Dance Dance Revolution

Sophie got her groove on yesterday. She was standing up, holding onto her garden thingy and the Rolling Stones was on the radio. And she looked up a the radio and then got a look of concentration and then she just started bouncing up and down to the music. And she kept doing it! I called out to Aaron and he peeked around the corner of the doorway and he is totally a witness now, too.

Mark it on your calendars.

Whoops

I got way too involved in designing/programming the bazaar site that I completely forgot about Sophie Saturday! I have a few photos from Saturday's company picnic but Aaron was taking the photos and they ended up being mostly of my cleavage. You want to see them, don't you?

Well, you'll have to wait. It's sweltering up here and I'm retreating to our bedroom. I have a date with the air conditioner.

Weekend

We are going to my company picnic tomorrow. I may or may not bring a bathing suit.

Also, we realized we need to do a photo shoot of Sophie because the frame Aaron bought me for Mother's Day? Takes portrait photos and all we have are landscape. We've made impressions of her feet and hands, but now we just need a photo. Do you think it should be one of all three of us? Or just of Sophie?

We are headed into serious budget mode now. We'd like to buy a house at some point in the future and we've looked over our finances and realized we need to rein things in. Pay down our debt, save for a down payment so we don't have to use my 401K and just in general be more prudent with our moola.

So when I link to things I'm coveting? It does not mean I'm actually buying them. I'm admiring them from afar and hoping to one day be in the situation where I can afford to buy extravagant lovelies.

In other news, I'm going to be adding a flea market section to my site where I will offer up some of the goodies I've accumulated over the years that are now gathering dust and raising Aaron's blood pressure. All those years in the Navy has made him a minimalist. I, on the other hand, lean towards "crow" in my collecting. I love interesting things and I love to look at them. So there are little trinkets and doo-dads all over our house. Some of these I will reluctantly put in the flea market. I also have some kitchen gadgets I don't use, too many teacups and vases, maybe some funky clothes and maybe I'll also make some things to put there as well. I have tons and tons of beads and cloth remnants that are just waiting to be molded into all manner of fabulosity.

Stay tuned.

Monster Spider

Well, there have been no new sitings, but I have a crick in my neck from constantly looking at the floor when I'm walking through the house. It's been hard to get my head around, this aversion to these spiders. Little spiders don't bother me. I can coexist with them quite easily. There's just something about the size of these fishing spiders that my brain can't process. They are simply TOO BIG and why do spiders that HUGE have to live in my house?!?

That said, I'm trying to make peace with them. I actually did research yesterday on traps/options for getting rid of them. All spider traps, it seems, are geared toward the much smaller and much more venomous hobo and brown recluse spiders. Warning, those sites will give you the heeby-jeebies. The hobo spider, especially, is particularly dangerous. And they are very prolific. And they are here, in our neighborhood.

Some scientists believe that the reason their populations have soared is people trying to spray for spiders/bugs in their houses. The pesticides kill all the good spiders (e.g.: my monster fishing spiders) and they don't kill the hobos and the brown recluses. I.e.: if I don't kill all my huge spiders, I probably won't have a problem with the venomous ones.

This is all fine on paper, but I know I will jump out of my skin again if I see one of the gigantors in my house. Next time, I think I will just try to scare it back down into the basement.

The state of things

This weekend is my company's annual picnic. Which is usually fun, low-key and HOT. The last two years were sweltering and it looks like that is in the cards for this year's picnic as well. Last year, I was almost 7 months pregnant with Sophie. And this year, she gets to go, too!

I'm looking forward to the lobster and the chowdah and the games. I'm NOT looking forward to the pool. It's one thing to don a bathing suit in front of strangers and go to the pool with Sophie. It's a whole other ball of wax to stuff myself into a bathing suit and try to mingle with coworkers.

On that note, I have not taken a photo of my belly yet for the "Shape of a Mother" site. Actually, I did take a photo but it was blurry and then I forgot about it.

Captain Jack Sparrow

A site dedicated to dudes dressing up as Captain Jack Sparrow. Badly. (via a socialite's life)

Warhammer 40K Space Wolves

Okay, here are some photos of Aaron's miniature army. We are still working on the eBay listing. Keep in mind that the men in the army are about an inch tall. Very small.

Matthew McConaughey

Hilarious Photoshop contest using a recent photo of Matthew McConaughey. I hope he hears about it and I hope he finds it just as funny. I especially love the one of Lance Armstrong feeding the Matthew mermaid a pot leaf.

more here.

Warhammer 40K Space Wolves

Aaron has decided he's going to sell his award-winning Warhammer 40K Space Wolves army on eBay. If you know anyone who might be interested, let me know. I will post a link as soon as he has the listing finished.

It's a huge army. He's won many "Best Painted Army" awards at different tournaments.

Nine Months!

Dearest Sophie:

I wish my eyeballs had cameras installed in them. There are so many moments when I wish I could just blink my eyes and save the moment forever. By the time I grab a camera, you've grown and changed that much more and the moment has disappeared.

Also, you are a ham when you see the camera.

This month has been unbelievably hot and since we only have one air conditioner, we spent a lot of time rolling around with you on the bed in our room - reading books, zerberting each other's bellies, playing "Earthquake" - and I found myself just staring at you in wonder. How is it possible that you are so beautiful and smart and funny and quirky? That you find the same things funny as your Daddy and I do? You have a wacky sense of humor and that makes me so proud.

You are crawling like a girl on a mission. A mission of destruction. This house is fun because there is lots of space for crawling and for playing "Where's Daddy?" or "Where's Mommy?". You love the thrill of the hunt and you squeal with delight when we start to chase you.

You are everything we hoped for multiplied by infinity and then taken to the 100th degree. Which Daddy says is impossible, but what does he know?

King Tut's Alien Gem

Wow, freaky:

"In 1996 in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Italian mineralogist Vincenzo de Michele spotted an unusual yellow-green gem in the middle of one of Tutankhamun's necklaces.

The jewel was tested and found to be glass, but intriguingly it is older than the earliest Egyptian civilisation."

----------------

"The first atomic bomb detonation, at the Trinity site in New Mexico in 1945, created a thin layer of glass on the sand. But the area of glass in the Egyptian desert is vastly bigger.

Whatever happened in Egypt must have been much more powerful than an atomic bomb."

Weekend

Tomorrow Sophie turns 9 months! I know! Crazy.

It has cooled down a bit, finally. We've all been quite the sweaty little crew. We also have a huge backlog of laundry. The house gets quite steamy when we run the washing machine and dryer so we've been avoiding it. But now we are hitting the dregs of our collected wardrobes and it's time.

I have a raging headache at the moment and really can't wait for today to be over.

Shit, that's cool

I love these! Throw rugs that look like sewer covers.

It's a girl!

Stace and Sean now have a little baby girl! Her mom kept updating everyone through the comments - it was a real nail-biter! So exciting!

Kitten with two faces!

I feel so sorry for this kitten.

Oh, it's ON!

Daymented is having her baby! It's a planned home birth. Very exciting!

Shelob

I think I lost 10 years of my life last night.

I finished watching "So You Think You Can Dance" last night (wow to Heidi and Travis' contemporary dance. I got chills) and I innocently turned off the lights in the living room and headed towards the kitchen.

I have a nightly ritual of getting the coffee ready for the morning, washing Sophie's bottles and dishes from the day, putting some of my frozen milk in the fridge to thaw, and maybe cleaning up the counters.

Last night, I got through emptying the dishwasher and re-filling it with the dinner dishes when I had to go to the bathroom. I hadn't started on the coffee and Sophie's bottles yet.

There is a bathroom near the kitchen, past the front hallway and front door. I had my pants pulled down and was just about to sit on the toilet when I happened to glance down and there was ANOTHER MONSTER SPIDER right - I mean mere inches - by MY FOOT!

I ran into the hallway with my pants around my ankles (hello, neighbors!) and yelled for Aaron. I think there was something in the pinched and frightened tone of my voice because he came running downstairs. Aaron's only wearing his boxer shorts because it is still pretty hot in the house. I told him there was another fricking spider. In the bathroom. So he puts on his sneakers before going in the bathroom.

He says this one (it is about 4" in diameter) is SMALLER than the one in the basement. Meaning it is a DIFFERENT spider. Also, it is not injured.

He also thinks it is a different kind of spider which means we have to take photos of it before he gets to the smooshing. Photo session ensues while SHELOB stays fairly still. We're both hopping around smacking our legs and arms when we feel even the whisper of anything touching us. We go into the kitchen to look at the photos. We confirm that it is the same kind of spider.

Aaron goes back to the bathroom to gather the courage to step on it. But the thing is HUGE. And it is in the corner of the bathroom and it is not an easy shot to step on it. I try to convince Aaron that he should just take the BBQ tongs in there, and I'll close the door, and then he can prod it into a better position. And also, if it gets pissed, at least it won't be running around the house. It will be trapped in a room. Pissed. With Aaron.

Eventually Aaron gathers the courage and smashes it with his sneakered foot.

Coffee making and bottle washing rituals were abandoned for the night. There are huge holes under the kitchen sink that lead directly from the basement. Which means that the most likely path of said HUMONGOUS spider was up from under the sink (where I had just been standing. BAREFOOT.), across the kitchen, down the hallway, over all our shoes, possibly into our coat sleeves, maybe taking a detour into Sophie's strollers and then into the bathroom.

Kitler

Cats that look like Hitler.

(thanks K and J!)

Motherhood

I got my period today. The first time I've had it since having Sophie. Almost 9 months to the day. It's been so long now that I was totally unprepared for the sight. And the cramping. That must be why I've been eating all that chocolate. Yeah, yeah, that's the reason.

On sort of a tangent, I'm sure everyone has already found this site: The Shape of a Mother. It's amazing. Instead of hiding the beauty marks that occur during pregnancy, this site shows them in all their glory.

(NSFW because there is some nudity)

Instead of calling them stretch marks, let's call them Beauty Marks. Or Tiger Stripes. Or Tribal Markings. I never got stretch marks on my stomach, but my breasts are covered with them. My belly hasn't gone back to its pre-pregnancy shape and I've been annoyed with this. Now, after reading The Shape of a Mother site, I'm trying to change my outlook and just be amazed that Sophie grew in there. I'm now a mommy! My loose skin and stretched out belly button are proof of our journey together. Taking postpartum photos of my belly has been the last thing on my mind, but now I want to add my belly's landscape to the site. I will take some photos this weekend.

Bluhhhh

Ugh, it's so hot. Yes, I know the whole country is talking about it. It's completely sweltering outside and in my house and yet I'm currently at work where the air conditioning is blasting and I'm FREEZING. I'm immediately covered in sweat after showering in the morning and I try to dress cool to, at least, stem the sweat, but then I get to work and all that moist glow-iness freezes on clothing. I think I almost broke my shirt this morning when I leaned back in my office chair.

I'm going to get sick, I just know it.

In other news, I'm never happy.

Solla Solla Enna Perumai

Um, I have no idea what this is. But it was quite entertaining. (via dooce)

Ppppppool

(because I'm sure there was lots of pee in it)

There are a couple more if you click on that photo.

It's a boy!

My sister had her baby! His name is Bryce and he's 8 lbs, 9 ounces! Yay!

Sophie Saturday!

I have photos of our excursion to the pool (a first!) but it is like 4000 degrees upstairs by the computer. I literally have sweat pouring off me at the moment.

So, hopefully tomorrow morning before the sun starts blazing.

Scare Tactics

Oh my goodness. This is hilarious and cruel. My sense of humor, exactly. This poor guy is stalked by a rat monster.

Weeds

We just received the first season of Weeds from Netflix and it is really good. I'm a big fan of Elizabeth Perkins and she is amazing in this. Mary Louise Parker is also great. Tonye Patano is also fantastic as Nancy's supplier. I highly recommend it.

Covet

It's time to move the monster spider down the page a bit. I present to you the most fabulous pair of shoes. And they're on sale! (my birthday's in October...)

;)

EEEEEEEK!!!

Gah! Aaron found this monster in our basement. He said that he tried to jump back but there was a table behind him and he just flailed for a bit. Then ran upstairs and grabbed the camera.

I came home at lunch to witness him freaking the hell out. I convinced him that he had to go back down there - with a hammer or something - and kill it. Or it would EAT THE BABY. He thought the HAMMER was a bad idea so he took a rolled up NOTEBOOK. Good plan, Einstein. He whacked at it and injured one of its legs and it went into hiding. So now we have a monster spider down in the basement and it is PISSED OFF.

Director for Lessons Learned

Did you know that the White House pays someone with the title of "Director of Lessons Learned" over $100,000 dollars a year?!?

I'm not making this up.

It's hawwwwwt.

I came upstairs to write something but now I'm sweating and it's flowing into my eyes and into my cleavage (hello!) and I'm heading back downstairs.

Tonight is "So You Think You Can Dance". I'm watching it to see if Dominic wears a shirt this time.

UPDATE: Wow, I love it when I confuse Tuesday with Wednesday. I guess I'm stuck with Veronica Mars re-runs. There are worse things.

UPDATE2: Um, I'm losing my mind. I meant Dmitry and not Dominic. Not sure who Dominic is.

Oh, to be rich

Because I would be frivolous and buy myself a pair of these:

A Case of the Mondays

Man, it is hard to be back at work after such a great weekend. Beautiful weather, lots of Sophie snuggles, good eats. Sophie is now, possibly, growling like a tiger. Either that or she has learned how to clear her throat. Doesn't matter, it sounds like growling and that is good enough for me. She has also thrown a couple of full-on temper tantrums. Angry, hot tears about something. We haven't figure it out yet. She'll be sitting there, whining a little, and then BOOM! The crying! and the Tears! and the Yelling! She did this yesterday with me and I tried everything until finally Aaron rescued both of us and took her into the bathroom. She then proceeded to give me the hairiest eyeball I've ever seen. It was actually quite funny. Visions of teenage-dom.

Sophie Saturday!

Aaron is off playing WWII war games today. He left around 8 this morning and won't be back until after 10 pm.

Sophie and I went shopping. Whole Foods, Target, Michael's, Marshalls, Linens & Things, Old Navy. I had her in the Ergo carrier and she was a great sport about the whole thing.

On a side note: do you know what I love? When I find a skirt I bought for full price two weeks ago now on the clearance rack for $5. Yeah, that's what I love. I also really, really adore slow walking people who take up whole aisles with their shopping carts. No, no, don't move on my account, why would I want to get past you? I LOVE back-tracking and going down a different aisle. That's the best.

But enough about that. You're here for the baby back ribs, aren't you? They are quite delicious today. All sleepy and marshmallow-y.

Eating Healthy

How to eat healthy at fast food restaurants. (via the morning news)

10 reasons to impeach Bush

Only 10?

Color-iffic Swap-o-rama

My July Color-iffic Swap-o-rama package was sent this morning to Portugal. The color theme this time was aqua/turquoise and chocolate brown. I hand painted the box and did not add flowers this time because 1) my secret partner does not like flowers and 2) she would have got them anyway if Michael's had not had ass for silk flowers. So, I made up a ribbon border with two different kinds of ribbons and some blue brads and then painted the detail on the top of the box with just glossy varnish on the blue paint. I think it came out rather nice.

Also, I'm getting used to mailing to Portugal at this point (since pretty much every time I've had a partner from there). I actually had to tell the man at the post office that no, I did not need to fill out (by hand?! I don't use a pen anymore!) 5 copies of the customs form because I had printed it out, with all the details, from their website. And, besides, Portugal only needs one copy and he needs to tape it to the package. He was clueless. To his coworker, who was thankfully less, um, stupid: "She's got some sort of computer-generated form here. Can we use this?" He handed me a pile of customs forms for next time anyway. Yeah, thanks.

Anyhoo, here's the package:

Daycare

So, we've found a great daycare for Sophie (*sound of my heart breaking*). For real. It is a family daycare which means that one woman runs it. She has 6 (SIX) kids of her very own (oldest is 18; youngest is 5) and then she apparently really, really likes kids because she runs a daycare with 6 kids (including her youngest). She feeds the children healthy foods (whole grains! vegetables! no sugary snacks!) and she has a huge house with lots to do. She's also teaching sign language to all the kids.

We will be starting Sophie there near the end of August. And to get Sophie used to the other kids and to the woman who runs it, she suggested bringing Sophie by during the day. Today was the first "date" and Aaron brought her over. Apparently it went fabulously. She was THRILLED with the slightly older kids and they all hit it off really well. "Here's a toy, Sophie" and it was a very gentle and calm environment. Granted it was just after naptime for the youngest kids, but still. I'm happy. And feeling okay (*heart still breaking*) about this.

Men's Fashion

So, Aaron will be returning to school in the fall to get his PhD. And I was thinking it would be great if he returned to school with a new look. A look, say, straight off the runways in Paris.

John Galliano:

or Jean Paul Gaultier:

or Prada:

Which one is your favorite?

Push Pins!

Ooh, these are fun! Imagine them not just skewering olives, but perhaps sticking fun appetizers or holding a towering sandwich together.

Sailor Jerry

T-shirts and other goodies based on the tattoos of Sailor Jerry.

This Aloha sticker made me giggle and my first thought was to send it to styro, but she wasn't on Google Talk yet. So I sent it to Aaron. Aloha, indeed!

Bling

Ooh, I love these! Ice cubes shaped like gemstones. Imagine them with pomegranate juice for rubies! or just water for diamonds! or, hmm, how would you do dark blue?

Them thar internets

Wow, Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) is brilliant. I'm so glad he can finally explain to me how the internet works once and for all. I had no idea about the tubes.

Happy Fourth!

We traveled down to my very, very pregnant sister's house on Friday night and got back late last night. Sophie handled everything - the two big dogs, the long shopping trips to IKEA and around town, the new place to sleep, the long car rides (about 5 hours each way) - like the good-natured sweetie that she is. We helped my sister get herself organized and gave lots of (solicited) advice on the hospital and the baby's room and other baby-related things. She seems very calm and centered. They don't want to know the sex of the baby so they are still discussing names and she's only pulled out the unisex clothing so far.

I have some photos of the dogs sitting "patiently" while Sophie is in the high chair eating/throwing Cheerios.

We decided that maybe we need a dog.

Otto begs to differ.