Being Grace's Mom

Dear Nick @ Nite,

2012-01-10T01:23:00.000-08:00

Thank you for playing 2 hours of Friends every night for my viewing pleasure. Even though I own all 10 seasons of Friends on DVD, I rarely get them out because I end up spending far too much time planted in front of the television.

However, the 6 people I grew up watching are exactly what I need at 11 p.m. when I can't sleep. With every episode, I think back to the times I remember watching them in years past...good times and great memories.

Your Friend,
Grace's Mom

PS: I also remember when I was in high school and would stay up late with my mom watching Happy Days and Laverne and Shirley re-runs on Nick @ Nite - feel free to go back to shows that first aired before I was born so that I don't feel quite so old! Thanks!

KUWTK

2012-01-06T08:49:00.000-08:00

KUWTK...Keeping Up With The Kardashians.

I mentioned the other day that I have a love/hate relationship with the Kardashian sisters and their men. Here are the things I love:

1. They are marketing geniuses. I've heard a lot of people comment about the K sisters being famous for being famous. What may not occur to people is that these women are flipping incredible branders. They have created a product in themselves - and they are the hottest commodity out there right now! Everyone knows who they are and what their latest scandal is.

2. They are a really tight-knit family. They bicker, fight, and argue. But in the end, they always have each others backs.

3. Kourtney is a really good mom to Mason.

4. Kim is probably my least favorite, but I do appreciate that she's never been fall-down drunk in the papers and seems to hold herself to a certain standard. Sometimes I wish she would losen up, though.

5. Khloe is probably the most down-to-earth, and has a really nice relationship with her husband, Lamar.

Here are the things I hate:

1. The girls are all very materialistic and can be pretty petty.

2. All of them can be absolutely horrible to the men in their lives. Kris deceives Bruce, Kourtney is downright rude to Scott, and Kim and Kris...well, that's for a whole different blog.

3. They can be really raunchy and inappropriate.

4. I don't think they are good role models for young women in many aspects, the exception being branding and marketing/promotion.

Anyway, that's where I stand with KUWTK. I was very relieved to talk to one of my favorite cousins last night, and to find that she, too, loves to hate the famous family. Or hates to love? Either way. Clearly, I'm not the only one who is fascinated by this family.

Organize Yourself: Week 2

2012-01-04T08:10:00.000-08:00

Week 2 is about organizing your priorities.

New Year, New ORGANIZED Life!

Yes, I realize that I started this challenge a few weeks ago, but I took a hiatus from my personal growth goal to man-handle the holidays. With two small children and a birthday party thrown in to the mix, I had my hands full creating a holiday extravaganza! But everything went just swimmingly. The kids are spoiled beyond belief, as am I. Just the way we like it!

Anyway...onward!

Here is an except from the book about my challenges for this week:
If I asked you what your top ten priorities are you would most likely be able to list them. But what if I asked you: Are you living these priorities each day or even every week? If you were honest, would the answer be no? A priority isn't a priority unless you act on it. Your priorities should reflect your values, not those of your boss, your relatives, or your best friend.

This is very interesting to me. If you asked me to list my priorities, they would include things like time with the kids, time with the husband, time with the Jaquish family, creating a successful business, coaching volleyball, Relay For Life commitments, supporting the major life events of my two best friends (one is having a baby and one is getting married!! happy day!), horsey time, and maybe a little time for myself.

But if I wasn't expected to have these tasks on my plate, would I? Hmmm...yes, I think I would. I'm very fortunate and I don't have to do a lot of things that I don't like doing. I'm pretty good at saying "no" and staying away from the things that I dislike.

Some of my tasks for this week include making a list of my top ten priorities, and then making a list of my current activities, and then comparing them. I feel like these lists will match up okay, but I think that I need to designate more time for the higher priority items than the lower priority items.

One last tip that is given is to not compare your life to TV, advertisements, or celebrities...but...how will I know if I am, indeed, keeping up with the Kardashians?!

My mom watched her first episode of Kourtney and Kim Take New York last week, and she has realized why Kim ditched that loser Kris Humphries. I'll have to write another blog about my love-hate relationship with the Kardashian family.

Okie and Skyler's Winter Home

2011-12-12T10:48:00.000-08:00

Two months ago we moved Okie and Skyler to a "winter home." Our horse set up is not very easy to manage in the winter months - we don't have pasture, so they cost a fortune to feed because they graze all day on very expensive hay!

Anyway, here are a couple of pics of their new digs.

The boys have a lovely view of the river.

Clearly, Skyler is getting enough to eat.

Nana gets a good look at the yellow horse, making sure his coat looks good and checking for scrapes and scratches.

This is a perfect example of how Okie and Skyler interact...they are in their own space, plenty of grass and room, not even that close, really...

...and NO! Skyler pins his ears and gnaws at Okie - who probably thinks this is Skyler's way of showing him some affection.

Absolutely gorgeous property.

Each of them has a stall in the barn and run - they are penned up at night and only let out in the pasture during the day. Skyler always goes in the right side and Okie only goes in the left side. I wonder who made that decision?...Skyler...

The owner has one horse left - a miniature pony stallion she calls Rusty. He and Okie have become good friends. He is in a separate pasture, but his stall in the barn is directly across from Okie's so they chat in the barn.

I can't remember exactly how old little Rusty is - but he's old - near 30? He looks great for his age!

Someone went in the barn...is it snack time? Must be, to get both Okie and Skyler's full attention!

As grumpy and independent as Skyler can be, he is always the first to greet me when I show up and I can call to him from the back yard and he almost always answers back. As we're getting ready to leave, he perks up to listen to see if I'm going to say anything of interest...like, I'll be back with apples, Skyler!

Organize Yourself, Day 1

2011-12-11T10:09:00.001-08:00

Incase you missed it, I picked up this week-by-week guide to organizing your life, and I'm going to be blogging my progress.

This week's goal:

1. Write out a vision for your life. Answer these questions to help you find inspiration. If you could do anything...
Where would you live?
How would you earn an income?
What would your days look like?
What would you do for fun?
What would you do more of?
What would you do less of?

Oh man, I'm glad my handy-dandy organization book gave me the questions to get started, or I would be overwhelmed already and it's Day 1!

Where would I live? I'm not especially in love with the town I live in, but I am in love with living close to my family and friends. My parents are less than 10 minutes away, and since this is where I grew up, this is where even my long-distance friends tend to come back to. I live between two larger cities, and I have really good friends who live in both, so its handy because I can see all of them easily. However, we have a lot of crime in our little rural town. A lot of gangs. Our school system has gone to pot. That is a huge concern for me. I wouldn't mind moving closer to one of the larger towns, but still staying in the country. Would something with room for my ponies and kids to roam be asking too much?

How would I earn an income? By being awesome. I said this jokingly to a friend of mine, but I'm kind of serious. I'm hoping that I will be passionate about my new career in insurance, and that I am really freaking awesome at it. I would love to be the rock star of the life insurance company - but that kind of goes for whatever I do. No one wants to work at a job they are bad at, right? But I don't just want to be good - I want to be awesome.

What would my days look like? Equal parts Super Mom and Career Woman, with a healthy dose of volunteerism thrown into the mix. I like to be busy and have a lot of fun things on my calendar. And yes, I consider meetings fun. I like having a day with my kids where I am alone with one or both of them. I tend to do better one-on-one. I also wouldn't mind more consistent date nights with my hubby. He can be a pretty fun guy. I like to have fun. So I suppose the answer is wake up at a decent hour, 6:30ish, send the kids and hubby on their way, work my tail off at my job until mid afternoon, get some me-time in in the early evening, eat dinner with the hubby and kids, and then head to volleyball/volleyball practice/cattle sorting practice/Relay For Life meeting/dinner at Nana's/etc.

What would I do for fun? I have mentioned before, I have too many hobbies. I play volleyball, coach volleyball, ride my horses, volunteer for Relay, snowboard, wine taste, and drag my family to every community event I can squeeze in. I'm getting Grace started early in this stuff too - we go to gymnastics once a week, I got her in to preschool a year early so she goes to that twice a week, she loves the horses and meeting up with friends for coffee. Yes, my three year old daughter likes to meet her three year old friends for coffee.

Being awesome at volleyball.

Grace and I are both being awesome at riding horses.

Decorating cookies with Mrs. Claus last year at Christmas - we met up with our friends Jauna (left) and Emily (to the left of Jauna) - we do ALL the community events we can!

Grace and daddy at swim lessons - I was too preggo to make that happen, so sometimes when I want our family to do something, daddy has to step up!

Community Days festival - Grace and her BFF Ellie got matching rainbow facepaint!

What would I do more of? I feel like I should say that I would do more work around the house...but that's just because our disorganization has me really on edge. If my house was completely in order, I would really like to do more fun things with my husband. He works so hard, he deserves to have a fun wife.

See? We clean up nice. We should do more of this.

What would I do less of? I would do less dreaming and more doing. I would also do less spending. I can always do less spending.

I guess that's pretty much my vision. I don't think I'm that different from anyone else - hopefully I'm determined enough to make these things a reality.

Can I say, "Oh My Gosh?"

2011-12-10T09:24:00.000-08:00

So, May 10 2010 was my last entry, eh? Pretty sure my life is completely different now.

First of all, there's this little guy:

His name is Logan Patrick, and he's pretty much the coolest little guy I know.

Logan arrived on September 24, 2011. I actually spent every minute of 2011 pregnant up until that point - probably a good thing I didn't blog during that time. Postings about my love of chocolate pudding and hatred toward the folks in Starbucks who always wanted to know when I was due, and then give me their two cents on my size, my caffeine intake, and my plans to continue working - that's what my blog would have consisted of this year. Keep in mind, these Starbucks people are not friends - they are strangers! Where do people get the nerve?!? Moving on.

Another big change: I recently left my job at the TV station to start a career that will hopefully be a little more family-friendly. I am going to work for a company called Northwestern Mutual selling life insurance. This last week I did a four week course that prepared me to take my state license exam. Sounds pretty boring, right? It really wasn't! I thoroughly enjoyed learning the ins and outs of life insurance policies, health insurance policies, and the laws that go with them! I didn't expect to enjoy the material very much. I have life insurance, but I never understood it and I didn't really care. Now, I am excited about it!

With all of these life changes going on, I have decided I need to get uber organized. I stumbled upon a book that was recommended in some blog, somewhere. Here it is:

As you can see, this is a week by week guide to getting organized. One week at a time. Sounds pretty good to me.

The first section is Organize Yourself. One of my goals in the first week is to start a journal. I'm not really a handwritten journal kind of girl...so I thought I would give the old blog a whirl. Not only that, but this is a way I can easily document the changes I make throughout the year! And maybe this blog will hold me accountable and make me stick with this little program. Having two kids, an adoring husband, a home, and now working for myself an essentially being a business owner - that's going to call for a pretty high level of organization!

I'm going to officially start the program tomorrow. I can see nothing holding me back from getting my life completely organized.

Confessions of a Disney Cast Member

2010-05-18T09:07:00.000-07:00

You know how I like to share funny little things that I read! I promise, I will be back to blogging on a regular basis in the VERY near future - my May from Hell is nearly over! :) But until then, enjoy!

Confessions of a Disney Cast Member

Robert Niles spent five summers working on rides such as Pirates of the Caribbean and Tom Sawyer Island at Walt Disney World. He currently edits the site Theme Park Insider.

By Robert Niles

Excuse me, young man, are you pregnant?
What's more terrifying than the 38-foot drop on Disney's Big Thunder Mountain Railroad? Having to ask women in line if they're pregnant. It's for their own safety, but forget a woman scorned — hell hath no fury like a woman who's been mistaken for being pregnant. Once, when I was in training, I watched a coworker approach a larger female park visitor and ask, "Excuse me, ma'am, but are you pregnant?" "Pregnant!?!" the woman screamed, her voice turning heads at the happiest place on earth. "No! What are you saying? Do I look fat to you?!" She turned to her friend and screamed some more: "They think I look fat. Let's get out of here!"

I was so traumatized by that incident I crafted a plan to avoid offending anyone. Whenever I spotted a "suspect," I asked everybody in the vicinity — including teenage boys and women in their 70s — if they were with child. If the woman I suspected was actually pregnant, she left the ride quickly. If she wasn't, she just thought I was working a gag.

I sure am Randy today
Disney made the "first name" name tag famous, but the tag doesn't always match the person wearing it. One day, as I was steering the raft to Tom Sawyer Island, my name tag dropped into the river, forcing me to get a new one. There wasn't a single "Robert" left, so until a replacement could be made, I pretended to be "Randy," a name that amused visitors from the U.K. to no end. Elderly English ladies lined up to have their picture taken with me. One screamed when she saw me, grabbed her friend, and yelled, "Is that really your name?" Being a good Disney cast member, I lied and said yes. The friend said, "You know, we love a good randy man back home." But lady, even I'm not that good a cast member.

To get onstage, dress the part
A few attractions choose audience volunteers to be part of the show, but the selection process is far from random. Typically, you need to be a certain gender, size, and age for each of the different roles. You might even need to be wearing a specific item of clothing. On my off days from work, I used to go over to Universal Studios, and I would get picked all the time to play "Mother" in the old Alfred Hitchcock show. They needed a guy my height and weight who happened to be wearing the same type of plain white tennis shoes I always wore. Also helpful for getting picked: cuteness and enthusiasm. Curious kids who ask nicely and look excited often get extra attention, along with thrilling perks like riding up front and introducing shows.

Stroller relocation program
Disney's a family place, but the people who work there come to loathe strollers. It's part of a cast member's job to keep strollers in nice, orderly lines and to make sure they're only left in designated areas. But park visitors keep their strollers in an appalling condition, loaded up with dirty diapers, rotting bottles of milk, and half-eaten PB&J sandwiches. Others see no problem with parking their strollers right in front of an attraction's exit or entrance. Sometimes thoughtless individuals like this incur the wrath of the stroller police, and their precious Bugaboos and Maclarens are intentionally relocated to a place "far, far away" — at the very back of the area cordoned off for strollers.

Yo, ho, ho and a bottle of (confiscated) rum
On special Grad Nites, when Disney hosts loads of freshly graduated high school kids, the park puts extra staffers inside Pirates of the Caribbean and other rides as lookouts to monitor less-than-legal activities. Our focus was mostly on what the kids were consuming. Booze, cigarettes — you name it, and a Disney cast member has confiscated it from a 17-year-old at one time or another. One clever kid, forced to hand over his bottle, noted the irony of getting busted in the middle of a ride that celebrates a drunken pirate orgy. "Hey, don't the pirates have enough?" he asked. "They need mine, too?"

Please keep your happiness to yourself
This attraction has been camera monitored for your safety. That's the spiel Disney broadcasts over its loudspeakers for many rides. But the cameras are also meant to protect you from yourself. One night, while most parkgoers were watching the fireworks display, a couple strolled over to Pirates of the Caribbean, where I was working. They not only had a boat to themselves, but empty boats all around them. The real fireworks display, it turned out, was visible on the security cameras to all of us working that night. Let's just say the show the couple put on wasn't exactly G-rated.

This article originally appeared in Budget Travel, May 2010

Why I Haven't Been Blogging: A Story in Pictures

2010-05-04T22:03:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know I've been MIA for a bit - we have had a very busy couple of weeks! One thing that I do not have pictures of, but should update everyone on, is that Boo went in to labor a few weeks ago, but sadly none of the kittens survived the very traumatic delivery. Suffice it to say that Boo is very lucky she was in our home and in our care, or the labor as a barn cat would have been her demise.

I say this as she is racing up and down the hall, chasing nothing in particular. I can sympathize with her - I remember what it was like to finally be feeling myself again after giving birth to my little girl!

Any who, on with the show!

A visit from the GUncle.

Trapping wild animals.

Channeling Cyndi Lauper with our outfits.

Perhaps a little Spring Barrel Tasting.

A coffee break here and there.

Yard work with dad.

Road trip with my honey.

Mother's Day present.

Before.

After.

First oreo cookies.

Trip to OMSI.

That's our heat radiation. We're HOT.

Playing with our first chalk board.

As you can see, we've been very busy. And this doesn't even begin to cover the things I've been planning and working on that are yet to come! We are booked solid from April 24th - June 12. But I will try to be better about stopping in every now-and-again.

Now, it is definitely time for SLEEP.

-Grace's Mom

List: Songs I Can/Would/Could Karaoke To.

2010-04-20T16:57:00.000-07:00

1. Your Love by The Outfield. If you haven't listened to this song lately, do. It's amazing.

2. Don't Stop Believing by Journey. 'Nuff said.

3. Jesse's Girl by Rick Springfield. One of my top 5 favorite songs of all time.

4. Only The Good Die Young by Billy Joel. LOVE it.

5. Heartbreaker by Pat Benatar.

6. Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond. "He's America's greatest song writer and I love him." - Wayne from Saving Silverman, and Grace's Mom from Being Grace's Mom.

7. Sweet Child of Mine by Guns n Roses. I used to say this song was written about me (eyes of the bluest skies...her hair reminds me of a warm safe place where as a child I'd hide? that's so me) but now I say it's written about GRACE!

8. Since U Been Gone by Kelly Clarkson. It's less of a song, more of an anthem.

9. Shut Up by Black Eyed Peas. My brother and I do an AWESOME duet to this song.

10. If I Could Turn Back Time by Cher. I like to think I do a slightly more powerful version than Cher does - I don't dance around in an S&M suit, that's for sure. I bring a little credibility to the song - a little authenticity, if you will.

Anyway, that's what I got. And now, I think I'm going to make a playlist on Playlist.com of these exact songs so that I can practice. Be glad you're not in the office next to mine.

-Grace's Mom

PS: Check out my playlist here!

I'm Lovin' It Friday: Cabaret!

2010-04-15T21:50:00.000-07:00

Wednesday night, I had the great fortune of getting to see Cabaret!

My TV station is a media sponsor, so I nabbed two tickets as soon as they became available. I saw Cabaret when I was in high school, but I didn't remember a lot about it.

I am from a very conservative area in Washington State, and the last time Cabaret was here it was run out of town, so to speak. The folks who supported the theatre back then weren't too fond of the sometimes vulgar story.

This year, our theatre company was smart and produced two different series: The Best of Broadway (The Wedding Singer, Annie and Camelot) and Broadway on the Edge (Avenue Q, Dixie's Tupperware Party and Cabaret). This way, they were able to warn the public that the content of the shows in the Edge series were more risque.

I also had the pleasure of sharing the evening with four of my coworkers from EB. We met for dinner and drinks (I think I was the only one drinking?) and then went for a stroll downtown before making our way to the theatre.

One of my gentleman friends took the picture, the four of us are posed in front of the old EB location that still has the EB door handles.

We have a beautiful theatre here, and bring in some really first-class productions. This is the same place I listened to Naomi. So you know it's classy.

Anyway, I just really enjoyed the show. I had forgotten how haunting and powerful it is. The man who filled the role of Emcee was absolutely amazing. He took that character to a new level for me. The young woman who played Sally Bowles was also extraordinary - especially her rendition of Cabaret. Gripping and eerie, all at the same time. Two performances that have really stayed with me since last night.

I have to give some mad props to our theatre company, who allowed this rendition of Cabaret to sew a pink triangle next to the yellow David's Star on to the internment camp garb of Emcee at the very end...signifying that the person was gay. It is my understanding that not every production does this with the costume. Powerful stuff.

It's Friday now, and I saw it Wednesday, and I'm still lovin' it!

-Grace's Mom

Hot Topic: School Reform - Follow Up

2010-04-10T08:39:00.000-07:00

As promised, I am now going to give you my thoughts on the Seattle Business Magazine Editor's Letter I shared here.

"Four years ago, I was dismayed by the terrible math education my son was getting...for two years in a row, he had the same incompetent teacher."

Well, this statement is as good a place as any to begin sharing my feelings on Mr. Helm. Firstly, you can request teachers. I know I did! There was one teacher that especially taught math in a way that I understood, and so I requested him for each math class I took. Why is this a big deal? Handle it, Dad!

"Started a before-school math program."

Um, that's what parents SHOULD do! A teacher does not have time/resources to hold the hand of every student in his/her class. If your child is falling behind or you aren't happy with the individual attention your kid is getting, hire a tutor! That's what they're for.

"Public schools are failing us."

Well, that's a pretty generalized statement. I think the main problem with public schools is that they have not managed the expectations of parents. Parents seem to think it is the school's job to ignite passion in all the different subjects. I disagree. Public schools are expected to be a foundation of education. It's the responsibility of the student and the parents to grow educational opportunities off of that foundation.

"We should give public school principals, like private school principals, the authority to pick the best people available to teach math and science classes, regardless of what their credentials are."

I think this is a really interesting theory. My cousin, Pony Girl (blog name, her parents don't hate her enough to name her Pony Girl for real!) made this comment: I do think it is important to have one for teaching above preschool. The reason is there is so much about curriculum, behavior management, inquiry-based and sequential learning, and teaching strategies that is important to know. Many brilliant mathematicians understand math, but maybe don't understand people or how to teach those concepts, especially to hormonal teens!

Pony Girl is a very educated woman and a wonderful preschool teacher without a teaching certificate. I have to say that, though I see Pony Girl's point, there are also a number of teachers who, just because they took the courses and have a certificate, don't necessarily teach in an effective way.

I don't care if the person teaching my daughter has a certificate or not. A background check - YES! But I think about all the college professors I had, and how it was so great to learn from someone who has "walked the talk"...not just read about it!

"They (retired engineers and scientists) would not only understand their subjects better than many credentialed teachers, but they might even be able to get students excited about their field."

I agree about the excitement. I disagree with teachers not having as good as an understanding as people who have worked in the field - I just don't like generalizations like that. But I see the point. I suppose this mainly brings me back to the point made before - that just because you understand your field does not mean you'll be able to teach it. But it doesn't mean you won't be able to, either. And just because you have a certificate doesn't mean you are a great teacher.

Bottom line, parents need to be involved in education and can't rely on schools and teachers alone. Family field-trips, projects, camping, gardening - all great ways to teach your kids things that they might not learn in school. Or maybe it was taught, but the student didn't bother to pay attention because he/she thought, "I'll never use that." Doing some of these things might just show your kid why it's important to learn these basic principles!

Oh! My brownies are ready. I sure am glad I learned to measure in elementary school math, so that I could make myself delicious brownies.

-Grace's Mom

I'm Lovin' It Friday: Girl Scout Cookies!

2010-04-09T07:54:00.000-07:00

In this week's installment of I'm Lovin' It Friday, I would like to give a shout-out to the Girl Scout Cookie.

Hell yes.

I know I'm not alone when I say, "Girl Scout Cookies are the highlight of my year."

Okay, maybe they aren't quite the highlight of my year, but they are right up there!

This year I had a devil of a time actually finding a Girl Scout to sell me cookies! I knew the cookies were for sale because the special edition Dreyers ice cream was in stores! But I could not find a Girl Scout! So, I did was any cookie junkie would do...I put a post up on Facebook.

A friend responding saying, "Haha! If you're serious, I know someone who is selling them!" I can't believe she had to ask if I was serious. Of course I was serious! Why would I joke about the most delicious cookies EVER?!

So, through the magic of Facebook, I got hooked up with my Girl Scout cookies. The poor woman I ordered them from probably thought I was nuts. We had to arrange a meeting so that I could pay her and pick up my 5 boxes...which, by the time I actually got them, somehow became 8 boxes...and this isn't counting the other friend who shipped 2 boxes to me, just to help me get by!

Now, in my defense, two of the boxes aren't for me. But, 8 of them are. And I don't plan on sharing.

Freaking delicious.

I can't risk getting Grace hooked on Samoas, because you know what's going to happen? Someday, there will only be one cookie left, and Grace will look at me with those big blue eyes, and I will give it to her. I'm willing to share some of my Thin Mints - you can get cookies pretty similar at the grocery store year-round. But Samoas? No. Those are unique and special and amazing.

Sorry Grace! These are mommy's "special" cookies!

Next year I am totally screwed...I'm just sure Girl Scouts have some sort of public forum where they let each other know about easy targets.

-Grace's Mom

List: Top 10 Things I Appreciate More Now That I'm a Mom

2010-04-08T08:51:00.000-07:00

Numero Uno:
Birth stories. When I was a single lady, I could not have cared less or identified less with your birth story. Now, I want all the gory details. How many hours of labor? Epidural? Contractions in the front, back, or both? C-Section? Vacuum? First thought? Did Dad cut the umbilical cord? Did Dad pass out? Did Dad look? How soon after did you decide you wanted another one?

2.
Child-friendly restaurants. I was the young girl who would shoot you dirty looks if your kid so much as grunted in a restaurant. Now I'm the mom who expects you to think my daughter throwing her food/plate/silverware on the floor/wall/table to think it's cute and shut up and deal with it. My daughter is usually pretty good at restaurants, but she definitely has her limits.

Don't even tell me you wouldn't want to eat right next to this.

The third item:
Music with a good beat. My daughter loves to dance, and she's got some pretty sweet moves. Her Auntie jokes that before long, we'll have to teach her the booty-drop. My hubby does not think this is funny. Among Gracie's favorite songs are: The theme song to Gilmore Girls (Carol King, God love her!), the theme song to The Office (do you see a pattern?) and I've Got Feelin' by the Black Eyed Peas.

IV.
Childcare providers. I want to ask them every single day, "How do you do it?!?!" But I'm afraid they will start to ask themselves the same questions, and then realize that their job is crazy-demanding and will either demand the amount of pay they are worth or just run away screaming, like any normal person would do. They are angels.

Five-er:
Baby wipes. Seriously, how did I ever go without having a box in my car, on my kitchen counter, on my bathroom counter, in every bag I own, and within 2 feet of my daughter at all times? I <3 wipes, and I use them for EVERYTHING!

What's that? A new candle holder? Nope, just my mandatory box of wipes in every single room.

SIX:
Hannah Montana. I've always thought Miley Cyrus was a cute little bugger, but now she entertains my daughter while not simultaneously driving me completely bonkers, and she is more of a God-send. I absolutely hate cartoons, and I'm not real crazy about puppets or mascots or anything like that either. Hannah is something the whole family can enjoy.

Don't judge. "She's just bein' Miley." ;)

Lucky Number 7!
Small dogs. I have two dogs who now reside with my parents - Rory and Stella. Stella was my daughter before my daughter, but our house does not have a fenced yard so she lives on the farm. Rory is the other dog. These little dogs LOVE Grace, especially Stella. And Grace loves them! They are small enough that they can actually play with Grace without hurting or intimidating her. Grace is scared of large dogs, especially really active ones because they are at eye-level with her and they always want to lick her face and inevitably she falls down and feels vulnerable. It's just not good. But she has a blast playing with Stella. And Stella serves a double purpose of eating up all the food Grace has thrown on the floor! (see item number 2)

Me and my main squeeze, Stella, pre-hubby and baby.

eight.
Professional portraits. I have never really liked these, and for my wedding I even said that I didn't want any posed pictures, I wanted them to all be candids. Well, after about three months of trying to get a good picture of my little sack of potatoes, I began to see the benefit of professional portraits. We had a set of family pics done last April, got married in October and had more professional pics done, and then did 1-year-old pics in December, and just now did another set of family pictures. They are WONDERFUL, and when you see the pictures hanging on my walls, they aren't the ones I took. Those go in a scrapbook. The ones "suitable for framing" are the professional pics that I used to think were too posed and a waste of money!

Good thing I finally realized the value in posed pictures, eh?

No. 9
Food you can eat with no silverware & no mess. This include cheerios, cereal bars (sometimes messy), english muffins, bread, graham crackers, animal cookies, fruit snacks, wheat thins, etc. These items are absolutely priceless, in my book, and you can always find them in my cupboards!

And last but certainly not least, the Number 10 Thing I Appreciate More Now That I'm a Mom:
Mommy Blogs! I had a blog a while back about my adventures with my horses, and I mostly read other horse blogs. Almost two years later, I decided to look in to the Mommy Blogger community and I have easily found other women sharing my same first-time mom experiences! Of course, I also read plenty of blogs of gals who are not first-time moms. But the point is, I always felt like when you have a child, you become a member of this unspoken club...only, with the blogs, it's a spoken club!

-Grace's Mom

Wine-O Wednesday: 36 Red from Chandler Reach

2010-04-07T13:13:00.000-07:00

This is a very exciting day. This is the day I write my VERY FIRST Wine-O Wednesday post!

What exactly is Wine-O Wednesday? Whatever I feel like, gosh! (Yes, I still think it's funny to quote Napoleon Dynamite.)

I mentioned here that I thought it would be cool to experience a little more of the Columbia Valley (since I live here and all!) and then, in my own private mind, I decided a good way to force myself to do this would be to create a weekly segment on my blog where I write about it! And Lord knows I don't want to disappoint my adoring fans!

So that's my plan.

Now, here's the thing: I don't know very much about wine. And I won't pretend to. Maybe this can be a fun thing where we learn together?

Anyway, on with the show.

This week, I wanted to write a little bit about a wine called 36 Red. It comes from a winery called Chandler Reach. Chandler Reach is a very cool winery. They spared no expense in their details and design! And the location is great. This post card really is a picture of how the winery is situated - overlooking the valley and vineyard. The colors of have been touched up, but there are days when you would drive by this winery and see the valley looking exactly like this!

At Chandler Reach, I picked up my handy-dandy copy of Grown to Greatness, Your Guide to Yakima Valley Wine Country - the Soul of Washington Wine.

[Side note: The artwork for this guidebook won an Addy at our local advertising federation club meeting! Very cool honor.]

Grown to Greatness Excerpt:

Chandler Reach
Our warm, northern-sloped vineyard produces premium-quality Syrah, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Sangiovese, and Cabernet Sauvignon. Graced with excellent "terrior," our winery is dedicated to crafting wines that represent this gift. Come visit our "Italian Villa" style tasting room for a true wine experience.

I bought a couple of bottles of wine there, but the one I wanted to focus on was the 36 Red.

I am NOT a red wine drinker. However, on my last wine-tasting excursion, it seemed that most of the wineries we visited had mostly red wines. I'm not a girl who turns down a glass of wine, regardless of what's in the glass, so...when in Rome!

The 36 Red is a "table wine" which essentially means that this wine is suitable to be consumed with just about any meal. The term "table wine" can also mean that the wine isn't fortified (?) or sparkling, and I also discovered that the "table wine" standard is that it must contain between 7% and 14% alcohol, by U.S. standards.

See? We're learning already!

The professional description of the 36 Red (from the Chandler Reach website) reads:

This Cabernet/Merlot blend is an easy drinker by itself or a wonderful accompaniment to simple fare. Fruit-forward and plush, with a lip-smacking finish that belies its humble beginnings. Tasty!

Now, my unprofessional description would be:

This wine is a great bridge for a white-wine drinker to the rich and robust world of red wines. Light and flavorful, the 36 Red does not overwhelm with any one taste, but is a safe blend that compliements food nicely. A high point: The finish. No kick or bite, but just a smooth aftertaste that makes you instantly want another taste! Drinkers beware!

That description probably took me 15 minutes to write...haha!

I had some girlfriends over and we cracked open my bottle of 36 Red. I fried up some toasted ravioli, one girlfriend brought a cheese tray and another brought some purple grapes. I also broke out the garlic crackers that I purchased at Chandler Reach. We had quite the feast with our delicious wine, great finger foods and plenty of laughs!

I am already excited for next week's post, where maybe I will look in to what the devil a "fortified" wine is!

-Grace's Mom

New Addition: Meet "Boo."

2010-04-06T11:39:00.000-07:00

Last week, we added a new member to our family.

Her name is Boo.

She has been going by Missi Mouse for the last couple of months, but Gracie isn't even close to being able to say that...so Gracie named her new kitty Boo. Fitting, since she is an all-black cat. And she has one green eye and one brown eye. I can't quite tell if she is blind in her brown eye - when we get her "fixed" we'll have them check it out.

This was the hardest picture EVER to get! She was very fascinated with my Blackberry, and wanted to rub on it/me and be petted!

Boo is very sweet. She arrived on my parent's farm late last Fall, along with a few siblings. Two of the siblings have not made it to their first birthday - farm life is rough. One of the kittens was actually severely injured when thrown out of a car on to our property. Can you believe people do this? Anyway, my mother, being the very caring animal lover that she is, took this poor kitten to the vet and had them do all kinds of tests and x-rays. She spent a good chunk of money. Unfortunately, the injuries were too extensive and my mom made the decision to put the little kitten down.

My mom then took up with another little kitten that she called Spooky. But once Spooky got brave, she ventured out on to the road, and was hit by a car.

So then there was Boo. Boo was very friendly, and got especially friendly with some male kitty about 2-3 months ago...this week she ventured on to our back porch, and when the dogs were let out of the house, they went after her. She's not as quick with a litter of kittens in her tummy, and they caught her. My dad managed to help Boo hide in the bar-be-que stand, and he wheeled it out of the fence so she could get away. One of the smaller dogs got out of the fence and proceeded to chase Boo in to the garage. It was all very traumatic.

My mom was telling me about this incident at lunch on Tuesday, and I said, "Screw it. I'll take her." Or something like that.

I have been resistant to getting a cat because I care about them and want them to be safe, but I don't like having cat hair in my house or on my things. However, last weekend my hubby and I cleaned out our garage and got it all organized, and I realized that I could have a cat and she could stay in there, and then gradually start moving in to the house.

So that is what we are doing. Boo's food, bed, and litter box are all in the garage. She will be in there whenever we are not home or cannot supervise her. I realize this isn't completely ideal for a cat, but it's for her own good, especially until she has the kittens. Plus, she's one of those cats who really just wants to be a lap cat. I think she'll be fine with the arrangement.

The first night was a little stressful for poor little Boo. She tried to escape the dog kennel I had her in, and got stuck half way. Then she hid under my bed for a little while. Then I moved her in the garage and she got a good meal, then hid behind the water heater. I had some laundry to finish up, and you know how sometimes the clothes in the washer get clumped together and the washer gets really loud? Well, that happened and I thought Boo was probably having a heart attack...or maybe going in to early labor.

The next day my mom stopped by to check on Boo, and she said that when she opened the door, Boo came out of the little bed that I made for her! She said that Boo had already used the litter box (pretty darn good for a barn cat!) and that she ate the dry food my mom put out for her. I'm really thinking Boo is going to be a good addition to our family.

Now, in the case of the kittens...well, anyone want one?

Gracie is absolutely bonkers for cats. My mom's indoor cat is not a huge fan of the baby, but Boo not only tolerates Gracie and her squeals of excitement whenever she sees a kitty, but I think Boo actually likes it. I can't imagine how excited Gracie is going to be when the kittens get here. That's how we got the hubby to sign off on this whole thing - "Honey, just think how excited Gracie will be to have a kitty of her own!" That was it. He couldn't say no. He says no to me all the time, but not to his little girl.

Doing my best to photograph an all-black cat. Hardest subject ever!

Stay tuned, I'm sure there are to be many adventures of Grace and Boo! Wouldn't that be the cutest children's book ever?!

-Grace's Mom

It's here.

2010-04-05T07:21:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I haven't really posted about this much, because I didn't want to jinx it, but I finally get to cross something off my Wish List!

I will now share with you the pictures that tell the story.

What's this? A box for moi?

Hmmm...

Does anyone else hear angels singing something gloriously wonderful?!?

It's in my hand! It's in MY HAND!

Even the instruction book is fun.

Powering up!

This might possibly be the worst picture ever. I love ya, Blackberry, but sometimes you really let me down. But, every time you turn off the Kindle, it puts up a really cool picture. This one was my favorite, so far.

I would like to thank my darling hubby, for totally coming through for my birthday. I would like to thank Amazon, for being sneaky little devils and telling me my Kindle would be here between April 3 and April 8, but actually delivering it on April 1. And I would like to thank peer pressure, for making me feel like a nobody because I didn't have the latest, hottest gadget. I realize my Kindle will be technologically obsolete in a matter of months...but I don't care. I am cool this week.

And what do you think the first book I uploaded via Whispernet (cool name, eh?) to my Kindle was?

What can I say? I love me some Tori Spelling!

I know, I know. Not the most thought-provoking book out there...but I don't read to get smarter. I'm already perfectly brilliant. I read for entertainment, and let me tell you, this family is entertaining! Don't be jealous.

My pink silicone case and travel pack will be here soon...can't wait!

Hot Topic: School Reform

2010-04-03T04:24:00.000-07:00

I read this VERY interesting Editor's Note in the April 2010 Seattle Business Magazine, and I wanted to post it on my blog.

I will be the first to admit that I am not very well versed in the current school reform movement going on in our country, but I do know that the high school in the town I live in, the high school I graduated from, has been accepted to the Race to the Top grant program.

Please note that in the article, the author writes that Washington schools have not been given access to the Race to the Top grants, but I think he is speaking about Western Washington schools. The west side of the state tends to forget about the east side - we call it the Cascade Curtain.

Here is the article:

Tapping Experts to Teach
Four years ago, I was dismayed by the terrible math education my son was getting at a Seattle public K-8 school; for two years in a row, he had had the same incompetent teacher. So I pulled together a committee of similarly concerned parents and started a before-school math program. I put an ad on Craigslist and received resumes from a dozen qualified math teachers. Students were divided into two classes of 15. They paid about $250 each for the school year to cover the teacher's salary. Over the course of their one 45-minute class each week, they completed an entire Algebra I curriculum. Many who had previously hated math became big fans of the subject.

At a time when so many of the jobs available in our region require a high level of math and science, our public schools are failing us. What chance do we have of graduating students in such important fields as chemistry, physics and computer science when so many give up on math by the eighth grade?

Key to the success of our before-school math class was the teacher we ended up hiring: She had a Ph.D. in philosophy and logic, and had taught math at the college level in California. She wanted to teach in the Seattle Public Schools system, but couldn't get a job because she didn't have the requisite credentials.

Public schools need to take advantage of our region's wealth of science and math talent. We should give public school principals, like private school principals, the authority to pick the best people available to teach math and science classes, regardless of what their credentials may be. No doubt there are many retired engineers and scientists who would enjoy a second career teaching in the schools. They would not only understand their subjects better than many credentialed teachers, but they might also even be able to get students excited about careers in their fields. Many youth avoid those fields because of the tough work required. But few realize that once they get over the hurdle of acquiring an education, prospects for an exciting and lucrative career are higher in the sciences than in liberal arts.

Former Microsoft executive Scott Oki has been an aggressive advocate for schoole reform not just on the question of certification but also on a range of issues outlined in his book, Outrageous Learning: An Education Manifesto. Oki's next step is to creat a parents' union, a membership organization that would raise money to represent the interests of parents and kids ot counter the influence of principals' unions and teachers' unions. It's a great idea. Our failure in Washington to pursue innovative solutions to improving schools is aprticually punishing today because this intransigence has prevented us from gaining access to grants offered under President Obama's Race to the Top program. At a time when our schools are in crisis, we can't afford to let unions bureaucratic inertia stymie progress. There are smart, obvious solutions that we fail to pursue at our peril.

Leslie D. Helm
Editor

So, there it is. I disagree with several things. I agree with several things. But if we don't get in to a public school reform debate, I would love to host a little discussion about the idea of employing uncredentialed teachers in public schools. Do any of you have any experience with this?

If you have a lengthy opinion that you would like to share, feel free to email it to: BeingGracesMom@gmail.com

I will do a follow-up post in about a week and share my opinion - but I don't want to taint the discussion or make one side of the arguement feel unwelcome! So please, by all means, comment, rant, rave, DEBATE! But no fighting. For now.

-Grace's Mom

I'm Lovin' It Friday: Wine Tasting!

2010-04-02T08:09:00.000-07:00

I've been 21 for a while now...yikes. But even though I have grown up in the Columbia Valley of Washington state, I have only been wine tasting a whopping three times!

Seriously, it's like having Disneyland in your back yard, but never going - only if Disneyland had delicious alcohol!

Anyway, a girlfriend messaged me a few weeks ago and wanted a Mommy's Day Out for wine tasting. I had such a good time and am so anxious to do it again, it is my goal to visit one winery per month for the rest of the year, and I would love to blog every now-and-again about delicious wines I find or interesting wineries that I visit.

So, this Friday, I am absolutely loving wine tasting!

I love the architecture of all the different wineries. Some even have themes. I love wine itself. I love collecting corks. I love having a modest collection at home. And I love figuring out what I like and what I don't like. SO fun!

Here are some pictures from my recent wine tasting excursion, a winery called Hedges.

The amazing cellar.

A barrel...obviously.

The wine library. When they told us they were showing us the wine library, I actually thought it would be a room with books about wine. This is MUCH better!

A card catalog for wine, if you will.

Don't tell my hubby but I was SO close to buying a case of wine just for the sweet oak boxes they come in!

Cake Wrecks

2010-03-31T15:23:00.000-07:00

I found a link to some pictures of the 12 Worst Cake Mistakes. Sounded intriguing.

Turns out, this is actually a pretty popular blog called Cake Wrecks! Some of you might already know all about it. But it was new to me. If you have a couple minutes and are in a place where you are free to laugh out loud, I would definintely check this blog out!

Here are couple samples, complete with captions, to give you a taste! (no pun intended)

Naked mohawk-baby carrot jockeys

Some cakes are just intentionally weird. The plastic clone babies wearing naught but mohawks are bad enough, but then they're also riding carrots. What do you do with that? It looks like some kind of perverted vegetable rodeo, or maybe a bizarre clone military exercise, what with their little plastic fists raised high in identical salutes.

Odd name

Aw, poor Adamwithblueflowers. Grade school musta been murder.

No sprinkles for you.

Unfortunately, no actual sprinkles were used in the decorating of this graduation cake.

Double trouble

Clearly, this is not what the customer had in mind.

Wedding crasher

This is a wedding cake, for someone's actual wedding. And this was the cake -- which they had to eat -- on their wedding day.

Photo fail

Someone -- either the customer or the decorator -- felt that sexual harassment needed to be illustrated. The decorator can't be expected to be Picasso or anything, but check out how far the girl's feet are off the ground. Was that the spank heard 'round the world?

The pictures are great, but I think her commentary about each picture is what really kills me! Especially about the carrot jockey mohawk babies and the sexual harrassment cake...like I said, glad I had somewhere that it was safe to laugh out loud!

-Grace's Mom

*Pictures and italicized content propery of Cake Wrecks via MSN.com

List: Foods I pretend to be allergic to.

2010-03-30T15:51:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, instead of telling someone you don't like what they have made, it's just easier to tell a little fib. So if anyone asks, here is my list of "allergies."

1. Onions. Bleh. And my hubby is from Walla Walla. Yes, this was almost a deal-breaker for him and his family, who eat Walla Walla Sweet Onions like apples.

I once returned a bean burrito to Taco Bell because I ordered it without onions, and they put onions in it. I actually went off on the guy and told him that I'm SUPER allergic to onions and that he could have killed me!

2. Peas. So, so gross.

Blech.

3. Seafood. It's a smell and a texture thing. When I was pregnant I craved some salmon. My dad bbq'd one for me with lemon. I took two bites, and then couldn't eat any more. It's just not my thing.

Always fresh! Always unappetizing!

4. Spicy food. I struggle with mild salsa and heavy pepper. You get much hotter than that, and it's a no-go for me. I'm "allergic" to anything with too much spice.

This is as close as I can get to a hot wing!

5. Mushrooms.

Okay, I realize these are probably not mushrooms that one would eat, but all mushrooms look this unappatizing to me!

6. Several other vegetables: artichoke, beets, brussel sprouts, squash. Unfortunately, I'm "allergic" to all of them.

Essentially, ALL vegetables.

7. Nuts. Even peanuts and yes, that include peanut butter.

8. Corned beef. Oh, and add cabbage to my list of veggies I'm "allergic" to, too, please.

Every year on St. Patrick's Day, my mom lectures me about how I used to love corned beef and cabbage, and I argue that I NEVER enjoyed this meal. The point is moot, anyway, because I don't like it now!

9. Milk. I would tell people I'm lactose intolerant, but that might become suspect when they see me eating ice cream out of the tub. So I just tell them I'm "allergic" to milk. I might as well be - I gag just thinking about drinking it. Or, worse yet, my hubby drinking it in bed with toast like he does so often...and he slurps! But that's a different list...Things the Hubby Does to Drive Me NUTS!

Gross.

10. Mustard. One of my earliest childhood memories is eating mustard out of a bowl, and I haven't been able to eat it since. My mom swears I never did that, but I remember it. At least I think I do.

The worst is when McD's forgets that I said, "Ketchup only" and they RUIN my cheeseburger with mustard. The onions (which also ruins a burger) I can pick off. The mustard...that blasted mustard soaks in to the bun and it's impossible to remove!

So, I think you all might now know something about me that you wouldn't have otherwise known...I have the same diet as most 4 and 5 year olds. As a matter of fact, my daughter is better about eating her veggies than I am. And I'm so glad she gets her servings of veggies at school every day because I am certainly not preparing them and making her eat them!

Now, don't get me wrong, I eat plenty of carrots and corn and broccoli! But that's about it.

I'm pathetic, I know.

Bloggy Book Exchange!

2010-03-30T11:19:00.000-07:00

My books are here!

Actually, they got here a little while ago, but that was in the midst of my Birthday Extravaganza Week and so I was a little MIA from the blog world...and work...and anything that wasn't Grace/Hubby/Family FUN!

So, if you have no idea what the frack I'm talkin' about, read about the Seven Clown Circus Book Exchange here.

I was absolutely thrilled to get my package!

Doesn't look too bad for coming all the way from Florida, does it?

And here is what my package contained:

Excellent.

Knowing my love of Twilight, Erin was kind enough to pass on two Sookie St. James novels! I haven't read any of these, but I have watched a little bit of True Blood and I'm very interested to read the books! Then, she threw in Mirror Mirror, written by the author of Wicked. My question is, is this book a sequel? I haven't read Wicked, but I want to. Should I read it first or am I safe to read Mirror Mirror?

And finally Erin sent The DaVinci Code. Now, I did read this long, long ago. But I lost my copy, and my hubby hasn't read it and I think he would really enjoy it!

Overall, I think the book exchange was a huge success.

Thanks Erin!

And thanks, Angie, for organizing!

-Grace's Mom

Lunch with Naomi. Judd, that is.

2010-03-29T11:04:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I had a very interesting day.

I am very fortunate to work for the TV station that is the media sponsor for the Town Hall Lecture Series, and every year the series brings four guest speakers to our town to speak. I usually get to go to one, and I always choose the most well-known person on the list. Last year was absolutely amazing - I got to listen to Lisa Ling. I have been a fan of hers since I was in high school and she was on Channel 1. Then, of course, she had her stint on The View. And now she does a National Geographic show. She is an amazing woman, and she gave a very thought-provoking and powerful lecture.

The brochure that has been on my bulletin board since last August!

This year, I chose to see Naomi Judd. Typically, I go with my manager who is a very wonderful woman. We always have a good time together and I really look up to her. However, she was going to be stuck in meetings all day when Naomi was going to be here. Her boss, Larry, knew she was upset about that, and so he asked her if he could take me to Town Hall.

This is how the politics in my office work: When the big boss knows that my manager is mad at him, he is nicer to me because he knows she will see and appreciate that more than if he did something nice for her. If he did something nice for her, she might say he is just sucking up. If he does something nice for me, well then it's more genuine. We're weird, but I'll take it.

Anyway, Larry emailed me and asked if I would like to go with him to the lecture, and then have lunch. I'm thinkin' Naomi and then Olive Garden? Sweet.

We left the office around 10:30a, and I offered to drive us in my PT Cruiser (which is filthy dirty) but Larry said he would go ahead and drive us in his Caddilac. Well, since he insisted...

We got to the lecture a little bit late and had to sit up in the balcony, and we sat behind a guy who was CLEARLY Naomi Judd's biggest fan. Every time she would look our direction, he would wave at her. Needless to say, Naomi's eyes avoided our part of the balcony for most of the lecture.

I have to say, this was not the most interesting lecture I have ever been to. She seemed a little scattered and didn't have a clear, concise message. But this is not to say that I didn't get anything out of her story.

One thing she said that I actually wrote down was, "In life, you get the test first, the lesson later."

She talked about her two big lessons, the first was getting pregnant when she was 17 years old and then, nine months later, giving birth to her daughter on her high school graduation night. The second test was when she found herself in an abusive relationship with an ex-con, living in a junky apartment with two baby girls, and watching him shoot heroine before he beat her up and raped her.

Naomi says, "It's not what happens to you, it's what you choose to do with it."

She chose to move back to Kentucky and become an RN. To this day, Naomi is very interested in medicine and biology, especially neurology. As many of you know, she is also a Hep C survivor. She was diagnosed in 1990 and was given three years to live.

So, after the lecture I asked Larry where we were going for lunch, and he gave me the name of a hotel that often hosts events. I thought that was kind of weird, but who am I to argue with a free lunch?

We got to the hotel and there were tons of people there. I realized this was where they had the speaker luncheon after the lecture, and wondered if Naomi would be there. We were told that we were sitting at the head table, table four. Shouldn't the head table be table one? Oh well.

We found our seats at the front and center table, and I was very impressed to see that Naomi was sitting next to Larry, and I was sitting on the other side of Larry. But then, Larry picked up our place cards and said, "Isn't your birthday coming up?" and he switched them so that I was sitting next to Naomi Judd!

The first thing that ran through my mind was, "I have to blog about this." The next thing I thought was, "I hope I have decent-enough table manners!" I would hate to be called out by Naomi Judd for taking too big of bites or having my elbows on the table.

Naomi made her grand entrance a little while later, and sat right down next to me. We all introduced ourselves, and told her where we were from. I was the only one born and raised here. That didn't seem to interest her much. She asked for some iced tea, but our table had already drank most of it, so when she was pouring all the ice spilled out and went all over her salad! She got a good chuckle out of that, as the other folks at our table frantically searched for a fresh pitcher of iced tea for Naomi! Someone finally found a full pitcher at another table and confiscated it.

Then, Naomi directed her attention toward one gal at our table who said that she was originally from Salt Lake City. Naomi asked her if she was Mormon. The gal said that her family was, but that she left the church when she was about thirteen. Then, Naomi asked, "Can I ask you something? Why don't the Mormon's allow blacks in their church?" Wow.

The poor gal looked a combination of embarrassed, confused and scared. I probably had a similar expression.

Naomi continued, "I've been to Salt Lake. I've been to the Tabernacle. And they don't allow blacks and women are completely subordinate. Can you tell me why that is?"

The gal said, "Well, I left the church when I was young, but I don't think that's the case."

A gentleman at our table who is the editor of our newspaper came to her rescue and gave a light explanation of the Mormon Prophets and how all religions evolve and the Mormon faith is no different and how he really didn't think that blacks weren't allowed in the Mormon church anymore.

At this point, I am absolutely beside myself. I kind of thought it was an unspoken understanding that you don't talk about religion and politics with friends or strangers. I am here to tell you, Naomi Judd doesn't care.

Then she asked the entire table, "Have any of you studied the Muslim faith?" Oh Lord...here we go.

We all said no, and then someone asked her if she had. She made a very pecular face, and then as she was about to explain, she was called up to do her Q&A session for the group.

Larry was really bummed. He said that was the ultimate cliffhanger, and that he was dying to know what she thought of the Muslim faith. I, on the other hand, was not. I had a feeling her opinion was not complimentary, and I was rather put-off by the whole discussion. This is why you don't talk about these things - especially not at a luncheon with a bunch of strangers!

Anyway, the Q&A was also pretty disappointing because one of the first questions was about some brain activity thing, and Naomi went off naming doctors that she's studied with and different areas of the brain she has studied and then talked about how positive thoughts are how she was cured from Hep C. I had checked out by this point.

But, before we left, I snapped one picture of our placecards, just to prove that it really happened. I wasn't about to ask that looney tune for a picture of the two of us, but it was an experience I will probably never forget!

I had to photoshop my placecard for blog purposes, but trust me, that card has my name on it!

-Grace's Mom

Best. Husband. Ever.

2010-03-22T11:20:00.000-07:00

Just because.

I'm Lovin' It Friday!

2010-03-19T09:48:00.000-07:00

It's here. It's finally here. Friday. And thus, my first official I'm Lovin' It Friday post.

I feel like there should be a moment of silence or some fireworks or something.

But I'm weird like that. So, what am I lovin' right now?

The Celebrity Apprentice.

It just started last week, and I have requested that my mom record it on Sunday night and that she cook me dinner and I come over and watch it after work on Mondays. Should I be scheduled to work on Monday, I might just watch it live Sunday night.

I have loved this show since it first began! I love so many things about it: The cool tasks, The Donald, George and Carolyn and now Don and Ivanka (how classy is that broad?!?), the crazy team dynamics, ALL OF IT!

The lovely Ivanka Trump

The dashing Don Trump.

The Celebrity Apprentice is a really interesting concept, but I don't like it quite as much. I feel like the celebrities could completely blow off the task, but hit their rich friends up for cash and win. I haven't seen too many instances of that, but I think it could totally happen.

And last season, I was totally on Team Rivers. That Annie Duke can rot in Hell. Okay, I don't hate her that much, but I was VERY pleased that Joan kicked her little lying ass. Oops! I mean hiney.

This season, I'm really lovin' me some Brett Micheals. I've always liked Brett, I'm a Rock of Love fan, as well as a Poison fan. I think he just keeps it real. He's not trying to be anything he's not - he knows who he is, what his fans think of him, and he owns it.

The other men are all pretty cool, with the exception of Rod Blagojovich. That man is absolute scum and I hate the thought of giving in to his attempts to sway the public opinion of him by appearing on prime time television. I really, really dislike him. I think he's slimey.

The women are an interesting bunch. Cindy Lauper and of course Sharon Osbourne are the power players - simply because they are easily recognized. But they've got some lesser-known women who, I have a feeling, we might want to keep an eye on. Sommer Sanders is too stinkin' cute - I remember her hosting all kinds of kid's shows on Nickelodeon and stuff. She has a little experience in just about everything...I think she could be a force.

Anyway, I don't want to give away any spoilers because we're only 1 episode in and you can totally watch it at NBC and catch up and be all set to go at 9p on Sunday! I can't wait!!

-Grace's Mom

Foreign Object

2010-03-18T13:07:00.001-07:00

What is this foreign object on my. desk?!

Sad story...the Diet Cokes are 20 oz bottles in our vending machine, thus costing $1.00. The Diet Pepsis are only 12 oz cans, and therefore only cost $.60.

Your's Truly could only find $.65 at the bottom of her handbag.

When are they going to make vending machines that take debit cards?!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

List: Things I HATE Spending Money On!

2010-03-17T16:45:00.000-07:00

1. Gas. It's expensive, and I spend a lot of money on it. I don't like buying it and I put it off as long as possible. It smells, the pump has a million germs on it, and it's just so damn annoying.

Tell me about it.

2. Razor blades. Again, very expensive. How do they get away with charging you $12 for four of them?! Sometimes I want to buy cheap razors, but then I will need expensive shaving cream. I buy the razors that have the cream built in to them. They aren't that fancy, though.

Sorry Grace, you won't be going to college because mommy has spent all her savings on razor blades!

3. Movies. $9 to sit in a theater that is always cold, the seats are uncomfortable and it never fails that your movie-watching-experience will be interrupted by a cell phone or screaming baby? No thank you.

They make them look all nice and inviting on the outside, but inside? Pure hell.

4. Anything having to do with car repair or maintenance. I don't understand what's wrong or why things need to be maintained, it never costs what the repair person estimates, and it's dumb and I hate it.

5. Co-pays. I already pay and arm-and-a-leg, but they want $20-$35 just to let me in the door? Puh-lease!

6. Parking. I'm a country girl, so paying for parking is not second nature for me and I strongly dislike it.

I hate you!

7. Mailing things. I also think this can be pretty expensive - especially shipping things. And shipping and handling! The friend that had the baby shower recently? Well, I ended up not being able to go. Not only did I have to pay $15 to ship her present, but I also bought her a couple small things from Babies 'R Us and they charged me another $25 to ship it! That's more than half of what the purchase total was!! Highway robbery, and I hate it.

8. Free Credit Reports. Like, from freecreditreport.com. Yes, I know there are other places you can actually get a free credit report, but I think it's really obnoxious that FREE is in their title, yet they charge a monthly fee. And of course I forgot to cancel my account in time, so I got charged the $14.95. And, get this! When I called to cancel, they put me on hold for 20 minutes and then told me their system was down and they wouldn't be able to cancel my account, and asked me to call back later!! Are you effing kidding me?!

9. Child care. If you met my daughter, you would understand why it's fair for me to think that her childcare providers should really be paying me to watch her. She is an angel, and makes the lives of those around her, better. It's as simple as that.

10. Olive Oil and Chicken. I'm lumping these together because I don't want my list to consist of $11 things, and I have pretty much the same thing to say about each of them. They are kind of spendy, and I use a ton of them. These are two things I always need in my kitchen, but don't like the dent they make in my wallet.

Why do I need you both, so, so much?

-Grace's Mom

Baking with Grace

2010-03-16T16:32:00.000-07:00

The other night, I finally decided to bake the oatmeal chocolate chip cookies I purchased a few weeks ago.

I'm not really a "from scratch" kind of girl.

I'm a "rip open the bag" kind of girl.

I did have to soften a stick of butter and crack an egg, so it's not like I didn't do ANYTHING. But I just LOVE those Betty Crocker bags of cookies and brownies! They are so easy and are the perfect size!

The first thing I had to do, when baking cookies with Grace, was take a picture of her!

See how her foot is blurry? Whenever her feet can't reach the floor, she swings them. One of the many little mannerisms I love about Grace!

Next, and this might irritate some of you, I had to take a picture of my BEAUTIFUL KitchenAid mixer which I totally don't deserve!

Mmmm...cookie dough...

And finally, I had to take a picture of the two of us, because around the time I was scooping the dough on to the baking stone, Grace decided the temptation to STAND on the counter was too much to bare, and I had to put her on the floor which meant that mommy-daughter-baking-time was over.

Awww! We're so cute!

I didn't get a picture of eating the cookies because it got a little messy...Grace and I both love warm oatmeal chocolate chip cookies! As a matter of fact, Grace sat on my lap as we ate our cookies, and she finished hers first. I had a little corner left in my hand, and Grace was certain that I had been saving that piece for her, so she just took it right out of my hand and popped it in her mouth! Then, face covered in chocolate and cookie crumbs, she turned to me to give me a hug and smeared her face on my t-shirt, then followed it up with a kiss.

I love my daughter.

-Grace's Mom

Ha ha! Hahahahahaha!

2010-03-15T22:20:00.000-07:00

So...my poor hubby.

We were late on the Twilight train. We rented the movie on Netflix, and sat down one Friday night last Summer to watch it. As soon as the movie was over, I turned to my husband and said, "I kind of want to watch it again!" He left the room, and I re-started it.

And so my obsession with Twilight began. I won't go in to the full story now, but...

Me, Cousin Tena and Cousin Pony Girl on our trip to Forks last October. In our defense, Cousin Tena and Cousin Pony Girl used to live there!

I think that says it all.

I have to give my hubby some credit, he totally humors me. He doesn't love the movies - he liked Twilight better than he liked New Moon, but he understood why I wanted to sit by my BFF and made him sit by her boyfriend. He pretends to feign interest whenever I talk about the super-delicious Rob Pattinson. And he stays perfectly quiet when he comes home to find me watching my special edition Twilight dvd for the 9,000th time. He even lets me keep bot the Twilight and New Moon soundtracks in CD slots 1 and 2 in the Jeep! But, every time he is in the car without me he changes the cd.

Anyway, I called my hubby today and our conversation went something like this:

Me: Honey, I just wanted to ask you, because I think New Moon is coming out on DVD this week - it might have even been today - if I should get it on BlueRay or DVD?

Hubby: It comes out at midnight on Friday.

Me: How did you know that?

Hubby: I don't know. But it's going to be at least a month before we have a blueray, so just get it on DVD. I don't want to hear you weeping at night because you can't watch it.

Me: Seriously, how did you know it comes out at midnight on Friday?

Hubby: I don't know.

Me: Okay, I'll get it at Costco on Saturday.

Hubby: Yes dear.

I love my man!

Worst Blogger Ever.

2010-03-15T16:32:00.000-07:00

So, I was one of the first bloggers to sign up (number 5, to be exact!) to participate in the Seven Clown Circus Book Exchange, and I was probably one of the LAST bloggers to actually send my books!

It was a neat idea - Angie at SCC asked for those interested to sign up, and then she emailed us individually to get our mailing addresses and to let her know what kinds of books we liked to read. Then, a few weeks later she sent us the name and email address of a fellow blogger that we were to send four books to.

I got Erin from Days of DiCarolis who lives in Florida! SO exciting! It's like having a pen-pal!

Erin was very quick to make contact with me, commenting on one of my posts. But this is where my new title of Worst Blogger Ever begins to be earned.

I didn't make any contact! I didn't do anything! I kind of thought about what books I could send, but I didn't pull them off the shelf or anything!

So then, caught up in my own little whirlwind of craziness, I let the two-week timecap totally escape me. Before I know it, I get an email from Angie saying something like, "Okay, everyone should have sent out their books and next week I'll be putting up a McLinky so we can see what everyone got!"

Shit!

I mean sugar!

So today, I stopped making excuses and on my way out the door, I grabbed the four books I had been considering. I didn't stop to think, "Well, I might want to read this again..." or "I really like having this one on my shelf because it's so colorful..." or "This is my only 'smart person' book!" I just did it.

Then, I waited until after the lunch hour when I knew the post office would be packed, but before school was out and raced down to the post office and sent Erin's books on their way! I hope they have a happy life in Florida.

Here is a sneak peek of what I sent:

And here is the SUPER cute mailing label I made and note I wrote to Erin:

And here is the reward I got myself on the way back to work from the post office:

This was such a cool idea, Angie! I hope I didn't ruin everything!

"I'm Lovin' It" Fridays!

2010-03-12T13:31:00.000-08:00

Tidy Mom is hosting a fabulous link up party on Friday 3/19! I can hardly wait to take part in this one! I have been lacking a little blogging motivation lately...I haven't even done a list in eons! That's when you KNOW things are crazy!

Anyway, even though the link-up party isn't until next week, I have to say I'M LOVIN' THIS IDEA!

Here are the details:

"I'm Lovin' It"

Post about anything you are loving right now!

a craft project,

a recipe,

a new product,

a picture you took,

your children,

another blog you found

.......really ANYTHING that you are currently LOVING!

LET'S SHARE ON FRIDAYS!

What do you think? Sound fun?

Um, yeah it sounds fun! I just hope I can find things I love besides my daughter and my Starbucks!

-Grace's Mom

And the Oscar (award competition button) goes to...

2010-03-08T14:18:00.000-08:00

...Saddle Mountain Rider at Middle of the Road!

She somehow managed to predict 13 of the 24 categories correctly!

I have to toot my own horn, a little. I got 12 right. In case you missed it, it was a great show last night. I really enjoyed Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin, along with all the people who gave Meryl Streep a hard time. It's obvious she has quite a sense of humor!

If you are looking for a complete list of winners, you can find it here.

Congrats SMR, your $5 Starbucks card is in the mail, and your "Winner!" button will be delivered via email!

And thank you, everyone, who entered my first blog competition. It was a huge success!

-Grace's Mom

Last Chance to Win the Oscars Competition!

2010-03-07T15:25:00.001-08:00

Don't forget, the entry deadline to enter my Oscar Awards Competition is today at 5 pm (pt) - or, in other words, when the oscars start.

Click the icon on my sidebar for more details!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Grace's First Day of "School"

2010-03-03T14:46:00.000-08:00

This post has taken me almost a week to put together...I apologize for the delay, but this mom is having a hard time coming to terms with having a Big Girl!

Our morning started bright and early. Scratch that, it was dark and early. Very, very early.

Grace woke up at about 4:15 a.m., bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready for her first day of school! She never does this, she never wakes up in the middle of the night. So I went in to her room and very nicely told her that it was too early to start getting ready and that it was still night time, and laid her back down and told her that Mommy would not forget to wake her up for school.

I got up at 6:15 and jumped in the shower. As soon as I was out, I heard Grace doing her morning coyote howl, so I plucked her out of bed and threw her in the tub. This is a new routine for her, but she likes it. She used to take night time baths, but Mommy gets off work too late, plus we need to keep that hair under control and it's easier to do right after a bath.

I'm sure you can't imagine why we need a bath to get Grace's hair under control...

Soaking in the tub before school!

At 6:45 Grace was out of the tub and in a diaper, and I was done with my hair and makeup. I got Grace dressed in her outfit that we had picked out the night before, then I propped her on the counter and she brushed her teeth while I did her hair. Pig tails. So darling, but the little hairs on the back of her head just aren't quite long enough, especially once her hair dries!

Then Mommy had to get dressed, and I did not pick out my outfit the night prior, so Grace sat on the floor and watched Friends and ate a fruit cup while Mommy tried to piece something together. My outift, although decent, was not as cute as Grace's.

Delicious fruit cup.

Mmmmm!

7:15, I feel like I'm forgetting something. I've been trying to throw an extra outfit in the bag to send to school, but nothing seems to match. Do I need extra socks? Probably not. Will the shoes she's wearing with outfit 1 look okay with outfit 2? Where are the diapers? Oh yeah, already in the car. Should she take juice? I'll grab her some juice. Where is her blanket? Did I already grab socks?

Then I remember that I promised Nana we would take First Day of "School" pictures. I grab Grace's chair and a book, ask her to sit in her seat and look at her book, and snap a couple of pics. Then I do one with the blackberry to send to Dad, and then I grabbed everything/everyone and headed out the door.

First Day of School Official Pictures

Mom, can we go to school now?!

We are finally out the door at 7:35, supposed to be at school at 7:45, and it's a 45 minute drive. I call them and tell them I will be late - closer to 8:15.

In the car, we have a grand ol' time singing along to the radio. I think Grace will be just like her mom - my car is my own personal recording studio!

Sweet girl looks a little anxious.

We roll in to school at 8:10 (sweet! 5 minutes earlier than I guestimated!)

The teacher shows me where I sign in, and I give her some of the paperwork they have been waiting for. I take Grace back to her classroom where there are 4 other 12-24 month old babies playing around with different toys, stuffed animals, and foam-climby-things. One little girl was especially friendly and came right up to greet Grace.

Grace was friendly, but not too excited about interacting with the other kids. She wanted to be off discovering her own things!

I stuck around for about an hour. Two babies cried for most of that time. Grace was not one of them. She was very courteous and careful when playing with toys and children. She tried to cheer one of the crying children up by giving him a toy. It didn't work, and I could have sworn I heard Grace, "Well, to hell with you then." Because that's what I was about to say.

I left right around breakfast time, and when the teacher said it was breakfast time, one small, sweet little girl made her way over to a table with little chairs all around it. Grace saw that and was intrigued. She LOVES chairs! So Grace went and found a chair and crawled in it all by herself, and starting swinging her legs and tapping for the table, obviously excited to see what would happen next. I gave her a kiss and told her I was leaving, and she waved at me and said, "Buh buh." As I made my way out of her room, she turned in her chair and then stood up on it to wave at me and yell, "Buh buh! Buh buh!" The teacher had to correct her; we do not stand on chairs, Grace. So sweet.

I came back when I knew the kids would be up from their naps to check in on her. She had taken a really good nap (surprising, considering the circumstances, but very reassuring) and the teacher was impressed that Grace grabbed her pacifier, her blanket, and put herself to sleep. (Thank you, Babywise!)

The kids were having a snack when I arrived, and Grace seemed to be fitting in just fine, although she was in the dreaded, unmatching outfit when I got there, and her hair looked ridiculous. The teacher told me Grace had a really fun time outside, was a little sad sometime that morning because several other kids were having some issues and she probably just got overwhelmed, but was doing really, really well.

Grace wanted me to hold her for a while when I was there, but then I put her down and encouraged her to show me things that she liked. I try to really encourage Grace to be independant. As much as I love it when she needs me, that is really selfish. It's great to feel wanted, but it's even better to see Grace discovering things on her own and interacting with other kids, even though I am there.

The teacher got all the kids cleaned up and then got coats and shoes on them, and said, "Okay, line up at the door!" I watched this little group of 1-year-olds herd around the door and, was amazed to watch Grace just follow suit! When did she get so smart? Baby Genius, I'm telling you.

Then, they opened the doors and I watched as the little tots just filed out the door and through the preschool to the outside area.

I had held it together pretty well until that point. That got me a little choked up. My little girl, walking in line, in her school.

I headed back to work feeling pretty good about how Grace was doing. At 5p, I headed to my second job. I hadn't been on the floor at Eddie Bauer longer than an hour when I got a call from my husband. He said the school was trying to get a hold of me and that Grace was sick and they needed me to pick her up within the hour.

Crap.

So, my wonderful manager at Eddie Bauer got right on the phone and found someone who could come in and cover for me. But it took that girl at least 30 minutes to get to the store. That's 30 minutes of hell when you're not quite sure what's going on with your baby!

I finally got to Grace's school around 6:45p, and I found her running around with one sock on (apparently she took one off to chew on - not the most Baby Genius thing I've ever seen her do) and having a ball. She finally figured out those foam steps and was having so much fun climbing on them and carrying toys up them and then climbing down and chasing other kids and being a baby. I looked at the night-shift girls and said, "Uh, does she look sick to you?"

Apparently, she had had three loose stools throughout the day, and a temperature of 100. I told them in advance that she is teething and that she has been having some gnarly diapers, but I guess it's a state regulation that if the baby has three loose stools and a temp, they have to send them home?

So I packed up a VERY reluctant Grace. She had no interest in leaving with me when she had just figured out how fun this place was! I decided we had time to make a much-needed trip to Target, and we spent about an hour strolling around and looking at different things.

I kept Grace out longer than I meant to, and when I got her in the car at 8:30p she was MORE than ready to hit the hay. She slept all the way home, and then didn't wake up until it was time to go this morning at 7a. And she still looked tired when she got to Nanny's!

Tomorrow is day 2 at school. I am hoping her teeth won't cause us many more issues.

All-in-all, I think day 1 was a huge success. I am so proud of my little girl - she is so smart and brave and is growing up to be a wonderful little person.

Also, the hubby comes home tomorrow night! Hooray! He gets to spend the weekend with Grace as I am working on Saturday and have our last volleyball tournament on Sunday. I've kind of missed the kid...he's not a bad guy to have around.

**Update**
Day 2 was a huge success, as was Day 3 and Grace is currently at school for Day 4. Each time, she is less bothered by me leaving and more bothered by me picking her up and taking her away from all of her new friends and super fun toys!

Quote I Love!

2010-02-26T16:38:00.000-08:00

"I try really hard to put my phone down ever since my daughter pretended to take something out of one of her little purses and was like, 'I've got an email - hang on one second."

Jennifer Garner explained why she thinks twice about what she does and says around her little girl.

I, personally, don't know what JGar is talking about...

My daughter doesn't mimic her mother at all.

Masterpiece

2010-02-23T23:09:00.000-08:00

So, this last weekend when Brother was here, we were playing cards like our family likes to do. Then, we decided to play a board game. Brother and I are huge board game fans. Growing up on a farm with us being the only two siblings, we found ways to stay entertained, and board games on a Saturday morning was always a good time.

I don't know which one of us thought of it, but we decided to play Masterpiece. Have any of you ever played this?

Here is the box, in all it's glory!

We have a very, very old version. We don't have any of the moving pieces, so we just grabbed random things and threw them on the board.

The way it works, for those of you who have never played, is that you go around the board and follow the instructions. You are trying to acquire paintings and increase your net worth. Every time you buy or receive a painting, you get another card with a value. There is one $1,000,000 card - the highest - as well as two FORGERY cards. Sometimes you land on the spot where you inherit a painting. Sometimes you have to buy a painting for a certain price from the bank or a player. Other times, you can have an auction and you bid on a painting. This is always tricky because you don't know exactly what the painting is going to be worth! It's great if someone is bidding on a painting you know the price of, or tries to re-sell it later, unless you forget what it was worth like my husband did several times! He ended up bidding huge amounts on cheap paintings he had already owned! It was hilarious.

Tell me this doesn't look like the most fun you've ever had in your whole life!

Check out the sweet characters you get to choose from! They are WAY better than CLUE characters.

And the game never really gets stale because you have a stack of painting cards and a separate stack of worth cards, so it's totally random. Paintings are never worth the same amount from game to game!

Anyway, I am now in search of this game online. I would really like to own my own copy. And I don't want to pay an arm and a leg. Anyone have any ideas of where I could find this game? I'm anxious to see what the new version looks like, compared to my mom's 1970s version.

YIKES!

2010-02-23T16:16:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is Grace's first day of pre pre-school.

I am beyond anxious.

I will take my anxiety out on my volleyball girls tonight so that I can get a good night's rest and be a cool cucumber tomorrow for my Tot.

Don't forget to enter my Oscar Awards Competition! The Oscars are coming up quick!

Baby Shower

2010-02-19T14:12:00.000-08:00

My friend has a baby shower coming up next month, and I could not be more thrilled for her! She is one of the sweetest, most thoughtful people I have ever been around. Not only that, but she is really clever and funny and one hell of a dancer!

She married her hubby in the summer of 2008, when I was pregnant with Grace. She was so upset when she saw me because I was barely showing! And then, she was pregnant with her baby at my wedding reception in November! We are kind of kindred, in that way I guess.

So, next month I am going to her baby shower, and I want to get her something amazing. But I also want to get her something she wants. And I need to keep my amazing, needed gift within budget. That last one is always the killer!

I have a lot of opinions when it comes to showers and gift registries. I had someone print off my Macys registry for my wedding, take it to WalMart and buy me things I asked for. I am not joking. Instead of the stainless steel Martha Stewart measuring cups I registered for, I got plastic lime green Farberware measuring cups. There was a whole gift basket of things I wanted from Macys that I received from Walmart!

What I wanted...

What I got!

Now, I am thrifty as the next girl and I can't afford to spend $100 on my friends for showers, but I like to get them the things they WANT! Not just my idea of what they should have!

But, in the case of baby showers, I now have some experience in this area that my friend is lacking. There are things that are not on her registry that I found very handy with my newborn. I was very lucky to have a few new Mama's who knew the most current and most needed items I would want to have, even when I didn't know it myself. So I want to pass on a couple of those items.

I had never even seen these WONDERFUL formula dispensers until my cousin, who is a proud Mama of three-under-5 (read: Crazy Woman!) got me one at my first baby shower, and this ended up being one of the most fabulous and used things I received!

So, any tips on how to put together the perfect baby shower gift?

Brother is Coming! Brother is Coming!

2010-02-16T15:51:00.000-08:00

My little brother is coming to visit this week. And by little brother, I am referring to my 6'5" younger-by-13-months brother.

Thanksgiving when we were both in college...don't know the year, but it was a while ago!

He is the most wonderful person! And he is a wonderful uncle!

Uncle holding Grace when she was 1 day old.

My brother is living the dream right now. He will be 25 in April, he's single, he lives in an apartment with three other guys - read: pays about $200/mo in rent! - he works from home as a computer engineer for a company based in Virginia (some sort of government contract) and he drives a Lexus. Nice.

Uncle took us to a Mariner's game last summer. Grace had a near-blowout situation right as we were pulling in to town, and Uncle didn't even flip out when I had to change her on his leather seats! After I got her cleaned up, he propped her on the trunk and we took this picture.

Brother is my polar opposite. I'm a Comm Studies major, he's a Computer Engineer major. I'm an extrovert, he's an introvert. I am not always the nicest person in the room, Brother is. I have a wicked sense of humor, Brother has a playful sense of humor. I'm chocolate, he's vanilla. You get the picture.

Graduation picture I took for Brother.

And yet, with all these differences, we are best friends! We have our sibling tiffs, but my parents did a wonderful job of giving us a foundation of mutual love and respect, so when times get tough that is what we resort to.

Love.

Respect.

I often joke that Brother is the favorite...and sometimes he probably is. I've always been the one to push boundaries and have probably kept my parents up at night a few more times that Brother, but I know our parents love us the same amount, but probably just appreciate different things about us. Right?! Isn't that how it works? I don't know yet, I only have one child. Sometimes it's hard for me to imagine my heart having enough room to love another baby as much...so since I am the oldest and my parents loved me first, maybe love me more, right?! I think all the first-born's might agree with me there!

Family Reunion with all the cousins...hmmm, might Brother be the favorite because he's the only boy?! Nah.

Anyway, Brother is coming down to help me at volleyball practice on Thursday. The girls are very excited. But not as excited as Grace is going to be when Uncle lifts her up to the ceiling, like only he can do!!

The kid can play some ball, I'll give him that.

I can't wait!

Look What My Boss Brought Me for Valentine's Day!

2010-02-12T11:31:00.000-08:00

That's right, I have the coolest boss ever.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Betsy's Birthday Bash Giveaway

2010-02-11T08:16:00.000-08:00

My Cousin Betsy over at She Who Rides Many Ponies is hosting a Birthday Bash Giveaway!

Read about her incredible journey to find the things that mattered most in life. And did I mention she's a fabulous cake decorator? It's always fun to check her blog to see what amazing cake she's creating. Here is one she did for my baby shower:

I'm telling you, my Cousin Betsy is extremely talented!

TMgm0 gm

2010-02-10T11:04:00.001-08:00

TMgm0 gm

This is my very first text from Grace! Since I can't put it on my fridge, I'm putting it on my blog!

Talking on Nana's phone is a favorite hobby.

Top Moms

2010-02-10T10:55:00.000-08:00

I saw a headline this morning for a countdown of the Top 15 Reality TV Moms. I don't watch all of these shows, so I'm not sure if I agree...any arguments for or against any of these gals?

1. Kate Gosselin - Jon and Kate Plus 8 (TLC)

2. Michelle Duggar - 19 Kids and Counting (TLC)

3. Kris Jenner - Keeping Up With the Kardashians (E!)

4. Sharon Osbourne - The Celebrity Apprentice (NBC)

5. Tori Spelling - Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood (Oxygen)

6. Kim Zolciak - The Real Housewives of Atlanta (Bravo)

7. Sheree Whitfield - The Real Housewives of Atlanta (Bravo)

8. NeNe Leakes - The Real Housewives of Atlanta (Bravo)

9. Lisa Wu Hartwell - The Real Housewives of Atlanta (Bravo)

10. Alexis Bellino - The Real Housewives of Orange County (Bravo)

11. Lynne Curtin - The Real Housewives of Orange County (Bravo)

12. Tamra Barney - The Real Housewives of Orange County (Bravo)

13. Vicki Gunvalson - The Real Housewives of Orange County (Bravo)

14. All the moms from The Real Housewives of New York City sans Bethenny Frankel who is expecting her first child.

15. All the moms from The Real Housewives of New Jersey (Bravo)

Okay, I must confess that I love me some Real Housewives of Orange County, but I do NOT consider them great moms! Each one is more self-obsessed than the next. As a matter of fact, probably the only mom I really like and think is a good mom is Tori Spelling! If you had told me 5 years ago that someday I would think Tori Spelling was a good mom, I would have laughed and then thrown a drink in your face.

But, as it turns out, not only do I really like her, but I think we are very similar! And my husband has a man-crush on Dean. We are the Tori and Dean of Eastern Washington, let me tell ya!

When I saw this list, I also thought, "Aren't there more reality TV moms than all the housewives a couple of other attention-starved weirdos?!" But I'm having trouble coming up with any. Yikes. I don't need Grace to grow up thinking this is how moms are...where have all the Claire Huxtables gone?

Is there a mom you identify with on TV these days?

-Grace's Mom

Cup O' Love!

2010-02-09T11:22:00.000-08:00

Awww, my Starbucks loves me as much as I love it!

Oscar Awards Competition!!

2010-02-08T15:46:00.000-08:00

Okay, I am going to take on hosting my very first blog competition!! This should be...interesting. I mentioned wanting to do this in a previous blog, and I have decided to go for it.

So here goes!

Listed below are the nominations for the 2010 Academy Awards. Your challenge is to post a blog where you make your selections for who you think will win each award. The person who makes the most correct guesses (and tells me that he/she is competing) will win...drum roll please...a $5 Starbucks Gift Card!!

And as if that weren't enough, the winner will also get the privelege of posting this beautiful, hand-crafted award button on his/her blog!

Nice, huh? I made it all by myself.

Simply leave me a comment directing me to the blog posting where you have picked your winners, or email them to me (BeingGracesMom@gmail.com) before Sunday March 7th, 5 p.m. PT (8 p.m. ET) and you will be entered in the competition! After the awards I will add up everyone's scores and announce a winner.

So make your best picks! Do your research! Or take a shot in the dark! Whatever you have to do to get in on the fun!

Here are the nominees:

BEST PICTURE

"Avatar"
"The Blind Side"
"District 9"
"An Education"
"The Hurt Locker"
"Inglourious Basterds"
"Precious"
"A Serious Man"
"Up"
"Up in the Air"

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Penelope Cruz, "Nine"
Vera Farmiga, "Up in the Air"
Maggie Gyllenhaal, "Crazy Heart"
Anna Kendrick, "Up in the Air"
Mo'Nique, "Precious"

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Matt Damon, "Invictus"
Woody Harrelson, "The Messenger"
Christopher Plummer, "The Last Station"
Stanley Tucci, "The Lovely Bones"
Christopher Waltz, "Inglourious Basterds"

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Sandra Bulllock, "The Blind Side"
Helen Mirren, "The Last Station"
Carey Mulligan, "An Education"
Gabourey Sidibe, "Precious"
Meryl Streep, "Julie and Julia"

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Jeff Bridges, "Crazy Heart"
George Clooney, "Up in the Air"
Colin Firth, "A Single Man"
Morgan Freeman, "Invictus"
Jeremy Renner, "The Hurt Locker"

DIRECTOR
James Cameron, "Avatar"
Katherine Bigelow, "The Hurt Locker"
Quentin Tarantino, "Inglourious Basterds"
Lee Daniels, "Precious"
Jason Reitman, "Up in the Air"

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, "District 9"
Nick Hornby, "An Education"
Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony RochE, "In the Loop"
Geoffrey Fletcher, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"
Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, "Up in the Air"

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Mark Boal, "The Hurt Locker";
Quentin Tarantino, "Inglourious Basterds"
Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman, "The Messenger";
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, "A Serious Man"
Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Tom McCarthy, "Up"

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
"Coraline"
"Fantastic Mr. Fox"
"The Princess and the Frog"
"The Secret of Kells"
"Up"

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
"Ajami," Israel
"El Secreto de Sus Ojos," Argentina
"The Milk of Sorrow," Peru
"Un Prophete," France
"The White Ribbon," Germany

ART DIRECTION
"Avatar"
"The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus"
"Nine"
"Sherlock Holmes"
"The Young Victoria"

CINEMATOGRAPHY
"Avatar"
"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince"
"The Hurt Locker"
"Inglourious Basterds"
"The White Ribbon"

SOUND MIXING
"Avatar"
"The Hurt Locker"
"Inglourious Basterds"
"Star Trek"
"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen"

SOUND EDITING
"Avatar"
"The Hurt Locker"
"Inglourious Basterds"
"Star Trek"
"Up"

ORIGINAL SCORE
"Avatar," James Horner
"Fantastic Mr. Fox," Alexandre Desplat
"The Hurt Locker," Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
"Sherlock Holmes," Hans Zimmer
"Up," Michael Giacchino

ORIGINAL SONG
"Almost There" from "The Princess and the Frog" Randy Newman
"Down in New Orleans" from "The Princess and the Frog," Randy Newman
"Loin de Paname" from "Paris 36," Reinhardt Wagner and Frank Thomas
"Take It All" from "Nine," Maury Yeston
"The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)" from "Crazy Heart," Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

COSTUME
"Bright Star"
"Coco Before Chanel"
"The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus"
"Nine"
"The Young Victoria"

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
"Burma VJ"
"The Cove"
"Food, Inc"
"The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers"
"Which Way Home"

DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT)
"China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province"
"The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner"
"The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant"
"Music by Prudence"
"Rabbit a la Berlin"

FILM EDITING
"Avatar"
"District 9"
"The Hurt Locker"
"Inglourious Basterds"
"Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"

MAKE-UP
"Il Divo"
"Star Trek"
"The Young Victoria"

ANIMATED SHORT FILM
"French Roast"
"Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty"
"The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)"
"Logorama"
"A Matter of Loaf and Death"

LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
"The Door"
"Instead of Abracadabra"
"Kavi"
"Miracle Fish"
"The New Tenants"

VISUAL EFFECTS
"Avatar"
"District 9"
"Star Trek"

Okay, there you have it! Good luck everyone! To see my official picks, read this post.

UrbanDictionary.com

2010-02-05T10:39:00.000-08:00

Facebook users have been posting what their names mean according to UrbanDictionary.com all week - mine was too good to not blog!

Keep in mind, I put in my real first name, but for blogging purposes I have replaced it with "Grace's Mom."

1. Grace's Mom
A beautiful and talented young women who is capable of singing, dancing, and looking great. Grace's Moms are known to be tall, kindhearted, and extremely witty.

A word of French Origin.

Wow, your name is GRACE'S MOM? You must be tall, beautiful, and dance like an angel!

Try to be act like a Grace's Mom, will you?

2. grace's mom
an alien from the planet pluto. she has a wonderful voice and many boys fall for her. she eats mexicans.

casey: yo, im dating grace's mom.

mexicans: WATCH OUT MAN SHELL EAT YOU

Hahahaha! Isn't that hilarious? Okay, so then I had to check out Grace.

3. Grace Beauty, sunrises, singing birds, blossoming flowers. All those things that remind us why life is worth living.

Heaven on earth. A star to light your life.

Okay, so I skipped to the best one about Grace. But I think that totally defines her, and I'm going to stitch it on a pillow!

Wish List cont.

2010-02-04T16:37:00.000-08:00

Well, nothing to cross off my Wish List yet. But maybe with that sure-to-be-large tax return? A girl can hope.

Here is the full Wish List:

1. Kindle + accessories (refer to first Wish List blog)

2. Hair-on-hide picture frame.

3. Western decor for spare bedroom.

I LOVE ItsACowgirlThing.com for awesome western decor and apparel!

4. Square toe cowgirl boots.

5. Barrel racing saddle.

6. "Bling" tack.

7. Saddle blanket for my Okie horse.

I love this Okie horse. He deserves his own, special, SUPER bright saddle blanket! Not Skyler (other horse) hand-me-downs, like the turquoise one pictured.

8. Trip to Phoenix in May. (refer to first Wish List blog for details)

9. Sterling Silver cowgirl ring.

10. Coach "Hailey" handbag.

I really love having a hands-free handbag now that I'm also toting around a toddler - the Hailey bag comes with a long, removeable cross-body strap and a shorter shoulder strap! Plus, the inside is BRIGHT purple! So it matches my new blackberry!

11. "Bling" watch.

12. Sunglasses - I lost mine on a trek through the jungle in Puerto Vallarta!

13. Frame for canvas wedding picture.

This is not the exact picture that we have on canvas, but we have a very nice print that has been sitting in a FedEx box for...almost 4 months now. It needs to be on the wall! Look how pretty we are!

14. Appliances. (refer to first Wish List blog for details)

15. Bathroom mirror.

My current bathroom mirror is cracked right down the middle. Imagine how pretty I would look every day if I got ready with a mirror like THIS!

16. Bigger TV. I hear bigger is always better. ;)

-Grace's Mom

Momspotting

2010-02-03T16:22:00.000-08:00

This is one of the best meme questionaires I have ever seen, so I just have to take part!

A little background: I somehow happened upon the very entertaining blog VodkaMom, and she was taking part in this meme. Apparently, a site called BlogHer.com is doing a little research on parenting in the digital age. They have several moms enlisted to tweet about digital parenting. It's a pretty interesting concept. If I used Twitter more, I would be very fascinated to follow these tweets. If you are interested in checking them out, just look for the hashtag #momspotting. Or, read the blog here.

Anyway, BlogHer wants to know how normal, everyday moms use technology to interact with her family. This meme is another way of looking for trends.

Therefore, I feel it is my civic duty to educate BlogHer on how I use the digital age to raise my daughter. Here we go!

1. Which expensive electronic device do you most often let your older children abuse?

My child is 13 1/2 months old...but that does not stop me from giving her my new blackberry when ever she wants it. She also has free access to my old blackberry which I keep charged for her.

2. How many take-out restaurant numbers do you have programmed into your phone?

Two. One for a teriyaki place that always takes a long time, another for one of my favorite mexican restaurants.

3. How many hours of television do you so totally not let your kids watch a week?

I encourage my daughter to watch TV! She's not interested yet. But I can't wait for the day that she will sit still for 20 minutes, totally engrossed in a program and I can organize under the sink, clean the china cabinet, or do some other project that I don't really want Grace's help with...but right now she is way more interested in helping me with everything.

4. Do you think people who say “we don’t watch television” at playdates but really mean “we just watch DVDs” are lying liars from Liarville?

You betcha.

5. How many miles have you driven with your child and not one device of electronic entertainment in a single car trip?

None.

6. What’s your record for calls to the pediatrician or Ask-a-Nurse in a single day?

Two. But I also have some close friends and family who are nurses, so I have called each of them in a single day...and maybe sent a follow-up email after that.

7. What’s the sexiest thing your husband/partner could text you after a hard day?

Babe, I got you a massage appointment after work and they will have Starbucks coffee waiting for you. Dinner is in the oven and Grace has had a bath. See you at home!

8. What’s your favorite iPad joke?

I haven't heard any iPad jokes...I feel like the joke is on me!

9. What’s the dumbest parenting tool, gear, gadget or device you ever bought?

My husband bought a bottle sterilyzer and melted all of our bottles into one giant, plastic heap.

10. How many years will it take for your child to become more tech-savvy than you?

About 2 more years. She already re-programs the TV and we can't figure out what she's done, and she pulls up screens on the computer that we have never seen before. Baby Genius, I'm telling you.

Oscar! Oscar!

2010-02-02T17:24:00.000-08:00

The nominees for the 2010 Academy Awards were announced this morning. I used to love doing picks with my friends, but now I never have time to see my friends so I thought I would do them on my blog! Does this count as a list?! Haha! Probably not. Okay, the selections made in purple are who I think will win. The selections in green are who I would like to win, if different than who I think will win. I would love to see some other picks and predictions. Maybe I'll have to host my very first competition? Once I think of a grand prize, I might revisit that idea.

Okay, here are my predictions:

BEST PICTURE

"Avatar"
"The Blind Side"
"District 9"
"An Education"
"The Hurt Locker"
"Inglourious Basterds"
"Precious"
"A Serious Man"
"Up"
"Up in the Air"

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Penelope Cruz, "Nine"
Vera Farmiga, "Up in the Air"
Maggie Gyllenhaal, "Crazy Heart"
Anna Kendrick, "Up in the Air"
Mo'Nique, "Precious"

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Matt Damon, "Invictus"
Woody Harrelson, "The Messenger"
Christopher Plummer, "The Last Station"
Stanley Tucci, "The Lovely Bones"
Christopher Waltz, "Inglourious Basterds"

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Sandra Bulllock, "The Blind Side"
Helen Mirren, "The Last Station"
Carey Mulligan, "An Education"
Gabourey Sidibe, "Precious"
Meryl Streep, "Julie and Julia"

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Jeff Bridges, "Crazy Heart"
George Clooney, "Up in the Air"
Colin Firth, "A Single Man"
Morgan Freeman, "Invictus"
Jeremy Renner, "The Hurt Locker"

DIRECTOR
James Cameron, "Avatar"
Katherine Bigelow, "The Hurt Locker"
Quentin Tarantino, "Inglourious Basterds"
Lee Daniels, "Precious"
Jason Reitman, "Up in the Air"

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, "District 9"
Nick Hornby, "An Education"
Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony RochE, "In the Loop"
Geoffrey Fletcher, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"
Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, "Up in the Air"

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Mark Boal, "The Hurt Locker";
Quentin Tarantino, "Inglourious Basterds"
Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman, "The Messenger";
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, "A Serious Man"
Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Tom McCarthy, "Up"

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
"Coraline"
"Fantastic Mr. Fox"
"The Princess and the Frog"
"The Secret of Kells"
"Up"

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
"Ajami," Israel
"El Secreto de Sus Ojos," Argentina
"The Milk of Sorrow," Peru
"Un Prophete," France
"The White Ribbon," Germany

ART DIRECTION
"Avatar"
"The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus"
"Nine"
"Sherlock Holmes"
"The Young Victoria"

CINEMATOGRAPHY
"Avatar"
"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince"
"The Hurt Locker"
"Inglourious Basterds"
"The White Ribbon"

SOUND MIXING
"Avatar"
"The Hurt Locker"
"Inglourious Basterds"
"Star Trek"
"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen"

SOUND EDITING
"Avatar"
"The Hurt Locker"
"Inglourious Basterds"
"Star Trek"
"Up"

ORIGINAL SCORE
"Avatar," James Horner
"Fantastic Mr. Fox," Alexandre Desplat
"The Hurt Locker," Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
"Sherlock Holmes," Hans Zimmer
"Up," Michael Giacchino
***For the record, I loved the score for both of these films!***

ORIGINAL SONG
"Almost There" from "The Princess and the Frog" Randy Newman
"Down in New Orleans" from "The Princess and the Frog," Randy Newman
"Loin de Paname" from "Paris 36," Reinhardt Wagner and Frank Thomas
"Take It All" from "Nine," Maury Yeston
"The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)" from "Crazy Heart," Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

COSTUME
"Bright Star"
"Coco Before Chanel"
"The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus"
"Nine"
"The Young Victoria"

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
"Burma VJ"
"The Cove"
"Food, Inc"
"The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers"
"Which Way Home"

DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT)
"China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province"
"The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner"
"The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant"
"Music by Prudence"
"Rabbit a la Berlin"

FILM EDITING
"Avatar"
"District 9"
"The Hurt Locker"
"Inglourious Basterds"
"Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"

MAKE-UP
"Il Divo"
"Star Trek"
"The Young Victoria"

ANIMATED SHORT FILM
"French Roast"
"Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty"
"The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)"
"Logorama"
"A Matter of Loaf and Death"

LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
"The Door"
"Instead of Abracadabra"
"Kavi"
"Miracle Fish"
"The New Tenants"

VISUAL EFFECTS
"Avatar"
"District 9"
"Star Trek"

So, I think it's pretty clear that I believe Avatar will win most of the technical awards it was nominated for. James Cameron is a genius. I haven't seen several of these movies - it's a little hard to get to the theater these days! But I am really wanting to see Up In The Air and The Blind Side. I can't wait until they come out on DVD!

Okay...Oscars on March 7th, 8 p.m. ET, 5 p.m. PT.

Quicky!

2010-02-01T22:17:00.000-08:00

I have been MIA lately - a lot going on!

My husband is looking at a new job opportunity that might mean relocating. Hubby isn't known for his follow-through, so I think we might have finally struck up a deal that will be very difficult, but will provide me with a sense of security before I abandon everything I've come to love about our current life.

We live very close to my family; the new job would be in the same town as his family. We both commute to the same town to work - it costs us a pretty penny in gas every month because we work totally opposite hours and thus cannot commute together.

There is just so much to consider! I have never been in this situation before. I really like my jobs, we have a wonderful childcare provider (which is absolutely priceless in my book) and my mom watches Grace whenever we need her. Those are things you just can't take for granted!

On top of all this, I'm smack-dab in the middle of volleyball season.

My girls really brought it to our tournament last weekend. It was two long days of volleyball, and unfortunately it ended on a pretty sour note, but I'm looking forward to really being competitive next weekend.

I have a Relay for Life meeting on Wednesday of this week; I'm looking forward to meeting the other chairpeople and figuring out how I can contribute to making this year's event a huge success!

Should be a busy, busy week - as always!

Oh, and today I took my Real Age quiz again. I did one when I was 21, and my real age was a year or two younger. My birth age is 26.8, my real age is 28.5. LAME! My friend asked what I was going to do about it. I told her, "I'm not going to change anything. I'll just plan on dying about two years earlier than I originally planned." If you have never calculated your Real Age, DO IT! It only takes a few minutes and it gives you some great tips about being the healthiest you.

This is just a random picture that I found - pretty sure I had just had a baby, and was around a size 14! These days, I'm rockin' a size 2-4 for the first time in my life - take THAT Real Age!

-Grace's Mom

Fun With Lists

2010-01-28T22:58:00.000-08:00

New friend Relyn (pronounced Ruh-lyn) at Come Sit by My Fire is following the inclination of a few fellow bloggers and has pledged to blog one list per week for the rest of the year. (Read Hula Seventy's blog where she makes the list pledge here!)

The mere idea of posting a list on my blog every week kind of feels like a cop-out! I mean, how fun and easy is that?! Haha! I am a list fanatic. My poor husband is not a huge fan of the list. Probably because I have lists for everything.

For instance, when I first read Relyn's post about making a list, my thought was, "Oh man! I can't wait to make a list of all the things I'm going to list on my blog!" Wow. Really? Kind of sad.

Sometimes I think I need to remind myself to stop listing and start doing.

At my first job, I took 15 minutes at the end of every day to start listing things I needed to do the next day. I quickly learned that I didn't want to be that organized and structured at that job because I wasn't busy enough - I needed to flounder a little just to pass the time!

My family and I used this website, cozi.com, to stay organized. We sync our calendars, make shopping lists that can be texted to our phones or emailed to us, and we can send each other messages! It's great having it be web-based because we can access it almost anywhere! But the point it - look at my sweet list! It lets you leave crossed-off things on it so you can see that you are accomplishing things. I don't like it when things just disappear from your list. I need to see it crossed off.

So, lets see. What will I list? I've already listed some of my Wish List items (look at that! I'm a week ahead of the curve!) but I have some more items to add to that list. I could list movies all day long. Same with TV shows. I could list all kinds of random things. I think for my first (well, technically second if you count the Wish List blog!) list, I will stick with something simple: My Favorite Things About Coaching 14 Year Old Girls.

Here goes:
1. They talk faster than that guy who used to do micromini commercials.
2. You don't have to spend time conditioning them, they are all size 2s and look darling in their little spandex and they will never be in better shape than they are right now.
3. They are all potential babysitters.
4. They aren't "too cool" yet, they are just cool enough that they can still laugh at themselves.
5. They have more energy all the time than I have on my best caffeine high.
6. They aren't cynical yet.
7. They haven't started to drive, so they still feel like kids, not entitled teenage brats.
8. They do really cute and creative things with their hair that I try to imitate at times.
9. They keep me hip and young and informed with the tween hollywood drama.
10. I really do coach an exceptional group of girls and I would be thrilled if my daughter turned out like any one of them. Well, maybe not one...there's always one.

Haha!

Okay, can't wait for my next list! I think it will be harder for me to do them only once a week rather than making sure I squeeze in one per week. Yikes.

-Grace's Mom

The Simple Things

2010-01-27T23:35:00.000-08:00

The very clever Christina over at Soul Aperture has given bloggers an amazing opportunity. She has challenged us to write a blog about the simple things in life; the things that make one persons life worth living and might be meaningless to someone else. (Read Christina's "Simple Things" blog here!)

For every comment on her post that leads to a blog about the simple things, Christina will donate $1 to Doctors Without Borders (up to $250). I was comment no. 110! I believe she now has close to 150 comments on her post. Outstanding!

Without further ado, my list of The Simple Things.

rainy days in summer.

the conversations you would only have with a best friend.

the smell of horse sweat and leather.

phone calls/texts/emails from my brother.
huckleberry martinis from Bistangos.
dancing with the girls.
designer jeans.
nordstroms.
new handbags.
perfect weather for riding horses.
rediscovering something you used to love.

new (to me) television shows that are addicting.

hot chocolate.

a clean car.
wine tasting.
driving a new route - especially in the fall.
cooking from a recipe, not the back of a box.
presents.

inside jokes.
grande nonfat caramel macchiatto (winter)
venti vanilla iced coffee (summer)

watching the girls I coach "get it."

doing the tv crossword with my dad.
bookstores.
diet coke from mcdonalds - sounds weird, but it tastes a little different and it's amazing.

making people laugh.

my husband's life philosophy: happy wife, happy life.

and finally, the most beautiful, pure and simple thing that I love, grace.

-Grace's Mom

Tuesday Full of Grace

2010-01-26T22:29:00.000-08:00

So what was this great, wonderful thing I got to do today?!

Spend the entire day with my daughter, of course!

Monday, I just decided that I needed a Mommy-Grace Day, so I asked my boss for Tuesday off and being the wonderful person that she is, she agreed. I didn't have to work at my second job today, I just had club volleyball practice this evening. It really was a perfect day!

First, Daddy brought Grace into our room at about 8a when she woke up and wanted her bottle. It's always more fun to wake up to my baby girl than to an alarm!

Daddy left for work, and Grace and I talked about what we wanted to do today. Our day.

We plunked Grace in the bath tub and she soaked for about 20 minutes. That girl loves her baths!

If I had all these toys in my bath, I might stay in there for 20 mintues too!

Then we got all dressed in our Tuesday finest and raced out the door for our first destination: Starbucks.

I'd forgotten how hard it was to get a non-blurry picture of a 13 month old baby!

We don't have a Starbucks in my town. The closest one is about 15 minutes away in a neighboring town. I don't go there all that often, it's out of my way. My usual one is closer to work, about 35 minutes from home.

Anywho, the baristas really took up with Grace, and got a big kick out of watching her walk all around Starbucks. Grace had a short sugar-free vanilla steamer and a butter croissant. Mommy had a grande nonfat caramel macchiatto and a butter croissant.

Delicious.

We found a short table that Grace could stand at, but she wasn't really having that. Mommy was sitting in a comfy chair, so Grace wanted to sit in a comfy chair. She ate her croissant and drank her "coffee" just like Mommy does! If only she had a little blackberry constantly in her hand...then she would REALLY be my shadow!

Sitting in a big-girl chair, waiting for Mommy to hand her another piece of croissant.

We ended up having to purchase this weird fruit-drink thing they have at Starbucks because Grace found them and carried one around and around, dropping it occasionally and really putting some wear and tear on the packaging. Small price to pay for such a perfect little girl on her first Starbucks outing!

Actually, this is not Grace's first time in a Starbucks - one time she went to work with me and therefore she went to Starbucks with me, but this is the first time I have ordered something for her.

Then, since Poppy (Grace's grandpa) works right down the road from Starbucks, we decided to pop in to see him. Poppy works at a very large motorcycle shop. The other day, Nana told me that Grace has started to call Poppy "Bop-po." As we were walking in to the shop, she started to whisper, "Bop po. Bop po. Bop po." I still find it hard to believe that my little girl is using the right words in the right context. Most of the time I think it is either a fluke or coincidence. But really? This was QUITE the coincidence if it was one!

Just as we walked in, Poppy told me he was having a computer problem and snatched up Grace to go show her off. I headed to his office to start working on his picture dilemma. My father is quite cute when it comes to computers...until recently he didn't know how to send an email to more than one person at a time. He would get a funny forward, and whoever was his favorite that day would get an email from him!

I didn't get any pictures of Grace at the motorcycle shop, but I do have a few from last May when we went to visit Poppy on Nana's birthday.

May 2009

We left the motorcycle shop and headed back to our town, but we had to stop at the school district office to pick up a Relay for Life Online Chair Handbook. That's right, you are reading the blog of the new Relay for Life Online Chair!! I am very excited to be getting involved in this program. But I'll leave that for another blog.

In the twenty minute drive from the motorcycle shop to the district office, Grace took a power nap. I knew it was only a matter of minutes before she would need the real deal. I had a few more things I wanted to do, but I reminded myself that this day was about Grace, and pushing her to her limit was not something I wanted to do today!

So home we came, and Grace proceeded to take a three hour nap! And lose a pony tail holder. And completely drench her blanket in sweat. Yet another way that she is like me! We are hot sleepers.

She woke up and I made us some lunch - she got left over risotto and some french bread - my baby girl loves her carbs! I made teriyaki chicken and couscous. This was my first time eating couscous, and it did not go over well. It tasted like play-doh to me. I tossed it before my husband could come home and make a big deal out of how bad it was. It's not like I messed up the recipe, it just had a rotten flavor.

After dinner Grace helped me finish up a couple of cleaning projects and she made a few "calls." She LOVES phones, and she took mine and walked down the hall, holding it to her ear with her shoulder, saying, "Eh? Huh? Oh. Uh oh. Eh?" And so on. I couldn't take a picture of it because she had my phone!

She wants to be a blogger, just like her mom!

I did, however, snap this final shot of Grace playing with her dad when he got home. I am so blessed to have such a happy little girl - she is so easy, and I wish I had more days like this to spend with her, but I know that it's because I don't that I am able to cherish every minute like I was today.

Yay! Daddy's home! Time to wrestle.

-Grace's Mom

SUPER Exciting Tuesday!

2010-01-25T20:31:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow, I have something SUPER exciting planned! It was kind of a last minute thing...something I have never really done but have been really needing to do. And NO! It is not a bikini wax!

All I can really say is that I am more excited about my day tomorrow than I have been about anything in quite some time.

It is not the ordering or arrival of a Kindle.

It is not tangible.

It is something a lot of people do and probably don't appreciate unless they haven't done it in a very long time.

It is something children like and something parents like, but not anyone else.

It is not hard.

It requires little-to-no effort.

Okay, I think that is enough playful hinting! Stay tuned - my next blog should be very entertaining!

Dream Job

2010-01-24T23:08:00.000-08:00

The other day, while working at my part-time retail job, a coworker and I got to chatting about what our ideal career would be. Neither of us is really in a position to take a big risk, career-wise, but we would both really like to! The only problem is, we didn't have a detailed plan on what we would like to do. So for about four hours we would randomly shout out business ideas and build them up until we ultimately decided that whatever business plan we were developing would fail for one reason or another.

It's just fun to think about what you would do, if you could do anything in the world...

I have been working in commercial sales for almost three years now. I really enjoy it, but because I am not a commissioned sales person I don't make a ton of money. I have tried sales before, and I'm just not good at coaxing people into parting with money they aren't completely sure they want to part with!! I handle transactional business just fine. My retail managers love me! But when it comes to convincing someone to give me several thousand dollars for something they aren't sure they want...man. I have a hard time with that.

You know I had a good day at work when you see the same commercial four times in a 30 minute program! SORRY!

But, I always thought it would be fun to work for an advertising agency. I am always included in brainstorming sessions when it's time to pitch a concept to a client. I'm the girl who comes up with the funny, memorable commercial! Oh man, I could write a blog all about my HILARIOUS commercial concepts! Maybe another time.

I also have toyed with the idea of going back to my communications/journalism/marketing roots and trying to do a little PR for a business that I can get passionate about.

If these women can do it, so can I! Does vodka come with the title?

Or what if I opened a gift shop? I could sell cute things and maybe even custom vinyl letters/words/sayings that you put on your wall?

This is not a picture of my house, but I do have some of these in my home, which I acquired by hosting an Uppercase Living party!

I did a lot of research about starting a nanny referral service. I am in need of a temporary nanny in August (my fabulous nanny is having a baby!) and I am really stressed about finding someone I can trust. I imagine there are a lot of parents in this situation and I thought I might be able to make a little money with a service that aided in this process. I jotted down some ideas about finding nannies, running some background checks, and then finding parents and matching them up with qualified nannies. It sounds really great in theory, but when I got to thinking about what could go wrong, I hit a serious wall. What if something happened? What if a nanny I recommended turned out to be less-than-reliable? What if something awful happened to the child being watched? Not only would I have to make sure I was covered legally, but I just don't know if I could live with myself. It makes me sick to even think about it. So I quickly backed away from that idea.

Maybe, since I have ideas for almost every business in my area, I should walk in to a few and pitch them some marketing or PR ideas and slowly work my way in to my own advertising agency?

Maybe I should go work for Amazon and they will give me a free Kindle just for being an employee!

Kindle...I want you!

Maybe I should be a stay-at-home-mom and focus all my energy on raising the most beautiful, brilliant baby girl in the world?

She got her first lap top around 3 months old...Baby Genius, I am telling you.

The possibilities are just endless. There are so many different avenues I want to take! One thing I have learned in the last two years, though, is that fate is pretty good at laying paths out for me, and all I need to do is keep my head up, my eyes open, and a positive attitude - things work out.

-Grace's Mom

Wish List

2010-01-23T22:07:00.000-08:00

We all have things we want. I don't just have a few, I have a list that I keep on my Blackberry (which was on the Wish List until last Thursday!!) and I take a lot of joy in marking the things I have saved up to purchase. Of course, like with any good Wish List, I add items to my list more frequently than I cross them off.

Some of these are things that my family kind of needs...others are things that I have just dreamed of having for a while. I thought I would share them with you in my blog, and I will keep you abreast of which items I collect.

Without further ado, in no particular order:

Grace's Mom's Wish List

1. The Amazon Kindle.
I have done a lot of research on e-Readers. I have tried the Nook from Barnes and Noble and it had a few too many glitches for my liking. Glitches the sales folks explained by saying, "Well, a lot of people handle these, they are just demos, so they might not work 100% correctly." Um, hello? I have a one year old who is, at some point, going to her little Tot hands on my eReader. It needs to be a little tougher than that!

I have also researched the Sony Reader, and my only drawback with this product is that the books tend to be a little more expensive through the Sony Web site.

Now the Kindle...so far, the Kindle sounds like exactly what I need. For those of you who aren't quite sold on the eReaders, let me tell you why they are appealing to me. For the record, I really enjoy physical books. I like the way they smell, I like turning pages and feeling accomplishment with each chapter I complete. But I live in a very small town. The only place I can even buy a book is WalMart. I work in a larger town, but it is not very convenient for me to pop in to a bookstore. I cannot wait until Grace is old enough to go book shopping with me! We will spend entire days in Borders!

Anywho, the convenience of buying an eBook is a huge selling point for me. I am on the road quite a bit, so the idea that I could buy a book while I'm riding somewhere (i.e. NO PLANNING AHEAD!) is phenomenal.

But then, say I don't know what book I would like to read. With an eReader, I can read previews of hundreds of thousands of books! Amazon and Google both provide limited previews for free. I definitely don't have time to be in Borders for an hour so I can preview each book I want to read!

Not only that, but eBooks are considerably less expensive than regular books. New releases are $9.99. And lets face it, I'm not working two jobs because I have tons of extra money floating around. Those extra dollars I spend on books add up!

And finally, I commute about 45 minutes each way every day. The Kindle will read books out loud to you! Sure, I could buy books on cd, but those are expensive! I'm sure the Kindle voice isn't James Earl Jones or Julie Andrews...but it's better than nothing!

The only drawback to the Kindle is that you can only get them by ordering them online. You can't look at one or handle one before you make the $250 investment for the basic model. However, I happened to run into a business acquaintance last week who told me that he just ordered his Kindle, and I sweet-talked him in to bringing it to my work for me to check out! Now, he purchased the DX, the more expensive model ($400 or so) but I think this will give me a good feel for how the Kindle stacks up to the Nook and Sony Reader.

Can you tell I've been wanting one of these for a while?!

2. Trip to Pheonix in May.

This is one I am really saving my pennies for. I even had my dad buy me a bank that counts change as you put it in for Christmas so that I would be motivated to save my change!

My brother is an amazing volleyball player, and he has been playing with a national team in Washington. I have played volleyball all of my life and am currently coaching a U-16 club team. Memorial Day Weekend, in Phoenix is the U.S.A. Adult Open Championships. From what I hear, this tournament is amazing. There are all sorts of age brackets, including one that is 70 years +!! Can you imagine? I hear these guys are THE most fun to watch.

Anyway, a vacation isn't really in the cards for my family this year, as in 2009 we got married on a Mexican Cruise, hosted a reception back home, and bought a house. So this trip to Phoenix might be just enough of a vacation so that we can get in a little R&R without breaking the bank.

3. Kitchen Appliances.

Okay, not everything on my Wish List is super expensive, but the three items I am talking about today are. This is probably the most expensive, but also the most needed.

When we purchased our house, it did not come with a fridge. The day we moved in, we realized that what had appeared to be a practically brand-new stove was in fact the victim of a grease fire and did not work. The fan above the stove is also completely melted.

Obviously, you need a fridge and a stove, but we were short on money because we had just used a bunch of it for a down payment and earnest money! So to CraigsList I went, and I managed to find a fridge for $100. It's about as old as I am (around 25 years old!) and it's that nice almond color...lovely. My parents had their own stove that they offered to give us. It had been sitting out in the barn for about two years since they had purchased their new stainless steel appliances. It is also about as old as I am and in that lovely almond color! So we do, technically, have a matching set. And while both work fine...they are just adequate. And both kind of have a funny smell to them. Haha! Or that might just be me imagining that they do because I don't care for them and have spent a fair amount of time shopping for their replacements online!

Lovely stove.

Matching fridge.

So, those are a couple of items on my Wish List. I would love to think that my tax return will pay for all of these things...but I'm trying not to get my hopes up.

Oh, and yes, there are things on my Wish List for Grace. But she just had her birthday and Christmas, and while I was just cleaning up in the living room I realized that the last thing my little girl needs right now is another toy or pair of shoes!! We are very blessed with generous family and friends...not so much with storage in our home! Maybe I should add "storage" to the Wish List...

-Grace's Mom

Family Dinner Night

2010-01-22T08:39:00.000-08:00

It happens rarely, so when my family is able to get the three of us around the same table, we try to make it special.

Tonight, the menu consisted of chicken paillards with lemon butter sauce, cheese risotto and french bread with oil and vinegar for dipping.

The other day I was watching Today and Martha Stewart was on. She was making pork paillards, and I was very fascinated with the concept of pounding out meats so that they not only cook faster, but you get more meat for your buck, so to speak.

So, to MarthaStewart.com I went, and I easily found the recipes. First, I had to learn how to make the chicken paillards. Not too difficult. Here is what Martha says:

Step 1

Boning

Start with a bone-in breast half (this will yield 2 paillards). Insert tip of a boning knife near the ribs, and work the knife along the bone to remove the meat.

**I definitely bought boneless chicken. I wasn't about to press my luck this far! Moving on!**

Step 2

Butterflying

Place one hand on the chicken, curving your fingers up slightly for safety. Slice meat horizontally, cutting almost to the other side. Open it like a book.

Step 3

Pounding

Place meat inside a plastic bag or between plastic wrap. Working from center out, pound with the smooth side of a mallet until meat is 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. Cut into 2 pieces.

And it really is that simple! Well, for the paillard part, anyway.

Then, I went on to find a recipe for a lemon butter chicken paillard. Seriously? Lemon? Butter? How can you go wrong?!

Ingredients

Serves 2 to 4

4 chicken paillards (from 2 breast halves)
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon plus 2 to 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup minced or sliced shallot
Segments and juice of 2 lemons
3/4 cup low-sodium chicken stock

Directions

Season 4 chicken paillards (from 2 breast halves) on both sides with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil and 1 tablespoon unsalted butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat until butter foams. Add 2 paillards, and saute on 1 side until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium. Flip, and saute paillards until cooked through, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Raise heat to medium-high, and repeat with remaining paillards.
Add 1/4 cup minced or sliced shallot to skillet, and cook over medium heat, adding oil or butter as needed, stirring often, until golden, about 1 minute. Raise heat to medium-high. Add segments and juice of 2 lemons, 3/4 cup low-sodium chicken stock, and any plate juices, and deglaze the pan, scraping brown bits from bottom with a wooden spoon. Simmer until sauce reduces by half, about 3 minutes. Gradually stir in 2 to 3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter (cut into small pieces) until just melted. Season to taste.

From Martha Stewart Living, January 2010

I will not even pretend to be the world's greatest cook. My risotto was out of a box; it's glorified rice-a-roni. But I love taking on recipes like this simple one!

So here is out it all turned out:

I have my laptop out with my recipe, I have lemons cut up on the cutting board, chicken paillard sizzling away in butter in the frying pan, and my risotto in the red kettle. Oh, and I thought Alicia Keyes was appropriate for this evening! I still remember the first time I heard "Falling" on MTV...back when they used to play music.

The chicken, seasoned with salt and pepper and fried up with butter and EVOO.

My assistant chef, looking kind of like a begging puppy...

My lemon-butter sauce - I elected to add a little flour to to thicken it up. I see grown-ups do that on Thanksgiving...I took a chance and strayed from Martha's recipe, but it paid off!

Delicious cheese risotto. Not the best picture, but it really is YUM-O!

Note the Martha Stewart spatula that was a wedding present?! I'm channeling you as best I can, Martha!

Assistant Chef, keeping a close eye on her favorite part of the meal...THE BREAD! But she held still just long enough to take a picture with mom.

Here we go, the money shot! My lemon butter chicken paillard! We'll see if it tastes as good as it looks...

My hubby set the table and poured me a glass of Jackson Kendall Chardonnay - it's a favorite for a silly reason!

Grace can hardly wait to get her mits on some delicious dinner! I wish I had time for a picture after dinner...she was covered head-to-toe in risotto! It was definitely a straight-to-the-tub night!

So, here is what Martha shows the chicken paillard should look like:

And here is what mine looked like:

I think that's a pretty successful first run at a recipe! Stay tuned for more adventures in the kitchen!

Grace's Mom

How to Prepare Chicken Paillard

Chicken Paillards with Lemon-Butter Sauce

Kendall Jackson Wines

So...I'm a mom.

2010-01-21T11:53:00.001-08:00

I have been a mom for a while now. Obviously, not as long as my mom has been a mom...but well over a year. (*cue snickers from moms who have been in this game for 13+ years!)

I am trying to remember when I started to consider myself a mom. I don't think it was when I found out I was pregnant.

It might have been when I had my first ultrasound or found out the sex of my baby girl.

Or, shoot, it might have even been when Grace arrived on that snowy December evening.

I suppose it doesn't really matter.

What matters to me is when I became proud to be a mom.

When I was a single gal, doing the single gal thing, I couldn't relate to moms. The way they always seemed so distracted; I could barely have a conversation with a friend if her kid was in the room! And forget about trying to play cards or anything like that! Then there was the whole snot-wiping, spit-swapping, food-sharing disgustingness that I witnessed around formerly normal women. It would gross me out to no end to watch a mom share a straw with her slobbery child, or witness her lick her finger and try to wipe a foreign substance off her child's face. Gross.

If only I had known then what I know now!

I said all the politically correct things. "Being a mom is the hardest job." "Being a stay-at-home mom is just as hard as going to work every day." "All children are beautiful." "All pregnant women are beautiful." Blah, blah, blah.

If I'm being honest with myself, now, I didn't really believe those things back then.

However, there came a point somewhere in the arrival of Baby Grace where I drank the punch. I bought in to being a mom and all of it's glory 200%.

With that said, though, I think I have some rather unique takes on certain socially accepted "givens" about being a mom. Here are a few:

1. Being a mom is not hard. It can't be compared to work because it's not work. It's an honor. It's a huge responsibility, but being a mom is not hard.

2. Being a role-model is the hardest thing about being a parent. I have told several people that I am not worried about my relationship with my daughter. We will be fine. What I worry about is her watching how I relate to other people and potentially learning hurtful things in that way. Can you honestly say that every reaction you have throughout your day is positive?

3. There are no sacrifices when it comes to being a parent. It's just the way things are. You do what you have to do to provide for your family, and you don't look back. They are not sacrifices, it's just the way things are.

The third point goes back to point one - it's an honor to be a parent. Every decision you make, whether you prefer one choice over another, as long as you are taking care of your child it is not a sacrifice.

I'll get off my soap box now.

I have learned a lot in the last year and I continue to learn and grow. I have my crazy ideas about how things work, but I'm always open to new and interesting ways to do things or look at things. I hope this blog becomes a place to explore what it is like to be a mom, be a wife, be a career woman, and be a friend.

-Grace's Mom