The old college try

We're are going to attempt to go to the beach tonight. I'm still bleeding, but the dr says there is nothing more they can do for me without me missing the wedding. So I'm going, then when we get back my Dr. said she will discuss our options. Oy. I'll have my crackberry with me, so I won't be out of touch. I'll just stay out of the water so I don't attract sharks!

Pillow Talk

We are in bed discussing my current situation. Jon just said to me "this isn't your fault and there is nothing you can do so try not to get upset. You've got to just go with the flow.
Ooh wait. Bad choice of words. "
Heh. He is such a good husband. He changed back into street clothes from pjs to make a jack in the box run for me and has been a great nurse. Part of his reward will be that he won't have to shave if we make it to my moms wedding. Fingers crossed. Course jon is just amazed that anything or anyone could bleed this much and live. That's me miss freak of nature!
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Snooze

Molly is a champion nap taker. She's been great the last couple days snuggling with me while I've been trapped on the sofa. I love how she'll sleep with her arms sticking straight out!

Who knew?

That Brittany Murphy could sing? But she can. She's teamed up with DJ Paul Oakenfold on Faster Kill Pussycat. Click here to listen.

Update: still no change with me. Hoping drugs will kick in quick, fast, and in a hurry. I wanna be with my family at the beach!

Hospice & PCOS

I spoke with my Nanny this week and my Pappy is on hospice. They are giving him 3-6 mos, but it is doubtful he'll go the full 6. I'm going to try and go to Florida to see him soon.

My PCOS is kicking my @ss again. I realize that this is a blog published on the internet and therefore I censor some things. But I've gotten some really supportive emails from fellow PCOSers and I've realized I should share more. If you aren't familiar with PCOS- Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, click here for more info. I have most of the symptoms. The main one I'm dealing with right now is bleeding. I don't have a regular period. Example: Since last August I've had my period in August, January for 2 weeks, Feb for the last 2 weeks of the month, March for the first 3 weeks of the month, and now for the last 3 weeks. When it gets really prolonged and heavy I've had to have d& c's and am usually put on a ton of meds. The problem right now, besides the constant bleeding, nausea, headaches, backaches, cramps, and did I mention bleeding?, is that my mom is getting married on a beach next week and I intend on being there. However, if I don't stop bleeding by Tuesday my doctor won't let me go and I may end up in the hospital again for another d&c. Fun! So I'm picking up a new prescription today and will be taking iron supplements to fend off anemia until the bleeding (hopefully) stops. Cross your fingers for me!

New duds for Ling Ling

While in Baltimore, Lisa gave me some gifts she'd been saving for Ling Ling. First is this adorable ladybug cd holder complete with tons of Disney and kids' cds. I'm so excited about this as I have no kids' music yet. She also gave me this adorable dress in the best colors. I love how all the ladybugs are different colors. And it comes with bloomers which I love. And listen to this- she ordered one, but 2 came. Obviously a sign from the retail gods that yes indeed we will be getting twins. I've already picked out the hair bows and shoes they will wear with this outfit. Now, for the cutest thing I've ever seen with my own eyes: How cute is this?!? I love how the little ladybugs will go over her little girl boobies. And the bottoms have ruffles all across the back. Thank goodness they don't make this in adult sizes or we'd be quite the site at the beach. And those would have to be the biggest ladybugs ever. It would look like I was under attack!

The big 3-0

Today is my sister Sara's 30th birthday! We went to dinner and saw "American Haunting". Nothing like a scary movie to help you sleep at night! I can't believe Sara is already 30. Seems like just yesterday she was a little punk kid! Happy Birthday SAM! I love you!

Bon Voyage

Things I adore about traveling:
-staying in hotels. I love the towels, the little bottles of lotion and shampoo, the way the tissue is folded into a V.
-Sky Mall magazine.
-Walking down the gang plank to the plane.
-Airport people watching.
-Airport moving sidewalks.
-Airport gift & magazine stores.
-Checking out the products in your host's bath tub. I'm always interested to see what kind of shampoo, etc. that people use.
-Little kids pulling little suitcases on little wheels.
-Trying new restaurants. It blows my mind why anyone would eat at a chain restaurant while on vacation.
-Checking out local grocery stores or W@lmart. I love to see what products are available in different areas.
-The crowd of people waiting to pick up travelers at the airport. Their expectant, excited faces.
-Travel sized products.
-Packing.

Things I don't understand/get/like about traveling:
-Why luggage isn't available/popular in every color of the rainbow. You get off the plane and stand there watching 937 pieces of black luggage go by. Every so often there is a blue, red, or floral suitcase, but mostly they are black. At baggage claim Sunday night I saw this family with 3 kids. They all had different brightly colored rolling duffels from LL Bean. They could spot their luggage from a mile away. Smartest traveling family ever.
-The last place in an airport where we rely on the honor system is baggage claim. You can walk in from the street and take any bag you want. There is no security. I mean, I guess you run the risk of stealing a bunch of dirty laundry, but still, it is all up for grabs. I think it shows that when it comes right down to it, people are mostly good.
-How women travel wearing stilettos. Thank goodness for my Crocs.
-Unpacking.

Walking down the concourse of an airport always reminds me of just how many people there are in the world. We get so caught up in our own little worlds. I think it does some good to get out there and see how other people live.
My 2 favorite things about traveling are getting there and exploring, and coming home.

Operation Birthday Surprise Trip

Success! Lisa was surprised and we had a great time! Wow, so much to talk about on this trip.
Friday Lisa and I tooled around town getting a fabulous pedicure (cheap!), eating breakfast at our usual spot (the waitress always remembers me), checking out this cool Asian market.
I love a trip when I see and experience things I've never seen before in my life. Like the word "Guts" on a store sign. We picked up Pete from work then went to dinner at this great Asian diner. Then we ran home and packed up for our trip to Atlantic City! We checked in to our hotel and hit the boardwalk. I'd never been to AC so this was all new and exciting! We went to Bally's for a while and then had a midnight snack at Johnny Rockets
before heading back to our room.
SaturdayWe woke up and took our baths in the fabulous in room GINORMOUS jacuzzi tub. Then hit the boardwalk again.
We saw a guy arguing with the air, then ringing the air's neck after warning said air about air's upcoming death. We stopped in the little shops and played a couple of the boardwalk games. I saw AC's version of a rickshaw. This guy pushing a 3 wheeled cart you could ride in. I could never hire one of those, I'd feel so bad for the pusher!
Later we went to the Tropicana, which really reminded me of Vegas with all the shops and restaurants.
We had lunch at Cuba Libre, which was fantastic. Then we hit the casino. I found penny slot machines. So fun! I was busy for hours with just $10! I didn't win big, but Lisa did pretty well at roulette. We had a big time then hit the road for Baltimore. Once we got home we went to Lisa's old elementary school for a spring carnival, then dinner at the Double T Diner which was full of people who'd just come back from Preakness. I love people watching in a diner.
SundayWe woke up and met up with Laura and Brandon for brunch at Nick's on the water. Then we stopped in at W@lmart so I could pick up some Tasty Kakes & Utz chips for Jon.
Yep, before I left Jon showed me the ones he wanted online and sent me on the plane with an empty bag so on the ride home I was to check my 2 luggage pieces then carryon the snack bag. I'm a snack mule. After W@lmart we went to check out Laura & Brandon's new house. They are doing so much work. It is going to be great! I'm always interested when I travel to be able to compare home costs city vs city. When we got to their house I klutzed out and tripped going up the front steps. It wasn't a horrible fall (though my knee is hurting pretty good now) but it was made all the more dramatic because I had just opened a ginger ale that flew everywhere. Jon said the picture looked like a CSI crime scene. We went back to Lisa's and hung out chatting until it was time for me to go. I was sad to leave but happy to get home to my boy and my puggies. Oh, and my sweet tea of course.

Home

I made it home safely. Upon my arrival I was mobbed by pugs. Ad a great time in Baltimore. Took lots of pictures. Will post soon. Am very sleepy. Xoxo the cracky cream snack cake mule
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Surprise!

I'm so excited- I just pulled off one of the biggest surprises I've planned for a friend! Tomorrow is Lisa's birthday. In March Jon told me I could come up for Lisa's birthday weekend since we can't visit for a week in the summer like we usually do (with the adoption budget and what not). So I cashed in some miles (we realized we'll never have enough to get to China) and worked it out with Pete, Lisa's boyfriend, and her sister and flew up to Baltimore! I got in around 8 and Lisa's sister Laura and her dad picked me up from the airport. Then we met up with Lisa and Pete at a restaurant. Laura and Dad walked in and I waited a couple minutes then I walked in. Lisa's eyes were big as saucers and she was all confused as to how I got here. I'm so happy we pulled it off- Lisa is hard to surprise. We're going to tool around Baltimore tomorrow then Saturday we're going to Atlantic City for the day! I'm so excited! I'm doing a mini tour of the Mid Atlantic States!

Finales

My poor little knock off tivo is so worn out. First 3 hours of sob inducing Grey's Anatomy. (which by the way is moving to Thursday nights next season- a little insider tip I picked up reading the writers' blog- yes I'm that obsessed). Then LOST tonight. And Top Model. I won't loose any spoilers in case someone's got it recorded. I can't wait for the LOST finale next week, although it falls on my sister's 30th birthday so that's rather inconvenient. Looks like knock off tivo will be put back to work.

Speaking of finales, the wild life in my yard have had a few lately. DaBrie, our black cat (yes we do have 2 cats, they just aren't as hammy as the pugs), brought me a little birdie for a present last week. While I understand it is the thought that counts, she doesn't understand that our decor doesn't lend itself to dead bird. And there's always my mom's voice yelling in my head "Don't touch it! You'll get dead bird disease!". I was out with the pugs on a potty break when I noticed a piece of mulch hopping around. It was a frog. So I pet him and he let me then I picked him up and noticed he was missing his left hand and his left leg below the knee. I brought him in and was going to doctor him up wtih hydrogen peroxide, neosporin, and a jaunty wee bandage, but Jon put the kibosh on that one. Said I wasn't doing much for the frog's blood pressure and just to release him cause he'd be a sitting duck and probably couldn't hop if he were covered with gauze and medical tape. Good point. Then the other morning I went to take the pugs out and there on my deck was a wee baby bird, still covered in fur, no feathers, with a ginormous beak. A beak way too big for its little face. He was dead but I brought him inside anyway and tried to warm him up. Too bad I didn't have a tiny set of heart paddles. I could have yelled clear and he could have sputtered to life. I didn't know what to do with him so I left him on the kitchen counter for Jon to deal with. Cap'n Jon McSafetyPants looooved that one. He came home from work, took one look at lil Petey, and started yelling about bird flu and how I've surely doomed us all. The road to my husband's high blood pressure was paved with good intentions I swear.

Creepy commercials

Have y'all seen those ads from Charles Schw@b that are animated but still realistic? Shudder. They totally creep me out. I adore animation. And I love the technological advances that make animation so realistic- like when you can see all of Chicken Little's feathers. But I don't want some pissed off bald guy or some angry middle aged woman complaining to me about their brokers if they aren't real people!

Photographic Evidence

*click on all pics to enlarge. You guys know that by now right? I'm gonna quit typing that every time.
1. Evidence that my subscription to Real Simple is justified. I actually used a tip. I read that is you have leftover wax from a scented candle you can put it in a glass bowl and warm that bowl on your coffee maker and that it will make your house smell good.. It works. And now I know how to do something with the coffee maker. Just don't ask me to make coffee, they didn't cover that in in this month's issue.
2. That for at least one day, the day I cleaned out and organized the pantry, I knew exactly how many cans of cream of mushroom soup we had on hand. 17. We really need to quit buying cream of mushroom soup.
3. That sibling rivalry starts young. Jake and Joey were fighting over who got to drink out of the fancy plastic cup at Gmommy's birthday party Sunday. I LOVE how JoJo is licking the cup, as if to say- dude, you can drink from it, but it is mine. This photo is also evidence that I have the worst case of baby brain. The only pictures I took at my Gmommy's 70th birthday party and Mother's Day gathering were of these two boys who are neither 70 nor mothers.
4, That Molly must be related to Yoda. Look at that sweet face! And those ears! At the vet today she weighed in at 8.38 lbs. My baby is growing up way too fast.

Breakin the law with Me Maw

We spent the day at my Grandmommy's house. She lives about 2 hours south. Today is also her 70th birthday so my aunt and uncle and their 2 kids came over and we had a big cook out. My cousins are 13 and 17 and they call Gmommy MeMaw. Shudder. I hate that word. The whole scene today was a little bit redneck and a dash of surreal. We drove up and there's Gmommy out in the yard standing over a bonfire with a rake. Her boyfriend who lives in a trailer on her property is standing there hooked up to his oxygen tank. They're both smoking. Yikes.
We reminded her why we were there and got her inside the house. We visited for a while then everyone settled in to watch a bootleg copy of Ice Age 2 that my cousin scored from some guy on the side of the road. It was like watching a movie from the 1930's- all dark around the edges. You could tell it was a bootleg for sure when right in the middle of the screen it said "Low Battery". Heh.
My girl cousin showed off her new tounge ring and her live in boyfriend. They live with his parents. They are both wearing wedding rings, yet they aren't married. Yet. She's 17, he's 21. He was super nice and polite though. You could tell that boy was raised right. Now, if they could just not wear matching Dixie t-shirts with scary dogs on them that say "If my right don't getcha my left will." Whatever that means. After lunch but before cake and ice cream, Jake came in the house holding a pair of pliers and some pine straw. He called it his flower. So cute.
Every so often during our day we'd have to go out in the yard and find Gmommy. She lives on 3 wooded acres and likes to burn stuff so sometimes it would take a while. I asked what she was burning and she said "Everything I can."
When it was time to blow out her candles we said Make a wish! She said "I wish I was in bed!". I swear, if we didn't laugh we'd all be crying!
Happy Mother's Day!

Super Productive Organization Day!

I cleaned out and organized my pantry today. I threw out food that had expired as far back as 2004. Some jars of stuff that hadn't even been opened. Then I organized it all Sleeping with the Enemy style. I took a pictue I was so proud. Then I realized, who wants to see that?
I also did the same for our bookcase. It's a ginormous one and it was covered in a good 2 feet of dust. I've got a huge pile of books ready for our yard sale. Oh yeah, we're having another yard sale. Me and Shannon are joining forces again in a couple of weeks. It's way more fun if you include a friend. I'm so in the purging zone. I can't wait to get rid of all my junk, I mean, treasures that would look lovely in your home, You know, if you're in the area and want to shop in my driveway.

All fired up

I'm so in a fight right now but I can't tell you all the details. It has to do with a project we're working on. I can't reveal it for a while cause of privacy issues- some real life people read this blog and we don't want them to know what's in the works yet. But you'll get the gist of it. Ok, so I'm working with some people on a project and one of the options I had was let's say beads. So they gave me 2 choices in beads, blue and red. I went with blue cause it was better than the red, although it wasn't my favorite. Then the day after I made my choice I found out they offered a purple bead. I had asked for a purple one repeatedly and they said it wasn't offered. Many calls were made and one call in particular got me so fired up I can't stand it. I was talking with a man we'll call Bob. I had to tweak the conversation a bit to fit the bead scenario, but his insults are still the same.

Me: Hi! I'm a customer and I chose the blue bead the other day but the day after I saw the purple was available and I would like to change my option to the purple one.
Bob: The purple isn't an option.
Me: Really? Well, then why is it in the catalog if it isn't an option?
Bob: You see ma'am, the designers put the catalog together in an appealing fashion to lure the customer in. They try and make the catalog look as attractive as possible, but not all of their touches are available as options.
Me: Yes, Bob, I understand that there will be design elements in the catalog, but the catalog clearly shows this as an option. I even took a picture of it.
Bob: Ma'am, you may think you saw a purple bead, and you may think you took a picture of a purple bead, but trust me, there is no purple bead.

So now I'm pissed. What? Like I'm drunk or blind and don't know what I saw? I took a friggin picture!!!! Let me tell you, this ain't over. I'll be getting my purple bead, and I'm not paying for it! And Bob will be lucky if he has a job!

Later today Bob called me back. -Ma'am, there is a purple bead. But it is a test bead. You can ask if you can have it for $100. But there are no guarantees. And you said it was a green bead, not purple. It is a purple bead.
Arrggh! I want to ring his neck.
Other people at his company have since told me, oh yeah, there's a new bead, a purple one. And even the regional director is involved working on getting me the purple bead. Bob's going down. Going down like a submarine baby!

Pug o' my heart

Pugs are taking over the world! Muhahaha! It is true, they started with my house, and now they are appearing in soap, tv shows- Mimi La Rue is a constant cast member on Tori Spelling's show So NoTORIous (which I love by the way), everywhere. This picture is a photo of a picture I saw in a model home today. They're even taking over decorating! The LA Times even wrote an article about how fashionable they are. We are constantly seeing them in commercials lately. I'm not sure why my beautiful Kea hasn't been discovered for tv or movie fame yet, but I suppose her time is coming.

Dear America,

I trusted you. I texted the word VOTE to Chris Daughtry's number and I thought you would too. I'm shocked. Shocked and appalled. I recorded AI so I could zip through to the end. My mom called before I'd seen the results and just said she was so shocked. I though surely, they must have sent Katherine or Taylor home. Elliot was (I thought) the obvious choice. He's good, but not AI material if you ask me. I honestly thought Seacrest was on drugs when he said Chris. I've lost all interest in this show now.
Oh Chris, you were so close. You can still come sing for me!
xoxo
Shanny

Preview

My nephews spent this last weekend with my mom. She was giving them a bath and my 16 yr old sister was helping out. My mom decided that it was a good time to teach Morgan a lesson about boys. So she picked Joey up and made sure his dangly bits were in clear view and said "You see this? It doesn't get any prettier! It gets stinkier and sweatier and hairier!" I'm fairly sure Morgan won't want to lay eyes on another one of those for a looooong time.

Matchy Matchy

I have learned that you people like for things to match. So while creating my latest batch of jewelry for Bellatini I made sure to make lots of bracelets to match earrings. Necklaces are in the works. I'm also trying my hand at making cutie pie rings. This is one of them. They are adjustable. Now skooch on over to my store and shop away!

Hale yes!

My step-dad to be's name is Hale. He's pretty cute, even my girlfriends think he's hot for a grandpa. So now he's not only known as Papa to the kids, but Hot as Hale. Anyway HaH was showing us some slides he found today and we came across this picture of him scuba diving as a young teenager (around 14) in the Bahamas. They took the picture through the window of a glass bottom boat. And I took a picture of the slide being projected on the wall. Check out that head breathing helmet rig! I swear to you, I thought those things only existed in cartoons, movies, and fish tanks!

Fun Fest

Today Susan and Miss Olivia came over then we met up with my mom and my nephews at my mom's house. All of us, including a neighbor girl, trucked down to the town festival called Fest-i-fun. That name cracks me up. We'd never been, and it was really cute. But our town is really small, so it was fest-i-over in about 30 minutes. Then we had lunch and took all the kids home for naps. Miss O and JoJo are so sweet together. They are only 5 days apart in age (she's the older woman) so I feel like they are destined to be in love. Or at least date. He'd feed her and they'd just stare at each other. So cute. Jake is pretty sweet on Olivia himself.
Jon and I caught a wee nap ourselves. He'd been up all night making sausage with our BIL. Those boys and their meat & cheese hobby. After our nap Jon and I watched the Kentucky Derby with his parents. I was rooting for Deputy Glitter cause, well, come on, his name is Deputy Glitter. Then we went to 5 Guys for dinner. Yummy. Fantastic food and the staff wears Crocs so what's not to love? We then headed to St*rbucks for apres dinner Green Tea Frappucinos. I love the new Blackberry one they have for this summer. We chatted about the upcoming election (my FIL is a chief justice and must get re-elected). I'm hoping we can ride in a parade or two. I've got my parade wave ready!

Pampered Party

You and a guest are cordially invited to a Pampered Chef Brunch at my house this Saturday. With Mother's Day approaching and all the mothers in my family being PC fans, it just made sense to have a party. I'm hoping to get enough sales so I can score some Mother's Day presents for free! That might be a little sneaky, but when you're in the middle of a month full of birthdays, have a HUGE money sucking adoption and another money sucking project going on, AND have to prepare for your mom's out of town wedding, you do whatcha gotta do. If you won't be in my area Saturday but would like to order (and why wouldn't you? They have a TON of fabulous new products!) Just click here and you can shop online. Enter in my name as the host please. (email me for my last name if you don't have it.) But if you would like to come, wear something pink and you might just win a prize!

Oh wait...

I do have something to say. Lost is on tonight and I have questions. I'd really like to talk to the writers. I totally get that it is a fantasy show and I have no problem with the cloud monster or any of that. It's the common sense things that get on my nerves, like:
-Why is there not a line of people wanting to sleep in the hatch? Sand mites and sleeping on the ground vs the hatch is a no brainer to me!
-Why is there not a line of people taking showers at the hatch?
-Why is it that something happens to Kate for instance and she doesn't tell Jack for like 2 episodes? What do these people have to do other than talk to each other? Wouldn't everyone know everything about each other by now?
-Where did all these blue tarps come from that people built their huts out of? Was there a tarp salesman on the plane?
-Why is there no sex? A bunch of good looking people on an island with no hope of rescue running around in the heat in tattered clothes after a trauma should equal hot monkey jungle sex.

5

I got tagged by Amanda to do this meme, and it's a good thing as I'm suffering from Blogger's Block. I have a lot to tell you about, but this being the world wide web and all I have to censor so many things. Pooh.

5 Things in my fridge:

Ginger Peach tea
Smoked cheese
ginger ale
salsa
salad mix

In my closet:

way too many flip flops
lots of purses
2 small dressers
one of those shoe organizers
2 laundry hampers

In my purse:

tons of lip gloss
soap sheets
purell
a sharpie
flashlight

In my car:

Cell phone charger
iPod
travel pillow and blanket
umbrella
atlas

On my Tivo:

House
Good Eats
Head Bangers Ball (Jon)
Boston Legal

Tagging:
Whoever wants to play

Quick Study

Miss Molly can already climb up and down the stairs. She's a determined and tenacious little girl. She uses her voice to communicate with us all the time. And she licks, sweet monkey knuckles does she lick. No face is safe from this pug and her licker. And she's already learned from her brother and sister that the best seat in the house is the back of the sofa. (click to enlarge photo)

Desperate

Anyone who watched Desperate Housewives last night now knows why we're adopting from China instead of domestically. Gabby handled things way better than I could.