Random-filled thuRsday

(See how I did that? Used a RANDOM letter to match my random? Does that work for you? Huh? Does it?)

Today, I'm just full of random thoughts. None of them is really long enough to be an entire blog on its own, so I'm doing a spattering of thoughts. :)

* Why is it that we can deal with negative/difficult stuff more easily when it's part of the plan? And conversely, why is it so much harder to deal with a difficult change when you can see the light at the end of the tunnel and that change throws a big, dark blanket over that light? (Can you tell I had a rough schedule-change at the end of my work day today?)

* Due to that change, I could NOT make it to choir rehearsal tonight which meant that T and I were on our own for dinner. Now, I'm adhering strictly to Weight Watchers right now, so every other night lately that we've had dinner on our own, I've stir-fried some chicken and veggies. Tonight, however, (somewhat because of the aforementioned irritation at work) I decided we needed to get out of the house and get a treat. So we went to Sonic. I looked up Points values before going and had a plan as to what I could get to stay within my day's target. (Yea, me!) We had LOADS of fun! We love their food AND getting to dance while we eat. :)

However, at one point, one of the carhops came by, saw T and immediately stopped to speak to her. Now, this isn't totally unusual as (in case you haven't noticed), my child is ADORABLE and full of personality. However, the carhop said, "I just have on regular shoes tonight. I know she's looking for my skates. She usually LOVES the skates."

My.jaw.dropped. (And my embarassment level did a little skyrocketing.)

Do I really hit Sonic SO OFTEN that the carhops know my child on sight AND remember things she likes? Geez! That's just sad. :) However, we DID get a free ice cream cone coupon out of it all, since we're such regular customers and all. :)



*Those of you who know me (and perhaps some of you regular readers as well) probably know that I am a MUSIC person. My life has a constantly-running soundtrack. I'm one of those people who spontaneously bursts into song on a regular basis. It could be because you said a line from a song OR because you said something that made me think (subject-wise) of a song OR because the song was running in my head and I don't even realize that I've started singing it aloud. My scrapbooking friends laugh because I frequently start singing without realizing it. I'll just hear, "Leslie, you're singing again." haha!

And the soundtrack, it's not singularly-focused. Oh no! I have numbers from pretty much every genre and age floating around up there. I like it all and I KNOW THE WORDS!!!

The strangest time period/genre of music floating around up there is all thanks to my big brother, Scooteroo (that's Scott for all you normal folks). When he was in high school and I in late middle school/early high school, it was pretty much the heyday of rap becoming mainstream. I'm talking Fresh Prince (that's Will Smith in a previous life to you youngin's out there) days. I listened to this kind of hip-hop/rap "rhythmic spitting" (as my mother always called it) through my bedroom wall quite a bit for a few years there. I never realized how much they stuck with me until they became a part of my soundtrack.

There's one in particular that frequents my mind. I couldn't tell you the name of the song or who recorded it, but anytime I'm really knocking something OUT OF THE PARK, in my mind, I start singing, "I'm doin' it and doin' it and doin' it GOOD!" It's not a choice. It's just there. THIS is the song that my brain thinks expresses my hard work paying off, apparently.

Thanks, Scoot!

* I decided sort of spur of the moment yesterday afternoon to try and teach T her last name. Not sure where it came from in my mind, but we said it over and over between daycare and WalMart (a whole quarter of a mile, in case you're wondering) and by the time we got to WM, she could tell all of her grandparents (and her Daddy's voicemail) that her name was "Tutter Buyers". Well, it's close anyway. :)

* I am THOROUGHLY DISAPPOINTED that NO ONE played my "guess what my favorite part of this video is" game on the Hanson song. I KNOW that some of you could figure it out if you watch the video carefully. SOOO... I decided that the first person who figures out what in that video you know I would LOVE (due to past ramblings) will get a PRIZE in the mail from ME!!!

Game on, folks!!!

Rambling Complete. Mischief Managed.

Love AND Shipoopies,
Leslie

Wordless Wednesdays - Daddy's Duds

(You know my Wordless Wednesdays are never totally wordless. Not in my DNA.)

This is a jersey from when her Daddy and Uncle Matt were kids in Rockmart. I decided to try it on her today and it fit. She immediately pointed to her belly and said, "One." Then, as I zipped her jacket on her later in the morning, she said, "Bye bye, one." This child cracks me up!

Love and Shipoopies,

Leslie

I Heart Faces

I haven't entered I Heart Faces in a while, but when I saw the category was "Smiles", I knew I had a million pictures of that cute smile that runs around my house daily. She smiles ALL THE TIME (except when she's pitching a fit - she is almost 2, ya know). However, THIS smile is reserved for her Daddy! Oh how she loves him!

Want to see some more beautiful smiles? Head on over to I Heart Faces.

Love & Shipoopies,

Leslie

*PS - I posted twice today. Don't miss the post below to get some feel-good for your day!*

Where's the Love?!?

I have a little treat for you today. It's some feel-good excitement!

Are you beside yourself with anticipation yet?

Now, I must first say that I'm almost a little embarassed to be sharing this. You see, when this group first bopped onto the scene, I was a little too old to become a teenie-bopper fan. I was old enough to understand that they were NOT cool (although I still involuntarily Mmmm-bop my head when that one song comes on).

But even I, the one way too cool for some childish teenie-boppers *ahem*, can't help but get into this joyful bit of fun!

Much like another bit of pop-culture (from about the same time) - the dancing baby, it makes me want to sit in front of the computer and learn the dance. :)

I dare you not to dance at least a little. :)


Thinking 'Bout Somethin'

HANSON MySpace Music Videos

*There's a "job well done" in it for anyone who can name my FAVORITE part of the video. Think back to past posts. If you follow me regularly, I bet you can figure it out. Look closely!*

Love & Shipoopies,
Leslie

Meme Mondays - "Why? Is that weird?"

I'll be the first to tell you. I'm quirky. I like to think delightfully so, but quirky just the same. I'm silly, goofy, unique, different, interesting (in that "She's....um...interesting." sort of way). I've always embraced these things about myself, and at times even developed that in myself. I always figured, "Hey, you're never gonna be JUST like everyone else. Might as well be unique!"

But here's what I've discovered since becoming an adult - through college friends, through my husband, through my mommy friends, etc. - sometimes I'm downright WEIRD.

(Stop laughing!)

I mean weird in the same way every single person is weird to everyone else. We didn't all grow up the same way with the same rituals, words, people, places. We are all at least a little bit different from everyone else.

Don't believe me? Think about all the "roommate issues" you had to work out when you first got married (or got your first roomie). WHY IN THE WORLD would you make the bed like that? HOW CAN YOU POSSIBLY think it makes sense to put that there? DID IT NEVER occur to you to do this? When you spend time outside of the house you grew up in, you find out that all the things you assumed everyone did just like you... NOT so much!

In my family, most of our uniqueness is in the form of terminology. We have weird phrases like "Calling the tree" at Christmas (passing out the presents - aka CALLING the names on the gift tags - which my roomie and boyfriend in college mocked endlessly by mockingly patting their legs and saying, "Here tree. Come here, boy!"). But I also discovered (only after constantly hearing the hubs say, "WHAT did you just say?!?") that my parents - Diddy especially - were pretty keen on making up words. We measure things in "a skosh", have things "tump over", and sign cards, letters, and now even blogs with "Love & Shipoopies".

That's why I laughed a bit the first time I heard a cable commercial touting the ability to watch a show you record on any TV in your house.

The guy begins asking about each TV in his house and eventually gets to, "I can watch it in the closet?"

"You have a TV in your closet?!?"

"Why? Is that weird?"

It rings of my reality all too clearly. :)

Even MORE fun is finding the weirdness in others. Heck, the first morning in my house in college (my first morning NOT living with my parents), my roomie finished her cereal, then went to dump the milk (and any leftover bits and pieces) out the back door.

I said, "WHATINTHEWORLDAREYOUDOING?!?!"

To which she replied, "Dumping my cereal into the yard. Why? Is that weird?"

"Only if you want your first breath of outside air each day to smell like soured milk."

So Saturday night, I was having dinner with two separate families of friends who happened to both come to the ATL on the same night. We were all chatting when someone mentioned how long T's hair would be if I hadn't ever had it cut.

"Umm, she's not gotten a haircut."

Newlywed friend: "Well not cut, but trimmed."

Me: "Umm, nope."

Newlywed friend: "Really? Not even her bangs?"

Me: Silent, wide-eyed, head shaking

Mother of THREE friend: "REALLY?!?"

Me: "Umm...um...um..." (Thinking to myself, "Why? Is that weird?")

So come on! FESS UP!!! What weirdness lurks in YOUR closet? What things did you think were perfectly normal until you stepped out of the safety of your own home?

EVERYONE's got a little wierd in there somewhere.

Oh, IS IT weird that my almost 2 year old (ohmygoshcanshepossiblybeturning2injustoveramonth) has never had a haircut?

Love & Shipoopies,
Leslie

Thankful Thursdays

Need I say more?!?

Love & Shipoopies,

Leslie

*These are from photo session I discussed getting postponed over Spring Break. Lisa is TONS of fun and always gets great shots of my little one!*

AUGHHHHHH!!!!!

STUPID BLOGGER WON'T UPLOAD MY PICTURES TODAY!!!!!

*Hard to have "Wordless Wednesdays" without pictures!*

Love & Shipoopies,

Leslie

Meme Mondays

It's Monday again, and this week I have no clouds of trepidation hanging over my head so I should actually be BLOGGING this week. :)

For this week's activity, I thought maybe we could do some "Getting to know you... getting to know all about you." Are you GAME? (nudge, nudge, wink, wink)

Man, I apparently woke up with my corny pants on this morning. :) tee-hee

In my attempts to figure out how to introduce myself for the blogger party, I found that there are MANY things you gals (and/or guys) may not know about me, in spite of the fact that I'm pretty much an open book. :)

So here's what I'd like us to do today. Everyone give me 5 adjectives, 3 nouns, and 2 fun facts all about YOU! Be creative and revealing. :)

As usual, you can post in my comments OR on your own blog. If you post on your own blog (to continue the fun, in TRUE meme fashion) please leave me a link in my comments so I'll know to check you out! :)

Here goes:

goofy, tender-hearted, talkative, clever, outgoing

over-thinker, Pollyanna, wannabe

*I was flashed and then stalked (by the same guy) while in college. (I affectionally refer to him as "Pen** guy" in my stories. tee-hee)
*I have dreams of writing a book (experiences, not instructions) on nursing one day.

Have fun! I hope to learn more about all my bloggy friends!

Love & Shipoopies,
Leslie

And the Winner Is...

I used random.org to generate the winner. There were 25 entries, so I entered 1 and 25 as my parameters. The winner is...

for the SECOND month in a row...

Stacey at McCrakensX4!!!

The good news is, Stacey, I already have your mailing address (and some S's that I owe you - geez I apologize again for that!). Email me about the dress if you will. I need to know how long, how big around (measure right under the armpit), straps or not, and do you want the black bottom part on or not. :)

Love & Shipoopies (and to more blogging this next week),
Leslie

Free 4 All Fridays

That's right, folks! It's Friday again! (And after the week I had, I could NOT be any happier about this fact!) Time to give away some happiness to help us all celebrate the end of this week!

This week, I'm gonna make someone a summer dress that would bring a smile to anyone's face! I found this fabric and promptly fell in love! I can make this dress long for an adult (at full-length, it comes to my ankles and I'm a TOWERING 5'1 so it would be a cute mid-length for normal-sized folks) OR I can make it short and small for your little lady OR I can make it short for an adult (if you happen to not like the black at the bottom)- whichever you like. I can also make it strapless (it's rouched at the top) OR add straps made of that cute red polka-dotted ribbon!


Asking yourself, "How can I win this fabulous prize?" Here's how:

1.) Leave me a comment telling me who you'd want the dress for.
2.) Become a follower and leave me a comment telling me you did so.
3.) Go to He & Me + 3 and leave Mimi a comment then come here and tell me you did so.
4.) Blog about this giveaway on your own blog, then leave me the link in a comment.

*YOU MUST HAVE A SEPARATE COMMENT FOR EACH OF THESE FOR IT TO COUNT AS AN ENTRY*

The winner will be selected using random.org and posted on Sunday evening.

Happy Friday!

Love & Shipoopies,
Leslie

Tardy to the Party!!!

Yep, that's right, folks! This blog party ends TODAY (in less than 2 hours) and I'm just now joining! I wish I could claim that I JUST discovered it, but alas, that is not the case.

Confession time? (You know how much I like confession time.)

I got a case of nerves!!! I had every intention of posting last Friday evening, but I kept letting other things get in the way (like reading other blogs and watching reruns - you know, IMPORTANT stuff) because I just couldn't get out from under the pressure of this being the blog that INTRODUCES me to the blogger world.

Ok, so I know quite a few of you bloggers out there and participate in some blogger games weekly with you gals! I don't know why THIS stressed me out so, but it did. I kept thinking nothing I could write in one random blog could possibly show off just HOW amazing (tee-hee) I can be! :) I mean, let's face it. Moments of brilliance usually come on the fly, not when you're asked to be brilliant.

So now I have procrastinated until the VERY LAST MINUTE of this party to walk in the door. (I feel like I've returned to college and my English paper MUST be in the professor's inbox by midnight. I always DID work best under pressure... or at least that's what I TOLD myself when I procrastinated -- which was ALWAYS!!!)

Did I come up with something BRILLIANT to introduce myself during my week of procrastination? Of COURSE not!!!

But here's me in a nutshell:

I am a
Christian
mother, daughter
wife
friend
ex-teacher, voicewriter, librarian-wanna-be
NERDs lover, bean-hater, strawberry addict
Weight Watcher's newbie (for the 2nd time)
Sweet tea lover, tiramisu obsessor
singer, writer, painter, crafter
insecure, outgoing (a walking contradiction)
talkaholic, scrapaholic, blogaholic, musicaholic
book-reader (1 or more a week), book-writing wanna-be
University of Alabama LOVER (Roll Tide!)
Bama born, Bama raised, Bama alum
ex-Louisianan Georgia resident
Auburn-raised LSU fan of a husband
Grammar dork
of a Southern gal!

You'll likely:

*See some pictures


*Read some worldly commentary (Like the first time I saw someone almost as old as my grandmother driving a Mustang - It was like watching the death of a muscle car all in one moment.)
*Read my embarassing stories (Like the time I woke my husband up trying to take a picture of a tree one street over through our bedroom window)
*Play some games
*Be introduced to some music or REintroduced to some music

The main thing you WON'T see on my blog is complaints/stories (without permission) about the hubs, the in-laws, or the 'rents (aka - my parents, his parents, or him).

Why, you ask? Isn't that the gem of all our lives? Having great "You won't believe what ______ did!!!" stories to share?

Possibly. BUT...

They read my blog. So they'd KNOW that you KNOW what they did. And you'd KNOW that they KNOW that you KNOW what they did. And they'd KNOW that you KNOW that they KNOW that you KNOW what they did. Just imagine if the two of you ever saw each other at WalMart or Target. The pressure of all the KNOWING but not telling. It's too great a burden to ask any of you to carry. :)

I'd like to say I'm "just a working mom" but we all know there's no such thing. I'd like to get to know what else there is about YOU that makes you YOU. I hope you'll stick around and find out the same about me. :)

Love & Shipoopies,
Leslie


Oh, and prizes: There are some AMAZING prizes to be had at this party. (If you don't believe me, hop over by using the link at the top and see for yourself.) My top THREE would be USC17 (a $200 Apple gift certificate - perfect since I got a new iPhone YESTERDAY!), INTL14 (a blog/twitter redesign - what blog can't use a little sprucing up?), and USC11 (a $50 gift certificate to an Etsy store that sells custom made camera straps - something I REALLY want). Other prizes I'd really like are US8, US11, US39, USC3, USC35, USC37, USC39, and INTL11 (though as I've only ever won ONE prize from all my blog entries, I'd be thrilled to win any of those great prizes listed).

One of the prizes in that great big list (at 5 Minutes for Mom) is a custom-made tutu made by yours truly. :)

My Requisite Doctor's Note - well, sort of...

...Okay, so actually, it's just an excuse... well, multiple excuses - but they're GOOD. Does that help?

You see, it's SPRING BREAK... for Drew. Now, I don't have a school job, so I don't get Spring Break, but I did take the last 3/5 of the week off to help Drew celebrate. Now, I wasn't yet celebrating Spring Break Tuesday. I was working. But I was so excited at the prospect of being off work, that I couldn't focus on a blog (not even one preparing you for my almost certain blogging absence).

Then Wednesday, we went HERE:

"More fish. More fish."

Then today, we were SUPPOSED to get the pictures made by the delightful lady (and parent of one of the hubs' past students and one of his current students AND wife of our used to be pastor before the hubs got a new church job) who took THESE:

But it rained... or well, the rain was SO NEAR that we couldn't IMAGINE it would hold off long enough for us to take pictures. It did, of course. But we had already postponed, so we'll be doing them first thing tomorrow morning.

THEN we're loading up the bikes (or if they won't fit, renting some once we get there) and headiang to see some of this *hopefully*.

So see, even WITHOUT a note from the doctor, my absences are forgiveable... well understandable anyway... sort of... I hope. :)

Love & Shipoopies,

Leslie

Meme Mondays

Man did we have a GREAT Easter! Church was wonderful (both services). The choir rocked it (if I do say so myself, which I do). Lunch with our besties, the Halls, was GOOD and FUN! Tucker was beautiful and had a blast!!!

Speaking of Easter, I've discovered (partially through discussing traditions with my husband as we develop them for our family and partially through looking at other peoples' Easter pictures) that Easter traditions vary GREATLY! I always enjoy learning what other people "always do".

In MY family, the Easter Bunny always HID our baskets. So when we woke up, we had to rush around the house to find them. Is it in the dryer? Behind the couch? In a closet? It was always fun. Sometimes we left carrots on the porch for Mr. Bunny, sometimes not. We always went to church. We always hunted eggs with the cousins at Munner's (my grandmother's). And my favorite tradition is my mother and I always picked out a pattern and fabric and we (and by we, I mean SHE) made my Easter dress each year. :)

Tucker was too young for most traditions this year (though she did officially receive her Daddy's childhood Easter basket this year), but we definitely discussed what we did and what we want to do.

These things matter, ya know?

So what are YOUR Easter traditions?

Love & Shipoopies,

Leslie

Having kids changes EVERYTHING!!!

*Disclaimer - Blogger is in a mood and refuses to leave in paragraph breaks. I apologize.*

People always tell you this - Having kids changes EVERYTHING!!! I've heard it all my life. Especially when Drew and I started thinking about starting a family, and when I was GREAT with child. And I totally knew what everyone meant. I prepared myself for all the changes - dirty diapers, stinky pails for said diapers, nothing ever being where you want it again, messes in the floor, having to drag too much stuff with you everywhere you go, never having QUIET again, and my least favorite change - never again getting to sleep-in. I mentally prepped myself for all of this, and for the most part, I'm ok with the changes.

Here's what I didn't know. Having kids changes EVERYTHING!!!! Not just the funcitonality of your life, but the emotions of your world. I see EVERYTHING in a different light.

Some friends of ours had their twins 4.5 months early and for 3 or 4 days after hearing the news, I was inconsolable. I SOBBED (to the point of not being able to speak about it) for literally days. I had to wait to go see them in the hospital because I was such a mess and I didn't want to take that into their already emotional world. Everytime I thought about those sweet, sweet babies, my brain went into a spiral of "what ifs" about Tucker. I couldn't handle it emotionally.

When T was around 6 months old, I was asked to sing "Breath of Heaven" at my parents' church one Sunday (during Advent). It's one of my old standards. I've been singing it at that church since I was in high school every single Advent. But this time, it was all I could do to not just cry through it all. I just pictured Mary and her fears and discomforts and all that she went through later in her child's life. That our JESUS - the hero we all know of - was HER BABY -- her Tucker!!! It's more than my heart can contain to think of his mother throughout the entire gospel now.

And Easter (not just the joy of the first hunting of eggs and chocolate pictured above)! I am amazed by how much MORE AMAZING, breathtaking, overwhelming, the gift of the sacrifice and resurrection is when I think of it being for TUCKER! Please do not mistake me by feeling I am not awestruck by this gift for ME because I am. It's more than I can comprehend most days. But this season, sitting through Lenten services and readings, I tear up every single time thinking how UNBELIEVABLY GRATEFUL I am that TUCKER has salvation. That my God loves her even more than I do - that he wants her safe and happy and in his care!

*sniff, sniff* {Pardon me while I blow my nose and dry my tears.}

Folks, let me tell you, having kids changes EVERYTHING!!! It not only changes your LIFE, but it changes your PERSPECTIVE, your HEART, your SOUL!!!

But I guess most of you probably already knew that, huh?

Love & Shipoopies,

Leslie