call it a whim

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Hello Kitty!

Grady strated crawling about 10 days ago. He has been picking up speed, and has figured out that he can do it any time he wants to. At first it was nice, because we got to see the cute "crawling baby" that we had been waiting for, but he still mostly stayed put unless bribed with the cell phone or a set of keys. Now, I can put him in the living room with toys, turn around to put a bottle in the dishwasher and he will be all the way in the front hallway trying to crawl through the cat door to the garage. Needless to say, my job has gotten harder because I have to watch him like a hawk. I still get just giddy though, every time he crawls. Much less excited about the new movement development is our cat, Chauncey. He has become the sole focus of most of Grady's adventures. No sooner does the cat saunter(yes, he really saunters) into the living room and Grady zooms in like a periscope and sets off for full on ambush. Chauncey is generally good natured about the whole thing, but the cat has always been a scratcher. You can't get within and inch of his tummy or you can rest assured you will be looking for a band-aid. Luckily, I have only found one small scratch on Grady so far, and I did not see the attack, so I can't be 100% sure it came Chauncey. I am sure Grady will eventually lose interest, and Chauncey will begin to learn to just stay far away unless he wants a large clump of hair removed. Here's a video of the action.


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Goodbye Katie!

Have fun on CBS. Wouldn't it be great if Katie Couric actually read my blog? The TODAY show has been fabulous today. I'll be back later with another blog. I heart Tony Bennett.

Thursday, May 25, 2006

Remind me of this

I am pretty sure I have hair amnesia. About every two years or so, I think to myself "hmmm, bangs would look cute." That is true, with "would" being the operative word. They would look cute, if I had time to do them. They would look cute, if I knew how to make them do that sideswept, windblown thing. They would look cute if my hair was not totally uncooperative 95% of the time. So I wind up getting them done, walking out of the salon thinking, "I was right" and then waking up the net day to remember why the last time I had bangs, I swore I wouldn't do it again. I got mine cut about 3 months ago, many days, they are sticking up in areas. The days they are not sticking up, they look like the bangs Prince was sporting in the final guest performance of American Idol last night. I am going to tell my hairstylist to write down on my record that I am not allowed to have bangs, even if I ask for them. But for now, I am stuck with ones that are not long and not short and will be pinned back for the next 12-15 weeks until they grow out and look like long layers. Sigh.

Thursday, May 18, 2006

Hey! My Sister in Law is going to participate in the Breast Cancer three day this fall. Here is her sponsorship letter and a link to her personal page if any of you would like to make a donation to this very worthy cause.


Dear friends and family,
For the past several months, I have been working with a personal trainer (it’s hard to be a celebrity) to achieve a more balanced and healthy lifestyle. Well, all of those endorphins must be rushing straight to my head, because I have decided to undertake a 60 mile walk. Yes, SIXTY.
It will take me, and many other participants, three days to complete this trek. Along the way we will be chatting it up, camping out, and walking for a wonderful cause. All of our hard work will directly benefit the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and the National Philanthropic Trust Breast Cancer Fund.
You may be wondering two things. One, how does my enduring sixty miles and three days on my feet benefit breast cancer? Well, as a participant, I am required to raise $2,200 in donations to go toward the aforementioned foundations. They are committed to helping stop Breast Cancer before it starts and healing the 200,000 Americans who are diagnosed every year.
Two, you may be wondering how you can help. Thankfully, I have the answer, so you needn’t wonder for long. No, I am not going to ask you to walk with me, but if you would consider supporting me both emotionally (the endorphins are bound to give out sometime) and financially, I would be sincerely grateful. Any amount can be specified on the donation form below. It would be fantastic if each person would consider giving $1.00 per mile. That would set me well on my way toward my goal, and each step I take will bring us closer to the end of this disease.
Thank you in advance for any amount you can give. I know this will be a wonderful experience, and I appreciate your willingness to join in the journey with me.
Sincerely,
Katie Vickers

https://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=131545&supid=121649466

Monday, May 15, 2006

Compassionate professions (the newest ABC soap opera?)

I have recently decided that I really want to go back to school and finish my degree. This was always something I planned on when I left CNC several years ago. I needed to get away from it for a while and refocus. If you can call getting married and having a child refocusing, then that is what I have done. I don't NEED to work right now, but I want to start preparing for that day when my last child goes to kindergarten and I am faced with that "now what do I do???" moment. I find myself faced with a dilemma. Do I go back and finish my degree in education, or do I find something else to do. I have always thought nursing would be another good fit for me, and I am heavily considering it. There are pros and cons to both, and since you are such a faithful group of 6 readers, I will share them with you. Grab a snack.

Education: I know I would rock as a teacher. The summers off would be prefect with kids. Florida is totally desprate for teachers. I have already done some of the coursework, but I don't really know how much of it will transfer. I will be in school for a long time and from what I can tell there aren't a ton of night classes offered in this area for education. What do I do with Grady for all those daytime classes? The pay ROCKS (right). The schools in this area are pretty ummm, well, not great, and I am afraid I would be very frustrated.

Nursing: I am sure I would be a kind and compassionate nurse too. I would want to work in pediatrics, and I know people will try to convince me not to do that. I could work up to it sowly, by starting at the community college level, and moving up. That would allow me to work while I go to school. No summers off and the shifts can be bad or good depending where you work. I know there are places I could work part time, 2-3 12 hour shifts and still be at home a lot. Hospitals usually have daycare for employees. I know there is a high level of burnout among nurses.

There are tons of other things going through my brain, but they're all jumbled and would end up looking like this

hsgaf akdfhue kasdhfupa kdf;fguad sajdhsagdf jshaf!!!

So I will spare you. Just working it out on cyberpaper!

Thursday, May 11, 2006

akward. A-K-W-A-R-D...akward.

Last night we ran to Walmart for a few things. It was packed as usual and we resigned ourselves to a lengthy wait in line. When we got there, I remembered we forgot batteries for our camera...a must have, so Chris went back to get some while I saved our place. In front of me was an approximately 12year old boy. He was playing with two of those big, multi-colored, inflated balls made out of plastic or rubber, I am not sure. Anyway, Grady thought it was so cool when the kid bounced then up and down, and was laughing in delight. The tweenager turned to look at him and said "That's a cute baby." I smiled and replied "thanks, he likes your balls." He blushed, I blushed, we stopped talking.

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

Top ten things you may (not) want to know today

10. I am currently watching Friends season 10 on DVD (the last season, sob). I miss hanging out with Joey, Ross, Rachel, Monica, Chandler and Phoebe on Thursday nights. Although this season does beg the question, whatever happened to baby Emma? She's in it for a total of about 3 minutes. As a mother of a nine month old, I am pretty sure it's hard to get rid of a baby for that long.
9. Grady had a checkup yesterday, when I went out to start the car it was dead. Sigh, now the appointment's next week.
8. We went to SC for my brother's graduation last week. We had a good time walking around downtown Charleston and Grady was such a good baby the whole weekend.
7. I am sorely dissappointed in last night's episode of "House." I had kind of been getting into it, and then they did last night's episode so distastefully it literally made me sick. If you didn't see it, be glad.

6. I went to the mall today for a kids event with Grady. There was a woman dressed as a fairy singing songs that made Grady look like he might cry. I think her name was "Bumbelina," but we're calling her "Scary Fairy". "Weaving Spiders come not hence..." (ok, only Meredith will get that last part, but it made me giggle.
5. While at the mall I popped into Old Navy and found a mecca of baby boy clearance items from $1-5. I got Grady 5 shirts for nxt winter for $15 total. I love that place!
4. There is an older man in our neighborhood who I *hope* is training for a marathon of some kind. He walks around most days in short shorts with a 2x4 touching his knees to his forehead. Very strange.
3. I intensly dislike Shakira, but that "Hips Don't Lie" song seems to get stuck in my head at least once a day.
2. While driving home from a Dr. appointment today, Grady fell asleep in the car. At one point I looked back and he did something I thought he didn't do anymore. He smiled REALLY big in his sleep and then smacked his lips. It totally melted my heart and reminded me of his newborn days.
1. I used to be a fan of the Starbucks Caramel Macchiato. It is really to coffee-ish for my taste, though, so I switched to the Vanilla Creme. That is just steamed milk with some Vanilla. Sometimes you gotta have caffeine, so I tries my husband's favorite, the white mocha. I am addicted.