"Tangled" Envy

Are you familiar with Rapunzel, from Disney's Tangled? Because, I confess, I've got Tangled envy, and it's not for the reason that you think.

image via

It's not for her amazing hair, even though it does look great both long/blonde AND pixie-short/brown. Oh, and the whole magical powers thing. But that's not it.

It's not for her skills with a frying pan.

It's not for her super cool chameleon buddy.

It's not even for the fact that she has an adorable love story that makes me get a little choked up. Every time. (My husband has a pretty good smolder of his own, sorry Flynn.)

Nope, my Tangled jealousy is purely based upon all of the time she has to devote to her hobbies! Just listen to her telling of it:


I can't be the only one who thinks, "Gee, it can't be all that bad in that tower... away from all the people... with all that time to devote to awesome talents..." I mean, c'mon -- ventriloquy, chess, and paper-mache, all in the same day, and all after all the housework is done. Yeah, there's a lot of wondering and brushing... but also guitar! pottery! painting!

I think rather than asking when will my life begin, I'd be shouting from the rooftops that this is the life!

Sign me up for my time in the tower! Just think of all the sewing I could get done! and how much better I could become at quilling! and oh, all the HTML and CSS and other coding goodness I could learn with a few uninterrupted hours...

Now, before you judge me too much, I know, hobbies are not all there is to life. And I know that I'd miss my husband and kids (eventually...) if I had a chance at the tower.

Because while varied hobbies and creative endeavors are definitely the spice of my life, they aren't actually LIFE.

So, that's where I've been this week. Smack dab in the middle of this wonderful and crazy life. Which reads a little bit more like this:

and looks like this:

But, at the end of the day (every day), this is my life, and it is glorious and I am so grateful for it. Grateful that I can to share a bit of it with you, my bloggy friends. And grateful that I have a chance to do it all again tomorrow, and hopefully better than I did today. And maybe with a little more paper-mache. ;)

If you had your chance at time in a tower, what hobby would you take up or improve? 
I'm pretty sure I'd love to figure out Google+....

-Lorene

Friday Confessional: A bag o' random

I'm weird and always try to theme my confessions... but today that's just not really happening. So welcome to the bag o' random confessional! :)

I confess that I went to the dentist this week.

I confess that I love going to the dentist. I love having clean clean teeth. And it doesn't hurt that my dentist always compliments my teeth, too. I like thinking that something in my life is perfect. :)

I confess that I always feel like the dental hygienist (the one who cleans my teeth) knows more about me than she actually (probably) does. I mean, if she can tell that I don't floss as often as I should and that I had corn on the cob for lunch, what else could she know about my deep dark secrets?!?

I confess that we are probably putting in an offer on an *adorable* house today, or at least soon.

I confess that I never thought the day would come when my husband, who some call the cheapest man alive, who is a huge save-save-saver, would voluntarily be wanting to put an offer on a house. The house is that awesome. And that cheap. :)

I confess that I hope to be coming home from the hospital with my baby any day now! No, I haven't actually had her yet. I'm just WAY more excited to bring her home than I am for the L&D part of it. :)

I confess that I still have a huge list of before-baby projects.

I confess that I've stopped caring about the aforementioned list. What happens will happen and if it means she'll come TODAY, I'll give up on the whole list. At least for a few weeks. :)

I confess that I'm not sure how this whole baby thing will affect this here blog. I don't plan on calling it quits, but I don't plan on still blogging as frequently (or infrequently :) as I have been. I have some Housewife MacGyver guests lined up and we'll see where this goes from there. Thanks for being along for the ride! 

Friday Confessional & Forum: Pregnancy edition

I confess that my husband and I spent nearly an hour this morning watching Veggie Tales videos on YouTube. Oh, and our toddler watched with us. All because I woke up with this song stuck in my head, thanks to the monkey books my son loves and weird pregnancy dreams:


I confess that rather than having reached that "done" point of pregnancy, I'm kind of freaking out the other way. I have a HUGE project list that I want to finish before this little one comes and it's starting to stress me out that it won't happen. Just not enough for me to really kick it into gear and get working on the list. :)

I confess that I always (you know, the twice that I've been through it) have a hard time dealing with the transition that is labor and delivery: the transition from being pregnant to actually living with the baby that I've been planning for so long. I'm happy at point A (being pregnant) and I'm excited for point C (having a new baby... and a toddler) but the point B part (labor and delivery) is hard for me to wrap my want-to-plan head around... so many variables!

I confess that I am a big wimp. I had an epidural with my son, and I'm considering doing this delivery drug-free, but I'm afraid that I'm too much of a wimp. (Not that an epidural in any way makes you a wimp. I just am a wimp who also had and loved my epidural :)

I confess that the thing that makes me feel wimpy is just two little words: back labor. I had no problem with the regular contractions with my son, but I had HARD contractions through my back that just made me want to stab someone in the eye. Repeatedly. So, back to the wimp thing: I'm afraid I'm too wimpy to work through those contractions in my back to do the drug-free delivery. But I'm not really committed either way yet.

I confess that I want to hear your birth stories! (This is the forum part :)

Now, I don't need ALL the nitty gritty details (because I'm trying to reduce some anxiety here instead of add to it...) The cliff notes version will suffice. Induced? Natural? Epidural? Best thing? Worst thing? 

I have 5-ish weeks to either toughen up and decide I'm going drug free or just embrace the fact that I like to avoid pain (and also that thanks to the epidural, I slept through most of my last labor...) So lend me your two cents, especially any insight you have about second and beyond labor and delivery (are they really shorter?), back labor, pain management, etc...please?

Friday Confessional: Me and my media

I confess that I am embarrassingly enthralled with the show Drop Dead Diva. It's my guilty pleasure that I watch when my husband isn't around or is otherwise occupied. I heart Netflix. Although there may be trouble when we (together) finish the episodes of Psych because my husband is already dying to know how much longer he has to wait for Shawn and Juliet to get together. :)

I confess that if we ever have a dog, and if that dog is a girl, her name will be Lola. And the doghouse will be the Copa Cabana. And everytime I call her name, I will sing the song. And think of that unforgettable road trip with my sister...

I confess that even though we will probably never actually have a dog, even though I have her name all picked out and everything, but if we DO decide to get a dog, we'll be certain to do the Bob Barker responsible thing and have her spayed. Or is it neutered? I can't ever keep those straight. We will have our dog fixed.

I confess that the terrible run-on weird sentence in that last confession is driving me a little bit nuts. Just not enough to go back and fix it.

I confess that when someone asks me what my favorite song or band ("artist") is... I usually say Ace of Base.

I confess that one of my first very strong memories is of stealing my brother's Ace of Base *cassette tape* (and walkman) and hiding it in my sock drawer so I could listen to their sweet sweet rhythms anytime I wanted. The guilt was worth it. :)

I confess that, yup, I am particular/weird/obsessive enough to feel like my confessions need a theme each week....

Friday Confessional: The paranoid and lazy edition

para·noid  \ˈper-ə-ˌnȯid, ˌpa-rə-\ adj.  
extremely fearful

la·zy \ˈlā-zē\ adj  
disinclined to activity or exertion : not energetic or vigorous
see also: idle, slothful, apathetic

I confess that I either shred or keep all mail that has personal information on it -- name, bank info, etc. That's not so weird, but it is weird that I can't bring myself to put EMAILS with similar information in the (virtual) trash, either? Because I'm paranoid somehow someone might go through that (virtual) trash and find it?

I confess that I am extremely fearful of opening our Harry Potter closet (the cupboard under the stairs) because of the spiders. Instead of opening it myself, I will wait until my husband gets home or has free time and then make him open it and get whatever I need.

I confess that my husband put down those sticky tape card thingies to catch the spiders in the aforementioned Harry Potter closet and that makes my heebie-jeebies even worse. The spiders stuck to the card may be dead, but now I *know* that they were there. And where they were, more surely are.

I confess that we got back from vacation last Thursday. And I, in all my lazy talentedness, managed to put off doing the dishes OR the laundry until yesterday. One full week of doing NO housework.

I confess that it wasn't actually me who did the dishes yesterday -- it was my energetic husband. I did do the laundry... mostly so that our son would have clean pajamas.

I confess that I was REALLY surprised at my last doctor's appointment when I had only gained 5 lbs. I thought that my slothlike tendencies of late plus all of the Texas bbq and Mexican food (and all the junk) we ate while visiting Debra would translate into much more than that... Happy dance!

I also confess that, as happy as I am that I haven't gained monstrous amounts of weight with this pregnancy like I did with my last, I am slightly paranoid about the fact that I don't really look and/or feel as pregnant as I did last time. It nice to still be comfortable, and the baby is measuring up exactly right, but still... a little paranoid.

I confess that my toddler picked up a lot of new words while we were in Texas. I confess that we've only deciphered about 4 of them. And why do kids always seem to add a K sound in the middle of a word that starts with an F? Frog, fork, and fountain are all new words and all sound bad coming from my sweet toddler's lips. So now I am also paranoid about him speaking when strangers are present :)

Friday Confessional

I've given in... I'm confessing... :) You can too!

I confess that my 20-month-old moved to a big (twin) bed this week. No muss, no fuss. As punishment from the parenting gods, he's now waking up at 6 AM most mornings and having screaming fits intermittently throughout the day. Today's first episode was (apparently) triggered by me blow-drying my hair. I now understand why some animals in the wild eat their young. 

I confess that this week has been one where we open the cupboard and say, "We're out of [bowls/spoons/plates/cups]... must be time to do the dishes." But I've been ticking things off my travel-crafting checklist!

I confess that I am struggling hard core with being pregnant right now, more than I ever have. Not for any of the normal reasons like stretch marks or maternity clothes, but because I want to run a 5K this weekend. I know it's safe for pregnant women to exercise and run and all, but it hasn't worked out so well for me. Like fainting spells and sick for 2 days not-so-well. (Something about taking the first 4-5 months of pregnancy off exercise-wise?) But I am in agony thinking of walking while everyone else is running.

I confess that my son's newest word is bodyslam and I love when he'll yell it in a gravelly voice before jumping on Daddy. And then he'll come stroke my belly and say baby. Melt much?

I confess that I drove all over town yesterday looking for croissants because I wanted chicken salad sandwiches. And I nearly had a moment when my husband suggested I just use bread or a hot dog bun. And then he very kindly drove to the neighboring town and bought the biggest, most delicious croissants EVER.

I confess that Netflix and streaming Sesame Street makes blogging and cooking dinner in peace so much easier. Now I just have to deal with my son's first waking word: "Elmo?"

I must confess... I'm starting Christmas (!)

It's not a secret: I'm not a seasonal decorator. Not in the least.

Last year, our little Christmas tree didn't even make it out of the box. On the years that it does have a reprieve from its cardboard confines, it usually stays up until Easter. I do redecorate it in that time: as an anniversary tree in January, a Valentine's tree in February, a St. Patty's tree in March, and then an Easter tree in April.

BUT this year, my child will actually maybe care about Christmas. At least enough to pull the lights off the tree. So, I am determined to have at least a touch of festive decor around so that you can actually tell in the photos that it's Christmas morning instead of... any other morning.

I know it's not even October yet and I still have Halloween and Thanksgiving before Christmas. But if I start now, there's a chance that the Christmas decor will make it out of the shed this year (Halloween and Thanksgiving don't even stand a chance at this point).

Craftbits is helping in this endeavor. They have a great section of fast and easy (and kid-friendly) Christmas gifts and decorations. This winter clothing garland will be perfect for my stair rail:

Or maybe this bon-bon garland would be better... I just can't decide!

A string of these little Christmas light plushies will be perfect for The Mr's classroom!

 And I'm saving my juice lids to make these snowmen for gift toppers:

In addition to these and other decoration ideas, Christmas Crafts at CraftBits has card ideas, tree ornaments, wreaths, and more. The instructions are easy to follow and the crafts are simple and cute. I think the only thing that could improve the site is more pictures of the finished and in-progress projects -- pictures are always better!

So, there, I've said it... I'm already gearing up for the Christmas holiday season. I may have even beat Walmart to the punch... or maybe not. ;) When do you start thinking about Christmas decorating? playing holiday music? or, if you're like my husband, practicing your Bah Humbug? ;)

I must confess... I've changed

Yes, it's true: I've changed.

Recently, I've changed a lot.

I've changed my blog header, twice.

I've tweaked my blog navigation bar, also twice.

I've added a favicon (that little four-square icon next to just Lu in your browser tab and address bar).

I've removed my blog background (after much debating). 

I've added a fun little post divider (scroll down to see it).

{ See all this stuff you're missing if you're only reading in a blog reader? You should really click over sometime ;) }

And, oh yeah... I went from

this ... to ... this

I love the new versatility! It fits all of my crazy moods:

Plus, I've gotten pretty good at the self-portrait thing :)

And I love all of these changes. Some changes take some getting used to...  I mean, I really liked that blog background and, oh yeah, that 6 inches of hair I chopped off. ;) But, for the sake of simplicity, both needed to go.

So... that's what's been changing around here. Any exciting changes in your neck of the woods?

A multi-part Macgyver confession

Get me a shoelace. I'll disarm that bomb.

Elizabeth over at twelve crafts till Christmas has been confessing for weeks. This week it's about her bedleaving (not bedmaking) and its childhood roots. So, I thought I'd join in because Elizabeth is kind of my idol. :)

Remember Richard Dean Anderson?

MACGYVER!

{confession #1} I had never actually watched a single episode of Macgyver. Nor seen a still image. Nada. I knew who Macgyver was because, well, I haven't lived under a rock for the last 20 years (contrary to popular belief). But I'd never actually seen him.

We borrowed the first couple of seasons from my brother-in-law. It's become an extended-family favorite. To the point that my husband was humming the theme song and my 4 year old niece turned to him, her bright blue eyes wide, and said, "Hey! That sounds like Macgyver!" What quality entertainment we are giving the young America. :)

{confession #2} I may or may not have a teeny crush on Richard Dean Anderson. The mullet wasn't his best look, true. But I used to watch Stargate SG-1 (nerd? why yes, I'd say so...) and think that Colonel Jack O'Neill was one good-looking guy (like another fave of mine, a Mr. Leroy Jethro Gibbs. NCIS anyone?). And {confession #3} I just put two and two together tonight that Macgyver and O'Neill are one and the same dreamboat.

Was I the only one missing it? I know I'm not the only one with a crush, teeny or not. ;)


Photos courtesy of rdanderson.com