Happy Halloween!!!

For my very favorite holiday I thought I'd show you two of my very favorite Halloween candle holders. I hope everyone has a fabulous Halloween & gets lots of trick or treaters!!!

She's come undone

Last week at the attorney's office (for the house closing) I noticed my shirt sticking out all weird. I snuck a peek and realized that my underwire was sneaking out of its housing under my left boob and trying to work its way out the neckline of my shirt. There was nothing I could do during the closing except try and sit like an Olsen twin all hunched and concave so noone would notice my protrusion. That closing dragged on for about 3 days, or so it seemed. On the way out we were walking single file down the hall so I reached in a pulled the wire out and dropped it in the trash can at the receptionist's desk. I had to spend the rest of the day walking around all cock-boobed. Heh. Then I had to throw out a perfectly good bra. I hate that. My wires either pop in half or snake out through their little escape hole. Someone needs to invent a bra repair kit so I can pump my boob back up after a blow out.

Fashionably late

Ok- finally- my Halloween pictures. The inside of my house is box city so I didn't do much decorating in the house. But I did put forth a bit of effort outside. I love these gummy skulls.
Fun Jack o lantern jingle wreath.This creepy bug's hanging out on my candle holder!The ghosts on the curtain glow at night when the dining room light is on.Molly checking things out.Little luminaries on little shephards hooks marking the path. Buster the skeleton is standing guard. Skeeery!

Don't fence me in

CSP & BIL are building our fence! Woohoo! I can't tell you how excited I am. Walking Molly is pure torture. She's the pug Houdini. She wiggles out ofher collar & harness and we've had to involve the neighborhood kids to reign her in. Building a fence is a big deal and it will take til Wednesday until it is completed. Can't wait!

Fall Festival

Today was the first WCOG Octoberfest. It was a lot of fun. WCOG is the Women's Circle of Giving that my sister started. We get together every other month and raise donations for various charities. Octoberfest was our first big festival and it went really well. I did face painting, there were vendor booths (Avon & whatnot), my BIL & Jon made BBQ, there was a bouncy house, craft tables, and more.

Costume contest:

The local fire department came out, let the kids explore the truck, passed out fire helmets & stickers.

Joey was a punk rocker:

So was Jacob:

Running behind

So we literally just walked in the door from an all day errand run. So I haven't even taken my Halloween pics much less posted them (obviously). I'll get to it, either this evening or in the morning. Promise!

We have an aggressive agenda today folks

Lots to tell you, so sit back & get comfy.

-If you're participating in the Halloween BPOH- remember to post your pics tomorrow! I can't wait to see everyone's spooky haunts!

-We closed on the old house today. Woohoo! It's done! We no longer own 2 homes AND we cleared enough $ to finish our dossier! So excited about that! We'll still need to save for the China trip, but I'm just thrilled I can get this finished up. I totally cried at the closing table because of it. Also because I was literally running on 1 hour's sleep. We procrastinated and frankly just have too much crap, and I can barely walk cause of my knee so it took forFREAKINGever to clear out the old house. We pulled an all nighter and got to bed at 6:30 this morning to get up at 7:30 to leave at 8 for the closing. We came home and crashed til 6pm today. I'm seriously doing some major purging of stuff and having a ginormous yard sale.

-Got my MRI results finally. Too bad I'm not a pro athlete, I would have had those results by the time Sports Center came on. I have an old football injury. I tore my ACL, I have a ton of fluid in my joint that must be drained (don't like the sound of that), and there is deterioration around my patella. Patella sounds like a dish at Olive Garden. I go in the morning to the Orthopedist (sp) to see what's next. I pray I won't have to have surgery. Or if I do maybe they can do a 2fer and take care of my arms at the same time. I wouldn't mind if they threw in some lipo, a tummy tuck, butt reduction and a pedicure while I'm out.

-I'm officially an old fogey. Lots of those combo restaurants going up- you know half Taco Bell half KFC? Those types. I don't like it. Don't mess with the formula. I don't wanna go somewhere where they are a seafood/Mexican joint. Stick to one theme. I don't want my egg rolls hanging out with my pizza.

-Sharing is caring: if you need anything from Sephora now's the time to get it. Enter JACKPOT for your coupon code and you'll get a goodie bag FULL of fabulous super sized samples. Everything from lotion to perfume to lip gloss.

Ok, I think that's it for now. Thanks for your time, you can go back to your day now.

Halloween BPOH

Halloween is almost upon us so it is time to show off all your hard work! If you've decorated for Halloween and would like to take part in the Halloween Bloggy Parade of Homes please take note: take photos of your home and post them on your blog on Friday. Then come here to post a comment that your photos are up.
I can't wait to see everyone's handiwork! Halloween is my favorite holiday, but since we just moved I didn't get to do much inside. I did fancy up the front of the house though. Some of the neighborhood kids were watching me put up decorations the other day and I heard one girl say to another that she liked my trick or treat decorations. Cute!

I don't think you're ready for this jelly

This is what I looked like when I woke up this morning. You wouldn't be seeing this if I weren't already married, or made good decisions, but some of you have requested seeing me in my gear. You can't see it but I have ear plugs in and a bite guard in my mouth. CSP says I look like a cross between Wonder Woman and Darth Vader. Don't be jealous.

A bunch of random stuff then I go on a bit of a rant

I promise I'll get CSP (my husband- Captain Safety Pants) to take my picture in all my gear soon. We close on the old house this week so we're scrambling to finish unloading the old house and getting it cleaned.

There are a ton of crickets at the new house. They sneak in from the outside via the garage and the boxes. So when I'm unpacking they venture out into the house only to be toyed with and eaten by Molly.

Molly & her dad on game day- loyal Vikings fans. We've accidentally been given the NFL Sunday ticket and my boy is sooo happy. He'll be sad tomorrow when I cut it off. Unfortunately on the adoption budget his happiness is not worth $70 a month.

I've heard the best costume ideas lately for Halloween. Gangreen: a bunch of people wearing green t-shirts & bandannas. Bad Spinach: dress all in green and wear tattoos, carry a whiskey bottle, some cigs in your sleeve and curse a lot. And mine- just the thought of it makes me laugh so hard. Whoever came up with it is a genius and if I can manage to put it together in time for the big day I will and then take photos for you.

So CSP & my BIL moved some furniture upstairs yesterday (finally!) and all was going well until we realized that unless we can somehow remove the roof and lower it in from a crane, OUR BED WON'T GO UPSTAIRS. I'm sooo mad about this I could just spit. Our stairs are too steep and the ceiling is too low so our king sized bed won't fit up the stairs. Poor CSP & BIL tried EVERYTHING. We've been sleeping on the guest queen thinking it was temporary. Heh. I swear I'm going to have a field day when I talk to the big honchos at my builder's offices. Who makes a house with a bedroom the size of a barn but you can't get a king bed in it? And we paid for 9 foot ceilings so they are higher than the model. But the models only have small beds in them to make the rooms look bigger. I will never build with CP Morgan again. Just wait til I tell y'all all the reasons why. I sent in our comment cards and they are sending out vice presidents to meet with us because of what I said on the cards. So I'm gonna leave our giant king sized mattress in our living room until they get here so they can see how ridiculous this is. And now we're gonna have to go buy 2 smaller beds for our room, cause you know, it's 19freaking55!

She's got legs

And she knows how to use them. Here they are...my spotted up, pre-cancerous legs.



And I know I was a little flippant with my post about this last night, but if I don't laugh about it I'll cry cause good Lord what else can go wrong on my body? And for me, ME, to have to worry about skin cancer? I'm such an inside girl. And when I do venture out it is totally under the cover of SPF a million. My Dr. said it is all probably due to childhood exposure, which is so scary. I was a kid before people were worried about this kind of stuff. Poor Ling Ling's gonna end up looking like one of Michael Jackson's kids under blankets all the time!

Ice Queen

I had my follow-up visit with my dermatologist today so she could take a look at my mole on my face and see how it's healed. It healed nicely but she thinks it has grown back. I think she just didn't shave the whole thing off. She's sending me to a plastic surgeon to take it the rest of the way off. I don't have time for that right now. By the way, the nurse there cracks me up. She always wears this scrub top that has dogs and cats all over it and says "Vets rule!". True, but wouldn't a "Dermatologists rule!" top be more appropriate? Anyway, my dr. checked out the excema spots I have all over and gave me some foam to use for my scalp and a prescription for some medicated shampoo. I keep getting more and more sexy huh?

Then she asked to look at my legs. Last time I was there my mom wanted the Dr. to check out some excema spots. I showed her today, how they're still there, not responding to the cream I use. She looked at them and noticed that they were bigger and asked about my sun exposure. This surprised me as I thought my fish belly white skin would make it obvious that I spend no time in the sun and when I do I am the Queen of SPF! I use no less than spf 30 all the time. Then she went and got the big cheese Dr. to look at my legs. He confirmed what she was thinking and they told me- pre-cancerous spots all over my legs and a big one on my hip. Seriously? I couldn't believe it! So what to do? I just came in for a mole check! She said she was going to give me frost bite. Freeze the spots with liquid nitrogen. She picked up the canister to show me what it looks like but it was empty. Oh well, too bad! See you later! Sit back down she said. She got another canister and froze 13 spots. That hurts man. Then it itches. And now I have blisters. You don't know how hard it is not to pop them. She said it would take about a month then they'll crust up and fall off. I know what you're thinking...and yes, I have reached the pinnacle of sexiness. I should write a book! I told CSP and he just kind of nodded and asked some questions. I said you seem rather calm about this. He said, "well, it's a new week- that means a new ailment. Nothing you tell me would surprise me now."

So CSP is going to take a photo of me in the morning. You've all been lighting up the request line asking for a picture of me in all my medicinal glory. So stay tuned and tomorrow you will see me in my arm braces, my cpap mask, my foamy head and blistered, frost bitten legs. You may need a cold shower after. Just sayin.

Look at me, I'm white and nerdy

First I want to sing the praises of our Mac. Computer-wise this move could not have been easier. I unplugged everything at the old house, plugged in at the new house, took the new DSL modem out of the box, plugged it in and boom shakalaka I'm on the internet. I heart Mac. No software to download or cds to install. Just plug in and go.


This, my dears, is my Tupperware cabinet. My new kitchen has more cabinets than the old one so the Tupperware got a promotion to an upper cabinet. Note the empty shelves up top. I can't reach those bad boys even on my step stool. This house was built by giants. The 6 foot 5 inch CSP could be hiding a stash of porn and smack in the cabinets over the fridge and I'd never know. Anyway, I love Tupperware with a passion that can only be rivaled by the love I feel for Pampered Chef & Crocs. Keeping my Tupperware cabinet this organized for at least the next month is my primary goal. Go ahead and gaze at it with wonder and amazement. What's that you say? Why yes, my lids and flat-out bowls are color coordinated. So nice of you to notice. Yep, take a good look, cause as soon as CSP unloads the dishwasher for the first time, this cabinet will be sure to look like a drink beaver came through here after losing an eye in a bar brawl.

Show & Tell

Hey y'all! We're hauling the computer to the new house tonight so this will be my last post until we get our DSL hookup this week. And I really shouldn't be on here right now as I have some loading up to do. But I remembered to upload pics for you, which is a good thing since I can't find my camera charger so once my battery dies that's it til I get my house organized, and that could take, well, forever. I'm behind on answering email and checking in on blogs. But I'll catch up. I do read every comment and totally appreciate them. Anyway, on to show and tell.

Tell: my dr put me on anti inflammatories for my knee and they kicked in today. Man that's better. Plus they seem to be helping my arms too. Yay for drugs! I'll get the results of my MRI this week. My dr. doesn't think I'll need surgery. Dammit! And I was just one surgery away from filling up my frequent under the knife card!

Show: I like to think that sometimes I can snap a good picture or two. Sometimes I can take a fabulous shot. But when I need to take a photo to show CSP something for some reason all my skills play dead. For instance when house shopping I'd tend to take pictures of the pantries and toilets. CSP has no use for pantry and potty pics as he knows that EVERY house comes with them! Here's my latest photographic screw up. We were in L0we's picking up some hardware-esque item so I hung out in lighting while CSP grabbed whatever tool thingie he needed. I found some lights I liked for the new house and thought I'd just snap some pics to show him later. Looking at this even I have no idea which one was the target!
This is the current state of my dining room:

Our new screened in back porch has already gotten some use. Sara, the boys, and I had a snack out there on moving day:
And finally, my mom's dog Sam wants to show you his new golf pants/glow in the dark skeleton fashion ensemble. Don't hate the playa, hate the game.

Crabbypants

I don't like the word couch. I prefer sofa. Same goes for rag (cloth), toilet paper (bath tissue), and cooter (anything but cooter).
I'm not a fan of the deli sandwich/ chips combo with pickle spear.
Please don't finish my sentences out loud. Do it in your head if you're so inclined, but some (most) times you don't really know what I'm thinking.
I also don't like the words: moist, phlegm (sp?), cooch, and crotch. I'm sure there are others too but I can't remember them.
I love the words canoodle, brouhaha (sp?), shenanigans and cahoots.
It's a good thing I'm not supposed to drink alcohol (because of the meds I'm on) cause I love me some fun, fruity drinks and suck those babies down in record time, which only leads to much hugging and loud I love yous.
Why don't people say "You're welcome" anymore? Seems like I hear "No problem" as a response to "Thank you" more and more and it just drives me nuts. Why, you say? Because "you're welcome" implies that it was a pleasure to help. "No problem" implies that most of the time helping would have been a problem, but today it isn't.
How did I miss that Denny was loaded? Did anyone else know this? (Grey's last night)
I wonder sometimes what it's like to be able to wear cute strappy heels and not be hobbled by pain. Shoot, I wonder what it's like to have ankles.
I don't think people tell each other I love you enough. Some people I know are uncomfortable hearing it and getting hugs and all that. But I think it is so important to tell each other. Lisa and her sister are so great about telling each other all the time. And she tells me and at first it was a little off putting to hear it over the phone like that but now it is so natural. Because of her example I try and tell all my loved ones how much I love em as much as possible. So here goes: I love you guys! And I mean it!
Did y'all know that Oklahoma has a literacy campaign called Read Y'all? I couldn't make that up. Love that name! Reminds me of the "Let 'em work, let 'em live" signs we have around here about road workers. Love that a public sign has the word (?) 'em in it. Gotta love the South!
Ok, one last thing I swear. Well, now I can't think of it. That's happening a lot these days. Jeesh.

What you say?

Some funny quotes heard 'round here lately....
-Driving with CSP & CSP's mama. My MIL noticed a building with lots of cars out front and said "Wow. I wonder what's going on there. They're awfully busy!"
CSP: Um, Mom, that's a car dealership.

-I was Designated Driver for CSP & BIL the other night. CSP took BIL out for a beer as a thank you for all his help. I had picked up dinner at a drive through at a chicken place and couldn't finish it all. I asked CSP if he wanted to finish my chicken strips and onion petals (like cut up onion rings). He had been eating for about 20 minutes when I asked him if he liked it. He said the chicken was really good "and these french fries are kind of interesting." Yeah, cause they are onions!

There goes the neighborhood

So we're mostly moved in. CSP opted for the 22' truck instead of the biggest one and sure enough we filled it up, then filled up my BIL's truck, then filled up my RAV 4, and we STILL have stuff at the old place! We have too much stuff! I've been purging like a mad woman and making a huge garage sale pile during packing and moving and we still have too much stuff! I'll never move again without hiring people. Luckily we still have over a week at the old house to pick up the left behind stuff & clean & what not. Even Jake (3 yr old nephew) noticed our abundance of stuff. He asked me "This Shanny's old house?" Yes. "Daddy & Unca Jon take all that to Shanny's new house?" Yes. "Oh..Unca Jon gotta put a LOT of stuff at new house." Oh yes.

CSP & BIL wore themselves out moving our oodles of furniture out of the old house so they totally gave up once we got to the new house. Result: the only furniture upstairs is the guest mattress & box springs. Oy. They worked hard though. At the end of the day Jake came in the living room and told me "Unca Jon stinky. Unca Jon needs a shower."

My mind is a flurry of decorating ideas.

I wasn't much help with the move though because in my apparent quest to fill up my medical malady punch card, I was back at the doctor's again today. I tweeked out my knee this summer but it never got better, only worse and worse by the day. I finally caved and went to the dr for an x-ray. Dr. didn't like the looks of things and sent me for an MRI and wrote me a prescription for an anti- inflammatory. CSP wouldn't let me carry much on moving day and is still concerned. He lovingly refers to me as HopAlong due to my sexy limp.

Ok, off to the new house for some more unloading of my car and unpacking of stuff!

Gettin the move on

We're moving at the crack of dawn tomorrow. I won't have internet access until Monday unless I'm at my mom's or sister's house. We're trying DSL this go round instead of cable internet, so we'll see how that goes. Anyone have any experience with DSL? Opinions? There is currently a ginormous moving truck in my driveway. CSP is so in love with it. He gazes at it lovingly. The last time we rented a moving truck it was a 25 foot monster that we drove all the way to Maryland just to go to IKEA and furnish our new house. Luckily this time we can make it to our destination in under an hour. I'm really excited for this move- one step closer to Ling Ling! Now, if I can just sucker someone into coming and cleaning the old house after we move...

Oh when the Saints...

While our house was on the market I was told about St. Joseph. I never realized Joseph was turned into a Saint, although he totally deserved it, what with being Jesus' step-dad and all. So I did some Googling about St. Joseph and some asking around and everyone told me that once they buried St. Joe in their yard that their house sold 2 weeks later. I ordered the Deluxe kit cause I wasn't taking any chances. I buried him like I was supposed to, said the prayer every day, put the keychain on my key ring, and hoped for the best. And sure enough, 2 weeks later our house sold! Go Joe!

It was torture I tell you!

Y'all don't have any idea how hard it was to not blog about my house being for sale. Two months of showings and craziness. One offer that came in just 13 days after being on the market- we conceeded to their demands after some negotiating just to have them pull out and not sign the contract. Bizarre feedback emails forwarded to us by our agent. Potential buyers would reject our house because of odd things like:
-client has small child and feels the pond is dangerous (our yard is fenced in and they would have had to physically chuck the kid over into the pond),
-client is turned off by location of laundry room (it's downstairs next to the kitchen- very convenient for me, but not for them for some reason)
-client didn't like house because of carpet, countertops, and paint. (you guys have seen our paint jobs inside, I thought we did a nice job and it was fairly neutral save the master bedroom and guest bedroom.)
-client needed more square footage. (well, the info sheet tells you how big the house is. if you need more sq. feet then don't waste my time!)
We'd get calls for showings with only 10 minutes notice sometimes. I'd race around turning on lights, lighting candles, playing music, opening blinds and grabbing pugs. I'd hop in the car with the pugs and either roam around my neighborhood or go over to my mom's. And then sometimes, right after all that madness and about 5 minutes into my drive I'd get a call that they'd cancelled. NICE.
We closed on our new house before the old house was sold. This was stroke material for CSP. I kept reassuring him that the old house would sell. And it did. But not before a series of mental breakdowns on his part. Poor guy.
The upsides to owning 2 homes at once:
-2, count them, 2 mailboxes. I heart mail.
-being able to load up my car and move bit by bit. We had to water the new sod every day or so, so we made the trips count by taking a load of stuff with us. Not having to move all in one day will be sooo nice.
I LOATHE moving. I hate packing and unpacking and lugging crap up and down stairs and not knowing where my stuff is. BUT, there are some things I love about moving:
-a new blank slate for painting and decorating.
-new address labels.
-yard sale.
-we're getting satellite tv this time. the local cable company doesn't offer dvr in our new neighborhood (the horror!) so I have to go with satellite to get dvr. It turns out we'll be spending much less than before AND finally have dvr again. Not having dvr is wrecking my tv life. The Duel starts Thursday night opposite 6 Degrees and I haven't seen CSI all season cause it's up against Grey's I think and I swear when the satellite guy shows up I just might kiss him!
-I don't move toilet brushes and stuff like that so that means a big trip to T@rget for essentials.
-I try not to duplicate rooms too much from house to house. This means all new furniture and accessory configurations.
-IKEA TRIP! We had the builders not install mirrors ($60 credit for each one they didn't install) since they were just gonna put up those plate mirrors and we'd buy new ones anyway. So I have to buy new mirrors for the bathrooms, bath tissue holders, towel holders, tons of new lighting to replace those awful builder's choice globe lights, all kinds of new stuff must be purchased. Twist my arm to go to IKEA!
While watering my lawn I've been able to meet a few of my new neighbors. Everyone seems really nice and friendly. I can't wait to tell you about Shirtless Fernando. But I'll have to wait til tomorrow. Lots to do today. We're moving on Wednesday!

Planning ahead

I want to make sure my address book is updated and correct since the holiday season is almost here. I send out Thanksgiving and Christmas pug photo cards, much to Kiki's chagrin- not a fan of playing dress up! Please email me your new address if you've moved in the last year (esp if you received a Christmas card from us last year). And if you'd like to join the list then please email me your address. I'll email everyone back with our new address. Thanks!

I've got a secret, I've been hiding

Last year CSP & I were exploring ways we could raise $ for our adoption. We considered refinancing our home. We tossed that around for a while then last Spring we noticed some new developments being built in our neighborhood. We checked out the homes and while they were too pricey for our budget, they got us thinking. We started looking at our home from a parent's perspective instead of a regular resident's perspective. And while we love, love, love living here- we weren't crazy about some things: the steep yard, the 2 story deck, the open "window" from the upstairs bonus room to the family room. Then one day we were out and about and noticed a familiar sign. It was a directional sign to a community being built by the same builder we'd seen in our town. We went to the community and the prices on the same houses were much lower than they were in our town. There were still some good lots left. So we discussed it and decided to sell our home and build a new one. We would be taking advantage of the growth of our town and subsequent dramatic rise in home prices (the national average is around 5% per year I think and we're at 17%- at least for our personal home). The sale of our home would allow us to build a new, more kid friendly home, pay off our credit cards, and most importantly, finance our adoption. So we chose a lot, signed the papers, put the money down, chose cabinets and made other design decisions on our new home. It's located in a county & town we've never lived in so it will be a new adventure. Our new neighborhood is full of friendly people from literally all over the country. The people across the street are from LA, our next door neighbors are from Kansas, and the entire community is really diverse and full of children- over 100 (!) meet the bus every morning.
I had to have my ablation surgery and recover before we could put the house on the market. We listed it at the end of July and we sold it last week! We close at the end of this month! I didn't blog about it for a number of reasons: didn't want to jinx the sale, and we wanted to maintain some privacy. The thought did cross my mind that some people who read this could gain entry to my house by simply contacting a realtor (and there are a couple of unsavories who I wouldn't put it past).
We closed on our new house 3 weeks ago! I CAN NOT WAIT to get in there and start painting and decorating! And I know you're probably thinking...well, what about the Parade of Homes? What was that all about? Well, I love this house and wanted to give it one last hurrah. Plus, I loved seeing all of your homes.
Now, about the adoption. We had to put it on hold because we're crossing state lines with our move. Yep, I'm leaving my beloved South Carolina once again. =( I've already been in touch with my agency and they've set me up with a new social worker who'll have to do a new home visit to check out the new house. So I've got the ball rolling again. And as soon as we close on the old house and the check's in the bank I can finish up our dossier.
We've picked out which room will be Ling Ling's and we're very excited. A new house means less maintenanace and upkeep. A newer landscape means less time in the yard for CSP. A flat yard is safer for children and easier for us as parents. And a new house meant fun design options for us- choosing colors, making changes to the floorplans etc. We skipped the ridiculously underused fireplace option and built a screened in porch instead (makes a lot more sense since we live in the hot South). And you know what's crazy? We were able to build a brand new house that's almost 300 square feet bigger than the one we're in now (2613 for the new- 2350 in the old) and the base price was almost $20,000 less than what we paid for this one 3 years ago!
So....after much ado (and I gotta rest the wrists- ouch!), here's a peek at the new digs! (click to enlarge)
I'll be sending out change of address notices soon (already took the pugs' pic for that). Let me know if you'd like to be on the list!

I'm bringing sexy back

First, y'all rock. Thank you for all the sweet comments & emails. Even though I started blogging 5 years ago as a quick easy way to journal, I did wonder from time to time if I stopped blogging would anyone notice. Thanks for noticing.

So I had my nerve test last week, which by the way hurt like a beeeeyotch! I love how nurses/techs will tell you "this might sting/pinch/bite a bit" just before they stab/poke/or in my case electrocute you. They had to shock my arms & hands with electricity and insert needles into my muscles and make me move around my hands to see if I do indeed have carpal tunnel. I do, indeed. Moderate in my left arm, severe in my right. I'm hopped up on some pain meds right now so I can type for a bit more. I'll have to have surgery in my right arm for sure. I started wearing braces/splints at night and they let me sleep through the night again. They are fabulous. But things like using my swiffer, eating, driving, blowing my hair dry- they all turn my arm numb and it hurts. Oy.

I'm quite the hot little number now with my Wonder Woman braces, as CSP calls them. Picture if you will my bedtime ensemble: ear plugs (pugs + CSP= SNORING), bite guard in my mouth, eye mask to block out light, my Darth Vadar mask contraption, and now my sexy rexy arm braces. The Cap'n is a lucky, lucky man. If lucky, lucky means patient and totally blinded by love. We were talking about Ling Ling yesterday and how I want to make sure the bedroom closest to ours is turned into the nursery so I can hop out of bed and run in to comfort my baby. CSP said "Yeah, I'd like to see you hop out of bed! You're too connected to stuff with all your tubes and gear. And poor Ling Ling better not come into our room at night or she'll be scared to death when she gets a look at you in bed!" I wonder if we can request a baby who does not startle easily?

So I'm going to ease back into blogging & computer use. I apologize if emails are slow. And there won't be a fall line of jewels over at Bellatini =(. But I did realize I can post little videos with minimum typing. And I'm trying to use my mouse with my left hand. So stay tuned for video blog posts....and come back tomorrow cause I'm revealing a big secret CSP & I have been keeping since April. No, I'm not pregnant, we haven't gotten another pug, and we haven't won the lottery. But it is exciting news for us! (no spoiling the fun if you already know!)