Toddler Tea Party

It wasn't until we were sitting in Kinderschuhe, a children's shoe store in Connecticut looking for a pair of shoes for Hadley that I learned she knew how to have tea parties. In a play area at the back of the store, she picked up a tea kettle and started pouring fake tea into cups for my mom. My first thought was *sniff* what else is she doing that I don't know about. But as soon as we got back, I opened the tea set that her Aunt Jinnie had gotten for her first birthday. At the time, Jinnie insisted that all little girls love to have tea parties and boy did she know what she was talking about. The day I opened the set, I had to limit our tea parties to 3. Of course, I also taught her how to invite her stuffed animals and serve them all tea and crumpets, and how you have to be all hoity toity and stick out your pinky as you sip (not slurp) your hot brew.

iPlay Sand and Water Table

Hadley loves playing with water. She loves putting her hands in it. She loves pouring it on herself. If we are outside, she wants her pail filled with water. If it is hot out, she wants water in her pool. After Mommy, Daddy, Tica, and Gibson, Water was probably her 5th word, which she says as if asking a question, on repeat like a broken record. Wawa? Wawa? Wawa? The way she says Wawa reminds me of Gilda Radner's Barbara Wawa skit. Until I correct her, and then she says WaaaTer.

Because of her love of all things water, when we were in Connecticut on vacation and I spied iPlay's Sand and Water Table at a toy store, I knew I had to get it for her. I called a few toy stores when I got back to Denver, and thanks to my friend Cynthia who has a 25% off coupon, I was able to get this for her at a store down the street from us. Total Score!

It was super easy to set up out of the box and I love how colorful it is. Despite DGs crotch in this shot, this picture is great because Hadley is having a blast.


Water and boats and ducks go in one side and sand in the other. You can pour water into the funnels at the top and watch them spin the wheels.

This is RATED A for Awesome!

Grab My Button

No, this isn't code for dirty talk. After almost 4 years of writing this blog, I am just now learning how to market myself. That was never my intent when I started writing. I just wanted to keep family and friends in touch with what I was doing. But I like all my readers. A lot. I like new readers. I'm fascinated with the marketing aspect and the analytics of how people found me.

All the cool girls these days have a fun blogging button that you can copy and add into the side bar of your blog. Scroll down and mine is on the right side bar. No pressure here. I'm not going to take you off the Christmas card list or anything if you don't grab my button. But if you feel so inclined, feel free to copy the .html and add it to your blog side bar. Easy as pie. Feel free to write me if you have any questions.

I've had requests for RSS feeds, so I am going to implement this soon as well.

39th Annual Earth Day

If you have turned on the tv in the last 10 years, then you have probably heard about all the things you can do for Earth Day: Buy an electric mower, change all light bulbs in your house to the CFL ones, switch to low flow shower heads, buy fancy swiss reusable water bottles instead of buying bottled water etc. And these are all GREAT options, but they also cost you money. In lieu of today's economic times, here is short list of easy things that you can do today that won't cost you a dime.

1) SAVE WATER: Don't flush the toilet every time you go into the bathroom. Have you ever heard the saying if it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down? You may say Ew, but do it. And don't let the water run while you brush your teeth.

2) REUSE BAGS: Reusable bags aren't just for the grocery store. They are for every store. Use them at the mall, the food warehouse, the drug store, everywhere. Carry them in your car and if you are in the store and realize you forgot them, hustle your ass BACK to the car and get them. If you don't own any reusable bags, carry around your previously used brown paper bags, or other grocery bags.

3) RECYCLE: Don't be lazy and think that you don't need to recycle. We have it easy here with a local recycling program, but still some people don't recycle because they think it's too much work. I think these are the same people think that their trash magically disappears after it leaves their house. I would like them to follow their trash to the landfill someday to see the impact. A family of 4 creates over 20 lbs. of trash a DAY!

4) USE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION: Or ride your bike to work or the store. Sometimes being green can give you some exercise too.

This is the short list that I came up with and there are so many more idea. Feel free to leave comments if you do other stuff as well.

My Mom Logic

For the first six months of parenting, I couldn't believe I was allowed to have a baby without getting a degree in it first. I also couldn't believe that my mother had me when she was 20, and yet somehow I was still alive. I was so afraid of screwing up that I did a lot of things by the book. Literally. I would take a book, read aloud the chapter about how to give a bath, dictate to David what we needed to do, and then ready, set, GO. If a book didn't have the words baby or breast in the title, I didn't read it. At the time, I was hoping this phase would be temporary, so that by the time I would have to teach her about the birds and the bees, I would be able to wing it. ::fingers crossed::


Now that I have approximately 17 months of parenting under my belt, I am able to improvise now and then. So in addition to wiping her nose when it runs, making sure she is breathing in the middle of the night, and kissing her boo boos, I am now able to mock her for boogers, build her an afghan fort, teach her how to say poop and burp, and feed her peanut butter and nutella on a spoon, all without a book. ::pats on back:: I know, you wish I was your mom too.


When I became a mother, I expected to love my baby girl unconditionally. To this day, what defies my Mom Logic completely is my ability to love her so deeply that I am consumed with her. She is on a pedestal of perfection, my golden child. She is the measure of my worth. Without her, I am nothing. When she looks at me, I know that she embodies the epitome of everything I have worked for in this lifetime. I was meant to be a mother, to be HER mother. Together, we have made a cocoon for the two of us, a bubble of our life together. A bubble that no one can enter because it is her and me, me and her, against the world. Daily, she reminds me of who I am and what I want to be for her. My baby girl has taught me more about how to be a mother than any book I could have ever read.


Please don't pop my bubble yet to warn me of the teen years. It will fall on deaf ears. I prefer to live in blissful ignorance and make every day the best day ever.

NOTE: This was my post for the MomLogic Mother of All Bloggers Contest. Thank you so much to everyone that signed up to nominate me. I'll name my next child fish after you. April 30th they will announce the top 10 bloggers and then they will be put to a vote.

KFunk Guest Blogger

NOTE: Kristin of Love, Life, and Coffee is good friends with my SIL, Jinnie. We had our babies three months apart and have gotten to know each other through the power of blogs. Her post is a perfect example of something that I have never touched on. I struggle every day with the guilt of not having an office job, yet if I were in an office, I would struggle with the guilt of being away from H. for so long. Enjoy!

Being a working mom isn't easy. And I wouldn't know because I'm not one. But now that I'm back in the working world, I feel like I sort of dance the fine line between working-mom and stay-at-home-mom.


Back when Madison was first born, I made the wise decision of taking six months off from my job. Who knew the economy would tank and I'd end up getting laid off. Hindsight is 20/20! But in retrospect, I'm actually glad I took the time and spent it with my baby, no matter what the circumstances. I never felt like I was climbing the walls or itching to go back to work. I think that alone tells you I was never in the mode of "working mom." However, when it happened, I was still caught off guard.

Madison was almost a year old when I started contracting with my old company. I had just mastered the art of everything about being mom, when I was suddenly bringing her to day care and heading back to work. Being back in my same old office was like "Groundhog Day" - it was so "normal," it was surreal. On my first day back, someone actually came up to me and said, casually: Oh hey, what's up? Are you back from maternity leave? It was as if nothing had changed.


And yet, as all of us moms know, everything had changed.

So now, when we go to a playgroup, I don't feel quite like I fit in with the rest of the stay-at-home moms. And when I go to the office, I don't feel quite like a real coworker. My conversations range from edible playdough to software coding standards. I applaud the moms who go back to work after three months because ultimately, I don't think I could do it. Luckily Madison is at the age where she wants her independence and "freedom" (ha), and doesn't always need me right at her side. So that helps ease the guilt, just a little bit. Whatever the case may be, seeing their little faces at the end of the day is priceless. And I think in our collective mom hearts, we're all just trying to do what's best for our children anyway. And hey, does it really matter? They'll get even with us when they're sixteen anyway!

Guest Bloggers Coming This Week

I had 2 takers to be guest bloggers here at the Beehive. Coming up bright and early tomorrow, my mom chimes in with her 2 cents on being a grandparent. Having been here this past week, this is hot off the press with new cute pics.

And on Friday, I have a great guest post from Kristin at Love, Life and Coffee about what it means to dance the fine line of working and being a stay-at-home.

Thanks so much for all of you moms out there that signed up for Mom Logic just to nominate me. I am 3 nominations away!

MomLogic Blogging Contest

I know I ask so much of you dear readers. I force you to name my fish, look at picture upon picture of my little girl, live through our laundry dramas, sit through endless rhetoric on poopy diapers, and poopy dogs, and still here I am again with yet another request. We here at the Beehive would like to be entered into a Blogging Contest being hosted by Mom Logic. In addition to writing an upcoming post for the Mom Logic community, in order to be entered, I need 10 of you go to my wall here at the Mom Logic Community and write "I nominate you to be the Mother of all bloggers." I believe you need to sign up for Mom Logic to do so. Okpleasethankyou.

Parenting Styles

A funny thing happened last week-end as several parenting styles came together in what I found to be a very amusing scenario. For those of you who don't know, Holly and Lora are two of my best girlfriends. They are my Sex in the City ladies. When shit hits the fan, these are the women that drop everything and leave work to come be with me. Here's a little back history:

(Lora, Holly, and Me on top)

Holly and I have been friends since I moved here 13 years ago. A lot of people never understood our relationship because we were so close. My father always considered her the son-in-law he never had. Holly and I often joked that we would remain single and end up in the nursing home together offering sponge baths to get dates. God forbid if I were to ever fall into a coma, Holly would come and clean up my eyebrows every few weeks so they wouldn't get too unruly. No seriously, she's already agreed to this. Holly will also NEVER read this blog because she claims that she doesn't want to learn about things I'm doing in life online along with everyone else. She wants me to pick up the ga' damn phone. She is an engineer with an analytical mind and at 5'9" a force to be reckoned with. She is an Alpha Female.

A few years after Holly and I met, Lora came into our lives like a hurricane. We had no choice but to declare her our new BFF. Lora is usually the most beautiful woman in the room. She will do or say anything for a laugh. On her wedding day, with her beautiful dress, hair, and makeup, I watched her run across the dance floor and slide under her husbands legs. On Holly's wedding day, in her bridesmaids dress, I believe she did the worm on the dance floor. By day she is a social worker and her gracious and sincere nature makes you feel immediately like you are her soul mate. Yet her friendship is so fierce, that sometimes you feel completely unworthy of being her friend. She is obsessively loyal and if you ever got into a fist fight in a dark alley, Lora would have your back. She is an Alpha Female.

Now Lora has always been the disorganized dirty one. And when I say dirty, I mean years ago, Holly ordered her to find the source of an odor in her apartment and it ended up being a dead mouse under her bed. This of course comes from Holly who consistently had three-year old expired condiments in her fridge and if she owned a vacuum, you wouldn't know it my going into her house. That leaves me as the cleanest, the most organized, and dare I say, often the voice of reason. Alright, alright, I'm a Project Manager, I LIKE ORDER.

Last week-end the ladies came over for brunch with all the kids. Lora and Holly were watched the girls in the back yard for a bit while I was cleaning up the mess in the kitchen. When I was finished, I went out to join them and noticed naked little girls, pails of water, Holly barking orders, and big pregnant Lora hurriedly trying to get a diaper and clothes on Hadley. I watched this scene in full amusement as suddenly it dawned on me that they thought that I would be mad that Hadley was running around naked rolling in mud and grass and dumping water on herself.

It made me realize that we have 10 years of experience together being single, and drinking bloody mary's at the bar on Sunday, but parenting is still fairly newish to all of us. Yet our parenting styles are not far off from from our personalities. Do I let Hadley run around using marker on herself head to toe getting filthy outside? Mmm, not exactly, but I also don't think that there is anything wrong with her getting dirty and having fun. As long as I know that she is safe that is really all that matters to me.

Gummi Crib Rail Cover Review

Last month, when I went to get Hadley from her nap, I noticed a few teeth marks on her crib rail. It looked like a beaver was using the rail to teethe on, and the paint was taken off down to the wood. Upon further inspection, I noticed that there were additional marks up and down the rail. We needed to do something fast before I started having panic attacks about lead poisoning, so DG got online and found this Gummi crib rail. We purchased one of them and I have to say that it completely fixed our problem. It went on very easily and is adhered so that it covers the rail that she chews on. It was also one of the cheaper products we found.

And to our comfort, her lead levels came back clean too!

Guest Blogger Anyone?

I am looking to add a few guest bloggers to the mix in the next few weeks as it appears that starting a company, looking for a job, and running after a toddler equals less time for me. If you are interested in writing a guest post for the Beehive make a comment or shoot me an email.

There is only one rule. I'm a Project Manager, of course there is a rule. tsk tsk. I would prefer that the post be relevant to this blog. Luckily we talk about almost everything including parenting, pregnancy, raising kids, cooking, cleaning, art, music, restaurants, crafting, sewing, knitting, crocheting, pooping blah blah.

In the meantime, I'm working on the Dysfunctional Housewife, aka Cynthia to cook something up for us.

Virtual Assistants are the new Pink

Outsourcing has been going on for over 20 years. But in today's age, the new flashy term is Virtual Assistant. People all over the world are able to stay at home and work remotely for companies. I've been letting my mind open up with an entrepreneurial spirit lately and began to consider starting my own virtual business. It started when my friend and colleague Lydia that I've worked with for over 15 years said to me: "We need to start our own Virtual Marketing Business". Then I read in Fast Company that the whole world is going to start doing Google searches about how to work from home. I thought, I could write a blog on how to work from home. Needed: PJs, coffee mug, baby in lap, oh and a computer. Ready: Set: WORK.

In a flash, I went to GoDaddy trying to find a Domain Name. Here's what we came up with: Virtual Management Systems. Professional, descriptive, everything I'm looking for in a serious company. I wonder how many other companies created their names with what they could find on GoDaddy? On a sidenote, I also own PurlPrincess for my knitting blog someday!

David is working on my website a little every night. I need to start whip cracking him, or offering back rubs, or coffee, or something. I have two clients/projects, my friend Jeff and another that I found on HireMyMom. In the meantime, you can catch me on Twitter here.

Neutrogena Makeup

Growing up, my mother never wore makeup. Mom considered herself dressed up if she had lipstick on. When it came time for puberty and I was ready to don my war paint, I had to look to my BFF Joy to learn how to put on makeup. Joy also did my makeup for prom, and even on my wedding day, she helped me put on my eyeliner because my hands were so shaky. When I was finally allowed to wear makeup in the 80's, I carefully chose my first eyeshadow quad in the colors of eggplant and gray. You know, real natural looking, like a bruise. I have come a little way since then, but my idea of makeup is still pretty simplistic and always includes under eye bag hider and lip gloss. So having me teach you how to put on makeup would be like the Dalai Lama giving a seminar on how to fight wars.

That said, Neutrogena just sent me some new makeup to try out (through a BzzAgent campaign I am working on) and I thought I would do some before and afters for effect. Here is what my package included:

Mineral Sheers Concealer Kit SPF20
Nourishing Eye Quad
Nourishing Eyeliner
Healthy Volume Mascara

I've always thought Neutrogena had great face cleansers and moisterizing products, but was not even aware they had a makeup line. What I really like about the Neutrogena makeup is that they are really reasonable priced. The mascara is only $8.99, compared to $16-$20 for Benefit or Lancome. The eyeshadow palette is only $9.99 and it includes a base, highlighter, crease and accent color. It is also marked for people like myself who need a paint by numbers outline of how to apply eyeshadow.


After seeing these pictures, what I really wish Neutrogena would create is a magic wand to erase my crows feet. Gawd, how long have I had those? Since that, like winning lotto, is a pipe dream, I will have to settle for their concealer kit (which included a base and powder), because it did a nice job of giving me an even skin tone. I also like the natural look and don't feel like I am overly made-up. As for the mascara, it went on really well, no clumping, though I'm not sure I believe their marketing about 400% fuller lashes. Compared to other products I have, it did not make my lashes fuller. And by the end of the day, it was completely under my eyes.

I wish I had a bunch of fancy giveaways, but all I've got are several coupons for Neutrogena makeup for $1.50-$3.00 off these new products. If you see something you like, comment on this post and I'll send you one in the mail.

Celebrate Rare Disease Day

Believe me, I know it sounds odd. Seriously, the Rare Disease people need to get a PR person to spin this in a better way. That said, I was recently contacted by the California Department of Public Health Infant Botulism Treatment and Prevention Program announcing February 28 as Rare Disease Day.

As most of you know, Hadley was one of 72 infants per year in this country to contract infant botulism at the age of 4 months. Without the work of these people, we could potentially have been in the hospital for over a month. But with their funding and their fairly newish drug Baby Big, our baby girl has grown up to be a strong and smart as crap toddler. Oh, and did I mention cute too?

From the Rare Disease Website:

On this day, millions of people around the world will observe Rare Disease Day. NORD is the U.S. coordinator, working in partnership with EURORDIS in Europe and other organizations around the world. More than 200 organizations, societies, and companies have signed on to support this effort as Rare Disease Day Partners. We applaud and appreciate what they are doing to focus attention on rare diseases as a public health issue.

Good Inexpensive Wine

With the economy in the crapper, we are all looking for ways to count our pennies and make our dollar stretch just a little bit further. Even though times are rough, we still want to drown our sorrow in spirits, without having to resort to Boone's Farm. This is why I want to tell you about our new favorite wine, Red Diamond Merlot. Not only does it taste amazing, but at $7.99/bottle, it is also reasonably priced. That is why when we see it on sale for $5.99 we go get a case of it.

From their website:

Our juicy Washington Merlot is brought to life by a splash of Cabernet Sauvignon for structure and complexity while Cabernet Franc rounds out the fruity characteristics. Perfectly balanced fruit, lush tannins and acidity, Red Diamond Merlot will make your mouth water for more.

There are some great wines coming out of Washington state these days. Washington wines are the new Napa. In doing my research, I also found out that Wine and Spirits rated Red Diamond one of the top 10 Merlots in the country! So what are you waiting for silly? It's Valentine's Day tomorrow. Forget flowers, chocolate, and cards, go out and grab a bottle of Red Diamond for your lover.

Cutting Your Budget

When I lost my job 6 months ago, David and I started adjusting our budget so that it would reflect our new income. An episode of Oprah the other day discussed what frugal families do.

Here is what we have done:

1) When we lost the Honda (RIP) to a car accident, we became a one car family. Though this only saves us $20/month in insurance, we have decided not to purchase a 2nd car at this time. I have to say that the brunt of this falls on David as he is the one that has to walk to the light rail every day.

2) We cancelled Netflix. Again, only a savings of $15/month, but it's something right? Instead we watch a lot of movies onDemand, suddenly have free HBO, and rent movies on AppleTV using gift cards we have received. You can also rent movies for free at the Library.

3) All Retirement and College saving is on hold.

4) Our spending has been cut down to only necessities. The only thing we spend money on right now is food, diapers, and clothes for Hadley. This is probably the hardest part for us. I have found that our grocery bill seems to have grown exponentially because of this. It's like I'm taking out my shopping frustration on buying extra broccoli. HA!

With all of the economic doom and gloom taking over the news lately, what have you been doing with your budget?

25 Random Things About Me

The Request for 25 Random Things has been flying around Facebook lately and everyone is doing it, like a bad chain letter. Though it has turned out to be quite fun and very insightful. I thought I would post mine here.

1. I love telling the story of my conception. It’s all drama, love, romance, war, and Christmas.

2. I have severe claustrophobia resulting from an operation that I had when I was 4. They were still using ether in the back woods of New Hampshire and I remember screaming and being held down on the table by the nurses as the mask went over my mouth. It’s so bad I will walk up 10 flights of stairs before ever stepping in an elevator.

3. I started taking piano lessons when I was 4, I played french horn in High School and College, and I taught myself how to play guitar in 12th grade.

4. I didn’t blossom until I was 20. Living in France for 6 months, I took care of myself, lost weight, learned to be strong on my own, and gained self esteem.

5. I have always wanted an all girl band called Brazen Hussy. The closest I came was playing in a band in Denver for seven years called Ed Fingers. I wrote songs, played guitar, sang, recorded an album, and shared the stage with three great guys.

6. I really enjoy getting dressed up on Halloween and have been Wonder Woman no less than 6 times, the first being 1974.

7. I met my husband on Match.com. Our 3rd date we saw 311 at Red Rocks, the next week we took a road trip to a wedding in Omaha, NE, and the following month he moved in with his wiener dog.

8. My husband proposed to me with carolers at our annual holiday party. To the tune of “We Wish you a Merry Christmas”, they sang “Will You Marry Me Christy Allbee”. Watching the video still makes me cry.

9. I loved being pregnant so much that I would do it everyday.

10. The single worst moment of my life was a 48 hour stretch in April 2008 when my 4 month old baby girl contracted botulism (1 of 72 kids per year in this country). For two days I watched her wither away to a rag doll in my arms while they were trying to figure out what was wrong and I thought she was going to die. For two weeks we lived in the PICU at Children’s Hospital where she was intubated for a week and had a feeding tube. She is 100% now and the strongest most precious girl I’ve ever met.

11. I enjoy cooking and making new recipes. The Moosewood Cookbook is my favorite of all time, though I’ve never been in the restaurant in Ithaca, NY.

12. I get so excited to take road trips. There are only 6 states in the US I have never been to (MT, ID, LA, ND, AL, MI).

13. I have seen every episode of every season of the Gilmore Girls and Charmed.

14. My favorite color is apple green, as seen in my wedding colors and Hadley’s room.

15. During the summer, when I’ve had a few too many drinks, I have been known to grab a sleeping bag and sleep under the stars in the backyard. Yet I rarely actually go camping.

16. I am uber organized. Everything in my house has a place. I have every tax file, bill, and paycheck stub, back 7 years. Every January, I shred all of my files older than 7 years. You say anal, I say project manager.

17. My favorite summer time drink is a Bees Knees.

18. I am a sweater. Little miss sweaty. Hands dripping, dinner plates under my armpits, unattractive sweater. I’ve rusted guitar strings after being on stage, and in the summer I can only wear black or white, no colors. Seriously, it’s not pretty.

19. In the dead of night, I am a crazy sleep walker/talker/dreamer. In my younger years, my family has caught me before falling down stairs, found me in a closet, and stopped me from running out of a hotel room. David has caught me standing on the bed and scratching in a corner. I hate being woken up too. When my daughter was born, I had a recurring nightmare sometimes 3x’s a night for ten months that she was suffocating in our comforter cover. Even if I wake up and turn the light on, I still believe it is real.

20. There is nothing like going to Vegas with the ladies, drinking bloody mary’s, playing black jack all night long, hanging in the Keno lounge, and betting on horses. I hope those days aren’t over.

21. My biggest regret in life is missing my brother's wedding last year in South Korea. My 2nd biggest regret is never having gone to visit him in the 8 years he has lived there. I am the worst sister EVER.

22. I do not regret waiting so long to settle down, because my 20’s and early 30’s are full of amazing times with my bitches.

23. I tend to hibernate in the winter. No really, I stop going out, go to bed early, and put on weight for warmth.

24. I am completely gullible. Wool over my eyes gullible. I believe too much in the goodness of people.

25. I don’t want to pass on any of my own food issues or phobias to my daughter. But I’m not sure how not to.

Making Calls for Obama

Since the political fire has been burning inside of me, and we live in a swing state, I decided a few weeks ago to donate some time to one of the Obama/Udall headquarters here in Denver. I'm not sure what I thought I would be doing since I'm too afraid to go door to door and I personally hate getting telemarketing calls from people. In my naive little mind, I thought that somehow I could slip in and do some data entry eat a few donuts and leave. Well that just wasn't realistic. There were NO donuts. I ended up making phone calls my first night there.

After my training, with sweaty palms and dinner plates under my armpits, I sat and listened to people for awhile before diving in. Then I just hammered away, making over 40 calls in an hour and talking to roughly 12 people. Several weeks ago, the main point in making calls was to try and get people to sign up for mail-in-ballots, while at the same time finding out what candidate they were leaning towards. When I went in the second time, we were trying to confirm that people got their mail-in-ballots and reminding them how to get them mailed in or dropped off at early voting centers. Of course while on the phone, if you got someone that was "undecided" you could give them some talking points. For the most part, I got a lot of nice people. As a side note, here is an editorial from David Sedaris on "undecided" voters which is pee your pants funny.

Now, with 2 weeks before Election Day, tempers are high, and people are heated. When I went in last night to make calls, I got a lot of angry people on the phone, something that my delicate ego could not deal with. About 5 calls in, I got a 27 year old male voter on the phone who immediately lit into me with some crap about how Obama won't release his birth certificate and it's under a federal investigation. Luckily I had read up on this issue and was somehow able to remain completely calm (in a sweaty blood pressure raising kind of way) and explain to him that what he was spouting were schmeer tactics that had been proven to be completely incorrect and false. I encouraged him to do some research online at my favorite fact checking sites. I was so direct and on point with him that he backed off and said, "Um, so there's no federal inquiry?" "No sir, his website shows his birth certifcate, it's in Illinois for anyone to view, it's been checked by non-partisan groups, you can find it online, there is no federal inquiry." He then insisted that even Obama's mother was ashamed of him for the lies he has told. It was then that I had to break it to him that this would be difficult as Obama's mother had died of cancer several years earlier. This went on for over 5 minutes as he continually tried to slander Obama's name. His final piece de resistance was that Obama is somehow related to Dick Cheney. Now this one I had not heard. My response to him was, "What are they like 10th cousins once removed? I'm pretty sure they aren't hanging out eating potato salad together at the family reunions." (I was a once removed off.) I followed by asking what difference it makes that they could somehow be related? Here was his argument: "Scoff, well, er uh, it like makes a huge difference." I'm not sure how I managed to hold my tongue and not use DG's phrase "ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?!?" (Sorry Mom) But in the end, though I didn't change his mind (I don't think he's voting for McCain either.), I felt better that I didn't let this lie continue to propagate itself and that maybe next time, he will try to get more informed. One small little victory at a time.

Good-bye Old Friend

DG already posted about the awful car accident that he was in earlier this week when someone ran a stop sign causing him to run head on into the car, air bags blowing out galore. Thank goodness DG is ok. Unfortunately, my 13 year-old Honda Civic has been read it's last rights. I know it is only a material possession, but it is still painful.

I purchased that car in 1998, haggling my heart out, getting it for under blue book value. In the 10 years that I owned it, it didn't have any major problems, getting 32+ mpg city and 38+ highway. In today's gas crisis, this car represents all that is good in the world. With 89,000 miles on, it had not even seen it's half life. My dad made fun of the car often, calling it ghetto because of the oxidation of the paint job. The simplicity of this car, is a perfect example of how I am a very practical, non-flashy person.

Having a car accident never comes at a good time, but really right now, we are not able to have a car payment. Unfortunately, the money the insurance company is offering me is trade-in value, not retail value. I've researched replacing this exact car, and unfortunately insurance is undercutting me over $2,000 on the value, not including the hassle of registering a new car, obtaining insurance etc. I'm not sure how this could possible work? I did not choose to sell them my car. I did not choose to give up my car. I do not want a new SUV. I do not want a new Honda Fit, which doesn't even get as good of mileage as this car. I WANT my car replaced. And I shouldn't have to pay any $$ out of pocket for this. Since I am a stay-at-home mom, and I have a fire in me, I plan on fighting this to the end. I am so sick of big insurance taking advantage of us little guys.

Rate the Debates

I get emails from Move On, Colorado Women for Obama, FreePress.net, and MomsRising.org all with information about different election issues. I recently signed up to rate the debates so that people could give their opinions of the debates before the press spun the issues. I am a bit disappointed with this first debate in that both candidates seemed to skirt the questions and instead give their own spin on the topics they wanted to discuss. Obama needs to laugh more and McCain needs to stop giving that creepy smile. And Mr. Lehrer could have done a better job holding candidates to answer the questions he asked and keep McCain in line when he kept talking over Obama. I'm not sure there was a winner here. You can sign up too, click here.

Our Political Sitcom

Something funny happened on the way to my blog. I ran smack dab into a wall of radical conservatism. David received an email from a friend about how Barack Obama is really a Muslim. This got me thinking about how the mind works of a person who believes this? I would like to say that this person has their head so far up their ass that....but I won't because I am above that. It is just difficult for me to believe that someone can actually be so ill-informed that they think that the democratic nominee for the President of the United States can possibly be a Muslim. It is easier for me to believe that what they really want to say is a black man. It is just more acceptable to say Muslim.

Now here’s where the comedy really begins. Like a classic episode of Seinfeld, David made the mistake, (by accident) of responding to the ENTIRE email list. No, no, it gets worse, and he did it with profanity. After realizing that he had sent it to everyone, he tried to make the situation better (by making it worse) and apologizing for his offensive language, and giving links to show that people should educate themselves. What ensued was a fire storm of e-mails from a long list of the most radical conservative republicans you could ever find. Here are some email excerpts:

"This country filled with all the tree hugging, liberals, and the “just do whatever makes you happy” mentality is what is running this country into the ground! Now, as if that’s not enough, all the left wing, Volvo driving, baby killing, homosexual marrying liberals are wetting their panties over Obama."

Let us analyze and discuss.

If this country were filled with tree hugging liberals then no one would believe that Obama was a Muslim. We would say that he is black and would make a great president.

The “do whatever makes you happy mentality” has not been running this country into the ground for the past eight years. It has been the one dimensional president in a three dimensional world that has deregulated us, and lead us with fear, that has gotten us to where we are today.

Alright, you did get us at Volvo driving, but I DO NOT kill babies. I think you will be hard pressed to find anyone that is pro-abortion. I do believe that homosexuals would make great fathers but I would not marry one.

Another email promoted the military, and McCain as a war hero to make sacrifices for this country as his ability to be president. He then proceeded to tell David that "it was his filthy left-wing bullshit and pussy mentality that would get him ass raped in Iraq like a two bit whore and then have it shown on You tube" I'm paraphrasing, but this man also went on to say that "He would bring popcorn to that viewing."

He almost sounded logical when describing McCain’s past, because really who’s going to argue that he is an honorable man? I totally agree. But then he got all uni-bomber on us and the real republican family values that I often hear about during election time came out. Dear Mr. Butt Sex, you fit very well into our sitcom as part of the "don't ask don't tell" area of the military if you want to view that type of explicit behavior on the internet. What else are you watching? *wink wink*

And finally another email this morning, from Mrs. Butt Sex that said she’s glad I lost my job, “Praise the Lord, now she can be a real mommy and stay at home and nurse her baby just like God intended her to.”

Ok, let’s pretend for a second that she's making a valid statement. My question to her would then be, if all women should be home raising their babies, then how do you feel about Sarah Palin going back to work three days after giving birth in April?
For the record, I don't think all republicans feel this way, I don't think McCain is a bad man, I am not against the military and I DO support our troops. Freedoms that we take for granted today are because of the men and women who fight for this country.

All this, just because DG didn't want people to think Obama is a Muslim. More DRAMA than the new 90210. Stay tuned.

Palin's Lies

FINALLY!!!! The Today show this morning details each of the lies that Sarah Palin has been using to further her political career. Not just one little white lie, not just two or three...a myriad of falsehoods.

When Bill Bennett, a McCain supporter and conservative syndicated talk show host followed this segment to defend the republican ticket, he brushed off the lies as "small beer, really small stuff". "It doesn't really matter whether she has or has not been in Iraq." he said. He then tried to compare Joe Biden's record against war as "more consequential" than these lies. Trying to mask the lies by pointing out an honest man's voting record? I'm going to need some blood pressure medication.

Small inconsequential lies are when I tell my husband that I was way too busy to do the laundry today, when in fact I was incessantly reading political editorials and playing solitaire. BIG huge lies are when you tell the entire country to hire you because you have foreign policy experience because you went to Iraq and Ireland once when you actually never set your foot in either country. Thanks but no thanks Sarah Palin.

And finally, in the I-threw-my-damned-tv-out-the-window Category, the new McCain ad that I saw this morning slamming Obama's economic policy is completely and outlandishly incorrect. You can see what a big craptacular load it is here.

::Takes a breath:: I apologize for all of the politics on the blog this week. I swear, next week it will be back to pictures of Hadley and poop talk.

It's Burning Inside of Me

When it comes to Politics, there is one thing that really burns my britches and it is lies in television ads and on the campaign trail. Now let's be honest, both parties can tend to spin the truth a bit in their ads. However, I feel that John McCain has gone so overboard that it is burning inside of me, like day old mexican. And I've got to let it out. And you know when Karl Rove says that you've gone too far, that you are probably laying in a gutter somewhere with a thong on your head and dollar bills sticking out of your pants.

The final straw came this morning, when in horror, I watched the new McCain ad promoting himself and Palin as MAVERICKS. They cite her shutting down the "bridge to nowhere" as her Maverick experience. Do they think that we are stupid? At this point, anyone with a computer knows that Palin was FOR the Bridge to get votes, before she realized it was going nowhere, so she took the money and spent it on other projects.

Then this morning on the news, McCain was shown pandering to the working class in OH, saying that while he chose to be in OH with the "working man", Obama had chosen to hang out with the elite in Beverly Hills raising money. "How can he say that he understands the working man?", McCain asked. From the man with 8 homes, McCain apparently forgot to mention that just the night before, he had a similar elite high class fund-raiser in Miami raising himself $5 million.

I am so done with all of his hypocritical misconceptions. I am not going to go into all of the details on each lie in each ad. You can view the research at my favorite Fact Check site. I just can’t believe he is even allowed to continue showing some of those ads especially when non-partisan fact checkers have proven that they are not accurate. Someone in the media, besides the ladies on The View, needs to start questioning his behavior. Isn’t it a bit of a red flag that whenever McCain or Palin get asked tough and serious questions that they cry foul or sexism?

I Approve This Message

I have a lot of fire going on inside of me regarding politics these days. It is hard not to use this blog as a platform. I might have to get on a soap box at some point, but for now, you can watch this funny video from Saturday Night Live. It is so laugh-out-loud while at the same time, giving a subtle inuendo against Sarah Palin.

Fun in Connecticut

We have had a whirlwind of a trip so far. It feels like we have only been here a couple of days. On Tuesday evening the Kamerzel's came over for dinner. Mark and I went to high school together.



His family is beautiful and so well behaved. I was taking copious mental notes the whole time hoping that some day Hadley could be so good.



Yesterday, my Dad drove us down to Madison, Connecticut to visit a friend of mine from Denver that had moved to Connecticut just over a year ago. She picked a great restaurant called The Wharf, facing the ocean. It was great to see them and Hadley got to stick her feet in the sand and water. LOVED IT.



Here are a few things that make Connecticut different from Colorado, besides the spelling. (joke)
1) Connecticut is mostly a Blue state. I think it makes me less stressed.
2) In Colorado, directions to get somewhere are: "Get on the highway for 20 minutes, exit, take a left, then a right at the light. Directions in Connecticut are: "Take Route 4, to 84, to Route 9, to Route 17, to Route 3, to Route 10. etc." Oh man.
3) In CT, all routes are 2 lane roads curving though forests.
4) In CT, you can't spit without hitting an Italian Restaurant. Though I haven't seen too many sushi or ethiopian restaurants.

I will post more on this later.

Be Careful What You Pray For

Prior to the Democratic National Convention, a certain conservative Focus on the Family man asked his fellow like-minded religious fanatics, to pray to God for rain to drown out Obama's acceptance speech. Talk about unchristian behavior.

Apparently they prayed so hard, that indeed God did send rain. So much rain that they gave it a name: Gustav. So much rain that it's currently rated a level 3 hurricane. Unfortunately it missed the window they wanted and the place they wanted and instead is going to land tomorrow, in Louisiana, smack at the beginning of the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis. Now the Republicans are planning on postponing their convention a few days in lieu of what happened with Katrina. Would it be so bad to wonder what God thinks about the Republicans? He's listened to their prayers and decided to piss all over their convention. Hmmm. I think Alanis Morrisette would call this IRONIC.

Rate Me

I recently checked my gmail account and learned that I have been rated by blogged.com and am listed in their library. How exciting for me. David posted a few months ago about how he was rated as well. But here is the problem I am having, and maybe it has to do with watching the competitions in the olympics, but I'm slightly annoyed that he got a rating of a half point higher than me. What? I know, I know, I'm the funny one. I keep trying to tell him all the time that he's funny, just not as funny as me. Funnier looking maybe. Wah wah. But because I am being competitive, I'm wondering if you can take a minute and go rate my website. If all 5 of you go, maybe I'll catch up to his tech geeky 8.5 greatness.

Baby Products

Because I, like most youth obsessed women, am a sucker for beauty products, years ago I bought Paula Begoun's "Don't Go to the Cosmetics Counter Without Me." I talked about it first here. For years, I used this make-up Bible to clean out old products and purchase new non-irritating make-up. Well, Paula just came out with the 7th edition of the book and even though we do not have it yet, you can view some youtube clips of her book tour here. Knowledge is power.

We also use her face products because they are basic and inexpensive. We even just started using her shampoo, which is great, and in our last order DG got me some of her constant color lip paint which I love so much that I just bought a bunch more colors because it is on clearance for $5!

Now I am going through and looking at the baby products that she reviews. I am just so annoyed with stupid companies making crap products for us to put on a baby's skin. Why do they call it "sensitive skin formula" when they've put a bunch of ingredients in it that cause irritation? It's more annoying than poison oak on a hot summer day. You can read the baby product reviews here. The main one that I see we use is Butt Paste. We got it mostly for the great name, but have been using it occasionally if Hadley gets a little red. We've been lucky that she hasn't gotten full blown diaper rash. **knock on the diaper changer** But now we have to toss it.

Take this Poll

I have not dyed my hair since approximately June 2006 (left), right before DG and I got married. The reason being that I didn't want anything to hurt our chances of getting pregnant or staying pregnant, regardless of the arguments pro or against hair dye.

That being said, what you see is what you get these days. And try as they might, when my parents were in town, they could not find ONE gray hair on my head. HA.

Now that spring has sprung, and I am coming out of my cocoon, I am looking back at pictures of me with lighter blond highlights and thinking about refreshing my look for the summer. See how old and tired I look with dark hair (right). Tell me what you think by taking the poll below.

 Should I dye my hair again?

• 
  
  Yes, it will make you look younger.


• 
  
  No, and stop being so vain.


• 
  
  I don't care, now go post some more baby pics.


• 
  
  If you want, but you are pretty just as you are.


• 
  
  Sorry, I stopped in looking for girls who pee themselves.

view results
Free vote poll

How Did you Find Me?

Once a month, I go through my Google Analytics to see how many hits I've been averaging. For the most part it remains pretty consistent. On occasion, I like to look for trends. How did someone in Estonia find my sight and why are they coming back for more?

Analytics actually helped us once when the buyer for our last house mysteriously backed out of the sale 4 days before closing. His realtor, his mortgage person and he lied by saying he had funding problems, but we knew better as he had already been pre-approved. Because he had a good excuse to back out, we were required to give him back his deposit. Needless to say, at 3 months pregnant, it was a stressful time as we were left to scramble around and come up with some creative financing to be able to close on our current house. I didn't know until 30 minutes prior to closing that we were approved. We also had to carry two mortgages for several months. *ouch* That being said, we Googled the buyer, found out where he worked, and were able to track the day that he hit both of our blogs. He ended up reading something he didn't like about the neighborhood (the power of the internet) and tried to unethically get out of the contract. We were able to confront his realtor with the facts and they ended up admitting to their lie and we got to keep his money, which didn't even begin to cover our losses. I think my exact vengeful words were "Google works two ways Mofo!" (See what a family friendly site we are now?)

That was a long tangent to get to what I really want to talk about, which are search strings that people enter to find this site.

Top search strings:

1) The most popular string is: "Love of Mine, Someday You will Die" which goes back to a post I did about one of my favorite Death Cab for Cutie Songs. Who knew that so many people would find this site from one line of lyrics?

2) All things bee: beehive, beehive cake, beehive hairdos, bee keeping: These people must be surely unhappy when they come and find out that there is really nothing to do with what they are looking for.

3) Pabst Blue Ribbon baby onsie, Pabst Onesie, etc.: Ooops, maybe I should not have called the PBR booties so tacky. There are actually quite a few people out there who are looking for them.

4) Ultrasound big head, big headed baby, baby ultrasound overbite: Poor Hadley got such a bad rap.

5) Boobies full of milk, milky jugs, engorged jugs: Ahhh the joys of nursing. Not exactly the fetish filled site they were looking for, I suspect.

6) Christy wears diapers, Christy Pee pics, Girls who enjoy pooping their panties in public, I was incontinent in my knickers today blog, fat girls pooping and pissing, and cheerleader crotch shots: Gawd knows what I wrote about to end up in these search strings, but I actually feel bad for the guys that are lonely on a Friday night, who have gone out and picked up some mountain dew and porn at the 7 eleven, and are getting settled in at the computer, ready for hot girly action, and instead they find excessive baby pics and diaper talk. Nothing like a cold shower.

Don Imus in the news

I do not usually comment on newsworthy items, but this one is getting everyone a bit fired up. Here are a few of my thoughts and a few I've stolen from my dad:

1) Ok, Don Imus "shock jock" was inappropriate on the radio. Let's talk about where he got that phrase he used. I can almost guarantee you that Don Imus, as a 60+ year old WHITE man does not run in circles where the term "Nappy Haired Ho" is used with regularity. So my question is, where did he get this term? My guess is: RAP music, or interviews with Rappers, or Snoop Dogg coming to him in his dreams. All of which take terms such as this and turn them into what popular culture today deems as ok to say in public. I think if he had just used the term "Smelly Pirate Hookers", this wouldn't have turned into such a racial issue.

2) CBS and NBC who have profited off of Don Imus for something like 20 years are a bunch of low profile spineless idiots. We should all boycott CBS anyway. I mean what would we be missing out on anyway Two Men and a...Is that show still on?

3) Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson are media whores. They are using Imus as a scapegoat instead of addressing the real issue: Rap Music. They are playing these women as martyrs who due to 3 measly words, have lost everything, including their basketball season, their game, and even their lives. What Al and Jessie instead should be doing is turning their attention to the real devil known as rap music. Don't get me wrong, I'm all about hip hop, but there is so much more to this culture that pushes the envelope of what is acceptable. And it has become so main stream that it makes it seem ok for the average person to use the terms that they use in the music.

For more reading, here is a great article written earlier this week by Jason Whitlock a columnist for the Kansas City Star.

People are People

But why is it that the DMV and the SS office seem to have lines and lines of the worst of the worst? It's like people got out of prison and went straight to the DMV so they could drive themselves to the liquor store. No pimply faced kids going for their first driving test, no soccer moms renewing their license, no hipster getting an address change, just 100 people, who are all very cranky, and have a lot of problems bigger than I can try to figure out here. Convicts, the lot of them.