Almost Somewhat Positive

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Welcome, with a PSA and a little TMI for good measure
2008-01-18 07:00:00
Hello there dear reader, I wanted to thank you for hanging in there with me while I moved. Phew! I’m exhausted! I tried out several (roughly 122) themes and found that for one reason or another that many of them didn’t suit me or didn’t fit my blog needs. I want a theme that is ...
More About: Good

It?s news to me!
2008-01-15 20:18:00
First off… You know what to do, frisk like there’s no tomorrow! For tips on how to do breast exams properly, you can click here, here and here. I finally have a hosted website for Wordpress…. wooohooo! Now I just need to get my stuff together and organize all my subdomains including my sewing site , review ...
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8 random things about Emma
2008-01-11 16:43:00
Emma was tagged by Baby Bug to do a meme regarding 8 random things about her life. Baby Bug’s mommy is the lovely Kailani at An Island Life.Emma is going on three years old (end of March), and has quite a bit to say about her life: 1. My favorite number is “2 year ...
More About: Humor , Random , Things , Emma

Glamour, Interrupted: a book review
2008-01-09 15:00:00
I recently got the opportunity to choose from a wide assortment of books at Collins, and I jumped at the chance to read Glamour , Interrupted: How I Became the Best-Dressed Patient in Hollywood by Steven “Cojo” Cojocaru. I have been a fan of his for a while and have always loved watching him on Entertainment ...
More About: Humor , Book Review , Review , Book

ha. ha. ha. *Emma-isms*
2008-01-07 19:13:00
Today, just a few minutes ago: Emma - Mom, run with me! *She shouts as she dashes off towards the kitchen* Me- Nope, not going to run. Emma- Why, you too many year old or sumpin? *blink-blink* Me- Umm… why yes, thank you for noticing. Thank you so very much. Yesterday:John- Ummmm… what ‘cha got there Em? Emma- BOOBS!I don’t ...

I WANT THAT: win a Hamilton Beach Stand Mixer at A Cowboy?s Wife
2008-01-07 06:46:00
A Cowboy ?s Wife is having a contest on her food blog! You can win a Hamilton Beach ® Stand Mixer and she?ll ship anywhere so everyone is eligible! The Prize: The winner will receive a brand new Hamilton Beach 4.5-qt. Eclectrics Stand Mixer, Pineapple Yellow!! About the mixer: From Hamilton Beach?s ?Eclectrics? line, this all-metal stand mixer comes with a ...

I WANT THAT: momAgenda desktop calendar
2008-01-07 06:30:00
One of my online BFF’s is hosting a giveaway at her blog for momAgenda’s desktop calendars! I don’t know about you, but I can use all the help I can get right now… Life is getting a little cah-razy. Sometimes just putting something down on paper is enough to motivate me to get things done. If ...
More About: Desktop , Calendar

I WANT THAT: 100 dollars a month for a year!
2008-01-06 07:00:00
I heard about a blog giveaway for 100 bucks a month for a year and I was so overjoyed to hear about it, it actually brought a tear to my eye! This last couple of months have been interesting since taking over the responsibilities of the finances. Though my poor hubby is relieved to be free ...
More About: Dollars , Year , Month , Mont

How to change your desktop icons
2008-01-03 23:06:00
So you want to change those blah Windows icons on your desktop but you don’t know how? I know I have been wanting to post this for a while, but kept forgetting. The first thing you need to do is to go shopping for some icons, obviously! When I say shopping, I don’t necessarily ...
More About: Desktop , Icons , Change

Happy New Year[?s Resolutions!]
2008-01-01 21:43:00
Happy New Year ! I hope all of you are off to a wonderful start for the New Year! In the past I had never been one for resolutions, mostly because I lacked the intestinal fortitude to keep the pessimism at bay AND because I procrastinate too much. As part of my Positivity Regimen for the ...
More About: Happy , Happy New Year , Resolutions

Dona Nobis Pacem
2007-11-07 07:00:00
Wouldn't it be something if our children saw war as a thing of the pastinstead of a horrible and ever present reality?If they didn't have to see violent and disturbing images on the news?Or didn't have to ask, "Where is my mommy and daddy,don't they love me more than being a soldier?"What would our world be like if children didn't see theirparents killed in front of them or have them die in their arms?And if parents didn't have to see their child pick up a gun.What if we lived in a world where governments andpersons of power didn't exploit their own people for personal gain?I cannot stop the bullets and the bombs.I cannot bring our soldiers home.I cannot quell the suffering of the millions.I cannot overthrow a corruptgovernment and establish true democracy.I feel that I cannot be heard.Until today.Dona Nobis Pacem.Amen.

Ultimate Life
2007-11-06 14:40:00
My blogging bud Avery tagged me for this meme, thanks Avery! I had a lot of fun. :DThe rules are:Answer the questions as realistically or unrealistically as you want.Copy the rules into your meme post.Link back to the person who tagged you.Tag 5 others1. Where would you live?I would found my own town called Dorkville, where the dorks could roam free. I would welcome new residents by having a Fantasy Island like welcome luau, and I would dress Emma up like Tattoo, and she would yell "The Dorks! The Dorks, boss mom! The Dorks!"2. What would your job be (or if unrealistic) what would you do all day?I would be a dork herder, of course! But I think I would hire someone else to clean up after them, dork poo is the worst. I live in a house full of dorks so I should know. ;)3. Who would you spend your time with? Doing what?All the dorks that are near and dear to my heart. We would spend the days doing dorky things like laughing at each others awkward social interactions ( totally with do...
More About: Life , Ultimate

NaNoWriMo word count wallpapers
2007-11-05 17:52:00
***Scroll down for manic Monday***Here are some wall papers that I made for those of us who are doing NaNoWriMo... the calendar has the word counts for each day and was made by another NaNo'er (sorry I tried to find you name to give you credit!). All of the photos were taken by me.Click on the image to enlarge to it's full size, right click/save as.Enjoy! :D
More About: Wallpapers , Word , Count

Manic Monday : Earth
2007-11-05 15:35:00
The Teach was kind enough to drop by today, and she reminded me that it is Manic Monday ! How on the earth could I forget Manic Monday ?Well, I'll tell you... I have been asking myself how on the earth I got myself into this NaNoWriMo mess, but being a woman of my word and being that I am trying to stop being so pessimistic and more positive, well, I have to do it. Right?My brain is feeling fuzzy. I have a feeling that i may have very well written everything I could over the weekend and there simply isn't anything left in there to write;)Here is the Peace Globe that i will be posting about on November 7th:And since my brain is devoid of any intelligent word groupings (I'm only on my first cup of coffee), here are 2 of my favorite earth desktops:Thanks to Mo for hosting such a wonderful meme.
More About: Earth

Look out Donald, you have competition!
2007-11-04 19:58:00
Emma and Anna were playing blocks together and evidently Em didn't like the way Anna was playing."You're FIRED!"I have no idea where she would have heard that from... do they play The Apprentice reruns on Disney, or Nick At Night?I didn't think so.PS- look at my word count widget for today... it's only 1 PM and I am happy to say that I am already a few words over my daily quota. Happy Happy , Joy Joy!PPS- Poop, the word count widget isn't updating :P My word count is currently 6,712.
More About: Competition , Donald

Whoa, NaNo!
2007-11-02 15:04:00
*** Please don't forget to check out Kailani's Halloween Costume Contest, voting is officially open. I entered my girls, but there are lots of fantastic costumes linked at her blog, so go check it out! :D Vote for Anna and Em if you think they should win, thanks! ***Ok, and we'rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrre off!To a rough start!I guess I'm "just not applying myself". Actually , I started off well yesterday, but didn't finish the other 400+ words I needed last night, so today I need to write over 2000 words.That's great! Except that Emma has decided that she is serious about this potty training thing. But wait, that's great too! Last night we went out to find Anna a new coat and as we arrived at the store Em announced she needed to go potty. I had planned on getting this little gem so that going potty while we were out and about wouldn't be so scary (Anna would freak out, she didn't like going potty without her Blue's Clues potty seat):.... So I told Emma that I didn't have a se...
More About: Nano , Whoa

Happy Halloween!
2007-11-01 02:52:00
Here are my girls, who usually are monkeys... As a Cheetah and Eeyore. :D Click them to enlarge :)I really love the shot of their tails!And here is Emma inviting herself in to our neighbor's house...She just pushed right on past Kim and made herself comfy. I was laughing and my hands were shaking so hard that I was surprised the shot even came out.On November 2nd Kailani at An Island Life will be having a contest to judge:Best Child CostumeBest Adult CostumeBest Pet Costume... so please head on over and check out the contestants and vote! :D
More About: Happy , Halloween , Allo

Garsh, I am feeling' the love!
2007-10-30 03:55:00
One of my BBFF's (Blogging Best Friend Forever, LOL!) Maggie nominated me for the October ROFL Award for the post below: To Kill a Mocking Squirrel- OR- RIP Baby Pumpkwin.*Does the happy booty dance* Thank you so much Maggie, smoochies!
More About: Love , Feeling

To Kill a Mocking Squirrel- OR- RIP Baby Pumpkwin
2007-10-29 16:58:00
It truly is a Manic Monday today. I don't know if you saw my last Thursday Thirteen, but it's a slide show of my family at the pumpkin patch. In this post i mentioned that Emma became enamored with a "Baby Pumpkwin", and she carried it around, hugging and kissing the baby like a good little mommy. Even though she didn't want to leave her baby outside, she relented rather easily when I explained that pumpkins grew outside and it would be just fine.Wednesday night we left our gourd treasures on a bench in our small front doorstep area. We staggered the sizes and it looked simple but pretty. We had 2 large pumkins, 2 small ones- including Emma's Baby Pumpkwin, and 3 teeny ones. Now *sniff* in retrospect, I wish I had snapped a picture.Saturday morning I grabbed my cuppa joe and walked over to my office armoire, while looking out of the window... and what should I see? A little squirrel looking at me, with a teeny tiny "pumpkwin" grasped in his teeth. I ran out side before he could ...
More About: Kill , Squirrel , Mock

My Opinion Meme
2007-10-27 17:15:00
This My Opinion Meme was started by a gorgeous AND hilarious blogger I met on cr8buzz, her name is Avery Gray. If you haven't read her blog, you really should. She not only has a wonderful and funny writing style but she also writes poignantly about real life issues.OK, so the idea for this meme is to strip away all pretense and REALLY give your opinion. From Avery's blog :I have deduced that there are some views I hold that people may or may not agree with. Because I believe good, honest debate is a healthy way for individuals to come together and get to know one another, I've chosen to get the ball rolling and share 20 of my most controversial opinions.Be creative, be funny, be controversial, but be honest. ;) Twenty? Phew! Well, actually I am very opinionated (surprise, surprise), so it shouldn't be that hard.I believe that The Glass can be both half empty AND half full. Sue me. :PGod does test us at times, otherwise he wouldn't have created Brussel Sprouts or cocoa beans.Ju...

Aloha Friday #5
2007-10-26 16:27:00
My friend Kailani is hosting another episode of Aloha Friday ! Her idea is that you post a question on your blog each Friday. Each person is encouraged to join in the fun by posting your own question on your blog. Be sure to visit the Aloha Friday Headquarters and answer Kailani's question and sign up on her Linky.My question for this week is very much related to what is happening in my world:Have you ever had a dream that seemed unattainable, but you accomplished this dream anyway? If so, what was that dream and what did you overcome to accomplish it?***Maggie asked how I would answer this question... I would have to say that expressing my artistic side has been a dream that I felt was unattainable because I was very self-conscious about my art. This is directly related to my childhood I know.Ten years ago I started writing 2 books but stopped because I gave up, I felt like the plot was not good enough for each. Eight years ago I dreamed of starting a business where I sold baby qui...

Who, me?
2007-10-25 20:56:00
Mr. Dorky Dad gave this to me last week, he thinks that I hit the mark and "touch a range of emotions" . Way cool. He even believes that I deserve and exclamation mark after my screen name. Even better!Well Dorky Dad, you couldn't have picked a better award for me. I have been known to make splotchy stains just like the one in the graphic, usually on the front of my shirt.PS- Dude, I'm jealous of your cat's @ss award. :DAlso- I say with humility, because I know there is humiliation on the horizon- I am proud mildly amused happy to say that I have part of a plot worked out for the NaNoWriMo coming up next month. My husband enjoyed talking to me about this, which I in turn enjoyed because I got something other than a grunt over a game controller. ;)My [attempt at a] novel will have a little something for everyone: There will guns and gritty, dirt stained testosterone for the guys, love interests and soul searching for the gals, and fluffy bunnies and rainbows for the kids.OK, may...

Thursday Thirteen- Pumpkin Patch Fun
2007-10-25 15:22:00
Tuesday we traveled a short while to find a pumpkin patch, over the river and into Illinois. Of course, we got lost! So we tried again yesterday. And of course, they were closed. ;) What was really nice was even though we didn't get the whole "pumpkin patch experience" with cider and hay rides, the owner of the farm had an honor system box so our travels were not in vain. The owner even came out to see if we were finding what we wanted, and offered to open the corn stalk maze for the kids! You don't find places like that very often, and it just goes to show you why it's so important to support your local farms.Emma became enamored with one baby "pumpkwin" and decided that her baby was so cute that it deserved several kisses and a ride in her car seat. ;) Anna fell in love with the little ones as well and spent most of the time looking through the baby bin.So here are 13+ pictures of our chilly visit to the pumpkin patch yesterday.
More About: Pumpkin , Thirteen , Thursday , Patch

Wordless Wednesday- World On Fire
2007-10-24 07:00:00
***This is in no way related to the So Cal fires... "World on fire" is just the first thought that popped in my head when I took this picture in Eastern Iowa, Just outside my front door ;) Sorry for the confusion***
More About: Fire , Wednesday

The Greatest Presidential Stories Never Told: A Book Review
2007-10-23 14:52:00
Had I been given the opportunity 10 years ago to review a book chock full of history, I might have said no. In high school, try as I might, history was always the first subject that I fell asleep in- mostly related to the lack of decent sleep because of my childhood. That would be my history and we won't talk about that today.When I saw that The Greatest Presidential Stories Never Told (by Rick Beyer) was available for review, I seriously contemplated not doing it. I told my husband- a huge history buff- and his response was "Sweet! I definitely want to read that!", vs. my response which I said in a joking manner "Wow, this is really- *snort snore* ZZZZZzzzzzzzzzz....". ;)BUT, I am here to say that this definitely is NOT the case. After reading this book for just a few minutes I was enthralled and I couldn't put it down. The best part? For once I knew something of history that my dear husband did not! I realized that my inability to retain important dates and historical facts ...
More About: Book Review , Review , Book

Manic Monday: Frost
2007-10-22 22:06:00
This week for manic Monday , FROST is the word. For more Morgen and MM's please go to to his blog- It's A Blog Eat Blog World.I'm a little late posting my MM, mostly because of the back ache I've had since last Friday but also because MM writer's block. I hope this is not a portent of things to come... because NaNoWriMo is going to suck big time *snort*.Anywho, the first thing that came to mind when I thought of the word frost was a time about 5 years ago, when Anna, John and I attended a family member's 8th birthday party. Anna was about 1 1/2 years old and sitting on my lap, and I shared small spoonfuls of ice cream and cake with her. After we were done having dessert, we all sat around the table and enjoyed stories of every day life sprinkled with family stories and teasing. Anna had decided that I wasn't done with dessert. As she sat on my lap, she scooped up the frosting that remained on my plate (because I was trying to spare my waistline some extra calories) and proceed...
More About: Manic Monday , Frost , Manic

Weeehooo!
2007-10-20 18:08:00
I won, I won !*does the ridiculous shake-the-booty while churning- the -butter dance*My quest for an iPod finally paid off, due to the regularly irregular pimpage of the ASP homestead. Mr. Fabulous had a contest going a while ago for an Ipod Shuffle, an *cough* iPod accessory *cough*, or a Barnes and Nobel gift certificate. In return, all he wanted was a little pimping, link love and possibly a vote.Why pimp myself? My daughter wants a MP3 player but I refuse to buy her one. Everyone has their price as they say and evidently mine is anything with an "i" in front of it. ;) Seriously though Anna has been wanting a MP3 player, and though I hate to sully an iPod with only Disney tween music (Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus, High School Musical 1 &2, Aly and AJ...), a mommy's gotta do what a mommy's gotta do.This solves our MP3 player dilemma because we don't want to necessarily buy her something that costs 79$, but on the other hand you get what you pay for right? I have seen quite a...

Hooray for POOP!
2007-10-19 20:36:00
What you are about to read will hopefully amuse you. If you don't have kids, probably not so much.I just wanted to share that Emma went poop on her potty for the first time today. After refusing many many times, I finally managed to get her to try with a lot of sweet talking that may or may not have included upping the Mini M&M allotment for a numero dos. I may have done a rousing cheer or two. And stickers... lots and lots of stickers.Yes, I bribe my kids. Shocking but true. I basically consider bribing my child to poop as a hostage negotiation."Send out one of the hostages as a test of good faith, and we'll see about sending in that chocolate you have on your list of demands! If you let all of the hostages go unharmed to the designated area, we'll throw in a trip to Dairy Queen in an unmarked vehicle!"I'm all for negotiating, but it's better to have it end on my terms, right?It's all good in the 'hood. Plus I get an ice cream out of the deal, too. ;)
More About: Poop

Aloha Friday
2007-10-19 16:44:00
Kailani at An Island Life started a really fun meme called Aloha Friday where each week she asks a question and bloggers answer on their own blogs. Click the link above if you would like to participate!Kailani's question for this week (since I goofed and thought this was a themed sort of thing): Why do you blog?My answer isn't earth shattering or ground breaking. I started blogging as a way to escape the monotony of being a stay-at-home-mom.Blogging is a great source of entertainment whether it be in form of humor, sarcasm, or knowledge.Blogging can lift you up and bolster you because it's all about connecting with other human beings.Blogging can help you realize that you aren't the biggest _____ (fill in the blank here with whatever you choose, for me it would be DORK) out there... there are other people who are going through the same things and who can debate, relate and commiserate.Blogging can be hard work at times, but you get out what you put into it.Bogging is a way to ex...

How many women could use this?
2007-10-18 21:00:00
There is a new addiction out there in lala land... and it's name is CRACKBOX! Signs and symptoms of CRACKBOX addiction may include (but are not limited to) :Sitting for hours staring at a television screen with a controller in hand- meanwhile the kids toilet paper the house, shave the cat and light each other on fire.Dinner turns cold and possibly goes uneaten.The CRACKBOX-head eats 1.45 bowls of cereal 6 hours after dinner was thrown into the trash.Any interruptions is game play is responded to with a "Huh?", but the CRACKBOX-head's glazed eyes never leave the screen.Spending hours playing online and talking to some guy in Jersey named XXX_Bonecrusher_XXX.All conversations with the CRACKBOX-head during brief periods of rest (for gamer's thumb) lead back to playing the game.The XBOX Patch comes in 2 sizes and are easy to use. Print out the appropriate size, cut out and attach double sided tape.1. The "My wife still loves me enough to let me play, as long as I spend some time wit...
More About: Women