Don’t forget about the contest I have going on — you can win a box of scrapbooking and stamping supplies! I don’t have very many entries so far. I guess my readers don’t like free stuff, LOL! All you have to do is write a 50 word blog entry about crafting and link to my post about the contest. Leave me a comment on that post when you’ve completed it! Remember: to qualify you have to write a post on your blog linking to me — just a comment doesn’t count. What are you waiting for? Get crackin’!
Month: August 2007
Pet Peeve
This is going to come across as really snotty and I don’t even care. People, if you buy this wine, it is NOT “Boggle” like the word game, nor is it “Boogle.” It is BOE-gul. Long “e” sound. You pretty much say it just the way it looks. I hate when someone comes in asking for “Boggle” because I don’t want to be bitchy and say, “Oh, here’s the BOGLE Chard” and yet I hate for them to continue mispronouncing it. Anyway, there it is. Now you know.
Ready for School
Whee! Yesterday was Kindgarten orientation at Jake’s school. There are three Kindergarten classes, and I don’t know how many children are in the other two, but there are only 20 in his class, which I think is a great number. Boys outnumber girls something like 14-6, and there is the teacher (obviously) and she has an aide as well to help manage the classroom. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again — I cannot get over how fabulously organized this school is! Love. It. The whole hour ran smoothly, from gathering in the foyer to getting everyone to the right classrooms, to classroom activities/snack, to getting the children lined up for their bus ride. It made me feel very good!
His teacher is super nice and has been teaching K for four years. She’s also taught grades 1-3. When we got there, the children needed to find their names and then draw a picture of themselves while we parents grabbed some paperwork. The teacher likes to put together a class “address book” to make it easy to schedule play dates or birthday parties or whatnot. After that, it was a scavenger hunt. There was a sheet of paper with six pictures and the children had to find these things in the room and then color them in. After that was snacktime (juice boxes and cookies — I wasn’t in love with the cookies, but since this was to make the kids comfy, it was okay) and a story. Then the principal took the class for their busride while the teacher went over various things with us parents. Lots of things to remember, but it’s going to be fun. Jake seemed totally comfortable and was well on his way to talking about his favorites toys and buddying up with another little boy. He’s also excited that there is another little boy in his class named Jacob, LOL…
Many of the moms seemed more approachable to me than the ones at his preschool, so I’m hopeful to make some local friends as well! He’s also all registered for CCD, and while I’m not super hot on the idea of getting too involved with anything church-related, that might be an opportunity to meet some other parents too. We’ll see. At any rate, seems like this is going to be an exciting and busy fall what with all the school and church activities, my birthday, K’s bridal shower and bachelorette, and of course, the wedding! Yay!!!
Cruel and Unusual Punishment
This week both Drew and I have commited ourselves to giving The South Beach Diet a good, honest try. After a lot of reading, research, and talking to people I know who are also on it, I decided that it really does seem right for me, especially after reading about a segment on the “Today” show about the waist-to-hip ratio. Mine was high enough to actually get me worried. I’m not terribly overweight, but I do carry all of my “extra baggage” in my tummy and hip area. And due to family history of diabetes and high blood pressure and yadda yadda yadda, I’m doing this just as much for my health in the long run as I am to lose these 15 freaking pounds.
Of course, I am a wine blogger, and as such I interact with other wine bloggers and read their sites and know what they are drinking. It’s a great way to get reccomendations. Except for during the first two weeks of SB. Because I’m not allowed to drink wine. It’s only two weeks and if I wasn’t reading these blogs it probably wouldn’t phase me as much, but honestly my mouth is watering at the thought of Kanonkop Pinotage right now after reading about it on two different blogs. I will really be looking forward to a glass of Cabernet on Day 15, I assure you.
I suppose I might want to temporarily stop reading Slashfood while I’m at it. That’s not going to help me either!
But all that aside, so far it’s going well. I’m only two days in so really — what can you tell from that? But I’m not feeling deprived, I’m enjoying awesome, healthy food, and I even discovered that I like V8!
Craving Some Time Away
It’s been almost a year since Drew and I have been able to get away… just the two of us. Granted, we did have an overnight a couple weeks ago when the boys stayed at Grandma’s, but it wasn’t anything major: that evening we put a new slipcover on the couch and the next day we had lunch out and did some shopping. Don’t get me wrong, it was a fun “date” day, but it would just be so great if the two of us could spend a couple days at a Bed and Breakfast. I don’t think it will happen anytime soon, but it would sure be nice to have some R&R!
Career Paths I Could Have Taken
Remember the other day when I did that “4 Things” meme? One of the jobs I listed was “mall interviewer.” Yes, I was one of those annoying people who run up to you as soon as you walk into the mall and beg you to complete a survey. I’m not sure which job was worse — that one, or the one where I was “marketing assistant” to the president of a design firm. It’s a toss-up. People ran away from me when I worked at the mall, and I had to clean up the jerk’s trash for the other. But I digress… When I took the mall job, it was advertised as “market research.” I guess it was, but it’s not what I expected. I always thought it would be interesting to work for a real market research company: compile statistics, track behaviors, etc. I probably would have done pretty well if I had been a market analyst. But there’s no way I’m starting from the bottom up. I just have way too many interests and still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up!
Big Boy Bed, Night #2
I think the fact that the boys are sharing a room is stressing me out a little bit. Whenever one makes noise, I’m afraid the other one is going to wake up. Last night around 10:30 or so, Jake started whimpering so I went up to check on him. He must have been dreaming because he had no idea why I was up there. A bit later, Noah started. Drew settled him down, and then at 2:30 he got up again. This time I went. And then he was up for the day around 4:50. It’s like we’re going backwards here. We’d just gotten to the point where he was starting to sleep until around 6 (I’m sure, partially because I’ve been a hardass about naps — he cries and protests for a few minutes, but then sleeps for an hour or slightly more). He hasn’t napped in a few days. Sleep begets sleep — at least with our children. But we’ll carry on. I’m hoping he’ll nap today and get up at a more reasonable hour tomorrow.
So how did he do?
For his first night in the twin bed, we think he did super-great!!! He settled down very easily (he was most “stressed” about where to put his sippy cup — we just put it in the corner and he was happy), and did not wake when we put Jake to bed. He started calling for me around 2:30 so after a few minutes I went up to check. He seemed wide-awake (argh!) but I’m going to guess it’s because the room is so “bright” from the nightlight Jake uses. Noah has never needed a nightlight, so that will be an adjustment. I explained that it’s still time to sleep and without too much difficulty convinced him to lay back down. He kept tapping his Glow Worm toy for a whlile but did go back to sleep until about 5:10. Not bad for the first night! I hope it continues like this. I am very much ready to disassemble that crib!
Goodness!
Noah went to sleep in his “big boy bed” tonight. Let’s see if it lasts until morning!!! He looks so small and cute in it. My little man…
Vegas, Baby!
I watching Swingers again the other night (for like the hundredth time, probably) and wondering about Las Vegas. I’ve never been, though I know two people who got married there, and several others who have gone on vacations or for trade shows. I’m not a gambler by any means (I stop when I’m like $20 up at the Connecticut casinos!) but I think it would be an experience. When I worked for the magazine, a couple of our trade shows were held there. I know one was at the Venetian hotel, which is supposed to be a great place. (The again, I don’t think you’ll hear too many people saying that any of the major Vegas hotel/casinos are dives!). Someday hopefully we can take a trip out West and do the Grand Canyon/Vegas thing. I’d really like to see more of the country than the Northeast, and the West is compelling to me.