24 on the 24th

Randy and I celebrated our 24th wedding anniversary on Sunday.  A friend offered to keep Meg so we had a very nice afternoon to ourselves.  We'd planned to go to a Jupiter restaurant that we both love but discovered (fortunately beforehand) that they are closed on Sundays.  We opted for our favorite local spot, Tin Fish.  It was really, really quiet in there so we're both crossing our fingers that they aren't struggling to stay open.

Randy hates to be photographed but he knew this was important to me and didn't raise a fuss when I asked Meg to snap a few pictures.   I told him it was part of his anniversary gift to me.

1989 to 2013...it's not always been easy but we continue to remember what's important.  

Inside Humor

Apologies to my friends who won't get this inside family joke.  Hopefully you will enjoy the cute photo.


So Dad.....Can Anybody Do This?

Shopping With Tweens

My eleven year old loves to shop but hates to try on clothing.  When I say "hates", I mean that in the strongest sense.  It's a constant battle between us. For this reason I tend to do a lot of shopping for her either online at sites which have local stores to facilitate returns (much better size selection online) or I go out by myself during school time to stores such as Ross, Marshall's, TJ Maxx, etc.  I've found it's just so much easier to have her try things on at home and return what she doesn't like or doesn't fit.  (In most Momworlds this would be the harder of the two options but trust me when I say, it makes my life easier.)

Because her middle school has recently cracked down on the "no rips/no tears/no almost tears/no wannabe tears" dress code she has very little in the way of denim that works.  (Mind you, she has tons of colored bottoms that fit the dress code but my "I hate denim" elementary school child has matured into a "I'll only wear denim" middle schooler.  grrrr....)  In the past month I've made several shopping trips and online orders which resulted in dozens of very nice jeans, long denim shorts as well as denim capris but for one tween reason or another, they all had to be returned.  And yes, I mean NICE and yes, I mean ALL.  Because I will only wash her denim's on the weekends (with her PE clothes) I was at my wit's end with her.

Last night after dropping her off at gymnastics I decided to wander into Beall's Outlet which is in the same shopping center.  Now mind you, I'd place Beall's right above KMart (which I consider a notch above WMart) and slighty below Target in a quality/designer pyramid but their outlets do occasionally get in merchandise from other non-Beall's stores so every once in a great while you can find a few nicer items.  I left last night with four pairs of assorted denims for Meg and two shirts for myself.    She reviewed her denims, decided they were "worthy of trying on" and guess what????  All fit, all looked cute, and with the exception of a pair of black denim shorts, which I will return next week, she loved them.  Score!  She even left for school this morning in one pair of knee length cuffed denim shorts...so I know she likes them.  On a sad note, she decided that one of my new shirts looked way cuter on her so my new shirt count went down by one.  LOL!  Such is life with Meg.

So...forget Aeropostle, Hollister, American Eagle Outfitters, etc.  Check out your local Beall's Outlet.  LOL!!!

Pinterest, The Total Time Waster

As I believe I've mentioned in the past, since coming out with their IPad app, I've been spending a lot more time on Pinterest lately.  I do try to limit myself to late evenings because as anyone who visits/pins will attest, Pinterest is a notorious "time sucker". But these same people will also concur that the ideas, tips, and creativity that are shared on the site is nothing short of amazing.  You need a Christmas craft? They have one. You want a new recipe for tonight's dinner?  There's a pin for that.  A problem corner in your living room?  Someone has a decorating idea for you. Maybe you need a good laugh?  Well guess what?  You've come to the right place.   (I'm sticking to G rated only because I know I have nieces and nephews who like to read visit her on occasion.)

How about  a few Someecards . . .

Maybe some silly photos to make you smile?


I could totally see Jay doing this sort of thing!


oops!



I dare ya to tell me that this cat DOES NOT look just like Wilford Brimley!



Funny but not funny...



And is this not sweet?  LOL!



Ah!  I feel so much better now that I've wasted someone else's time. Want to follow me on Pinterest?  I'm JulesP.

But before signing off I need to leave you with one parting thought . .






Who's with me?  HA!!!!!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I'm surprising Meggie with her favorite cookies when she gets home today. They're a Valentine variation on the Hershey Kiss peanut butter blossoms I make at Christmas, made with Dove Chocolate Hearts.

Lest my extended family be jealous, no worries.  I made plenty to share.  :-)  

Weekend Fun

Saturday morning I was up bright and early for the County Science Fair competition at our local mall.  This was my third year as a judge and I really love it.  In years past it's been fairly easy to appoint category winners but not so this year.  In fact, it was extremely difficult.  Our category was Middle School Environmental/Earth Science and nearly each and every project was worthy of an award.  In the end we gave the #1 spot to a young man who studied the solar heating effects of copper vs. plastic tubing.    For 2nd and 3rd place we actually went with ties, the projects were that good.  They included motion dynamics of different hovercraft materials, the stability of arches by the use of eggshells, phantom energy of appliances, solar car batteries, determining the best parachute material and one of my favorites....corked vs. uncorked bats. Interviewing the kids, hearing their excitement, providing positive feedback (and yes, a few pointers)....it's just so much fun and so very, very rewarding.

Sunday was spent at the County Fair.  Meg and I went with one of my friends, her daughter and her niece.  It's great that the kids are old enough to wander around by themselves but I did stalk them for a few pictures.

You're never too old for the teacups but alas, 

you can no longer fit three girls into one.    LOL!

Daredevil Meg was on her own for this one.

And who doesn't love the swings? 

Definitely a fun weekend for all!

Now I've Seen it All Now...

I came across this yesterday on the appadvice.com website where they do a daily feature titled "Quirky App of the Day".  Guess what?  Apparently there is an app for those who want to perform hip replacement surgery.

ARE.     YOU.     $*^#^@.      SERIOUS?  

This is definitely one case of "just 'cause it's free, it doesn't have to be for me" but in case you're interested, I've embedded their blog post here.

Quirky App Of The Day: Hip Surgery Is Not Just A Game

BY KATHRYN ZANE on Thu February 07th, 2013 Hip Surgeryquirky Quirky App of the Day surgery tracey hamilton

Have you ever experienced a burning desire to replace a hip? I haven’t. To all you surgeons, doctors, and nurses out there, I give my heartfelt gratitude. I’m apparently so weak that I can’t even handle performing a fake surgery. Hip Surgery just isn’t for me.

I was hoping this app would be like Operation. I can do that. I can remove little plastic pieces with funny names. This is not Operation. This is real surgery. Allow me to entertain you with the weakness of my stomach.

First, you answer some basic questions about hips and sockets. That wasn’t too bad. I have some medical knowledge, and I managed to get the questions right. I felt great. I thought, “Sure. Let people know the true facts before they start removing fake body parts.”

Then, I was told to scrub up and start the surgery. True to life, everything except for a hip is curtained off and cleaned up. I still haven’t caught on yet that this is a real surgery game. I could blame it on the fact that it was early morning when I played with this app. The truth is probably more in line with a strange obliviousness that hangs over me. I just didn’t pay attention to how serious things were.

Next, I drew the surgical line with a marker. I did a pretty good job. I’m also still thinking about plastic pieces at this point. Then came the scalpel. This would be the point were faint alarms started going off in my head that I might be getting into something that my stomach isn’t going to enjoy. I make the incision, and my stomach instantly lets me know that this is a surgery simulator, not a game.

Like a drunkard stumbling out of a bar, I’m stupidly thinking, “I got this. I can handle this.” I had about the same disastrous results. After cauterizing the blood vessels and cleaning up some fake blood, it was time to put in retractors.

Does anyone else know what those things are? Because I sure do now. In fact, I’m too weak to even describe what it is. If you want to know what surgical retractors are, go look them up.

At this point in the app testing phase, the room spun around me, I actually heaved over my iPad, and I yelled in a strange sort of mental pain while I looked away and took screenshots for all of you. Then, I decided that I was done.

The moral of the story: Surgery simulators are not like the Operation game. They are not meant for me. They are for people with a real and true fascination for cutting people open. I heartily recommend this app to anyone who has such an interest. For the rest of us that are woozy in the presence of blood, skip it.

Hip Surgery is a universal app, and it’s available in the App Store for FREE!

For the record....my surgery was posterior (butt) and not anterior (thigh) as this example indicates.  And I imagine at some point my curiosity will get the best of me but for right now, four months post surgery, I'm still dealing with aches and pains of the real thing.  Thanks but no thanks.

She's Girly Again

Remember these shoes from a year ago?  The cost me a small fortune but she loved them and wore them every day until they were completely worn out.  I also didn't care much for the color/style but she did and that's all that mattered.

Fast forward to this morning.  She saw these shoes online and begged me to order them.  She didn't really need another pair of shoes but given that they were 1/4 of the price of the pair above and cute, I obliged.

Meg is still far from being a Miss Frilly Foo Foo but it's nice to see some shine back in her wardrobe.

Walking but Wishing I Was Running

I doubt that you've noticed but I've updated the Running Log in my sidebar.  As you know, my running days officially became history last April when my hip issues could no longer be ignored. My orthopedist has assured me that I can walk/cycle to my heart's content without fear of damage to my new joint, however, running (or anything high impact) is out....forever.  While my body knows this,  my mind is having a very hard time accepting it.  Nearly every outing I'm stopped by someone I "knew" from my years of morning runs, inevitably followed up with a "I haven't seen you in ages!"   For some reason I feel the need to explain that I'm not a total slacker, that there is a reason I've been absent and a reason why they'll never see me running again.  It's just so hard to see them out running while I'm doing the zombie walk.    :-(

On to something that makes me smile.  Several weeks ago Meg made me promise to stop taking photos of her sleeping and I very reluctantly agreed. Hard as it was not to snap a photo of her last night, I managed to resist.  Later on, when Randy checked in on her, he said he was exercising his right to the loophole.  

He bought her this Perry the Platypus stocking hat a few weeks ago and he couldn't resist snapping a photo.  Love this!

The New Blog Book is Here ...

The New Blog Book is Here!   (guess the movie)

I recently (and very painstakingly, I might add) created a hardcover book from my 2011 blog entries which I started in July of that year.  I used a company called Blurb and received the book a few days ago.  I am absolutely thrilled beyond belief.

 

The Outer Cover

The Inside Cover

And a few random pages.  (Please excuse my slippers.  They were the most

 convenient method I could had to keep the book open.)

I am so happy to have the little details of our daily lives recorded so neat and tidy in a print version.  I've already started with my 2012 book, which will be substantially larger since it spanned the whole year, and am diligently keeping up with my 2013 version.  I may upgrade to a colored cover next time but otherwise I wouldn't change a thing.

Footnote....the date of the "Stickle Queen" post is Sept. 2011 and yes, those boards are still attached to her door and the hall.  *sigh*

Oh...and the movie?  The Jerk of course.  :-)