Our House in the Middle of Our Street

This is an excellent new blog I saw on her blog . Love them both. Definitely love free things.

Today I had a rare library date by myself. I had a doctor's appointment and on the way home I stopped to drop off my last inter-library-loan book, plus Stefan's policing books. I had an item waiting for me in the Holds, so why not stop by? I recently came across this lovely lady on the radio months ago, but never found out her name. Her second single, "Realize", I heard on the radio about a week ago and I knew it was the same girl. I found out who she was via iTunes, and of course, once I found out the library carried it, quickly put it on hold for myself. LOVE the library! Colbie Caillat is her name, (her dad worked with Fleetwood Mac) and she is a very easy-listening singer/songwriter. She is sorta a mix between Jewel and maybe Sheryl Crow? (in looks, anyway!) I have noticed that over the past 4-5 years, all I want to listen to is soothing music. I started just slightly liking jazz and blues, to pretty much the only people in my car's cd player are John Mayer or...

I almost forgot! Kundhi Creative tagged me and here's the rules(taken from J's blog): 1. Once you’ve been tagged, you have to write a blog with ten weird, random things, facts, or habits about yourself. 2. At the end, you choose five people to be tagged, listing their names and why you chose them to be tagged. 3. Don’t forget to leave them a comment “You’re It!” and to read your blog. 4. You can’t tag the person who tagged you. Since you can’t tag me back, let me know when you’ve posted your blog so I can see your answers. I don't find these things weird, but "Sarah-normal" (haha, para-normal, get it? Ok, getting on with it): I could stay in my pajamas day, night, and after-shower. They are more comfortable to me than my favorite pair of jeans! However, I don't think Valentine's heart pants go with a checked sweatshirt. Yikes. I check my email probably 20 times a day. Or more. I do not wash my hands 20 times a day. I could easily live off of these groceri...

Today, as every other Tuesday (and Wednesday, and Saturday) I go to the YMCA for a spinning class --which I love, and need, if it's just to get out for an hour. After a 15 minute warm-up, and 10 minutes into the actual class, a nursery worker came and gave me 'the wave'. Uh-oh, baby is sick . Fairly high fever. Hmm...so that's why he didn't finish his oatmeal this morning. We've been taking it easy today, and Lukka took not one...but two naps, and even though one was only about 35 minutes, it was SO nice for him to take one during the day. If you've been following his blog, you would know he has been skimping out on these for the past week and a half, and it hasn't been pretty (seriously, don't know how you moms with more than 1 do it!). The second was about 2 1/2 hours. This was such a great thing for me, who has been going 12-12 1/2 hours every day! I was ready for a coffee break for goodness' sake...or, since I don't drink coffee--a Sour ...

More snow after a 54 degree day? Another day of no-naps ? My dogs getting mud on my sparkling wood floors? I'm in a funk. The poll is closed, and I should be working on that darn tote , but the funk is floating around me like a green, nasty, non-spring cloud.

This afternoon, like every Friday afternoon since about 2006, I spend my time with a good friend, Emily. We met years ago while working in the Barnes and Noble cafe together, really, chocolate and coffee are such great promotions of friendship, don't ya think? I am trying to get her to make some more art, so I can show her how to put it up on Etsy . I know she will be a hit. She makes wreaths (people, they're huge, and I know they would sell for at least a hundred dollars at our summer Farmer's Market), renders photography, and is just about the best home decorator in my age bracket! She can take a tattered chest, a bouy, a plain canvas, and some seashells and MAKE IT LOOK LIKE MARTHA CAN! I'm telling you she's just that good. I set up two blogs for her tonight, her 'business' side is called Cavallo Creations , and her 'party' side will stay anonymous for now. One can't very well be anonymous if you're trying to sell something! Hope she likes...

I have a poll up and here's why: I have been dying to finish a few of my projects for the last two weeks. Its just that a) I plop on the couch for some Ugly Betty b) I have other things to do/places to go c) Lukka won't nap...so I can't get anything done or d) I make excuses. Hmm...which does it sound like today? :) I want to be a little bit more regimented because when I was in school and working, I liked being busy and scheduled. Being a stay-at-home mom means I need to create my own working enviornment and stick to it as best I can. I am afraid of 'independent studies'. When I did them in college, I inevitably got everything done about 2 months ahead of finals because I loved that I had my own time-frame. I was productive-- BUT I had a 3 1/2 month time frame to get everything done or fail. Now it seems as if I have an indefinite time frame...or...it won't get done? What kind of limits are those? Vote for your favorite craft (these are all projects in progres...

Check out Baby Bug's Blog to find out what we're up to once some nice weather comes our way...here's a hint:

So Zarafa , by Michael Allin, was.......eh. The 'worst' of my book list thus far...but it had some pretty heavy competition, so I'll over look that. It was a quick read, at 198 pages, and had a lot of art work inside, which was a redeeming value. I really like true stories about animals in history (read: The Lady and the Panda ) whether they be presents from a far away place, as in Zarafa the giraffe's experience, or new findings for the first time. I thought I would love this book, but it was very slow. The first 100 pages were just background about Egyptology (and I love that topic, too...and it was still boring) and talking about numerous dead Frenchman who were somewhat in the mix of finding/shipping/paying for this animal from Sennar. ANYWAY . Unless you love French and British history, you won't like this book much. I was wanting a 'fairy tale' like the front cover expresses. I got a bunch of old letters from dead men about their problems relaying a gi...

If you are a close friend of mine you may know about my little quirk. I love surveys. I fill out restuarant comment cards (sometimes they will give you $5-$10 off!), department-store online surveys, and research opportunities short of drawing blood. When someone from my former college *UNL* e-mailed me about a survey I did back in May, I was interested, then they told me it would take an hour and I'd get $15. Sign me up already! The research was conducted by a graduate student who was working on a dissertation about our cultural language (well, college-aged) regarding sexual euphemisms. It was very interesting. There were about 120 notecards sitting on a table each baring an euphemism on it. I was to categorize first the "Violent Euphemisms" and then make categories up of my own accord. Needless to say, the first category had the biggest stack--which didn't really shock me at all. I made 6 other categories including: Formal/Non-offensive (also not shocking, the smalle...

Sorry for the delay, I've had a loss of words for the past week or two. I just don't want to babble on my blog, but make each post about some "event" or member of our family, or at least as an excuse to take some cute pictures of Lukka . As I was checking my email last Saturday, I noticed a mini-van drive by our house a few times...slowing down next to our house and then coming back...hmm. After the third 'drive-by', two ladies got out and one came up to our house, and peeked in our living room window! Hey, if you're shameless enough to do that, I'm shameless enough to open the door and ask, "you wanna take a look inside?" --of course, knowing that these people saw our For Sale sign in the yard...I AM shameless enough to try to get anyone who's interested inside! They loved it, especially the kitchen, which is very updated for how old the house is. Hopefully we'll hear something soon! (or not, at least it gave us some more confidenc...

If you were following my other posts, you would know I already finished book five a few days ago, but have just now (phew!) got the chance to sit down and write about it. Prude , by Carol Platt Liebau, was an interesting read, although a bit redundant as I'd read two books stating much of the information in 2 months (of course, my own doing). This book's thesis, however, was more about the hypersexualized media relating to middle-school to high school age girls. It states that TV, movies, internet, radio (etc.etc.etc.) has too much blatant and "glamourous" sexualized content, therefore more kids are participating at a younger age than ever before because they think it's normal. Her basic point is this: these kids don't know any different and 1/3 of teenagers report never have been talked to about sex with their parents ...ever! Parents...you have a responsibility...to PARENT your child, not be their friend (okay, that last part was me). I am glad I read i...

Here's our goofy girl, affectionately called, "The Street Rat". In this picture she is hanging her head upside down, and laying on one of our oversized couches. She isn't allowed up there, and she knows it. Our computer and bathroom are on the second floor and when she hears my foot step on the stairway she quickly jumps down off the couch, never to be spotted by me with her hands red! All I can see are traces of black fur and a warm space on the couch! What a little rascal--now you know where she gets her nickname. Other than being overly aggressive when it comes to her bone (Nylabone needs a new level for our chewer), she is really quite sweet and will cuddle up to Stefan or me whenever we sit down on the floor. Not only that, but she is the most free-spirited dog I've ever known, and although it can be annoying sometimes (wagging her tail 100mph (thats 160km/hr for you Canadian folks) so that it slaps Arjax in the face) and jumping over 4 feet on our slidin...

Hop on over to Baby Bug's Blog to see his 'photo shoot' and a new milestone! PS- Book #5 "Prude" done today. More notes to come on that later, and my new reads for next week. PPS- Loving Beth Moore's bible study on the Tabernacle !