ememby

Tuesday Randoms (a.k.a., weekend recap or what we’ve been up to)

Posted on March 20, 2012 | Leave a comment

Like any good Michigander I’m hesitant to declare winter over and am trying to prepare myself for the possibility there is more snow to come, but this is proving difficult since we’ve had over a week of over 70-degree temps every day. I might have complained about humidity, I ate dinner Friday night on a deck and suffered five mosquito bites on one foot alone – this is unusual for March (understatement in the extreme there). But I’d trade mosquito bites for afternoons outside at Meijer Gardens and ice cream at Jersey Junction any day of the week!
Amazon keeps promoting free samplers and I keep downloading them and I’ve finally gotten the chance to listen to them and I’m pleasantly surprised to find there are many songs that I like – you can get good things for free!
Our weekend was packed with fun and secretly I hoped this would mean the boys would go straight to bed any one of the three nights, sadly, this did not happen. I just might consider a bungee cord for this problem of the ever-getting-out-of-bed child.
I wore a dress on Sunday – this might not seem worthy of news but I don’t really do dresses and I can honestly say I haven’t worn one in nearly 4 years. Seriously. But I wore it and liked it.
My hair has finally stopped falling out… a problem that cropped out for apparently no reason and my doctor says that since everything looks fine health-wise, it could just be a season of hair loss. I’m thankful it’s stopped (knock on a massive piece of wood) but more thankful I had a ton of hair to begin with because otherwise I’d be pretty close to bald (my husband can attest to this, he’s seen the hair in the shower drain – you’re welcome for that lovely image)
Simon was home at 4 one day last week and it was such a treat, makes me look forward to a future day when he’ll be home every evening. To celebrate, we had dinner together and then I ran Liam to his regular Wednesday night program and got to have coffee with my friend Keri, completely unhindered by children.
I’m one meeting away from being done with my board president responsibilities for a professional group I’m a part of and I’m thrilled because it means no more monthly public speaking, which for the extrovert that I am, I surprisingly hate.
We saw The Verve Pipe on Saturday and they were a surprisingly awesome family band – my kids LOVED the show (I wrote about it here for grkids.com); I was just sad they didn’t play Freshman, but it’s not really appropriate for a family concert, but still, I would have loved it.
And just for one minute, can I put on my crabby old lady hat and inquire: When did St. Patrick’s Day become an excuse for young women to dress up like leprechaun-inspired prostitutes? Maybe it was the warm weather, but driving home from the concert, we went past so many groups of dressed up people, it was strange. I’m all for drinking on St. Patrick’s Day, but an MSU t-shirt does the trick for my green clothing. /crabby old lady rant
The little boys and I got to spend a lovely evening with my friend and her kiddos and the kids played and played outside and we moms talked and talked inside – it really does take a village to make it in this world, or at least a small tribe! Though I did tell Stef that I needed to play a little more hard to get because she called at 5 to see if we wanted to come for dinner and I immediately said yes and packed the boys up in the car and we were there with salad by 5:30… offer me food and companionship on a weeknight and I’ll be there in a heartbeat!
Simon got me a wonderful “just because” gift on Sunday – a Bluray/CD combo of Adele Live at the Royal Albert Hall – LOVE (the gift and the gift-giver). I will simply accept the gift and not question what it is that he’s trying to atone for 😉
My favorite teacher of all time, Mr. Small, had a birthday yesterday – Happy Birthday, Mr. Small – it made me recall the cake we gave him when I was in 8th grade. He liked to sail and had a bald(ing) head so we asked the bakery to decorate it with a bald head popping up from the edge of the cake with a sailboat going over it – it was awesome (and we were kind of punks for doing that).
And lastly, I got to hang out with a super handsome baby boy on Friday morning and it just made my heart so happy – plus getting to see his equally lovely momma – friends are just the best!

Music Monday: On Current Rotation

Posted on March 19, 2012 | 1 comment

After such a lovely weekend it’s hard to get back in the groove (though working a few hours last night really helped get me in the work frame of mind). Since the start of the year I’ve been listening to music a lot more often than normal – between wanting to drown out the workout sounds from the neighboring business, finding the joy in storing and accessing music from my Amazon Cloud Drive and having some serious insomnia issues – I find plenty of time for music. I’ve added some new favorites to the rotation. I’ve already linked to some here and here but why not include a few more? You’re bound to find something you like.

Waiting for My Real Life to Begin | Colin Hay

Midnight City | M83

Make You Feel My Love | Adele

I Will Follow | Chris Tomlin

Never Gonna Leave This Bed | Maroon 5

We Are Young | Fun.

Easy Come Easy Go | Great Lake Swimmers

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Posted in Music

Five Question Friday

Posted on March 16, 2012 | 3 comments

Hello Friday! It’s taken you long enough. So summer has come to Michigan – yes, in March. On Tuesday, our weather forecast for the whole week had highs in the 70s for EVERY day… this seems bizarre. And then today there was a 2-hour school delay for fog. Welcome to Michigan, where the weather makes no sense. It snowed on Saturday and I wore sandals on Wednesday.

1. Will you run to the store or to pick up a kid looking a mess?
Depends on your definition of mess. I’m almost always showered, unless I intend to work out later because I hate having to shower twice in one day (whereas my husband would happily shower three times a day). But if I have no plans, I don’t do my hair and often on Saturdays when the farmer’s market is open, I run there first thing without even brushing my bedhead hair. For school, I’m usually on my way to work so I try not to look a mess then, it’s better for business if I can appear to have it together. I’ve been having a lot of meetings lately and for those I actually make an effort and put on MAKEUP. I am a grownup.

2. Do you finish a book if it’s boring or you don’t like it?
Almost always, I think I’ve only ever not finished one and I can’t even think of the title now. Though, I guess that’s not true, I have no problem not finishing non-fiction books – I guess I just prefer fiction.

3. Beach or mountain vacations?
With kids, then to the beach but just with my husband or friends – I’d go to the mountains in a heartbeat. My ideal vacation is a cabin in the woods, add mountains and that would be an added bonus!

4. What thing/event says “winter will end and spring is right around the corner” to you?
Flowers popping out of the ground. Which mine are already doing – daffodils, hyacinth and tiger lilies are all out of the ground at my house.

5. Would you prefer couples or family vacation?
I think when my kids are a couple of years older I’d prefer a family vacation but right now I’d go with couples all the way. Because with small children a vacation is not really a vacation, it’s going somewhere new where you don’t have all the conveniences of home. It’s rarely as restful as you would hope and you come back needing a vacation from your vacation. Unless you vacation in Texas with the grandparents, then it’s mostly a break 😉

Linking up with Mama M for Five Question

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Posted in Five Question Friday

Housekeeping

Posted on March 15, 2012 | 2 comments

The title of this post is ironic because I am so not a keeper of my house. It’s just not on my list of priorities. I’d much rather read, watch TV, spend time with people I love, blog or even do laundry. It is the way it is, but I digress…

Really I just wanted to let you know I updated some images and the “About ememby” section of the blog – I was rather remiss in making those changes since it said Liam was looking forward to turning five (um, last August) and also noted (with great chagrin) that I had typos in my about page. Whoops. I may work with a bunch of editors but I was a communications/art major so clearly you cannot learn new tricks.

Liam and I went to the dentist Tuesday, aptly named Smiley Family Dentistry (the dentist’s actual last name is Smiley – also ironic, and perfect). Anywho… we went to the dentist. Liam loves the dentist. Like feels-sorry-for-his-brother-who-didn’t-get-to-go-but-was-playing-with-friends LOVES to the dentist. I don’t hate the dentist, if anything I’m apathetic to the dentist in general and quite like our current dentist. The staff is amazing and actually remembers details about our family, I’m not sure if it’s because they review notes before we come back or if my husband’s accent burns things in people’s memories when he says them, either way, I like that personal touch.

We both got our teeth cleaned at the same time in adjacent rooms, I also like this about our dentist because how efficient is that? Though I am not sure how Liam’s hygienist was able to get his teeth checked and cleaned because the kid NEVER stopped talking. And he was cracking us all up with his little quips, observations and general enthusiasm for life. And I was again reminded that his kindergarten teacher is a saint.He gave her a very detailed recounting of how often he brushes his teeth and uses his fluoride, he asked about every instrument and piece of equipment in the room, he requested sun glasses to block the light, he talked all about his brother and how he is sometimes a pest but “that’s okay because he’s only three and learning to share,” he detailed his escapades on the Wii and talked about what he was learning at school. He also managed to get a free toothbrush for his brother, along with two reward toys for a good check up and a tattoo for Jack. Both of our hygienists commented on how sweet he was and he really is, despite the nonstop chatter. We also booked our next appointment for six months from now (which, yipes, Liam will have started back at school and will be in FIRST grade – hold me!) and added Jack to the list since it’s about time he start going to the dentist. Sometimes tells me our next visit isn’t going to be as lovely, though I’m perfectly willing to be proven wrong on that one.

Later in the day we went with some friends to Meijer Gardens and when we were getting in our car, Liam asked if he could give them the prizes he got for a good check up and I told him that it was a nice gesture but that he had earned them for a good checkup so it was okay if he wanted to keep them. He responded with, “We have more than enough toys at home, I want to give these to my friends because I love them.” My heart swelled two sizes bigger (unthwarted by Jack trying to kick me in the face as I buckled him in his car seat).

Liam may often test my patience and I might not keep a super clean house, but I have to be doing something right for him to be growing up into such a great kid. And I think maybe I have some friends who need reminding of this (not about my kids, but about their own; and not anyone specific, just in general) we are all doing great because our kids are happy so don’t worry about the rest. Don’t worry about all the things you’re not getting done, just celebrate all the things you are getting right, especially if it has to do with your kids because happy kid trumps clean house any day of the week!

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Posted in Life in general, Parenting, who is ememby

Still more laughable search terms

Posted on March 14, 2012 | 4 comments

As I mentioned back in August and again in November, I’m highly entertained by the search terms that lead to this here bloggity blog. So I figure it’s about time for another installment of recapping the funny search terms that have brought people here to visit.I’m once again happy that top search term is actually my name, or my bloggy name: ememby. This is followed up by skidz pants, hypercolor shirts and lightning mcqueen cake which tells you that the audience I draw is in their 30s and (likely) mother to a young boy OR making some unfortunate fashion choices and is actually a highly skilled five-year-old Google user. Also popular, some variation on long third toe, long toes, freakish toes and my favorite “her second toe is longer” because I can just imagine some poor guy who has discovered this fact about the woman he’s dating and he’s hoping to find out if this is indicative of something about her or if he can be justified in breaking up with her (Dear guy: It just means she’s awesome and if you break up with her, you are a toe elitist.)

More terms and my commentary on them:

“things I like about me” | just like that, all in quotes; this makes me sad for the person who googled this because if you have to ask the internet what you like about yourself, you’re really looking in the wrong place. For the record, I think you are a great person with a sparkling personality.
family dont bother with my birthday | this is something I would never say (plus I always use apostrophes correctly); I love celebrating my birthday so: Dear family, PLEASE bother with my birthday.
how to bungee cord a baby | I DO NOT condone bungee cording your baby; I do, however, condone bungee cording a baby gate to block off your child’s bunk bed stairs or using a bungee cord to lock your chairs to your kitchen table.
things that make you go hmmm on thanksgiving | I’m guessing the list could include, why do they include all the giblets in turkeys… why don’t I use more gravy every day… how can I steal the leftover stuffing and take it home… why don’t more countries celebrate thanksgiving… is there more pecan pie… would anyone notice if I fell asleep
pap test piece of mind billboard | it is still just disturbing to me, glad I’m not the only one
appropriate everyday jewelry | because you would totally hate to be wearing inappropriate everyday jewelry
card making paper junkie | is this an upcoming episode of “My Strange Addiction”?
car seat premium economy | yes, please
did anyone else think that opaul mc cartney performance at grammy 2012 was weak | my goodness that was a wordy search term
taylor swift is an idiot | people are so judgmental; also, the person who googled that is an idiot