Gel Manicure

Do you get manicures?  Have you tried a gel (shellac) manicure?


I've been wanting one for a while and it seems like every time I see someone with beautiful shiny nails, they have a gel manicure.


I want a gel manicure!  I want a gel manicure NOW!  (said in my best Veruca Salt voice)

photo source

So I went and got one on Friday.


Because I cook for work and I have OCD when it comes to cleaning my house, my nails are never nice.  Never.  I've only gotten a professional manicure twice and both times they lasted until the end of the day before they started chipping. I kid you not.


So, like I said, I got a gel manicure on Friday.  And I have a couple of things to say.

1. It was supposed to cost $25.
2. I was charged $35 because my hands needed so much work.
3. This kind of irritated me because I only had $37 on me and you know I pay cash for everything because I'm still going all Dave Ramsey.
4. I picked a color out and the manicurist told me a different one would look better.  I let her choose.  She's a professional, so I figured she would know.
5. My nails look awesome.
6. I don't love the color she chose, but I prefer very sheer, barely there colors and this one falls into that category, so it's okay.
7. My nails look awesome.

There's a chance I could have pretty nails for the rest of my life, people!!


I'm totally doing this next time: 

photo source

Ha haaaaa....just kidding.  Holy daggers!


Have you ever had a gel manicure?

Helping Hamburger

I think I have the food editor's version of writer's block.

I don't want to cook, think about cooking, grocery shop for cooking or anything else that has to do with cooking.  I think Zuddy and Noodle are sick of looking into an empty fridge.  Zuddy's even been joking about it:  he opened the fridge door the other day and shouted, "Hel-LOOOOO!"  to see if he could hear his echo.  Oh he's a real freaking riot.

So the other day I was shopping and saw Hamburger Helper on sale. 

I picked up a box and bought it.  Then I made it for dinner.

 

Was it delicious?  No. 

Did I care?  Not really.

Noodle wouldn't touch it, and when Zuddy came in the door, she said to him, "Do you like Hamburger helper?"

Zuddy: "No, why?"

Noodle: "Mom made it for dinner."

Zuddy:  "No she didn't."

Then he looked at me with crazy panicked eyes and said, "No you didn't.....did you?"  His voice got kind of high and squeaky when he said it and he walked quickly to the kitchen to get a look at it.

Sheesh.  You would've thought I substituted.....I don't know......one of our neighbors all chopped up or something for the ground beef.

Do you guys ever have this issue?  It's been going on for a while now.  Help me.

Whoa....

Has it really been 2 months since I've posted??  Wow.

So much going on. 

My sweet sister in law found out she had a brain tumor right before Christmas and had it removed.  She is fine and it wasn't cancerous or anything, but you can imagine how scary that was.

My Dad's health isn't good.  He's been in the hospital since the end of January.  He had a nasty flesh-eating bacteria called Fournier's Gangrene.  His life is forever changed and he isn't a happy boy. 

I've just started getting back to Noodle's room after the Holidays and the shock of my Dad's health scare.  I painted the ceiling and Zuddy is working on the baseboards. 

Also, my girlfriend is having a baby and I'm shamelessly copying these alphabet walls I found online for her nursery:

Hey - somebody's gotta be a hack.  Might as well me me :)

Happy Halloween!

Hope you had a good one!

We went 'round and 'round about a costume this year. Noodle always wants some store-bought costume like this one:

As it got closer to Halloween, I finally told her we could think of something a little more zany and original.


I always want her to dress up as a food item.
Because it's all about me.

I especially liked this one from the Food Network website:


She was horrified. She hates the food idea.

Well, how about this one? (I pull this photo out every year. It's from Ladies Home Journal)

I mean come ON!! What's not to love about a fortune cookie on your noggin, huh??

HUH???




So we went here and explored and she finally found one she liked:



It's hard to take a photo of something so shiny, but she was an iPod. With a glowing screen courtesy of many blue glow sticks taped inside her costume. Zuddy was so into it that he did the whole thing. All we had to do was show him a photo.


Later on, our neighbor Jenny came over before going to her Halloween party, dressed up as guess who?

Playing Catch-Up

I read a few of my favorite blogs today.

And I still have 637 posts in my Google Reader to read.

I can't decide if the Google Reader is a good idea for me or not.
Because, I've gotta tell ya: I'm feeling a bit stressed knowing how behind I am on my blog reading.

I mean it could take DAYS of me doing nothing but blog reading to catch up.
Well, blog reading and eating.
I mean, really.
One needs a little 'snackie' when she reads, doesn't she?

I have some things to tell you. Where do I start? I'm not sure if I should start with the really impressive things or not.
I mean, I'm pretty cool and graceful.
And lucky.

Let's start with the really graceful stuff: I was having a FABULOUS morning last Sunday. I went for a nice little early morning walk with my best friend, iPod.
After iPod and I got back we brought some chairs in the front yard and sat in the sun and drank some coffee. It was nice.
Then I got the idea to go down to the newspaper box a couple of blocks down the street to get the Sunday paper.
With my coffee.
And iPod, of course. Can't go anywhere without my buddy. My pal.

We started down the block and iPod's earbud shot out of my right ear and landed in my coffee.

Do you think iPod's getting sick of me? Is this his way of breaking up with me?

Maybe if I take Britney off of my playlist? Maybe that will help. Maybe he's just sick of Britney. Maybe he just thinks Britney has no place in a 39 year old woman's play list? I can change. I really can.

Another thing: Jon and Kate. What do you think of their situation?
And why do I feel the need to purchase every US or People weekly with Jon and Kate on the front??? I crave it. Why? WHYYY? I think I secretly see some of myself in Kate. I mean, I think every woman does. I understand some of her freak-outs yet she's so freaking mean sometimes.

Mother's Day: What did all of you Mommies do?

I asked for Zuddy and Noodle to go golfing with me:



It was Noodle's first time and Zuddy and I haven't golfed since -- get this -- I was pregnant with Noodle!! We had a lot of fun. Until the 6th hole. Then Noodle got hungry and tired and we left. It was still fun and a perfect day.

Did I tell you about my new flooring for the kitchen? Did I?

I'm really excited about this. The owner of the company Zuddy works for bought the house next door to the office and then ripped anything good out of it and tore it down. Zuddy kept wanting to show me the place before it bit the dust, but I wasn't interested, quite frankly. I mean, the place was a total dump.

Well, one day I visited him at work and he dragged me over there. Yeah. It was a dump. But guess what? It had wood floors in the living room that nobody took! I asked Zuddy to rip out for me and put into my kitchen!

We have no idea what kind of wood they are....maybe pine. It's hard to tell because the wood is old-growth and has a tight grain. Anyway, here are a couple of planks as they look now:


I originally wanted some old-fashioned black and white linoleum, but - hey. Free floors.....know what I'm sayin'?

Besides, I could do something like this:

(Photo: Cottage Living)


Couldn't I?
I don't know. Could I?
I mean, seriously.
Look what I did with my iPod earbud. I don't really think I can be trusted with some gel stain and painter's tape, can I ?

Zuddy's Rx for Mama's Breakdown....

Stephanie - from Bungalow Insanity? Maybe this would be more suitable before your 10:30 work meeting?

Oh....maybe not.

Mama's Havin' a Breakdown....

Luckily?

My sister called just in time (she's a nurse):



We collaborated on my treatment.

I decided to listen to this song on my iPod 3 times (It's a video. Click on it, but don't watch it. It's John Mayer. Watching him sing isn't pretty. Listening is.)

Then?

She said I needed to watch a movie. Luckily, this just came from Netflix:



During the movie? I was supposed consume one of these:




I increased the dosage to two.
(Don't tell her.)


Then I ate some of this:



I'm feeling MUCH better.



But I think I may need more of this:

Things......

1. It was my bloggiversary on the first of March! I can't believe it....2 years!

2. I started this blog solely for the purpose of before and after shots of my kitchen.

3. I'm still not finished.

4. Instead? I've made so many friends....people that I truly love. You know who you are. You are now my personal friends - not just my bloggy friends. My blog has changed to be a form of communication with my blog buddies.

5. One of those people I love just started a blog. I think you should go visit: It's Dawnie and she is now known as Mrs. Wacky. Such an artist! Who knew? Go over to her place and look at what she's done with her Ikea tables!

6. When I went to Seattle last month and met with Cutzi and Michelle (get a blog Michelle), we were talking about our blog addictions. The girls gently yet firmly told me it was time to manage my blogs on a reader.

So I did it yesterday.

It took me an embarassingly long time to finish setting up.

Because I had a lot of blogs that I visit in my favorites, but not all of them. Some of them were on my blogroll, but a lot of them were not. Some of them I still had to get to by going to the original blog I found them on.

What a mess.

Now they are all residing, neat and tidy, in my Google Reader.
Thanks girls! Your intervention worked!

7. I totally fell off the exercise wagon. I'm getting back on it today.

8. I'm meeting the girls for coffee this morning. I can't wait.

9. I did something last week that needed to be done for a long time.

I got my wedding ring cut off of my oozing, swollen finger.

I've always been able to coax it off of my hand with the help of lotion or Aquaphor, but it was so irritated and swollen this time that I had to take the ultimate drastic measure.

Weeellll, maybe not the ULTIMATE drastic measure.....I think THAT would be lopping off my finger. -- No, I just got THE RING cut off.

I had to laugh when I was at the jewelry store waiting for them to help me.

You know why?

Because it just happened to be our Anniversary 1 or 2 days later (We got married on leap day, so technically, we didn't have an anniversary this year).

HA! 13 lucky years of marraige and I forcefully got my ring cut off. Is that a sad statement, or what?

10. This post is boring me to tears.

11. I'm looking for a house tour for you all. What do you want - fabulous or realistic?

Muffin Top

I've got one.

And it's not the delicious kind.

Okay, Okay....

Apparently Mrs. Coastal Nest needs some reading material. So I need to spout off about something.....anything. Well, Auntie Lees? Be careful what you wish for, sister! Here it goes:

1. Christmas around here was very stressful for me. Because I waited until the last minute to do all of our shopping - that's why.
You see, we are not using credit cards at our house. Which sucks at Christmas time because I like to give people stuff, but I can't. Well, not the way I WANT to.
Anyhoo....I didn't get to go crazy with the gifts, so that was a bummer. But we made it through and Santa was kind enough to bring the Noodle a Nintendo DS with the Nintendogs game:



and the American Girl: Julie Finds A Way game:


Which she never gets to play with because she doesn't "do it right".
Only I know how to "do it right".
Yep. I've been taking stellar care of our little puppies. And Julie, the 1974 American Girl? Well, she's thriving - despite her parents' divorce. And she's really making a difference in her community, no thanks to Noodle - who went back to school and totally abandoned Julie in her time of need.
Good thing I've been around to take care of everything.

2. The New Year's Resolutions:
A. I've decided to stick with the exercising 3x a week. It's workin' for me. I like it.
B. I've also decided to ditch all the other resolutions for the time being and I made a new one: To finish up projects that I've already started. It makes sense, right? I'm starting with the Noodle's furniture and the black hutch I've mostly painted but not finished.


3. It's reallyreally hard for me to finish things. Maybe because birth-order wise, I'm the youngest and people have always picked up my slack (Thanks Mom.). Unfortunately, I've also married another last-born. And he is NOT picking up my slack. In fact? He is worse than me at finishing stuff. And this makes for a whole houseful of unfinished projects.

4. I skipped my buddy Liz's New Years Eve party in favor of falling asleep at 8pm. When I woke up at the crack of dawn, there was a finished craft project on the dining room table:



These two stayed up until midnight and rang in the new year with a sissy butterfly craft project:

Ha. Just kidding. Isn't my Zuddy the best daddy?


4. Noodle also got an Easy Bake oven for Christmas:


She ate that little cake all by herself and felt so ill afterward that she had to go and lie down. Probably because we hadn't fed her since breakfast and put her (and ourselves) down for a nap in lieu of lunch. Because we're really good parents like that.

Let's see...where was I?

5. It's been cold here. I don't know why it seems colder than other years, but it just does.
And it makes me want to stay in the house and not leave to do things like: grocery shop.
You know - for food.
To make meals for my family.
Like any Mother worth her salt would do.
I know, I know......you're probably thinking: She tests recipes for a living! How hard can it be? Well, the Noodle is picky and Zuddy doesn't like chicken.
CHICKEN! Who in the world can object to chicken??
Those two totally suck the fun out of cooking for me.

6. I want to further my edumacation. I kind of want to go to culinary school or get a master's degree. I do not have the time or money for either of these ventures. For gawd's sake, I just finished paying off my undergrad degree! Plus? See #3. It's a miracle I got my undergrad.

7. The Container Store. Holy crap. I want to get a job at this place. They just opened a store here in October. I popped over there in November and nearly peed my pants.
Okay.
Fine.
I actually did pee my pants a little bit.
I actually do this alot. You know- since I've birthed a child and all.....
**shaking head**
ANYWAY.
The Container Store.
I've been trying to figure out a way to work there. Purely for the employee discount, of course. Because I want to buy these:


The Portofino Storage box collection.
Made of genuine imitation leather.
Lined in black nylon.
Stylish storage for your paper goods.
$34.99 for the document box.
Includes a delicious packet of silica gel.

I need a bunch of these for the Noodle's school and artwork that I've saved through the years. I thought I'd start with two of them. One for Noodle's stuff, one for all of the crafty stuff I bought for the clipboards I made (but never finished. Michelle...it's coming, I swear.)

Nope.
Couldn't do it.
Couldn't pay $70 for document storage. So I left with these instead:
The Translucent Office Storage document box.
$11.99.
Much more budget-friendly.
But no delicious packet of silica gel.


Mrs. Coastal Nest? Are you sorry yet? Did you REALLY want to hear all of this? Because I can keep it comin', sister. I've got more stupid stuff going through this noggin!

Things.....

1. Man. I just finished testing the best little cookbook!
I mean it: THE. BEST.
I try not to talk too specifically about work on here - unless I think it would be terribly interesting to my friends, the Internets.
I do that so I won't - you know - get FIRED.
But this cookbook is soooo good. When it comes out in the spring/summer I'll let you know. It's all chicken.
And it's delicious and perfect.

2. It's been very cold here. It took me 1 1/2 hours to get to work on Tuesday. I was LIVID. Because the roads were perfectly clear and drivable. And my commute is normally 20 minutes.

3. Then? It took me another 1 1/2 hours to get home and I even left work early! I was kind of expecting that because it started snowing and roads weren't that great. I left at 2:30 pm.

4. I have no right to complain because my pal Colleen's hubby drives the same route as me and it took him 3 hours to get home.

4. Then Noodle had her very first strings concert Tuesday night. She was so excited. We live 10 minutes (about 5 miles) from her school and it took us 30 minutes to get there. Something we didn't know?
Was it was a BAND concert as well.
So we had to sit through that too.
The kids did great, so I don't mean to complain, but I'm sure you can feel my pain when I tell you that the band would play a simple song together. Then? EACH PERSON in the band would play the same song solo.
Then the band would play the song together again.
And there were two bands.
Each playing 3-4 selections apiece.
And I was on the road for 4 hours of my day on Tuesday.
And I wanted to slit my wrists and drain my body of all of it's blood, but....

5. I can't because I HADN'T STARTED my Christmas shopping.

6. I started it yesterday. It took forever. And I picked up my Christmas photo cards, which look awful.
And that's my own fault for never taking pictures of my kid. Hence, my New Years resolution to take more photos.

7. I will go out again today and finish the shopping.

8. I made coffee yesterday morning and didn't put the pot in the coffee maker.
There was an entire pot of coffee dripping on the floor and filling the inside of one drawer and cupboard.

9. I made bacon omlettes for dinner last night. To streamline my bacon-making process, I made it in the oven.
Where all of the grease dripped from the broiler pan and all over the bottom my oven.
And the smell of bacon has permeated the house, furniture and all of our clothing.

10. Some guy I knew in the 7th grade asked me to be his friend on Facebook.
I thought, "Awww....that's so nice! He was always such a great guy! I wonder what he's up to?!"
So I wrote him a note asking him about himself.
And he sent me a note back saying he "couldn't quite place me" but he and Zuddy were friends in high school and to tell Zuddy "hello".

Nice.

Things.....

1. Suzy from the Runs is running a marathon in Arizona in a few days. I can't stop thinking about her. And if you haven't already, you should pop by and give her some love. She wants to qualify for the Boston Marathon!!! I'm so impressed by her. She's a mom to 3 kids and a student. Plus, she's super funny. SUPER funny. And I don't even think she tries to be funny.

2. You all know I have a pretty serious problem: Facebook. And here's the problem: My new-old-best-friend Micaela would probably say my problem is that I keep sending her notes on Facebook and stalking her blog.
But that's not it.

Here's what the problem is for me. I'll go to, say...Micaela's friends list. If there's someone there who will let me look at their page? I will look at everything they have on their page. I'll look at their photos, ooh and aah over their kids. Then? I'll look at all their friends. And find someone there who will let me look at their page. Then I'll look at their photos, ooh and aah over their kids. Then? I'll look at their friends!
See? It's a hundred kinds of wrong. I know that. I mean first of all: get a freakin' life, Martha. You don't even know these people. Second? Well, there is no second. I should be painting furniture or stripping that final bit of wallpaper off my kitchen walls. Because:

3. It will be 2 years in March that I started my kitchen project. I've had 3 weeks off and frittered it away. And now I will be working for the next few months. I really need to get this done. The tile work won't be all that expensive. Mrs. Jones told me to get the cheapest tile out there and I think I will do that. Which is killing me because every once in a while I run across a photo where I see a beveled subway tile and I'm totally enamored with it. But that would be silly. In my blog-stalking travels, I've seen an interior designer whose trademark tile job is the herringbone design. Here's an image of the herringbone pattern will look like and a link to her blog:



Do you like that pattern? Do you think it will look okay in my kitchen? I'm going to go with a dark gray grout.



4. Can I tell you about my new-old-best-friend Micaela? Hi Micaela *i'm waving*! She has a blog called Striving Green. I love her blog because I'm always trying to more earth-friendly myself, though I'm not as organized as Micaela. I can't remember when I met Micaela...probably the 7th or 8th grade? We were band geeks together and she was always really funny and smart and cool. We had our 20th High School reunion over the summer - Zuddy and I didn't go, so I totally missed out on seeing her. But that darn Facebook brought us together again. Sigh. Have I mentioned Facebook before? No?
Anyway.
I heart Micaela.

5. The Noodle is really improving in school.
I brought her to work one day on my day off so I could have a colleague speak to her in Spanish and tell me if the she thought Noodle understood what she was saying.
My friend from work is named Livia and she's originally from Peru. She's fluent in English, Spanish and Inca, I think. AND she is THE most amazing cook in the world. Anyway. She took Noodle away into the back storage area to hunt for candy and had a conversation with her in Spanish. Noodle told her (in Spanish) that she only speaks Spanish at school or when she doesn't want her mom and dad to know what she's saying. Ha! Livia seemed really impressed with her Spanish and was just beaming telling us all about their conversation. Isn't that sweet? LIVIA was beaming and so proud of MY kid. So now I'M proud of my kid.
And? I've hired Noodle's BFF's Mom (Colleen) to work with her once a week on her math. Colleen is a teacher and is amazing - she is fluent in Spanish too. We've decided to go this route because Colleen will come to our house once a week to work with her for an hour. And she can teach math in Spanish, too. Which is ideal because, of course, math is taught in Spanish at Gracie's school. I feel really relieved. However, this is going to be expensive and it needs to come out my already inadequate weekly budget. Oh - Colleen tried to tell me not to pay her what Mathnasium charges, but I can't do that. She's a professional and worth every penny.

6. Boy this is getting to be a wordy post. But I've got a lot on my mind. And I'm going to puke it all out right here.

7. My brother Mike made the best turkey dinner for Thanksgiving! I don't think we even got into a fight the whole day! Amazing. Nope - I take that back. I heard him yell at his wife. Go back to last Thanksgiving to see an explanation of our totally functional family dynamics. Here is a photo of the Schmacker making apple pie on Thanksgiving morning:



I love this photo of him. When he concentrates really hard, the tongue comes out. He's done this since he was a baby.

8. Zuddy and I had a date on Tuesday. Zuddy took some vacation from work (which he never does) and we got in the car and drove to the tiny little town of Miesville to have a burger at Kings. If you are from the Twin Cities, you must go. Zuddy's been talking about it for ages. My brother Mike and sister Myrna love it. You MUST GO. They have a gazillion types of burgers there. Zuddy got one topped with corned beef. He also likes the one topped with egg and a hot dog. And the fries! Fries aren't really my thing unless they're very good.
Zuddy knows this and told me to order the seasoned waffle fries with the chive sour cream dipping sauce.
I told him, "Fries aren't really my thing."
He said, "Order the fries."
Those fries are my new thing.

Anyway, after lunch we drove around the small towns around there and looked at all of the houses. Makes me want to live in a small town. We spent hours just driving in a quiet car (no radio) and hanging out. It was great.

I told him to call me sometime and we could do it again **making the phone sign with my hand up to my ear and mouthing, 'call me'**
I think I like him, I don't know.
Next time we go out, I'm totally going to let him kiss me.
Oh gosh - I hope he calls. What if he doesn't? Oh, I'll just die. It's been two days and he hasn't called! Do you think he will? Maybe I should call him?

9. I'm going shopping and out to lunch with Kirst and MJ today. I can't wait.

10. I looked at my resolutions from last year. They were totally the same as this year. The only one I did well on was the reusable bags.

11. I start a new project at work tomorrow. That means no more obsessive blog and Facebook stalking.

Amazing Discovery...

So, I was yammering on and on in my last entry about how much I love Thanksgiving and spending time with my family, yada yada yada....and I do, I do!

But I'm afraid from Suzy's comment that I made it sound like I do this stuff all of the time. And I don't.

Because I'm busy stalking people on Facebook and in their blogs, that's why.

And that takes time, people. It just takes time.

Which is a little sad, but it's also why this is such a special couple of days for me. And it makes me realize (again) that I need to do this stuff more often.

Like maybe twice a year. And maybe spend some time like this with my own child and possibly my husband.

Because you will notice from our hiking photos that the Noodle is absent.
Because she had school on Wednesday.
Which is a bummer.

So here actual photographic evidence that I wasn't manning my email:





Here we are at the beginning of our hike. Auntie being left in the dust. Louie was scouting out a good spot to pee. Because going for a hike is exciting and despite the fact that we 'bathroomed up' right before we left?

Sometimes excitement = more pee. I can kind of relate.





I was kind of surprised to see all of these frozen little streams everywhere. We've only been on this trail once before in the summer. I didn't remember it being terribly wet, but it does have quite the grassy-swampy landscape, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but I just was!







So imagine our surprise when we saw THIS!!!






And THIS!!!! I had NO. IDEA. This was here!!!! I mean, it's not like there's a waterfall here in the summer!



Here's Louie and me.


I love this photo of Schmackie.


I handed the camera over to Schmack and he got these cool shots of the ice:








Look at my little climbers! They were WAY up there.

So that was our hike.







Later on that day, Schmack and I went to the Timberwolves game.

So.
Much.
FUN!!!

I've decided that I need more professional sporting events in my life.

Zuddy isn't the type to sit around and watch sports and I'm not a fan of watching sports on TV (with the exception of Golf -which Zuddy thinks is insane- and Tennis) at all, so we don't follow sports enough to be interested enough to attend a game in person.

Well that's all changed now.

Because I loved. It.

I loved it ALL.

I loved the guy from Canada sitting next to me (my new best friend. He surprised his two boys by bringing them to the game. A 6 hour drive!).

I loved the people watching......the cheerleaders...... the t-shirts shooting into the crowd...... the people dancing for a prize on center court. Especially the people dancing for a prize in center court. Hilarious.



And I LOVED watching this guy:
SHAQ!!

The sheer size of this guy makes me laugh hysterically. He makes the basketball court look small. And to watch him casually swipe another player out of the way? It looks like a giant flicking an ant away from his picnic lunch. It's just funny.

I spent the whole game laughing, shouting, cheering.

LOVED.
IT.

Schmack has decided I'm supremely embarrassing. This could be our last outing together.

7 things......

Well, well.......I'm back.

And my pals Sarah and Kat each tagged me to reveal more things about me.
Me.
ME.
Meeeee - me-me-mi-miiii-meeeeeeee.
Gah.
I love ME.
I ROCK.

Heh.

Really? I think you know all about me.

Too bad.

Here it goes:

1. I'm a terrible multi-tasker. Oh....I can make a bunch of recipes at the same time, but I can't work outside the home and post in my blog. That's why you don't see me posting much. I've been rushing off to work at 6:30 am, rushing back home at 3:30 pm and then it's homework with the Noodle, dinner, and bed time. Then I do it all over again the next day.

2. I love doing the laundry. And I sniff all clean items before I fold them. Notice I said the clean items. Okay. Not the undies. Or the socks. I don't care if they are clean. Sniffing either of those items would be weird. As if sniffing everything else isn't.

3. Noodle is getting quite sassy. I remember being the same age and being rather sassy myself. She's currently mastering the art of bringing up embarassing/touchy subjects during family get-togethers or in front of other grown ups.

4. It's snowing here right now.

5. I'm currently obsessed with Maroon 5 Songs About Jane.

6. I'm also currently obsessed with The Real Housewives of Orange County. I just started getting it from Netflix. I just finished season 1 and I'm hooked. And guess what? The rest of the seasons AREN'T available!!!! WHAT AM I GOING TO DO????? HUH???? NOW WHAT????

7. That's right: I have my finger on the PULSE, people. Maroon 5 Songs about Jane? From 2002. The Real Housewives of Orange County, season 1? From 2006.

That's IT! I did it! Seven things!

Now I need to tag 7 people. Here's who I'm going to tag: My sister Dawn, who doesn't have a blog. My sister Myrna, who also doesn't have a blog. I'll email them and ask them to mail me their 7 things. The Quilty Chick, Brooke. Because she's funny. She's not on my blog roll, she's in my FAVORITES. And Suzy from The Runs. Also in my FAVORITES. And I think she just did this, but I'm going to tag her for 7 more things anyway. Just because I can. Mrs. Jones, of course. And MJ. And Barb from Reflections On An Empty Nest.

So there! Go forth and tell us all 7 quirky things about yourselves!

Things.............

1. Oh friends.....it's been a week, I tell ya! A rough week.

And that's all I'm gonna say.

2. No worries - nothing serious, but I'm glad I'm here at home, catching up on blogs today.

3. My sweet little Noodle is getting sassy. It's high time school starts. BUH-bye Noodle! Summer's over, sister.

4. My dear friend Kim had a healthy, beautiful baby girl. Wanna see her?

Boy. That sure makes me want another baby! Doesn't it make you feel the same way? Too bad I'm 38 and my eggs are most likely junk.








4. Noodle has been using the camera lately, so I find a lot of shots like this one when I download my photos:



5. I worked at the Minnesota Garlic Festival with MJ. We helped with cooking demonstrations from local chefs. My niece Allison worked with us and it was hot and muggy out.
I hate hot and muggy.
And there's one thing I hate more than hot and muggy: people who want a sample of the food we were giving out but don't feel compelled to STAND IN THE FREAKING LINE LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE AND WAIT THEIR EVER LOVIN' TURN.

6. Here's something I love: When the very same people who won't wait in line for samples? When those people say something really stupid in front of a large crowd and MJ (who was the moderator during the cooking demonstrations) looks at them and gives them her "WTF blink". Let me explain: MJ listens intently to the dumb/insulting/ridiculous drivel that comes out of said person's pie-hole. She then:

• Pauses
• Quickly inhales
• Smiles
• Blinks rapidly several times in a row.

It's classic.

7. I also love my niece, Allison. She just turned 21 and she cracks me up. I've been spending some time with her lately and it's been great.

8. I just finished watching the 3rd season of Weeds on DVD. Oh, man. Does anyone out there watch this show???? That Nancy Botwin sure knows how to get herself in a pickle. Season 3 is the best so far. Rent it, people.

And don't watch it if there's a child within a 3 mile radius of your television.

And, no, I'm not a pot-head.

I've never even touched a drug in my life and I still like the show.

9. I love air conditioning. Sweet, sweet air conditioning.

10. I've been thinking about redecorating the office/playroom. If any of you out there in blogland are my friends? You will remind me about my unfinished kitchen, primed-but-not-painted-garage, 6 chairs in the basement in need of painting and/or reupholstering AND the desk, hutch and bookcase also waiting to be painted.

God help me.

SO Sorry......

Man.

I can't believe it's been so long since I've last posted! Our computer has been a little inaccessible lately....long story.

What have you all been up to? Huh? Pop into the comments and let me know, because I have some pretty serious catching up on my blog reading......and I owe everyone an email, it seems.

I've been working pretty much every Monday and Tuesday, which couldn't be more perfect, I must say.

Noodle is home for the summer and we went for a bike ride this morning. We rode our bikes to the tennis courts to sign up for summer tennis lessons and then stopped into Zuddy's workplace for a little visit since it's so close to the tennis courts.

Oh my gosh. I must stop now. This post is so FREAKING boring that I can't even bear to go on!!!!!!!! Good God. I'm even boring myself right now!!!!

I'll post something tomorrow. I swear.

AND....guess what? I'm going to have a GIVEAWAY !!!! YES! It's about time, right? I mean, my bloggiversary was way back in March, right? Sheesh!

I've just got to figure out what you all need to do to win this little prize. I will explain the prize tomorrow. I'm going to do a whole post on it. Because you are going to love it. I hope.
Because I love it.
And really.....it's all about me. Right? Heh. Just kidding. I really think you will like the prize.

Should I give you a little hint?

No?

Okay. I won't.

Tee Hee.

I'm In The Wrinkles and Pimples Camp.....

Scary, right?

Well, Cutzi mentioned in her blog that she is having issues with her skin.

I am too.

I've never had the best of complexions. I firmly believe it's because I'm a big ol' bundle of hormones. My brothers? Both of them have beautiful skin. Beautiful skin. Small pores. Smooth texture. Nice coloring.

But not me.

I've never been able to go without makeup and look okay. Someone always asks me if I'm sick. Do you ever see those photos of stars "without makeup"?

COME ON. You know most of them have a little bit of make up on. They do.

Even though I look horrible without it, I still don't wear makeup most days unless I have to be somewhere. Because I'm lazy. And because nobody is looking at the chubby housewife. Nobody cares, right?

Right. I'm getting ahead of myself because what I really want to talk about is skincare, because I have a fairly recent problem: Pimples and wrinkles.

Actually, the wrinkles don't bother me all that much. I'm 38. I'm gonna get 'em.

It's the pimples that make me crazy, so I use this:

You already know this because I've mentioned it before. It works like a charm and I love it.

But here's the problem: I can't stop using it.

I've tried. I've tried to use something from Target. Something cheaper and more accessible.

Every time I run out? My face breaks out in the weirdest way: my pores get clogged, I get pimples and I can't extract what is in there. It's like a piece of rubber is clogging my pores and I can see it stuck in the pore. I can pull at it with a tweezers, but it snaps back into my pore and won't come out.

When I say "extract"? I mean "squeeze". Because I used to have this extractor:

I got it at Sephora. I have another one - it's a different style extractor, but I don't like it as much. Why don't I have this one anymore you ask? (If you're still here, that is, because I do realize this is getting a little too in-depth. And it's going to get worse in about ......oh? RIGHT NOW.)

Because I broke it. While I was extracting. Because I'm an enthusiastic extractor. I'll extract on anyone I can get my hands on.

Just ask poor Zuddy.

Okay- back to the Proactive. I love it, but I can't quit it.

It's like Crack for the skin. Which would make Doctors Rodan and Fields, Proactive's developers?

Pushers.

Proactive Pushers.Because if you don't use it as directed twice a day and use the mask twice a week? You will pay. In the currency of bad skin.

So a couple of months ago, I ran out of Proactive.

I don't sign up for it to come to my house continuously. Because they don't include the mask in every shipment. So if I go to the Rosedale Mall Proactive Kiosk, I get the whole shebang with the mask. And the mask is good. Even if it smells like sulfur. And now I found out that they have a Proactive vending machine at the airport and at Macy's in the Mall of America! And since I'm at the Airport all of the time? I got it out of that vending machine. I love that system, people. LOVE IT.

Anyway, my skin got so bad for the month I was without the Proactive that it's having a hard time recovering.

After two weeks? I still look like this (Scroll down. It's not pretty. If you have a sensitive stomach you may want to leave now):

I put a little of the mask on a big problem area on my nose.

Yep.

This is me.

What do you use on your skin?? Does anybody else use Proactive and have the same issues when you stop using it?

What about makeup? What are you using?

I use Bare Minerals. I love it. It doesn't feel like I'm wearing make-up and has pretty good coverage for my bad skin:

Next post? Hair.

I was watching an infomercial on Wen Cleansing Conditioner. I think it will make my life better. My hair will definitely be bouncier and hopefully my teeth will be whiter and my personality better.

Have you heard of it?? Have you seen the infomercial??

And why do I keep purchasing items in this manner? I want to find more accessible products to use, but I can't give up the Proactive and the Bare Minerals. They're too good.

Sheesh. Let's hear your story.....either in the comment section of my blog, or do a post on yours and let me know you've posted about it.

Please. From one chick to another.