Random Stuff Friday

1) It feels like it's been a while since I've done one of these, doesn't it? It does to me. I suppose that's what happens when I'm frantically planning for our family vacation, then off ON our family vacation, so it's about time right? And in case you were thinking that Idaho is only good for potatoes . . . ummm, nope. We had a super-fun vacation staying in a lakeside cabin and hanging out with some great friends. The kids didn't want to come back! 6yo was crying in the car as we drove away. Pics to share are soon to come!!

2) Is anyone else STILL dealing with allergies? Usually, my seasonal allergies are a springish thing and by the beginning of June, I'm all right. It's going to be August in just a few days time and I'm still sneezing up a storm! Ugh.

3) While we were on vacation, my little brother came over and watered our plants for us. He did a really good job, since we had a few that were still in pots that we didn't have time to plant before we left, and most of them are still alive! ;) ... Then he gave me crap for the weeds in our backyard, but after a rough negotiation, and the fact that he's 18 and unemployed, he's going to weed our patio for $20. I think I just got a pretty kick-A deal.

4) I have most of the furniture for my new office nook! Woohoo! (Thank you, IKEA!) You see, I did have a home office, and our kidlets shared a room, but 6yo decided as part of her whole "turning 6" thing, she wanted her own room, which was fine. But it also involved dismantling my office and that furniture was not going to fit into anything nookish. So now, in 3 boxes on our living room floor - to be assembled by Husband today!! - is my new desk and chair! I'm so excited. All that's left now is the shelves that are going on the wall above it to house my gazillions of books. There's some shelving weight limits I apparently have to go figure out ...

5) With the end of the summer came one huge success for us: 6yo is officially off training wheels on her bike! And she is trekking along so fast! It only took her about 4 hours to figure out most of the basics of balancing and by the next day, she was ready to ride by herself, no one helping to give her a push start! We're so proud of her and she's so excited to be able to go on bike rides with the bigger kids in the family now!

All right everyone, have a nice weekend. Cling to the last few weekends of summer and enjoy your sunshine!

The Beginning of the End

I'm back!

Did you guys miss me?? Probably not, huh? Well, I DID miss you guys, but where we were staying was seriously limited on interwebzzy access and I just couldn't keep up with everything on my little phone. So if I missed something from you, I'm sorry. :( I did my best, but the middle of nowhere apparently doesn't really care much if you can't get interwebz.

Now that our family vacation is over, it really marks the beginning of the end of the summer for us. In less than a month, school starts (6yo heading to first grade! eek!!) and we will be back in our mostly routine life of school, work and home. *sigh*

Because of what we knew the end of our vacation would bring, I was on strict orders (from Husband and the friend we were headed up to visit) that "work" was not invited on this trip. By that I took it to mean day job stuff and I didn't even take my day job stuff with me! BUT I did take Little Greeny and got some revisioning done, though I kept being distracted by things like ATV rides, wild strawberries (omg! so so good!), lounging on the dock, learning to make posole, and LOTS and LOTS of good eating.

Speaking of food, I'm blogging over at Pots 'n Pens today, so swing on over for a peek at my vacation reading, a great YA Contemp book filled with nummy-sounding recipes!

MIA ... Time for some Vacay!

I've been meaning to blog for the last week and clearly I've been terribly remiss.

Few things going on. Firstly, a sort of impromptu work trip to Mexico City that left me scrambling to plan my presentations, followed by me being completely exhausted from the trip. That led to a weekend full of family events and then FINALLY, the family summer vacation we've been waiting for for over a year!

So I will catch up with all of you on the flip side of the vacation because seriously, if you were waking up to this view every morning, I don't think you'd be all that interested in blogging either.

Peace out, yo! Just kidding, hold down the forts and don't have too much fun without me!

Quote of the Week

"The use of travel is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are."

Samuel Johnson

Random Stuff Friday with A Couple Winners Too!

1) I'm not sure if you're here to read my randomness or if you're really here because you entered a little contest Debbie CranberryFries and I kicked off a couple weeks ago. I seem to remember it included something like some cinnamon bears . . . and, oh yeah, A SIGNED ARC of the fabulous Brodi Ashton's EVERNEATH! Plus a second prize pack filled with all sorts of Everneathy goodies. So if you're name is LESLI LYTLE, come on, up! You're the next contestant on the Price is Right - oh, wait. Well, Lesli, you're our big ARC winner!! We'll be getting in touch with you for your shipping info. And because one winner is never enough, ALICIA GREGOIRE, you're the very lucky winner of some Everneathy stuff. We'd show you what's in there, but then we'd have to let Hades have you. We'll be contacting each of you for details! Congrats!!

2) In other, more random, stuff . . . a couple weeks ago I blogged about my nephew J3 (cousin's youngest son) saying that Reading is Boring. Blasphemy, right? I thought so too. Well, the other day my other nephew, J2 (J3's older brother), was sitting around in my parents' backyard with us, looking at some little American flags that came off my daughters' bikes. (They were decorated for a kiddie 4th of July parade we did for our family picnic.) Here's the conversation --

J2: Hey.
Me: What?
J2: America only has 50 states?Me: OMG, you're not seriously asking me this.
J2: I thought there was 55.
Me: How old are you again?
J2: 16.
Me: And you're really asking me this question?
J2: Really, I thought there was 55. Or maybe 48.
Me: *looks away, ducking head down*
My sister: Yeah, now you know why he failed 9th grade.

I still don't know what to say about this conversation, so instead, I'll leave you with this cute picture:Yes, those are the flags I mentioned above . . .

3) Did I tell you about this awesometastic new blog that I'm lucky enough to be a part of? It's over at Pots 'n Pens where you can meet some fabulous writers and get some tasty recipes! You can read all about writers and food and writers writing about food and did I mention the food? Yeah. Trust me, that's enough to get me anywhere most days :) and if you're interested in seeing where this all started, you can go check out Sarah Bromley's blog about how Pots 'n Pens was born!

4) At the day job, things are a-changin' . . . and as Bossman likes to say, "with all changes come opportunities." That's a code for us who have worked for him over the years. When he says, "I have an opportunity for you . . ." what that really means is . . . Guess what? There's more stuff we gotta get done and have I got "an opportunity for you." I'm in the midst of LOTS and LOTS of opportunities. Things that I'd avoided learning or even touching with a 10-ft pole in my near 6 years here, yeah, they're in my lap now. *sigh* . . . opportunities, man. They are EVERYWHERE! So needless to say, things overall have been CRAZY busy!

5) Two weeks ago today we were headed up to Rockport Reservoir (just up past Park City, UT) for some camping. On the way there, I got a phone call from my sister asking me "What is a good name for a boy dog?"

This is what, er, who she came home with on that fateful Friday:

Don't let the adorableness fool you. Inside, he's wolf, all the way. Even if he's only 15 lbs and a foot tall right now. Lol!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Fireworks and Real Days Off

I realized earlier that I hadn't blogged yet this week. I even tweeted it. But still no blog topic that came to mind. So I figured, I'd blog about not blogging.

On Monday, I was going to be all cheesy and put up this quote:

"You gotta ignite the light
And let it shine
Just own the night
Like the Fourth of July"

- Katy Perry, Firework

But then ... I didn't. No reason. I just seem to be less onliney when I have real days off, it seems. By "real" I mean, days when I don't head into day job, days where I am not running through airport terminals to catch a flight here or there.

Just a real day off to be me, hanging with the family, being mom and wife and reluctant dog owner, wannabe gardener and sometimes-the-food-is-edible cook.

So maybe I was just owning the few days off I had, even if I've got a few more coming (in just 12 more days!! woohoo!!).

Hope everyone had a great time this past weekend, that things were chill and relaxed and you got to spend some time just hanging out.

Random Stuff Friday and #everneathARC Contest Extension!

1) I was in San Jose for day job earlier this week and had a chance to come back on an earlier flight. It turned out to be the absolutely worst flight I've ever been on since I started traveling with day job. Turbulence from takeoff to landing - like the takeoff and landing were the smoothest parts of the whole flight! Makes me dread the next flight I've got to get on in a couple weeks. :(

2) So I know I've been a bit EVERNEATHy this past week, but come on! Have you seen the cover of Brodi Ashton's book? How could you not gasp at the beauty of this thing? Plus! How could you NOT want your very own??? Last night was supposed to be the end of the #everneathARC contest, BUT due to popular demand, the continued influx of entries, Debbie CranberryFries and I decided to EXTEND the contest another few days! So NOW you have until Tuesday, July 5 at 5pm Mountain time to get your Tweet on! Go check out the deets HERE or HERE! And remember, if you don't win the #everneathARC, you could still get lucky and win yourself a whole load of EVERNEATHy goodies! GOOD LUCK! ( And big ol' fat thanks to Brodi for being such an awesome author support of the contest!)

3) It's the beginning of Independence Day weekend. I'm off work early today and then don't have to come back until next WEDNESDAY! Woohoo! Our big plans this week: the kidlets are going to be in a parade, big family barbecue and fireworks! Always a fun time. Good food, friends and family, and fireworks. That's what it's all about!

4) Also, if you all will remember my twitpic from earlier this week:
after 5 days of untangling on/off, I swear I'm making progress:I know, I could totally go buy another $2.99 thingy of yarn, but I'm finding this whole untangling thing a bit cathartic ... good thing I told Husband he wouldn't have a scarf until ice fishing season in January, so I've got some time to finish untangling!

5) Don't know about the rest of y'all, but I've got a 4 and a 1/2 day weekend this weekend :) Off mid-day today and not back in the day job until Wednesday! So don't forget to get all EVERNEATHy and enter the deadline-extended contest ... be safe on the roads / with the fireworks / working the grill ... and don't forget to have an absolutely awesometastical weekend!