drink or copy toner or anything on the girls since I've been carrying the Tide pen in my purse. All hail the Tide pen! Tide, me and the girls are forever grateful.

Sponsored by

My husband is a manager for a local grocery store. He gets lots of free stuff from vendors trying to woo prime store floor space. I never know what I'm coming home to. Lately he's sported a Panthers jersey, put up a new patio umbrella (we have 3- Miller Lite, Ravenwood wines, and a plain one), and brought home a new turkey fryer. The latest prize was this cool fire pit. It's from a beer company. I love all the goodies but it got me thinking the other day that our kids will think it's weird when they go to people's houses and they don't see a brand name plastered on every lawn chair or drink cooler!

NY state of mind

We picked up Jon's parents from the airport this morning. They spent Thanksgiving in NYC since it was our turn to be with my side of the family. They had a big time and saw the parade and all the sights. We sent them to the big apple with our last digital camera. Still works great. So today when we drove them home I showed them how to upload their pictures and edit them on iPhoto. They came home with 241 pictures and were so psyched that they didn't have to carry film around with them and could see if they got a good shot right away. Ah, it's so satisfying to spread the love of digital cameras and the Mac around. Their little faces lit up when they successfully cropped photos and ran a slideshow. So cute.

Habit

I recently found out that I'm not the only one who routinely pokes earrings through my 2nd and 3rd ear holes on the off chance that 8th grade or 1985 comes back around and the need arises to hang multiple hoops or mismatched earring sets on my head.

Butter no parsnips

The night before Thanksgiving we ate out Chinese. Jon got the strangest fortune cookie. Made no sense to me. But Jon used to be a produce manager, so at least he knew what a parsnip was.

Thanksgiving went well. It was bittersweet though. Grandmommy used to chef up some of the best holiday food you've ever had. This year we brought dinner to her. So the menu was limited, dinner was quick, and there was 3 hours of driving. But Gmommy looked good and was glad to see us and had fun with the babies. I noticed the effects of the Alzheimers on her memory this visit. But she still had fun and that was the point. It was so strange to sit at the dining room table, the same table they've had since my mom was 11, and think about the house. The house will be sold soon. Gmommy raised her family there, gave us a home when my parents divorced, hosted us on numerous overnight trips, and has since emptied out. Our growth chart is still on the door of the back bedroom. I check it every time I'm there. I now wonder if it will be measuring other children's growth soon.

Happy Thanksgiving

From me, Jon, and our little turkeys.

Thankful

I hope everyone out there has a fabulous Thanksgiving!

Every year at Thanksgiving I make a list of what I'm thankful for. This year I'm thankful for:
~my wonderful family. I can't say enough about them. I love them so much for all their love, humor, dysfunction, silliness, and support.
~my incredible husband. I love him more every day and can't imagine me without him.
~our pugs. They really helped me through the hard parts of infertility. Made me feel like a mom even when my body failed me.
~Ling Ling. Our adoption keeps us motivated. We know you're out there baby girl. Every night I pray for you. Know we're coming to bring you home and that we love you like crazy already.
~the best friends in the world. Real life and bloggy. You guys give incredible support and it means the world. And my "regular" friends who are so not regular. You guys are amazing and are really family.
~faith and knowing that things really do happen for a reason.
~work. I love my job, my co-workers and my boss.
~our blessings. At some point during all the infertility and surgery woes I stopped and looked around and realized just how good I have it. To make a wonderful home with the man you love and be surrounded by love from your family and friends. I've got it made. And I thank God for that every single day.

Slip sliding away

My Grandmommy has been diagnosed with advanced Alzheimers. She is 69 years old. I've told you guys about her. She's the one who just went on an Alaskan cruise in June. She's the best. She's always been there for us and has done nothing but love us, asking for not a thing in return. This is breaking my heart. The last year and a half she's been slipping away right before our eyes. But at first no one thought Alzheimers. That's for old people! She's on a rapid decline though and the doctors made my mom and aunt take away Gmommy's car keys and credit cards. The family is preparing her house for sale and she'll be moving in with my aunt. She can't drive anymore and it freaks her out to stay overnight in someone elses house so this Thanksgiving we'll be taking her out to lunch and back home again. It kills me that she won't ever really know my kids. And one day, she might not even know me.

Oh, baby

Yesterday I babysat my nephew Joey while my sister and other nephew Jake went to see my Grandmommy. Joey doesn't do so well on long car rides just yet. He was so good though and we had a big time. Sara told me later that I taught Joey a new trick- so big! Where he throws his arms up in the air on command. Watching him all day was good practice. I was going on very little sleep from the late Harry Potter showing the night before. But we made it through just fine. Poor Jake, on the other hand, was sporting a shiner from an unfortunate run in with a kitchen cabinet. Ouch!

Fire pirate

Harry Potter was excellent. The theatre was packed and we had a great time. Before the show started they had fire pirates. You know how much I love pirates so I was psyched. Turns out they don't pillage or anything, but they do swing firey balls around their heads. Click the pics to enlarge.

Media

It really cracks me up that part of my job duties include adding songs to the iPod. My boss will call me and I'll be taking down notes as to what email to send, what memo to print, which songs he wants. He told me not to tell anyone that he just bought the new Carrie Underwood cd and he wants me to upload that as well as Usher and the Bee Gees to the iPod. You can keep a secret can't you, internet? ;)

In other media news... tonight I'm going to see the new Harry Potter with Shannon and a bunch of other grown ups. I asked if we were supposed to dress up at all, but I think we're passing on that much involvement. Although I do still have face paints if anyone wants a lightning bolt tattoo!

Scenes from the crib

Ok so I still can't talk about the big deal, mainly because if it goes sour then I'll have to be all sad telling everyone about how it went sour. So humour me and let me kept it vague for now.
In the meantime I have some things to show you. I'm sure you know by now, but click on the pic to enlarge.
#1. I have successfully managed to keep a pot full of pansies alive, for now. There's also a gerber daisy in there that was doing great until Carl the Squirrel came and at its head. I know it was you Carl, and payback is a bitch. #2. I now present to you quite possibly the cutest pug photo ever. Ike & Kea lounging. They love to hang out on top of the sofa cushions. The ones that are supposed to be as tall or taller than the back of the sofa, but are now squished down and pitiful. This is why we don't buy $4000 sofas.
#3. My husband, God love him, is a stacker. I went to the bathroom last night to get ready for bed and came upon this sight. Jon had taken every roll of bath tissue that has been produced state side and stacked on our tissue roll holder. I'm fairly sure the sign at IKEA said it would hold like 4 rolls. My boy likes to plan ahead. Yep, they go all the way to the ceiling.

It's a God thing

There is something crazy going on here that I'll tell y'all about in a few days once I get more info. It is totally freaking my freak though and has to do with me and Jon being parents. Til then I'll leave you with:
-LOST is coming on tonight and I've never been so excited to be stressed out for an hour each week.
-I was practicing my Chinese the other night and Amy at China East said I was doing well. I got back in the car and continued practicing and Jon said I sound like Jar Jar Binks.

Jive turkey

Ok, so I usually don't get all political or soap boxy but I just gotta say something. Since when did Thanksgiving turn into Christmas Shopping Eve? I'm so sick of seeing Christmas stuff before Halloween and Thanksgiving skipped right over and treated as the big meal just before hitting the mall. One of our local malls is actually opening at 1am the morning after Thanksgiving. And it used to be a holiday where people got to spend time with their families, but yet again this year my husband will be at work on Thanksgiving, then back at work at 4am the next day. Please do not go to your local grocery store on Thanksgiving day, because if you do then they'll think they need to be open and he can't be home with his family. And I know, I know, he could always get another job. But just about everything in public service is skipping the holidays. Jack in the box is open 24 hrs on Thanksgiving. It's supply and demand. Everything used to close for Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is the same day every year. If you forgot the cranberries or the gravy, go without. You had 364 other days to shop and plan. It's annoying now, but it's going to be really sad when our girls come home and Daddy has to work on a "holiday". I remember when Thanksgiving was the fun, relaxed holiday where we'd all pile in to the car and go to my grandma's, eat too much, then spend 3 days hanging out with the family watching movies, taking naps, and leafing through those thick holiday catalogs dog ear-ing all the pages with our Christmas wishes circled and starred. I swear, when my little family is complete I'm going to do all I can to recreate that. There's something kind of peaceful driving through town when everything is closed down for a holiday. There's nothing I love more than a full, busy holiday house. And a grocery store with a closed sign out front.

Be my guest

I love having house guests. Lisa and Pete are coming in just a couple of weeks for a long weekend and I'm already in full list making prepare mode! I love making plans for the activities of each day, preparing the room, etc. I'd like to think I provide my guests with a nice place to stay. I make sure they have clean matching towels, little soaps, shampoos, extra toothbrushes and razors, bath gels, cups for water etc. But when I was recently a guest at Casa de Shanahan I realized I'm missing something. The luggage rack! Now, I wonder do they sell these or will I have to break in to a local hotel? Of course while I'm there I can snag some more tiny toiletries!

p.s. I also changed my ticker for the time being. Recent adoption rumours put our trip at over a year away and that's just a little daunting. So I'm just going to focus on more short term countdowns for now.

Gimme the light

I have 2 new obsessions: Candelas and Lampe Berger. Last year we stayed with Jon's aunt and uncle for a few days and they had a lampe Berger and I fell in love. It's this fragrance lamp that has a cool ceramic wick type thing that you burn for 2 minutes then blow out. Then it does some sort of catalytic conversion and boom your whole house smells marvelous. It has scented oil in it and lasts forever apparently. It should. They aren't cheap. But they smell different than candles or incense or the like. Very light and clean. And they come in all shapes and colors and brands, so they are sometimes called effusion lamps, fragrance lampes or lamps, etc.
The other object of my desire is a set of Candelas. I've drooled over these for a couple of years now. They are like candles but are rechargeable, last forever, don't burn you or your house down, and can go anywhere without making a mess. What's not to love? Again, not cheap, but consider it an investment. So if you happen upon a millionaire who asks you what I'd like for Christmas beyond the obvious (a totally financed adoption, iPod, iBook, nursery full of furniture, etc) please direct them to my wish list over at the right.

Drive & prejudice

Tonight I saw a movie at a theatre for the first time in ages. I'd forgotten how crowded it can get! We saw Pride & Prejudice and it was just wonderful. I swear, Kiera Knightly couldn't be any more gorgeous. The movie theatre is only 3 exits down on the highway from my house. I somehow got on going the wrong way and it took me a half hour to get home. Ooh, here's a Christmas gift idea: GPS, or a compass at least!

Just smile and nod

My Dad was sort of normal on this trip. Normal for him anyway. Oh, the red sequin dress- he doesn't know who's it is. He said he grabbed the wrong suitcase. But it's not his wife's. Ok. See, he says a lot of stuff like that and you learn just to smile and nod because any further investigating and you'll hear too much and your brain will explode because nothing makes sense. The tire was for my uncle. That's fine. I'm not asking why my uncle needs just one tire. Lisa doesn't understand the smile and nod technique. She wants to completely understand things. I get that. But when both she and my dad were in town last she learned quickly.

"Jon, you know when you're driving into Georgia from Florida and just across the state line is that huge tree by the highway?"

Yep, yep sure do. Jon and I both nodded while Lisa looked on bewildered. We got back in the car and she accused us of not knowing about the tree. Of course not! If we slipped and said what tree? we'd still be there!

This trip we smiled and nodded at: *disclaimer* I love my Dad. It's been a long, hard road. Too much for a blog post. We've had a rough, ROUGH, past but we're trying to get over that so he can be a Grandpa. But some things you just have to laugh at or you'd just cry.

"That's back when I was having some mental problems after my car wreck."

"Wow, look at those leaves falling." Well, it is fall.

"Yeah I told Marilyn (current wife) that up til now I'd just been practicing being married." Nice. Esp considering you were married to MY MOTHER.

Jake was yelling in his direction "Gunpa! Gunpa!", Dad looks at me "Who's he talking to?"

During a conversation about Johnny Depp where Dad had just told us he'd seen just about all of JD's movies cause JD is his favorite actor and I'd just asked if anyone knew when the next Pirates of the Caribbean was being released cause I just loved him in that role: "You know, I think Johnny Depp was in some movie about pirates."

And my favorite:
"Well they're trying to figure out if I'm disabled cause of being poisoned with mustard gas at that plant in Allendale with your uncle when we were working that government contract. We think that's what caused my psoriasis. Or if it was from being in the Navy."

Oh, and for you, today, a bonus. Click on the picture up there to enlarge and you'll see the divots. The reason why my BIL exclaimed upon meeting my dad for the first time "That man looks like someone beat him in the head with a golf shoe!". Yep, that's what happens when a hair transplant goes horribly, horribly wrong. People, this man has been married 4 times. Not everyone can be this sexy.

Ass Hands

We're about to leave to go to visit with my dad at my sister's for his last day in town. So I leave you with a post from Feb. 2004. Lisa has mentioned this story in a couple of comments lately so I thought I'd rerun it so I could humiliate myself for the enjoyment of any and all new viewers. Here goes...and click on the pictures...if you dare.

Lisa says I have more stories than anyone she knows. Well get ready to hear one now. I didn't start this blog til August of 2001, and by then Jon and I had been married 5 months. So I haven't documented all of our pre-marital escapades. I thought with Valentine's day coming up it's a perfect time to tell you all about how my newly engaged excitement almost got me banned from Target.

Jon proposed in August of 1999. Waaaay before we had a digital camera. A friend who lives in another state wanted to see my ring. So I took my regular camera and turned my left hand toward me and took a picture. I took the film to Target and went back a couple hours later to pick it up. I rifled through my pictures and couldn't find the ring picture, or the index print. So I called the photo dude over and asked where it was. He checked my name and looked at me with squinty eyes and said "We don't develop those kinds of pictures." I was all confused. I said "You don't develop pictures of jewelry?" Now he was confused. So he went to his Offensive Photo Drawer and pulled out my missing prints.

**Now is when I need to describe to you something you may not have given much thought to. With a traditional camera, the viewfinder is just a few millimeters off from the lens. So anything you take a picture of is just ever so slightly off from what you saw in the viewfinder. Especially close up shots. And you don't know how the picture turns out until you pick them up from the developer. Back to the story.

Photo Dude lays my prints down on the counter. This is what I was going for (sort of- I had to recreate the scene for you since I don't have the original pictures. Photo Dude wouldn't let me have them):

But what I ended up with was what you get when your camera takes a picture of your short, chubby fingers instead of your ring: .
Our friends loved hearing about this later that night and one gave me the oh so glam nickname of Ass Hands. I had to hear about that one for quite a while!

Shi-tz on you

My dad breeds dogs. Today we went with him to deliver 3 tiny daschund puppies to a pet store owner in Asheville, NC. This is a family run pet store and they only buy dogs from breeders, no puppy mills. Sara, Jake, and I piled into my dad's truck with the 3 puppies, my dad and his bulldog Sally. The puppies were really sweet and loved hanging out with Jake on the way there and even took a little nap. While at the pet store we played with the other puppies for sale and I fell in love with these tiny tea cup chihuahuas. So teeny! I also played with a little shi tzu who was so sweet until he earned his name by leaving me a little smudge on my shirt. ew. So that was the normal part of my day.

It started by being barked awake by the pugs because my father had locked himself out of my house at the crack of dawn and was banging on the door. He had unloaded his beverly hillbilly truck in my driveway and needed to store some things in the garage for the day including: 4 suitcases, a red sequined dress, a tire, and some boots. So he asked me to hit the garage door button. I did and the door went up halfway then stopped with a nice screeching sound. He forgot to tell me he'd turned some lever from the other side of the door. Nice. I fiddled with that for a few minutes with his "help" until I could get the door all the way open so I could get my car out. Then I had to run and take a quick shower before picking up my mom to take her to a drop off point where she'd be picked up by a co-worker to go to an out of town conference. I show up to her house on time, but not so pretty, and a little freaked out about having to tell my husband that my father broke our garage door, only to find my mom in wet hair and a nightgown. Just then I get a call from my sister saying they are turning on to my street. Cheese and rice! I got my mom dropped off and got home to find the garage door "fixed" and everyone ready to go. Once I was satisfied that the door would open and shut and only after my dad told me "Yeah, I saved you by fixing this door!"- what? saved me? no, slick you saved yourself a big bill and an ass whooping- we got on the road. An hour or so into the trip and our father is bragging about how he gets discounts on camp sites since he's totally disabled, a veteran, and completely handicapped. AND HE'S DRIVING. I drove home and I swear if my house had an open bar me and the bar keep would be best friends by now.

Captain Hero

My dad is coming in to town tonight for a few days. He's staying with us tonight. We haven't been under the same roof overnight in over 17 years. Yep, Florida's version of Disco Stew with his head divots, neck furters, googly eyes, head twitches and all will be here in less than 2 hours. He's bringing 4 dogs AND I hear he's got one of those scooters now on the count of his bad knees. He's a love machine. People, if you want entertainment, if you like funny stories, if you want to pee yourself laughing, you need to come over right away. I promise to post pictures as soon as I can. I've taken the next 2 days off work to hang with the leader of the eccentric side of our family. Pray for me.

My sadistic lover

Saturday Morgan and I hopped in the car and drove to Atlanta so I could return my too wide roman shades I bought last month at IKEA. We ran into a marathon on the way there, and that slowed us up a bit. We made one gas stop (at the castle so Morgan could get her picture with a knight) and made it to Atlanta in good time. Then we got there and shopped and things were looking good. We left and got on the highway. About 30 minutes into the trip home I realized we were heading straight for Chattanooga- a charming city in a state where I do not live. I turned around and on the way back to the correct highway we stopped off at Starbucks. We got on the road and everything was fine. We made a gas/coke/bathroom stop an hour into the drive. About an hour later I started noticing that whatever town we were passing had eerily similar stores as Atlanta. Yep, I got on the highway going the wrong way. When I turned around I realized we were within 15 miles of IKEA. We'd now been traveling for almost 3 hours and had in essence driven 15 miles. Damn IKEA and its magnetic pull! Somewhere around Commerce, GA we made another quick stop and you guessed it, I somehow managed to go South again instead of North. But I caught myself after just a couple minutes. We left IKEA at 5pm. We got home at midnight. It's normally a 3.5-4 hour drive. And guess what? My roman shades are 5 inches too short. Why? Why do you torture me so IKEA?

Anatomy of a flapjack

Ok so apparently I used a term not many of you have heard of in my last post. I shall explain the origins of pancake skin. We like to go to this place called Courtney's for breakfast. We haven't been in a long while due to budgeting, but we did treat ourselves this week. I'd forgotten how big the pancakes are. I'd ordered one granola pancake to go with my scrambled eggs. I buttered and syruped it up and ate out all the buttered syruped granola'd bits leaving the fluffing stuffing pancake meat on the plate. Then I was full. Jon takes care of whatever I can't eat but he was less than thrilled to see I'd eaten all the good stuff (the skin) and left just the regular flavored meat behind. He ate it anyway, and he'd already eaten a full granola pancake of his own, so it's not like he survives on my scraps or anything.
So, no, it's not a SC thing. I think it's just an early in the morning term when you can't figure out what to call the good stuff brown part of the pancake vs. the plain pancake innards.

#835

Reason #835 why I love my boy: He lets me eat the pancake skin with all the good granola bits then finishes off the rest for me.

Fair weather pug

Ike is a big daddy's boy and loves to watch football with his dad. He wears his mini Vikings jersey and cuddles up on the sofa hoping to catch a stray chip or two. Ike hasn't been to happy with the Vikings' record lately, on or off the field. Hmmm, we may have to be on the lookout for a mini Carolina Panthers or Gamecocks jersey!

Big Pimpin

When I find something I like I must share. Sharing is caring right? First I want to sing the praises of Kodak Easy Share Gallery. For each holiday that I send out a pug card I shop around and find coupon codes and choose the cutest card for the best price. Price usually wins. This Halloween there wasn't much to choose from that was cute or a new design. I ended up going with Kodak as I had a coupon code for 20% off and they had the cutest card. Well, time gets away from me. So it was Wednesday before Halloween before I even took the pugs' pictures. We had our photo shoot around noon, I ran upstairs and uploaded the photos and ordered the cards. Lo and behold if my order wasn't sitting outside my door the very next morning at 9:30am! Now, I did pay a couple dollars extra for quicker shipping, but I didn't spring for the priority get it to me in 12 hours service! I couldn't believe it. So Thursday I was able to address and send out all the cards and most of them made it to their destinations by Halloween and I still looked like I was all organized and prepared for the holidays! Speaking of, if you'd like a pug card sent to your home email me your address and I'll put you on the list! The next card will be for Thanksgiving. I'll be including an adoption update with the card. But the bottom line of this story is that Kodak rocks.
Secondly, but firstly in my heart AWWW!, I really appreciate all of you who read my blog. I started blogging in August 2001 as an easy way to journal. I never imagined the fun I would have or the people I'd meet or the friends I'd make. You guys rock. Thanks so much for leaving comments and sending emails and letting me know you're out there.
Thirdly? Thirdly sounds weird, but I guess that's the word. Back to picture taking. I want to share with you guys this link. Click here and sign up with dotphoto.com and you'll get 100 free prints. I ordered mine last night so we'll see how they turn out. I ordered 110 4x6 prints and 2 5x7 prints and with shipping it was only $5.88. Not a bad deal chickopees.
#4: Adoption news! It seems that CCAA - China Center for Adoption Affairs- is estimating that it will now take around 12 months from LID to travel. Meaning, we should have our dossier finished and sent off to China by February latest. It had been taking about 6-7 months for a referral from the time dossiers are logged in (LID). Then you travel 6-8 weeks after that. Well now it looks like we may not get to China until 2007. I was bummed at first but there's nothing I can do. It's totally out of my control so there's no use whining and crying. I'd like to think that it may mean a better chance of us getting twins. I do know it means we have a few extra months to save money and get the house ready and throw wild parties and whatnot. It just seems like such a long time before our girls come home.
5: I didn't want to end on a sad note. So here's a Yo Mama joke: Yo mama so stupid she put a peep hole in a glass door.

I see you baby

There's been some stats talk lately. Bloggers asking their readers to come out and comment. I wonder if all readers know that we know they are reading? If you didn't know, I use a service called Stat Counter. It tells me what country, state, and city you live in, how you got to my site, how long you stayed, what pages you looked at, where you access my blog from (work, home, library, etc). It's really interesting. I am always amused and intrigued when I see that someone from another country has visited. And how are you guys getting any work done? =) There's a whole list of employers on my stats sheet (including my old employer- yes I know you read my blog, I've always known). It's all very interesting to me- someone from the National Potato Board stopped by recently. Just so you know, I am a big fan of the spud. I get a lot of readers from medical centers & universities. Makes me wonder if I'm part of some top secret study! Ha! So, come out, come out. Leave a comment, send an email. I love to hear from you and I promise to answer. Any questions? Fire away! And thanks for stopping by, I hope your stay was enjoyable and that maybe you even cracked a smile or two.

Superhottie

Not too long ago I was in the den watching one of my favorite shows. The main character bent over in front of a man on the show. The man was married to a super skinny woman. When the main character bent over I heard from behind me "Woo, now he's getting a good look at a real woman!". Jon had walked in and was watching the show too. So I asked him what he thought about the main character's looks. He said he thinks she's a good representation of what a normal woman looks like and that she's attractive, that she reminds him of me. I asked would he go out with her, and he said sure thing cause she's hot. We were watching Super Nanny! My boy thinks Super Nanny is hot! How cute is that? Thank the Lord I don't have to compete with the Paris Hiltons of the world!