100 for 2010

My sweet friend Meredith, who I miss while she's away playing with her 3 fabulous fellas, started this, and I just love it. It's like a harkening back to the surveys we used to email around in high school. Yes? I know.

So, new for 2010, 100 things.

1. Liam has two middle names, and I've come up with two middle names for our boy's name for #2.

2. No, we're NOT pregnant....

3. BUT SOMEBODY ELSE IS!!!! Hint: the lingerie shower we threw? Worked like a charm!!

4. I am over the moon about item #3.

5. RE: #3 & #4... I might have screamed and jumped up and down.

6. RE: #3,4,5... I have already started planning a baby shower in my head.

7. I have ordered 6/7 of the pieces for my Halloween costume.

8. Only 2 of the pieces of my costume have arrived. Already having anxiety.

9. I might or might not have 8 glittery pumpkins in my house.

10. Jethro's full name is Jethro Bodine Clampett Clark.

11. Lily's full name is either Lily Marie (me) or Leeloo Dallas Multipass (Zach).

12. Banana Republic's jeans are running SMALL. Like, two sizes too small. Ouch. Hurt my ego.

13. Today my dad and I are starting a fun new project.

14. Monday my dad and I completely organized my garage and I feel 1000 times better for it.

15. Zach and I share yard work. I mow. I enjoy it.

16. I like cupcakes too much.

17. I don't like chocolate ice cream, but I like Neapolitan.

18. I think any craft is made better by Martha Stewart glitter.

19. I don't decorate for "fall." I decorate for Halloween, and then wait in limbo for Christmas.

20. I have a nude pastel drawing I did hanging in our bathroom.

21. Of all the pieces I've done, the aforementioned nude is my best/favorite.

22. I want a pink desk.

23. I would be fine with a desk in cream or green, as well.

24. We eat Indian food about 2 times a week in this house.

25. My husband makes a mean Tikka Masala.

26. My husband is a better cook than me.

27. I am a better baker than my husband.

28. Zach cooks 80% of the time.

29. I do all the dishes and don't complain.

30. I don't really like wine. I will only drink Moscato, but really like it.

31. Every vacation Zach and I have taken together (alone) has been to WDW.

32. I am trying to talk Zach into London next year.

33. London is my favorite city in the world.

34. We want to eat at Gordon Ramsey's restaurant.

35. My husband hates carrots, but loves carrot cake.

36. I hate bananas, but love banana bread.

37. Liam hates apples. No but.

38. Zach wants to get fish & chips wrapped in newspaper from a street vendor in Britain.

39. Liam growls. If we growl back, he growls in return. It's hysterical.

40. We got hooked on Disney Channel's Phineas & Ferb on vacation. It's pretty funny.

41. I don't watch Glee, but I have tried.

42. Why? The whole lusty for married man w/"pregnant" wife thing turned me off.

43. My dog takes more Imodium than anyone I've ever met.

44. I have seen Metallica, Ozzy Osbourne, Rob Zombie, Tommy Lee and Linkin Park live.

45. I've also seen The Monkees, Savage Garden, Michael Bolton and Celine Dion.

46. I like "geeky" guys.

47. I love broccoli. I could eat it with just about anything.

48. I have never been to New York City and I just don't care.

49. I love old movies, including old romances, but hate modern chick flicks.

50. My favorite actress is Amy Adams.

51. My dream career is being a ------.

52. I've got goals I don't share with anyone but my mom and husband.

53. Zach is extremely passionate about his work and is very good at it.

54. If we have a little girl next, her nursery will be in white, raspberry and lemon.

55. I hate toddler beds.

56. Liam is not allowed to watch SpongeBob Squarepants.

57. Liam likes watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

58. I am having trouble reminding myself Liam is -toddler- and not -baby-.

59. Liam is somewhat in between clothing sizes and it's frustrating.

60. I have read everything Jane Austen has written.

61. I have read all of the Sherlock Holmes stories.

62. My Kindle is my favorite personal device.

63. I think everyone should read Christ in Concrete.

64. My favorite college course was a toss up between Literacy and Modernity, Class and Culture (lit).

65. I don't like Gone with the Wind.

66. I can recite Pi to 9 digits.

67. Ashley Brooke stationery makes me glad every time I see it in a cellophane package.

68. I have a temper.

69. Jethro and I both have upset tummies.

70. I want my best buddy Cory to buy a house on our street.

71. I want Bo and Valerie to buy a house on our street.

72. My dad will be moving home before the end of the year! Hooray!!

73. I will watch reruns of Top Gear that I have already seen. Multiple times.

74. I started a Hallmark ornament collection for Liam last year.

75. I have been fishing for crab in the Norwegian Sea. We caught a lobster.

76. I don't get seasick.

77. I want to take another Disney Cruise.

78. Pan's Labyrinth blows my mind. Scares me, gives me nightmares but I love it.

79. I've seen Wicked... just really thought it was underwhelming.

80. The Phantom of the Opera is my favorite musical... on the LONDON stage.

81. Copacabana is the worst musical I have ever seen.

82. Zach says The Lion King musical is the "titties."

83. I am immune to Jethro's slobber.

84. I am not immune to Jethro's gas.

85. I keep Vick's Vapo-rub in my bedside drawer.

86. While pregnant, I popped at least 2 ondansetron a day.

87. My dog has one toenail.

88. I have all the words to all of the James Bond theme songs memorized (except Die Another Day).

89. I've kayaked through bat caves in Thailand.

90. When Lily was a baby, she had a grey heart on her head.

91. I want a desk chair for Christmas. That's all.

92. I love carving pumpkins. I make my hubby participate every year.

93. One time, Jethro watched a mouse run across the living room from the couch and didn't move.

94. Jethro can catch flies out of the air.

95. I still have an MLA Handbook. It isn't Zach's favorite.

96. I would like to write a paper about 5 common elements in Grimm's and Anderson's tales.

97. I have the epitaph from The Wolfman memorized.

98. I have been chased by a kangaroo for a hot dog.

99. I have at least 10 books backlogged on my Kindle.

100. My hubby and son are my two favorite people on the whole planet, and I love that the little man is a great combination of the two of us. Awwww...

holy moldy condo, batman!

(about time i got around to this...)

On the 9th of this month, we got up e-a-r-l-y, packed ourselves and the entirety of our toddler's belongings (kidding, but it seemed like it) into my parent's old Explorer and we headed to Port Aransas. The Mr. was attending a Veterinary conference down there, and Liam and I went along for the ride.

We left on a Thursday. The Tuesday before? Oh yeah, we got a call from the resort we had a reservation at, letting us know that due to damage from the tropical storm (Hector?) they no longer had a room for us. But they had a place we could stay. If we wanted. Duh.

So Zach dealt with that and we headed into the unknown. Um... oy.

Our condo was owned by this lady:

One Gilda Cruz Romo, who is (check the link if you don't believe me) an opera singer who has been on stage with the likes of Placido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti. No, seriously.

Can't make this up.

These lined the entry hall to prove it:

Yes, impressive.

However, the rest of this is like the start of a bad joke...

Just for the sake of my own amusement, picture in your mind what you think an aging opera star's beach condo would look like.

And... cue disaster:

Tacky gets a whole new form of definition when you're talking about the Romo's beach condo. They bought it in 1982 (I know, I saw a certificate) and probably have never updated. Not only have they never updated, I highly doubt they've every bothered to maintain it in any fashion. Consider exhibits A and B below:

And if you think that's bad, consider that I didn't even bother to photograph what the balcony looked like, the state of the kitchen (nightmares, really, I'll have them), or the bathroom with its bathtub that couldn't be any newer than 1975 and its paint that is quite literally cracked and peeling on every surface. OR the dead roaches all over the floor in the kitchen and dining area.

What else? Oh yeah, how about when we walked into the condo for the first time, we were bombarded by the smell of moldy, musty nastiness. Upon walking into that GORGEOUS living room, we found the love seat flipped upside down on top of the sofa, all the cushions piled up against the door, and the rug being propped up off the floor by various buckets, ladders and stools, with an industrial fan blowing under it to dry it out. Because apparently THIS condo building doesn't turn away people, even if they do have storm damage (oh, did I mention that when we drove up to the building for the first time, we noticed that half of the side's facade had FALLEN OFF? Seriously, is that not warning enough?!).

Needless to say...

When it was time to pack to go home...













We were all a little bit glad.

what's on the (my) tube

I have to admit, I'm really *slow* in getting around to posting about vacation. Partly because I'm saving them, I think.


I have horrors of the condo to do a whole post about, and then there are all the ones about Florida... I'm not in any hurry to relive the nastiness that we inhabited for 3 days, nor to dwell on our vacation since we're back in the daily grind. The former will just disgust me, the latter, depress.


And so, how about a topic that is rampant in the blogosphere, and yet, vacant on this little space of the interwebs. Truly, I mention our TV viewing here and there, but rarely dedicate a whole post to it. However, I felt it was high time to give my favorite views some love.

CASTLE: ABC (monday)

We started watching Castle a) because it came on after DWTS (which, due to craptastic casts, we've since let fall by the wayside) and b) because it stars Nathan Fillion. We love Nathan Fillion. We got hooked on him... um... as Mal, I guess on Firefly. It was short lived, but well loved program. He also popped up in Saving Private Ryan, as the 1st Private Ryan they come across, and he starred opposite Keri Russell in Waitress. But I choose not to remember that, cause I didn't like him much in that one. ANYWAY, we got hooked on Castle because NF is a hysterically funny fella, and the supporting cast is fantastic. We've managed to hook much of our family and friends. I dare you to watch an episode and not chuckle.

TOP GEAR: BBC America (monday)

Top Gear is fantastic. PERIOD. This is what I'm watching while the rest of America watches D-List celebrities and famous people's brats waltz and cha cha cha around a dance floor. Oh yes, these three middle aged British dudes are the funniest thing on TV. The new season starts THIS Monday, and I am giddy. If you have someone in your house who's even remotely interested in cars, I promise you this is one you'll get hooked on. The things these guys do! There's the time they drove across Africa. And the time they drove motorcycles through Vietnam. And the time they drove American muscle on the salt flats. I could go on and on and on and on. But you have the chance to catch them for yourself this weekend! BBC is running a marathon, so excepting for the few hours in the evening when they're running their "Accent of Evil" movies, you could switch away from football games you really don't actually care about and watch these 3 goobers run amok. Trust me, well worth the channel change. And it's a "guy's" show... your hubby won't complain too much.
{aside: I'm watching right now, and they've bought 3 cars in Miami, each costing less than $1,000 and they're driving their beaters to New Orleans, camping along the way, and only eating what they find dead on the side of the road. Yes, seriously.}

BORED TO DEATH: HBO (sunday)

This is a recent favorite. Recent as in, we watched all of the first season today. I switched to it while I was cooking part of our dinner, at 7, and then we watched it all night. Between the 3 stars, there's a lot of funny man in one place, and yet, they don't try too hard. I'm usually not one for HBO comedies, I think they try too hard to be "intelligent" humor, but this one struck a chord with me. Maybe it's all the writer jokes? Maybe it's Sam, sorry, Ted? All I know is I'll be tuning in on Sunday for Season 2's first episode.

BOARDWALK EMPIRE: HBO (sunday)

Okay, yes, we've only seen the one episode. But I could have told you I would love this from the very first preview. I L-O-V-E mob related films... but the right kind. I mean, I'm not a fan of the Godfather movies, or Scarface... none of that 80's stuff for me. But I do love Public Enemies, and some of the older mob films, think Film Noir, or James Cagney. This is the perfect answer to my style of mob viewing. And I love the cast. PERFECTION. I'm so excited about this show, and fully expect everyone to love it like I do and if you don't, I don't want to hear it! Kidding- kind of...

TRUE BLOOD: HBO (sunday)

My SECOND FAVORITE!! THIS one, I know I've expressed my love and devotion for-- though, they better fix sh*t after this at-best-mediocre 3rd season that just ended. I love this because this is the type of Vampire I like. I'm a picky vampire fan- but a very devoted, and very old one. I've loved vampire stories since I can remember, long before Twilight and all that junk. I think it started with Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt in Interview. Anyway, I like my vampires sexy (which HBO can certainly deliver) but with an edge. After inhaling the Sookie Stackhouse novels, I have tried to pick Twilight back up and quite literally wanted to barf after a few chapters. No spank you, I need a REAL vamp. No fangs? No thanks.


And now folks, we come to my true TV passion. The show that makes my little heart go pitter-patter. The show that I DVR every episode of, despite having copies on my computer and on DVD. The show I quote. The show whose theme is my ringtone. MY show. MY FAVORITE.

DOCTOR WHO: BBC America (saturday)

Oh I know what you're thinking- WTF? If I explain the premise, you'll think I'm daft. It's about an alien (above) called the Doctor, who travels around in a Spaceship/Time Machine with a couple (right now) of human companions and fights aliens in all times and places. And he's funny along the way. I know. But I LOVE THIS SHOW. I got my husband hooked. I'm passionate about my Doctor. When a new season is running on TV, we don't go out on Saturday nights. We stay in to watch Doctor Who. And Doctor Who is a BIG thing in Britain. It's like... bigger than Gre/ay's Anatomy is here (I don't know which spelling they use)... it's been running for decades- My Doctor -- Matt Smith (above) is the 11th incarnation of the Doctor. Cause he can regenerate... it's brilliant. These two fellas:

Have played the 10th and 9th incarnations, respectively. I know what you're thinking now... you've SEEN their faces. Why yes, yes you have. I guarantee you've seen at least one of these men in something. David, number 10 on the left, played Barty Crouch Jr. in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Christopher, number 9 on the right, was the bad guy in Gone in 60 Seconds, and played Destro/McCullen in the recent G.I. Joe movie, as well as the Major in the British zombie flick, 28 Days Later... See? You've seen them. You might not have noticed them, but you've certainly seen them.

I came across Doctor Who while I was still a single gal, I was living in a townhouse with some fabulous girls (hi girls!!) and one night, I was flipping channels while writing a paper. I came across the BBC/Masterpiece version of Casanova, which starred David Tennant (10). I stopped because I recognized Barty Crouch Jr. I then kept flipping and found Doctor Who with the 10th Doctor on SciFi, and was HOOKED. They were running a bit of an out-of-order marathon, following a new 10th Doctor episode with old 9th Doctor ones. Hooked. I have been watching longer than most people I know who watch the show, and I'm utterly and completely devoted.
Um. So much so... that we might or might not be getting our Halloween costumes from the show.
yep.
LOVE.

(And in case you're wondering: Matt Smith #11 is my favorite. David Tennant #10 is Zach's.)

So that's what's on OUR TV. There are other shows we'll watch, but it's not like we have to catch an episode. If we miss it *shrug*... but honestly, we don't watch major network TV. I know, we're weird. But we're happy!

PHOTO CREDITS:

{castle}{top gear}{bored to death}{boardwalk empire}{true blood}{matt smith}{david tennant}{christopher eccleston}

scarf swap| ehk & skc

THIS year, I am happy to say, I was not too distracted by a newborn to participate in my sweet friend Meredith's scarf swap.

I am even happier to say that my partner is the wonderful, sweet, adorable, amazingly fantastic Betsy of Miss Monogram. I cannot tell you how much I adore this girl!

That being said, I headed out shopping one day with my mom and Mr. Man before my last hair appointment, and stumbled across such a gem I had to buy it for Betsy.

This beautiful, AMAZINGLY soft, sweet purple scarf came from Anthropologie. I went in to the store not knowing what I was looking for, but well aware that I had a store credit burning a hole in my wallet. Liam had already picked out a new Jellycat stuffed animal that he is over-the-moon in love with, when I spotted this scarf. They had it in two colors: the purple and the "green." I fell in love with the style and the fabric, but thought the green was heinous and I don't wear purple. At all, and then *ding!* I thought of Betsy and that was that.
(Though, I am considering ordering it in "neutral" because I love it so much, and that color is quite acceptable to me. Would it be weird to match, Betsy?)

I even had fun wrapping it pretty and hoping it would make it through the plane ride in my luggage.

We were lucky enough to be able to swap in person (but that's another post, for another time)! Betsy brought me this beauty:

I adore it! It's like Betsy walked into my closet and picked out the two most prominent colors and went with that. I mean, she could not have done a better job for me if she tried!!

And she's a doll, did I mention that?

movie time: the clark family 4

And so, we come to the last of these scheduled postings while we're away on vacation. Today is our last full day in Orlando- tomorrow our flight leaves Florida at around 11, and I know it'll be the slowest flight in the history of not-so-long flights. I'm going to be chomping at the bit to get my hands on my chunky baby monkey, and give him all his presents and hug and kiss and cuddle the squirming mass of sweet and loving baby flesh.

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NOW NOTE: YOUR actions, readers, will determine what kind of updating I do when I get home. If you have been faithful, sweet, loving readers and have commented and left our little space of the interwebs love, I promise you at least 3 spectacular posts when I get my photos all loaded. One about PA, one about WDW and one about meeting ABQ and EHK. IF, by chance, you haven't been following along because I have been away and the posting is sporadic and not "current," then you're doing good to get more than one vacation post. Consider yourselves duly warned.

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I must admit, we are movie watchers in this house. During the day, our TV is on one of very few things: The Weather Channel (please, I may not stay up to date on current issues, but you can't get past me with weather patterns!), BBC America, HBO or TCM. That's about it. Except when Zach comes home at lunch and we switch to ESPN.

So, it stands to reason that Liam will have grown attached to certain movies: and yes, you guessed it, there are FOUR that make his little baby heart go pitter-patter.

#1-- KUNG FU PANDA

We've been watching Kung Fu Panda with this kid since before he was 6 months old. He L-O-V-E-S it. He knows right where the DVD is, and knows that he doesn't need it. When we switch on ON Demand or our DVR he squeals with delight because it means it's Kung Fu Panda time.

#2-- THE FIFTH ELEMENT

Perhaps the first of his favorite four that will be taken away, he is crazy about this movie, once you're past the beginning in Egypt. If you haven't seen it: it's a trip. But we LOVE this movie. Zach and I began watching it long before Liam was born, and then, when he was about 10 months old, he discovered it, too. He loves the blue singing Diva, and loves Ruby Rhod. He giggles when Ruby screams and gets so excited when Zorg starts choking on the cherry (you have to see it)... It's bright and colorful, with funny noises, funny people, constantly changing settings and constant action. There's very little 'down time' in this film. We don't mind that he loves it, because we do too.

#3-- WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT

Yet another movie that Zach and I love, the general trend with all the movies that Liam loves is that they're all running on HBO at some point. This film started running a few months ago and Liam was instantly hooked. He hears that music at the beginning before the Baby Herman/Roger Rabbit cartoon starts to run and he comes running. I hope he enjoys this movie for a long time, because I loved it throughout my childhood, and it's just a fantastic film. Besides, there's nothing in this that I balk at for him. And I'd love to make him a Roger Rabbit Halloween costume when he's 2.

#4-- NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: BATTLE OF THE SMITHSONIAN

This film started running on HBO a few weeks ago. And from the first instant, it was love at first sight. To be honest, it's kind of beyond us why this film has captured Liam's attention so well. After all, Kung Fu Panda, The Fifth Element and Who Framed Roger Rabbit are all movies that are brightly colored, lots of things happen, there's constant activity... not so much in this film. However, he seems to love Hank Azaria's Kahmunrah, and the walking, talking statues are also pretty entertaining for this little dude.

That's Liam's Big Four. Thank goodness for our DVR and DVD player, else we'd be up a creek when he gets in a funk. I personally enjoy movie time with him, and do my best to mix it up. We've tried to introduce a number of other movies to him, in hopes he will broaden his horizons, but so far, we're coming up short.

We've tried:

The Lion King

Cars

Finding Nemo

The Three Caballeros

Snow White and the Seven Dwarves

The Princess and the Frog

Peter Pan

Robin Hood

The Nightmare Before Christmas

What do you do?

We embrace it. But you better look out, because at this point, Zach and I can recite all four of those movies word-for-word.

With the right inflection.

lunching with liam

And here we are with the second in our scheduled vacation postings.

Today finds us returned from Port Aransas yesterday, and this morning we deposited Little Mr. Angel Baby with my parental units and flew out of IAH at 7:45, bound for Orlando.

Yes, right now, I am eagerly anticipating getting to the Port Orleans- Riverside, eating at the Hollywood & Vine, staying in the Hollywood Studios until 10 pm, and meeting up with THE Ashley Brook & Miss Monogram sometime this week.

Yes, SO excited!! Oh yeah, and my birthday, too. ;)

Liam Rand is an eater. To an extent. He likes food. But he's picky.

Kind of.

It's hard to explain the way my monkey eats. But one thing's for sure. If you want him to eat, and to eat good, get thee to Panera Bread.

I'm not kidding.

When I go to Panera now, my order is:

1 Kid's Grilled Cheese Sandwich

1 Large Signature Mac & Cheese

1 Tuna Salad on MIche 3-Cheese with only lettuce

Only the tuna is for me. Liam eats half of a sandwich and half of a large order of mac (or essentially, a small) every time. The leftovers are great for whipping out if he's having a picky day.

Guys, that's a lot of food, but he manages. I can't even eat the chips that come with my sandwich, but somehow this little person finds a place to put half of a sandwich and a bowl full of pasta. I'm still amazed every time he does it. But I love it.

And why do we never eat AT Panera? Well, the kid is insistent that HE can feed himself- but wants to eat with his hands. So he makes a mess...

But I don't care if I have to spend 30 minutes cleaning cheese sauce off of the underside of our kitchen table, so long as he eats, and eats well. And enjoys himself, and his food.

CLEAN PLATE!

Can you tell I'm anxiously waiting for Autumn? Liam's pumpkin bib and Halloween plate tell that tale, for sure.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

yummy in my tummy: dragon fruit

Today, dear friends and readers, marks the first day of our regularly scheduled posting. Why?

Because we are in Port Aransas right now- Zach's at a conference, Liam's enjoying the beach and I'm getting work done without the distraction of the internet a click away. So there.

A few weeks ago, we were doing some shopping at HEB for our Tuesday night Zach-made dinner, and we spotted something different in the exotic fruit section and I snapped one up.

A dragon fruit.

I know.

But it's so pretty!!

Zach researched how best to eat it, and after dinner (he made garlic-lime-soy marinated grilled shrimp and grilled corn on the cob with garlic habanero butter. Um, so good!) he got to work. I am so glad I had the camera ready, because nothing could have shocked me more than the flesh of this fruit:

Seriously, is this not simply stunning?

The fuchsia, the lime green, the white and black? I about fell over.

After the obligatory photo sesh, Zach got to work carving up the beauty.

As far as the fruit goes:

The texture is reminiscent of watermelon.

The flavor is very, very, VERY light and very yummy.

The seeds are slightly bitter when you bite into them, but not offensively so.

There are sweet dragon fruits (like we got), sour dragon fruits and fruits of a different flesh color. I'm now on the hunt for a sour one, because the research Zach did says that the sour ones are extremely yummy and refreshing.

Since Liam's a fruit man, we decided to let him try it.

And he loved it- and got mad when I pulled the plate away to cut up some for him.

We have a winner, folks!!

At $4.99 a pound, this fruit certainly is a treat, and we told Liam not to get used to it- after all, this was the first time I'd ever seen one in the stores. However, if you've got an event on the horizon and a fruit salad to make? This pretty, sweet, stunning fruit would add a lot of bang for your buck to any run of the mill fruit salad.

you asked...

... I shall answer!

I've gotten a bunch of questions in the comments on the blog lately, so I figured I'd take a minute and answer you all.

This, I believe, will be the LAST live post from me for a couple of weeks.

I have posts scheduled for when we're out of town, and I hope you all keep up with us, and leave us love, even though we're not at home.

I love that you're all candle people like me! I have gotten more bloggity questions about candles lately, I can't even tell you!

First up, I've been asked what my favorite candles are, or what's burning in our house at the moment.

It's a toss up, folks.

I picked up this one today:

"Pumpkin Patch" is a blend of Spiced Pumpkin and Harvest. It smells delicious. Simply put.

And this one:

... I believe may be my favorite. So much so that after burning the first one I bought a few times, I picked up a second because I knew I'd burn up the first one. "Harvest Festival" is a blend of Harvest and Fall Festival. I must be crazy about that 'Harvest' scent, as both my two "burners" are a combination involving that.

Continuing in the candle theme:

I have gotten lots of questions about what these two candles smell like.

The first, "All Hallow's Eve" is a swirl of Midnight Jasmine and Evening Air. I think it's refreshing, but my hubs isn't a HUGE fan of it. It's a hard one to describe, slightly floral, very fresh, but not musty. Love it!

The second, "Witches Brew" is patchouli scented. It's by far Zach's favorite. He'll periodically just pull it out and smell it, cause he likes it so much. We're saving it until October. I'm pumped. I get excited about this black candle every Halloween-- and always go back for it, year after year. Fave.

Moving on from candles, I've gotten questions about my proposed desk.

You remember, this post?

Well.

I still want a new desk. We have opted not to build in. BECAUSE my dad made some great points: what happens when we move? What will I do for a desk? If I put in all that effort, won't I be bummed to leave it?

The answer to all of that is: Yes, I'd be sad, and I have no idea what I'd use.

So we've got another project planned that I'm even more excited about because it's embracing that oldest and noblest of the Environmental Geoscience traditions: recycling.

My daddy and I are going to do it together, and I can't tell you whether I'm more excited about a new desk, or getting project-y with my oft-away, expat daddy.

Finally:

I have gotten 2 questions about what I use to write in my MomAgenda.

They're UniBall's Fusion gel pens. The big ta-dah! about these is that the clear ink writes colored. They come in a pack of three: purple, pink and blue. I can't find the blue one though. I believe a certain young man with a taste for thievery and stuff-hiding has squirreled it away somewhere. Oh well.

Cest la vie!

I hope I helped some of you out, quieted your wondering minds and all that.

I am off to do laundry: I have two vacations to pack for, with about an 18 hour turn around between them, so that's a lot of prep to do. Lists to write. Lists to rewrite. Lists to make sublists of. Piles to make. Piles to label.

Read: Distraction by a 24 pack of Sharpies.

Have a wonderful, fantastic couple of weeks, my dear friends and readers. I'm going to miss reading about all of your daily adventures and what's going on with you while I'm away!!