Max's new-found talent

At least they're washable crayons. Best invention EVER.

First Day of Nursery...

Didn't go so well.






We'll try again tomorrow.

What's my color?

you are lightcyan #E0FFFF

Your dominant hues are green and blue. You're smart and you know it, and want to use your power to help people and relate to others. Even though you tend to battle with yourself, you solve other people's conflicts well. Your saturation level is very low - you have better things to do than jump headfirst into every little project. You make sure your actions are going to really accomplish something before you start because you hate wasting energy making everyone else think you're working. Your outlook on life is very bright. You are sunny and optimistic about life and others find it very encouraging, but remember to tone it down if you sense irritation.

the spacefem.com html color quiz

E*TRADE Banking Baby

I just love this.

Come Deve Andare

This one of my favorite songs ever. It is SO beautiful. Even though my Italian isn't good enough to understand all of it, I just love the way Max Pezzali forms the words. One of things I have struggled with in learning Italian was rolling my r's. I never could until I started listening to Italian music: by mimicking the way they formed their words in music I finally could! Anyway, I bet you can't argue the fact that Italian is one of the most beautiful languages on the earth. It is musical even when it is spoken (just so you know, the spoken stuff at the beginning wasn't Italian, it was Russian).

How did that happen?

21

The only reason I can figure I can handle that many is the fact that I'm roughly the same size.  I can fight on my level.

AWESOME!

I'm not really an American Idol fan, the show kinda bores me, but David Cook's performance tonight was AWESOME! Almost made watching the show worth it.... if every performance was like that, then I'd make sure to watch every time.

Congratulations to Rob!

Last night Rob was inducted into Dobro Slovo (pronounced Dobr-A Slov-A), the Slavic Honor Society.  He is so proud to be a part of it, especially since he probably won't get to finish his degree in Russian studies (he'll be getting a degree in Computer Information Systems).  The certificate is now in a frame, proudly displayed on the wall- I think it'll be more prominant than his degree.  The picture is the top of the certificate- isn't the font for Dobro Slovo gorgeous?  It may only look like scribble to most people, but if you know the Cyrillic alphabet you'll be able to recognize the beauty.  Anyway, Congratulations Rob!  We're proud of you!

It never seems to end.

I officially hate school.  All the motivation I found over break- I managed to clean the ENTIRE house, with the exception of a little mess in the studio and some laundry to fold- is gone.  I couldn't even force myeslf out of bed this morning- I think I got up an hour after I meant to.  It's going to be a rough 4 months.  But what can I say, this is my fifth year doing this.  I think everyone gets tired of this by that point.  

Anyway, I found a picture of Max on St. Patrick's day last year.  The pictures on my mom's computer are all I have left.  A tear is trickling out of my eye.

His hat was hand-knitted in Ireland, the land of my ancestors.  And my sister made the cute little booties he's wearing.  I miss the little baby...

Just looking at this picture, which was taken last week I think, proves Max is no longer a baby.  I realized yesterday, when I was thinking about how excited I am Max'll be in nursery next Sunday, that as soon as he goes, there's no turning back- he's on a one-way track to Primary.  Where did the time go?  

Um....

So I discovered a source of motivation yesterday- sunshine! Rob like our bedroom to be a "cave" so we usually have the curtains shut, but the other day I needed to trim Max's fingernails and that required a bit more light. So I opened the curtains and forgot to close them again. Well, when I woke up the next morning there was sunshine to greet me!! Instead of rolling over and going back to sleep until noon like I usually do after Rob leaves for work and I get to stay home, I got up. And cleaned the WHOLE kitchen. Usually I just do the dishes, but this time I did the dishes, put ALL the dishes away once they were clean- usually I just leave them in the dishwasher until the dishwasher is empty, and then I know it's time to do dishes again. And I cleaned up all the clutter that gets dumped on any spare flat surface, and mopped, and cleaned out the fridge. It was a good day. And it meant that I could make dinner tonight! Rob was so happy!

And so everyone knows, I made a list too- that's how I knew to clean the kitchen.

And Max has learned a new trick- how to take off his diaper. Luckily, nothing has happened yet- we've been able to catch it before he lets go. That boy just LOVES to be naked. After his baths, he has to have a run-around-the-house-naked session before getting dressed. Max is also not sleeping all the way through the night anymore. Grrrrr. Is this normal for his age? Around 4 am he wakes up screaming and the only way to get him back to sleep is to bring him to our bed, where he lays sideways and either kicks us or headbutts us the rest of the night. Not fun. And just ask Rob- I am a grumpy sleeper. Mess with my sleeping and I'm not nice.

And something COMPLETELY random- Max was born early, but before he was born, I had made a list of "labor activities" like my lamaze reachertold me too. Labor activities are stuff to do while you're laboring at home before you go to the hospital to keep your mind off the pain (supposedly). One of the things on my list was to do a photo shoot in a ll my maternity clothes and stuff so I'd remember this time in my life. But I particularly wanted one shot: me barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen. Before Rob and I got married, me and him and his roommate Nayte would joke that a woman's place is in the kitchen, barefoot and pregnant. Well, I never got the picture and I'm very sad about it. Now I have to get pregnant again just so I can get that shot. (That'll be a couple more years)

And the last thing I'm going to bore you with is my current addiction. Sim City. I don't know what it is about that game, but it has me hooked. I don't like being addicted to stuff so I've been trying to wean myself from it. And it's only been 5 days. Pathetic. I thought I had stronger moral fiber than that.

I lied. One more thing- check out Stuff White People Like. It's the first link on my link list down on the right. HILARIOUS. But it's only so funny because it's true. Two excerpts that are especially true for me:
#82 Hating Corporations
When engaging in a conversation about corporate evils it is important to NEVER, EVER mention Apple Computers, Target or Ikea in the same breath as the companies mentioned earlier. White people prefer to hate corporations that don’t make stuff that they like.
#79 Modern Furniture
Referring to a white person’s expensive chair as a ‘chair’ is considered poor form and will likely result in a loss of trust and/or respect.

The best strategy for avoiding this faux pas is to look for the most uncomfortable chair in a white person’s home and ask “who designed that?” If they say “Ikea” or “Design within Reach” you can call it a chair, otherwise refer to it only by the name they give you.

Like me and my sister say, "we are pure-bred white girls."

Indian Beatles

I love to watch Bollywood videos for the simple fact they are entertaining. This one is no exception.

Spring Break Blues

I am probably the most unmotivated person in the world.  I don't know what's wrong with me.  Here it is, spring break, the most highly anticipated week of the semester, and I have done nothing.  It's not because I don't have anything to do- I have a list about a mile long of things I need to do- for some reason whenever I go to do anything I change my mind before I even start and go bump around again.  Pathetic.  I wish I could blame it all on senioritis, but I'm not sure I can.  I guess I'll find out once I graduate.  But in the meantime, something has to be done.  What is the secret to motivation?  All those wonder women out there, let me in on the secret!  I wonder if it has something to do with chocolate... I am personally not a fan, but maybe I should become one like every other woman in the world.

And on a side note, Max LOVES Fraggle Rock.  At Target they had a couple Fraggle Rock videos for $5 and as I have had my fill of the 8 kid movies we already own, we got them.  And they are THE BEST!  Max dances along with them, and even rushed the tv when it was over.  Who knew?  I think I'm going to invest in some other "old" tv shows- the ones on tv nowadays don't hold his attention.  Plus, we don't have any channels so he can't watch them at home anyway.  

So, does anyone have suggestions for getting motivated?  Exercises, food, rituals?  Something?  I need help if I'm going to survive the next few months until graduation.

I'm so Spoiled aka Fun at the Apple Store

My new toy.

My new best friend.

Yesterday we made a highly-anticipated, much deserved purchase: a new imac. It is a thing of beauty. We have wanted one since they came out around the time we got married, but as the price tag is a little high, we had to wait and save up. So, in light of my business opening soon, we set a date and went to Durham to get it! We ended up staying there about 4 hours- Rob wanted to see if they could fix a piece of his laptop (purely aesthetic) but apparently you have to make appointments for that so he was on standby and had to wait. They were so busy it never happened, but it was ok- I think besides IKEA, there isn't anywhere else I'd rather have to wait. Granted, Max was ready to go by the time we did, but he did have fun playing on the demo computers for kids. My favorite purchase however, is our time capsule. The newest operating system, Leopard, has a cool feature called time machine that automatically backs up your computer. Ours is 500GB, but they have a 1 TB model too. So, in addition to those 500 GB (my laptop that I have been dealing with for 4 years has a 30GB hard drive. You can understand my excitement at 500GB) I also have another portable hard drive that is 500 GB. So I now have 1 TB of memory plus the 320GB hard drive on the computer itself, I'm good. And it's a good feeling.

What?

Today when Rob gave me a kiss on the way to school, he said "Kissing you reminds me of IKEA."  How random is that?  I'm not sure if that's a compliment or not, but since I love IKEA so much I'll take it as one.

The Fair Tax!

For those who don't know, I am a MAJOR supporter of the Fair Tax. Not only will it be a much easier, better way to tax, but it will help to solve our economic issues. Here is some info straight from the Fair Tax website:

What is the FairTax plan?

The FairTax plan is a comprehensive proposal that replaces all federal income and payroll based taxes with an integrated approach including a progressive national retail sales tax, a prebate to ensure no American pays federal taxes on spending up to the poverty level, dollar-for-dollar federal revenue neutrality, and, through companion legislation, the repeal of the 16th Amendment.

The FairTax Act (HR 25, S 1025) is nonpartisan legislation. It abolishes all federal personal and corporate income taxes, gift, estate, capital gains, alternative minimum, Social Security, Medicare, and self-employment taxes and replaces them with one simple, visible, federal retail sales tax administered primarily by existing state sales tax authorities.

The FairTax taxes us only on what we choose to spend on new goods or services, not on what we earn. The FairTax is a fair, efficient, transparent, and intelligent solution to the frustration and inequity of our current tax system.

The FairTax:

• Enables workers to keep their entire paychecks
• Enables retirees to keep their entire pensions
• Refunds in advance the tax on purchases of basic necessities
• Allows American products to compete fairly
• Brings transparency and accountability to tax policy
• Ensures Social Security and Medicare funding
• Closes all loopholes and brings fairness to taxation
• Abolishes the IRS

The site is www.fairtax.org

If you take the time to actually sit and read about it, you will understand that it is not just a political tool, it really does make sense. Please please please read more about it before dismissing it. It could change the future for the better!

And the Fair Tax is going before Congress April 15th:
Show your support and sign!
http://www.fairtax.org/site/PageServer?pagename=changedc

What's your love style?

Your Love Style is Agape

You are a caring, kind, and selfless partner. Unsurprisingly, your love style is the most rare. You are willing to sacrifice your world for your sweetie. Except it doesn't really feel like sacrifice to you. For you, nothing feels better than giving to the one you love.

What's Your Love Style?

just some randomness

Max is my own personal mess maker...

The other morning after I got Max dressed I laid him on the couch, and he just laid there instead of getting up like he usually does.
Max LOVES stickers- he's even gotten to the point that he sticks them on himself.
And my friend Nicolle did this on her blog, so I thought I'd do it too...

Here is a picture of my bag, and all of it's contents. Even as a kid I was a pack rat, so don't be surprised by the amount of stuff I carry around.
This is my Frank Lloyd Wright bag that I got in Oak Park. It's just a tote bag, so to help keep myself organized, I have little pouches to hold everything.
So there are all the pouches- I have a grand total of 6, plus my wallet, coin purse, keys, phone, notebook, whatever book I'm currently reading, planner, and baggie of toys for Max.
Now, for what's inside the pouches: tissues, fruit snacks, calculator, wrist brace, ipod shuffle, tic tacs, friendship bracelet I'm working on, bandaids, moleskin, hair bands, hand sanitizer, lotion, chapstick, watch, mascara, rubber bands, post-it tags, flash drives, pencils, pens, sharpies, eraser, scissors, box cutter, pocket knife, flashlight. I think that's it. Granted, I had just cleaned out my bag a few days before- in another week or so there'll be a bunch of other random things in there.

And another random piece of information- I got my cap and gown last week! It's weird how that is what finally makes it real. Thursday I was walking to class- I had to do park and ride, so that meant I had to walk across campus instead of just getting dropped off at the building my class is in. The route from the bus stop to the Science building goes by the three buildings that housed the Interior Architecture department before our new Studio Arts building was built. As I walked, I remembered what they looked like my first semester at UNCG- the fall of 2003. And for the first time, I started to reminisce about my time there. All I've been feeling is I WANT TO LEAVE but now I can see it from the other side. It's kind of sad. And I think I will miss it. Once I'm gone, which CAN"T COME SOON ENOUGH!!!!!