question of the day #38

did you know they (that always ambiguous "they") make leathings (leather leggings, der)? i did not know this until i saw one of my asian sisters stalking down the mallways (mall hallway, der) in some last night. (just for good measure, how many parenthetical comments do you think i can include in this minimal post?) (at least five? that's what i was going for.)

warm woolen mittens

i feel like i haven't listed off my favorite things for a bit. sooo...off we go!
special k chocolatey delight cereals - just right to satisfy a little chocky craving (that rears its ugly head about 5x a day; not so helpful in the weight loss arena in which i stand, but better than chocolate cookies and cream shakes, eh?)
ikea - love their play rug; it's perfect for finners to drive his cars around and learn new words (he told me cactus, camel and castle just yesterday). i also would really REALLY like to get my hands on (and clothes in) one of those hemnes dressers or chests or whathaveyou. in white. please.
cinnamon pecan granola - deeeeelicious with milk, yogurt or just plain by itself
ghetto burrito night - ground hamburger, refried black beans, shredded cheese, sour cream and cook-at-home tortillas (which finn calls "tillas," with an l sound)
dinner at the table - with finn actually eating food! he's doing much better now that we all sit down at the table and eat.
our new sheets - have i mentioned our new sheets yet? because i LURVE them!
setting goals - weekly and yearly, that are written down and will be made into a more presentable poster-ish, um, thing to put on the fridge; so much easier to knock 'em down when they're in your face everyday.
law & order : uk - esp ds matt devlin (jamie bamber); besides, doesn't everything sound better when said with an accent? unless it's one of those heinous joisey or new yok ones.
shoveling the drive - i know, weird, right? i enjoy shoveling the snow from our drive. perhaps it's because i would prefer to walk safely from the door to the car and when bringing the trash up. call me crazy. not to mention it's a few minutes all to myself and my thoughts, however superfluous or superficial they might be.
melrose plant and richard jury - from martha grimes' first jury book, "the man with a load of mischief"
martha grimes - when someone can come up with a line like "fiona always seemed to wear her clothes at half-mast; perhaps she was mourning chastity" is pretty great in my book (duh-dum-duh-cha!)
having our own washer and dryer within arms' reach (of the toilet, anyway) - i was just remembering today how i used to have to walk up from our downstairs apt, across the drive and down other stairs (in snow, rain, sleet, hail, you name it) just to do laundry, and even then we shared with 4 single girls who were completely unconcerned with throwing our wet clothes on the dirty concrete floor if they needed to use the washer. that was awesome.
the 2hrs (give or take) of complete quiet and stillness while finn naps - i enjoy my own company, just ask my mom and sisters. i NEED to have time to myself, by myself. when finn naps, i'm free to read or watch my shows (since heaven knows we don't watch anything except nick jr or the disney channel during the fig's waking hours), wash dishes without "help," fold laundry without "help," piddle on the computer (compiling silly lists and the like) etc etc. it's quiet. it's still. it's peaceful. man, why don't i take more naps? sheesh.
surprising mor with his favorite raspberry scones, all the way from lacey wa, for his bday (which is tmrw!) - he texted me a picture of him devouring one with the caption "i love you" - that's one of my favorite things too : sweet texts from the hubs
living 2sec from target - did you know i drag finn there at least 10x a week? no lie. i do. and he loves it because he gets a popcorn and an icee. although, i drink most of the icee while he eats all of the popcorn.
hearing what other people's favorite things are right now. we know they all change and evolve (except the target thing; i will always and forever love target), so it's fun to keep up with everyone's ever-changing, ever-evolving tastes. enlighten me on what some of yours are. do it. now. or i'm sending penelope jones to your house to post-up on the back of your couch and whine at the neighborkids playing outside. i will. i will do it. and you don't want that. trust me.

all the important things

tonight, when i scooped up finners and took him into his room for bedtime, he folded his chubby little arms and said "prayer." i asked him if he wanted to say the prayer tonight, and he began whispering like he does when he tells secrets in your ear. it was the sweetest thing. and then, when i started saying a very simple prayer (along the lines of "dear heavenly father, we thank you for today. we thank you for our family..."), he piped up with "dad" and "penny" and "puppies." i could barely squeak out the rest of our thankfuls for the silent tears sliding down my cheeks and keeping my voice at bay. so we left it at that; tonight, we were thankful for dad and penny and puppies.
and a little boy named finn cannon.

get your groupon

sooo...i just joined groupon. amazing deal of the day sorta thing. save thousands. yadda yadda. anyway, today's groupon coupon is 6 laser hair removal treatments for only $99. quite a deal. esp since i read that it should only take 3-4 treatments on the area on which i would have them focus their efforts. nice. i clicked on the link for the office where it would be done to see if i needed to hone my powers of persuasion for the hubs to buy an early (very early) anniversary gift. this is what i read on the office's sidebar : 2011 january specials breast augmentation blow out! uh...i'd rather my breast augmentation NOT blow out, but maybe that's just me. obviously pam and dolly are on the other side of the fence on this one. anyway. not sure whether that makes me want to take advantage of this groupon or suggest they change it from groupon to gropeon for this deal.

falcon review

meh. i've read better. here's hoping the movie is much MUCH better than the book. sad. i never wanted to be that girl who would rather watch the movie than read the book. oh well. at least i'm not the girl who wears light-washed jeans tucked into her knee-high boots topped off with an obscure-college hoodie. (she exists. i saw her at target today.)

between the sheets

feels oh so good! while we were up in the evergreens over christmas, we slept in the softest-sheeted bed. as soon as we were back home (and with the excess from student loans taking up space in our bank acct), i asked erica the who/what/where/why/when/how about those sheets. three days later...the tag was too washed-out to know for sure. something about linens 'n things (now defunct) and 700 or 800tc. thanks, sister. thanks a lot. so i did some sleuthing. the fig and i ventured to infinity and beyond (or bed bath whatever) and gave all the sheets there a good feeling-up. anything over 500 and mor feels like he's slipping sleeping on slime. anything under 300 and i feel like there is no need for expensive razors. compromise...drumroll please...costco! der. the perfect blend of cotton and sateen, 400tc, 17in deep (very important with the memory foam mattress topper, trust me), bleachable white sheets. with 4 pillowcases. who even needs 4 pillowcases?! we do. as soon as i head to target (for only the fourth time this week) and grab us lucky #4.
also to be mentioned, finn AND penny got new bedding too! comfy cuteness all around! two different $3 crib sheets covered in cars, trucks, planes and "copters" plus a new matching baby for the baby, and a new kennel insert for ms penelope jones. no more torn apart old bath towels for that lady, nuh-uh. only the best (that $10 will buy) for my girl.

and i call myself a detective novel/mystery enthusiast

i realized just this week, while perusing the aisles of the local library, that i have never read "the maltese falcon." did you read that correctly? I HAVE NEVER READ "THE MALTESE FALCON." heralded as "not only probably the best detective story [the times literary supplement has] ever read, it is an exceedingly well written novel." and i've never read it. i feel ashamed, embarrassed even. so, i am rectifying this minor indiscretion. i picked it up, checked it out and am currently in chapter 6. may the detective novel/mystery gods have mercy on my soul.

fun fact

in 2000, 85 people were bitten by sharks; 1600 people were bitten by other people in nyc alone.
this, friends, is why we watch animal planet. well this, "fatal attractions," and "confessions : animal hoarding."

me read lots last year

(tell me you got the reference to "me talk pretty one day." please tell me you got it.)
just for the record, these are the books i read in 2010 and the rating (out of 4*) i gave each...
****alan bradley's "the weed that strings the hangman's bag" - 352pgs
***amanda grange's "mr darcy's diary" - 329pgs
***amande grange's "mr darcy, vampyre" - 320pgs
***ca belmond's "a rather lovely inheritance" - 384pgs
*charlaine harris' sookie series (10 of 10) + "a touch of dead" - 3354pgs
****charles finch's "a beautiful blue death" - 324pgs
****charles todd's inspector rutledge series (10 of 12) - 3321pgs
****elizabeth winthrop's "castle in the attic" - 192pgs
*farahad zama's "the marriage bureau for rich people" - 304pgs
-25*first 200pgs of diane ackerman's "zookeeper's wife"
****geraldine brooks' "people of the book" - 372pgs
****jane austen's "pride & prejudice" - 368pgs
*jane green's "the other woman" - 389pgs
**leslie connor's "waiting for normal" - 304pgs
****louise fitzhugh's "harriet the spy" - 320pgs
****louise penny's inspector gamache series (5 of 6) - 1872pgs
*madeleine wickham's "the gatecrasher" - 304pgs
***marisa de los santos' "love walked in" - 307pgs
**peter mayle's "the vintage caper" - 223pgs
****roald dahl's "matilda" - 240pgs
***shannon hale's "austenland" - 208pgs
***sophie kinsella's "twenties girls" - 448pgs
*sophie kinsella's shopaholic series (#1 and #3 of 5) - 726pgs
**susan alleyn's "a treasury of regrets" - 266pgs
****tarquin hall's "the case of the man who died laughing" - 296pgs
****tarquin hall's "the case of the missing servant" - 336pgs
***wilkie collins' "hide and seek" - 480pgs
****wilkie collins' "woman in white" - 645pgs
**zilpha keatley snyder's "the egypt game" - 215pgs
TOTAL : 17,759pgs read in 2010
goal for 2011 : 2011pgs (at least, although i may just stop reading something when/if i reach it)

you may notice that i tend to be a bit generous with my *-giving. i assure you, the **** are indeed worth your time, be they classics or just some of my new personal favorites. the * (or in the case of "zookeeper" -25*) i would not read again. unless paid to do so (except for "zookeeper," no amount of money and all that rot). oh, you'll also notice i read all of the sookie series yet gave them a dismal *; here's why : they kept my interest while reading them, but looking back i could have should have done something anything better with my time. ** = take em or leave em. *** = would read them again, yes, but not as a first choice necessarily.

an evergreen christmas

i'm sick and tired but want to be able to remember what we did this christmas. so, here goes...
wednesday 22 dec - 16hr drive to washington : remind me i NEVER want to do that again (until next time it comes to being alone on christmas or spending 2/3 of a day in the car with a dog, a husband and a baby)
thursday 23 dec - running errands : grocery shopping : one of multiple trips to the walmart (how do people exist without a walmart within 15miles of their home? i wouldn't, that's for sure) : john's mountain home bakery (where everybody knows e's regular order and mor thought he would die from the intoxicating raspberry scones) : dinner with the laus and woods (we miss them) : the first 20min of "conan the barbarian" (more than enough time to never need to see any of it again)
friday 24 dec - last-minute christmas gifts at target : delicious french dip dinner : "white christmas" and chocolate milkshakes : hours of assembling toys for the wall kids (santa needed our help with the train table and scooter, if anyone asks)
saturday 25 dec - CHRISTMAS DAY!!! : so much fun opening presents, seeing all the kids get excited about what santa brought : dinner with aunt becky and uncle jeff (finn is still talking about tank the one-eyed obese cocker spaniel, no joke)
sunday 26 dec - first hour of church : home for naps and movies and laziness
monday 27 dec - returns/exchanges : "tangled" for everyone (disney didn't disappoint) and "true grit" for matty and mor
tuesday 28 dec - seattle! : pike's : bathrooms for midgets : powdered sugar donuts in a paper bag (i was lucky enough to snag one before coop downed almost the entire dozen) : curiosity shoppe : qdoba
wednesday 29 dec - sick finn
thursday 30 dec - sicker finn
friday 31 dec - sickest finn : leave for home : train derailment resulting in hazmat spill and closed i84 : get stuck in baker city, or (where one of the motels had a sign that read "way too go dawg's") : st alphonsus to finally get finn seen (double ear infection, suh-weet!) : freezing in our room at knight's inn : dominos pizza (don't believe them when they say they are changing things and making their pizza better; it tasted like warm cardboard) : sleeping off and on from 6p until we left the next morning at 5:30a
saturday 1 jan 2011 - if i thought the day-long drive last week was bad, it was nothing--NOTHING--compared to today's day of driving; it felt like we were in the car for 8days, not just the 8hrs it actually took to get home : rio for dinner because, dang it, we deserved it

these boys surprisingly didn't torment one another
they didn't necessarily play nicely, but no bruises on either one

LOTS of nights spent playing sorry!

trying on uncle matty's glasses after grady got to them one too many times

finners impressed aunt ric with his smarts : he knew all of his letters, most of his numbers and several of his shapes
she got a video of it, so maybe i'll steal it from her to show you how really smart this kid is
(since i'm sure you're tired of me just telling you he's a genius)

roody
another one of the beautiful boys in the family

how most nights looked
everyone together, exactly how it should be

trying on g's buzz wings : just a wee bit too big

talk about putting your foot in your mouth

this was BEFORE walking around freezing seattle for 3hrs

showing the pike's guy the sign for crabs

my two cute too-cute boys

terrible but necessary picture

at ye olde curiosity shoppe with...is that gandhi?

we had an amazing time in wa, even if the state missed my memo to snow on christmas; i just pretended that the ensuing 3 straight days of drizzle was exactly what i'd asked for. really though, since e and i couldn't be in indiana, it was such a blessing that the two of us got to be together.
thank you, walls. and please forgive us if we never drive up to see you, ever again.