Confessional

I feel like Usher: "This is my confession..."

(The similarities pretty much end there...)

So here it is: I feel like the most self-absorbed person on the planet. For some reason, "life with Rhet" consumes all of my thoughts these days. Worrying that I won't have what it takes. Excitement about the adventure ahead of us. Nesting, nesting, and more nesting--making sure we are "prepared," whatever that means!

Friends call, I think fondly about calling them back, and I go about my business.

Friends email, I imagine my response in my head, and the email slips to the bottom of the inbox.

And in the meantime: obsessing, day-dreaming, worrying about "Life."

What in the world? Is this some kind of pre-motherhood phase???

To my real-life-buddies: Please please forgive me for my absent-minded egocentrism! Hopefully I'll recover soon?

Let's all take a deep breath and remember: it's February. We all know the gigantic dislike I have for this current month. But there's another layer this year. One moment I'm blissfully staring at Rhet's picture, imagining us rocking in her glider. The very next moment, I feel overwhelmed by the sheer terror of the expense of children's necessities. Then I feel jealous that others have court dates while we're still waiting. Then I feel panic that everything is about to change and I'm not taking advantage of the wait to appreciate my current stage of life that is slipping away.

Looming in my thoughts is a Large Worry: What if I lose my identity to mommyhood? How can I spend my entire day devoting myself to caring for the needs of the cutest girl on the planet and expect to retain any aspect of my former self?

Fear of The Unknown is living large in me right now. In the background, things are not perfect in our preparations. There are snags and glitches and things to think through. I busy myself with anything I can control--assembling the high chair, figuring out the cloth diapering system, doing hours of internet research on the best diaper bags.

I know blogs are supposed to show the shiny side of life. And this one does on many occasions. But things are feeling a little Februaryish around here lately, and I can't help but wonder if anyone else has experienced the euphoric dread of impending parenthood?

Friends who have been there: What are the most important things to be doing, thinking before Little Girl comes toddling into this house? What is happening to me? How did you/do you handle the overwhelming parts of preparing for parenthood?

Even Katie Couric has sought some wisdom for me. After she asked for parenting questions last week on Twitter for an upcoming interview, I tweeted the Big Worry. Check out the outcome here. (Thanks, Katie--you've always been there for me. I miss you on Today.)

Yesterday...

...we participated in a very important parental rite of passage.

It is not as monumental an experience as I would've liked it to be. We bought it online. So basically, Nick sat at the computer and we took turns, marveling "We are buying a crib," as he clicked through the process.

Not only that, but we got it for free.

You read that right--FREE. Here's how it happened: Nick's old desk had a bunch of stuff piled up on it. (Over the past couple of months, we cleaned it off, broke it down, and sold it on Craigslist. Sweet.) The week of Nick's final exam for his last grad school class, I (being the sweet wife that I am) cleaned the desk off and made it all nice and study-worthy.

Lo and behold, I uncovered a small stack of unused gift cards from stores we do not frequent often. (i.e. Not Target. Ha.) They had been given to us many moons ago during wedding shower season and had been misplaced over the years. In the stack of gift cards were two for Wal-Mart. Nick called to see if they had a balance. Yes, was the short answer. Totaling $150 was the longer answer!

After researching cribs and pouring over the ole' Baby Bargain book, I had found one I liked on Target.com. Met all three of my personal requirements: safe, well-reputable company, and low-priced. So I moseyed on over to Walmart.com to see what I could see. Not only was the SAME EXACT CRIB on their site, it was $30 less, thus making it well within our gift card limit.

That's how it's done, son.

(Thank you, generous wedding shower gifters, who have provided a lovely sleeping haven for Baby Faris.)

Ok, so it has begun. We have the crib. WHAT ELSE could your baby NOT live without? (Especially including the small things that aren't on the normal "must have" list.)
Designate: Gotta Have, Could Live Without, and Definitely Borrow. Let me have it, mothers!

Good Charlotte (Trip)

So apparently Columbus Day weekend is a very popular travel weekend? Who knew?

We had planned for several months to travel to Charlotte, NC to visit our dear friends, the Nasmyths. Ibby is my best friend from high school and I really love his wife Erin and now their new baby girl, Olivia--this year's trip kicked off an annual family vacation we'll take together for mostly the ultimate purpose of making our kids be friends with each other. :) Olivia was just 6 months old for this vacation, so we chose to go to her instead of making her drive her parents to a different location.

Sad reality: Sometimes great vacations mean you have so much fun relaxing that you forget to take pictures--so here's the most recent pic I have of the four adults, taken the 2008 10-yr Reunion.

We had some crazy flight delays, resulting in missed connections and flying standby on the next flight out of Atlanta to Charlotte. However, we did luck out with two $10 meal vouchers for our inconvenience...which we spent on Ben & Jerry's in the Atlanta airport. (Pumpkin Cheesecake and Coffee ice cream flavors go together WONDERFULLY by the way, in case you had any doubts!) I did find it funny that you could spend your voucher on $10 worth of food or ONE drink. (I'm guessing that's alcoholic--but still, that's an expensive drink!) While standing in line at the customer service desk for the vouchers I overheard the AirTran lady tell someone else, "Sir, it IS a holiday weekend after all..." I know Christopher Columbus would be so proud to know his holiday is such a big deal!

Our weekend in Charlotte was filled with doting on Olivia, eating delicious food, and having great conversations & catch-up. (I have been craving the Banana-Walnut French Toast at Blu Basil every day since I ate it, as well as Ibby & Erin's Curried Chicken w/ Apples and Sweet Potatoes. Is it a sign that you love food too much when the memories you take from a vacation are centered around what you ate?)

As mentioned above, we were neglectful in taking pics, so here is one Nick took right before we left. As you can tell, Olivia and I are BFF now.

So the trip back...is really the main story of the blog post. Delays, delays, delays. Our flight out of Charlotte was delayed. Our connecting flight out of Atlanta was cancelled and they booked us on the later (delayed) flight. We spent the rest of our meal vouchers & time eating/hanging at (appropriately) Atlanta Bread Company with my mom, who came down to to visit us for a couple hours. When the flight time came, we went to the gate only to find the plane was overbooked. We were first in line to volunteer giving up our seats because of the sweet deal we got out of it:

• 2 round-trip flight vouchers...EACH!!!
• Upgrade to business class on our flight the next day, because we didn't need a hotel voucher
• 24-hours to hang out with my parents (& extra midterm-study-time for Nick)

We were so excited about our travel-savvyness and the inconvenience was FAR outweighed by the compensation. We basically got a buy one vacation, get two free deal!

We're headed to the beach in the spring for our 4th anniversary, using a gift certificate to a B&B from my employer (how nice are they?!) and 2 of our vouchers will save us an 8-9 hour drive. Sweet.

So...where should we go to use the other two vouchers? Ideas?

Rainy Day Reading

The past couple days in Memphis looked like this:

And I was reading this:


Best combination ever.

(PS: Oh yeah, I'm finally hooked on the Twilight series. I know I'm late to the game, but I was saving it for a time that I would welcome the distraction of vampire love stories. And for the record, I was a little bored in "New Moon" (compared to "Twilight") but just waded through to get to the good stuff--is it coming in "Eclipse?")

What is the best book + surrounding atmosphere combo that you've experienced?

"Of all the Charlie Browns in the World, You're the Charlie Browniest!"

As I have previously posted, one of our favorite holiday traditions is the 12 Days of Christmas.  Beginning the 12th day before Christmas, Nick & I watch one holiday movie per day.  (We stay home in Memphis for Christmas, so we love the relaxing slow-paced enjoyment this tradition provides.)  

The first year we were married, I had the original vision of baking a different cookie recipe every day.  Ha.  (Yes, that's just laughable.  Sorry, Martha Stewart.)  

Also, it must be noted that the first year of our tradition, we planned on many children's holiday classics.  You know the ones--"Rudolph," "Frosty," and the whole gang.  We found that it wasn't as fun without any children around!  Therefore, our movie choices typically do not include children's movies at this time.

So, I challenge you to a little holiday movie trivia.  See if you can pick which holiday movie these quotes were taken from--some are more obscure than others.  (And watch out for Julie Kiser, queen of all movie quotes!)

12. "And I was the snow...and you scooped me up with a big red shovel.  You scooped me up."

11. "Oh Jo!  Your one beauty!"

10. "I HATE Uncle Jamie!"

9. "Oh.  I'm a human, raised by humans."

8. "We never have grownups here that are girls...I really like it."

7. "Rocky bit my thumb.  Him's nervous."

6. "Look whatchya did, you little jerk..."

5. "We're Marley and Marley...oooooooo!"

4. "It came without ribbons!  It came without tags!  It came without packages, boxes, or bags!"

3. "Well then you can swallow it, and it it'll all dissolve, see?  And the moonbeams will shoot out of your fingers and your toes and the ends of your hair..."

2. "TENS AND TWENTIES?!  Ohhhhh...even my baby sister!"

1. "You used up all the glue on purpose!!." 

BONUS: "I LIKE the Wizard of Oz..."

PS: I added new pictures to the marathon post below--check em out!

Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room

The subject line is my favorite from "Joy to the World."  (As well as "repeat the sounding joy," thanks to one of my favorite movies ever: "The Family Stone."  I can't wait to watch it again for the 12 Days of Christmas!)

Speaking of preparing room, I need your opinions, blogger friends...

I know many of you have probably begun decorating for the Christmas holiday immediately following Halloween this year.  I feel like almost everyone I know has pulled out the decorations a little earlier than usual.  Which is fine--to each his (or her) own, and I do not intend to take issue with anyone's holiday traditions.  However, I am more of the Decorate After Thanksgiving persuasion.  

Which leaves me thinking ahead of schedule about a particular conundrum: 

WHAT do you do with your pumpkins??

I absolutely love buying pumpkins during the fall season--they are sure to turn up on our mantle every year (as seen in the above picture).  This year, I found a beauty at the Farmers Market--they called it a "Grey Ghost."  (It's on the left in the picture.)  I also love the mid-sized and mini pumpkins, with orange and white stripes.  The baby albino pumpkins.  (Nick is a big fan of "Ghost Pumpkins.")  

But alas, it is almost time to decorate for my Co-Favorite Holiday (Christmas is tied with the 4th of July).  What will become of the pumpkins?  I just cannot bear to think of throwing them away.  There is nothing wrong with them!  They are as good as new!

So tell me, early decorators, what did you do with your pumpkins?

A Hair in the Head is Worth Two in the Brush

Ok, time for some public opinion:









or









I've really been wanting to chop my hair short lately (chin-length). I've had the long hair for awhile and I am not a same ole' haircut kind of girl. But I need your opinion...

This decision is based on looks & running. Looks because short hair is cute, but long hair is sexy. Short hair is easy to blow-dry, but long hair is easier to throw up in a ponytail. Running with short hair is hard to get it to stay up (I used to have to french braid it on each side to keep it up for a long run), but running with long hair is gross because your ponytail swings against your neck and gets all sweaty and then it takes forever to wash and dry when you're done with your run. Short hair needs more maintenance as far as getting it trimmed regularly, but long hair requires more maintenance with every day styling.

Ok, you get the picture. Time to vote. You can vote in the right-hand column and if you'd like, you can leave comments below.

Should I...
(a) Cut it chin-length now
(b) Cut it to shoulder-length now and wait until after the marathon to chop it chin-length
(c) Wait until after the marathon to cut it at all
(d) Leave it long because it looks better on me

Advice please!

Big Al's Demise

You might suppose this blog post was about how Auburn is out to win Number Seven this year...but even though they will, it's not.  

Poor, poor Big Al.  He greeted Owens as soon as we walked in the door in May 2003.  Susie Jerkins ("Momma J") had graciously given Owens a homecoming gift--it was a plush, squishy greyish-brown elephant.  Her explanation was that of course we wouldn't give O a tiger to play with, because he would "rip em up, tear em up."  So, that left the logical choice of giving him an elephant to play rough with...thus the name "Big Al" was born.  

"Waaaaaar Eagle!" I would yell to my new 4-year-old puppy, and he would shake Big Al ferociously.  But we love our enemies, too, and upon saying "Let's go to bed!" Owens would take Big Al in his mouth and head to his bed, where he would lay with his head resting on his furry stuffed elephant.  

(I know this is the third time I've used this picture on this blog, but it's just so darn cute.)

Well, Big Al has taken a turn for the worse.  He has gotten pretty scruffy over the years.  For one, he stinks to high heaven of dog breath.  (And greyhound breath is worse than your ordinary dog breath!)  Also, during the tossing and shaking, Big Al lost an ear.  His skin has been stretched thin, holes occasionally opening up.  Each time, I would mend the elephant with a needle and thread and toss him back to his adoring owner.   

I don't know if you've heard, but a there's a New Kid on the Block.  Moses was given strict orders (okay, the simple stern word of "NO") not to play with Big Al, but to no avail.  We would find him playing with Big Al in secret, Owens forlornly looking on.  (It may look like he has a spine because you can see every bone in it on his back, but alas it is not really there at all, proverbially.)  The inevitable happened one day--Moses tore Big Al open right down his back.  Having misplaced my needle/thread, I sutured him together with four safety pins.  But alas, his little tiny Beanie Buddy beanies are falling freely throughout the house.  

When I asked our Obedience School teacher how to keep him from playing with Owens' toys, he asked "Why don't you want him to play with Owens' toys?"  Which made me feel overprotective.  After I explained that he was tearing them up, he simply provided the solution of putting Big Al up whenever Moses was out of his crate.  So high up on the bookshelf Big Al has stayed, until tonight when I took pity on Owens for separating him from his best friend.  

What do you think?  Do I need to buy one of these replicas of Trumpet the Beanie Buddy on the collector sites (not too horribly priced, considering it's "retired"), or should we just tough if out with the original? 

As an aside, Moses chewed the feet off of our Michael Vick chew toy today.  Take that, you dog abuser.  

Would You Rather: Druggie Edition

After finishing my 10 days of Augmentin (super-strong antibiotic) for my sinus & double ear infections, I rejoiced to be rid of the drugs.  They made my stomach upset, I had to take them twice a day (so I rarely had an appetite), and they were as big as nuclear rockets.  

Needless to say, I was quite disappointed to realize this weekend that while my sinuses and ears had cleared up, my lungs were drowning and my voice sounded like a frog.  After one more trip to the doctor, I am now armed with a different set of antibiotics and a cortisone shot.  (Get this: she looked at my blood-work and explained that originally I had allergies, but I developed the bacterial infection in my sinuses and ears in the meantime, and while all of that was happening, my blood levels showed that I had had a virus in my lungs, but somehow the virus turned into a bacterial infection in my lungs, and on top of all of that it looks like I am on the brink of anemia.  No wonder, considering what my poor body has endured over the last four weeks...!)

My nightly regimen now consists of filling a large glass of water, taking my two large antibiotic pills, taking the Walgreens knock-off of Zyrtec, taking a Mucinex, and taking my birth control pill.  Ick.  It's like one big drug cocktail and it creeps me out.  

So...this leads me to ask...

WOULD YOU RATHER...take drugs if you aren't feeling well or "walk it off?"  

(And what is your drug threshold?)

So Leave a Message & I'll Call You Back

Thanks for your comments on the first ever "Would You Rather...?"  Here's my two cents:

I am a calling chameleon.  I pretty much know the friends of mine who require a voicemail.  I know when friends won't give a flip if I leave one of my classic 5-minute messages.  I act accordingly.  

My personal preference: I call those back who leave messages.  (I'm not sure if that sentence is grammatically correct...?)  I figure if it wasn't worth it to leave a message, then they will catch me again.  Or send me a text.  

Which is another topic--I used to HATE receiving texts because I was charged 10 cents every time I got one.  Which makes texts that say, "Ok," really annoying.  Those guys add up!  But now I get 200 texts a month with my new plan...so text away, my 21st century friends!

Would You Rather: Voicemail

So I've got nothing much to say.  

March Madness is not limited to basketball here in the great city of Memphis...it also extends to weather.  We have had pretty much every type of weather so far this month!  (And when I mentioned it snowed in my earlier post, it was just a pretty-in-the-sky but melts-when-it-hits-the-ground kind of southern snow.  Not like the foot & a half we received the next week...while I was out of town!!  I am always going out of town for the good snow!  Arg!)  

We celebrated our 2nd anniversary on March 11 with a nice romantic dinner at Folks Folly.  I have a whole rant I could give about weekday anniversaries and how they are just set up to be lame because you only have an evening to celebrate, and it's squeezed in between two ordinary days.  (It's not like OTHER people really care it's your anniversary, as opposed to when it's your birthday or Christmas, etc.)  I'll save that rant for next year.  Regardless, it was a magical evening.  

Except that I got sick after we came home from dinner.  And evidently, I didn't shake the illness because I was home most of the week with some flu-stomachbug-migraine type symptons.  Blech.  

So that's all I've got...

Except for a new (hopefully regular) addition to this blog: "Would You Rather...?"

This is an old youth group game that can keep junior high kids occupied for hours on a bus.  Would you rather...go swimming in jello or honey?  Would you rather...marry a man with hair on his back or no hair on his head?  Would you rather...vacation in the mountains or on the beach?  And so on...

I have been thinking about several Would You Rather's lately, and I thought I might toss them out into the blog world for some lively debate.  

Today's Would You Rather is on the topic of voicemail.  I have some friends that will not return my call unless I leave a voicemail.  I have other friends who will call me back if they merely see they have missed my call (even if I haven't left a voicemail), which thus leaves me thinking that I will waste my minutes if I leave them a message.  (This group tends to think that you waste minutes checking your voicemail as well--why not just call the person back instead since you will eventually have to?)

So...Would You Rather...receive a voicemail or ONLY a missed call (by someone you know)?