2008 Chomp and Stomp

The Cabbage Town Chili Festival was huge this year. Lots of chili was consumed, as well as Sweetwater Beer (yes, over the course of the day I consumed 2/3 a glass of beer......you've got to wash all those chili samples down with beer)

The kids had fun dancing to the bluegrass music and the must have been 50 different craft vendors. If I would have had any extra money, I would have come home with the best onesies for the bean.

Zalebaby is in the blue and he is incapable of letting anyone get a nice picture of him.

Bonus Pictures: 24 Weeks......Please notice the chili stains around my belly-button. The shirt was a present from my friend Heat.

22 weeks

22 Weeks and counting. I'm getting bigger and bigger. That blur at the bottom of the picture is Tata, or Mr. Potato Head, Zalebaby is responsible for that name. Not me.

GA Apple Festival

We, Zalebaby, myself and his cousin Chele and her family went to the GA Apple Festival in Ellijay last Saturday. It was about an hour and a half drive to get there. It was a beautiful day for a drive in the mountains.

The kids had a blast. They climbed the rockwall and jumped on the trampolieens. Neither one was brave enough to ride the mechanical bull. Watching everyone else ride it was a hoot.

We walked around and looked at all the crafts and nibbled on faire food....it being the apple festival, we had apple dumplings with ice cream and apple fritters. I bought a peck of apples and on Sunday I made crock-pot applesause. It was super easy. Peal, slice and core apples, toss them in the crock-pot with 1/4 cup of water, 1/4 cup of sugar and what ever spices you'd like in applesaue. I used cinninman, clove and allspice. Cook on low for 6-8 hours, mash if nessary, taste for sweetness, chill. Yummy!

Sorry for the blurry picture!

Must learn photoshop

Here I am at 21 weeks, 2 days. I really must learn how to photo shop.....I've never seen that under-arm waddle before. Bean is moving all the time now and I'm starting to pinch when I reach for something below me while I'm sitting. I usually feel a movement after I do that, so I'm sure she giving a kick for squishing her.

Zalebaby is being so cute, he's started blowing raspberries on my belly every chance he gets. Makes me teary-eyed. He's also starting making plans for her, like teaching her to play golf, so he has a golf partner.

I got a present this weekend!

Too Cute! Thank you so much Mary Ann! Not only did I get these pretty washcloths, I felt the baby move. It felt like a goldfish bumping on the glass of the bowl looking for food. weird image, I know, but thats the best way I can describe it. So very weird and exciting.

growing...

Boy do I need to clean that mirror!...... but I'm growing, I had to take out my belly ring! I can still wear a few of my normal clothes, but I'm finding maternity wear much more comfortable, even if I have to roll all the waistbands. I've been assured I'll grow into into them.

At the doc's yesterday and I weighed in at 153lbs. Last month I was 145. I need to cut back on the Reese's peanut butter cups.

Vacation pictures

Zalebaby and I went on a little Anniversary/Babymoon Vacation last weekend. We left Thursday and came back Sunday. Not nearly long enough, but I'm saving vacation days for Thanksgiving. I'll be a little too pregnant to travel the 13 hours home for Christmas, so I promised Mom I'd come home for Thanksgiving instead.

We took a trip to Orlando to go to SeaWorld. I really liked the hotel we stayed in. The International Plaza Resort. It was very nice for the price, plus I mentioned it was our Anniversary and we were surprised our 2nd night there with a fruit plate and chocolates.

We walked to SeaWorld, about a 10 minute walk and we walked to Aquatica, which is SeaWorld's new water park. That was more of a hike, 15-20 minutes, mostly because you had to walk a long wind-y entrance road, with no sidewalks, which sucked, but how many people stay in hotels that are that close? I think ours was the only one you could do that from.

My favorite picture:

Don't you want to eat him up?

On Friday, we did SeaWorld. Neither Zalebaby nor I had been there since we were little, so we were really looking forward to it. It didn't disappoint. I thought SeaWorld would be great to go see, since it isn't about rides (I love roller coasters!) The shows were a lot of fun, but I was dissapointed with the Shamu- I believe show. It was a little cheesey and the animals didn't do much. There was more hoop-la than action.

Friday night we went to Universal Studio's Halloween Horror's Opening night. I was exhausted from all the walking durning the day, so I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as Zalebaby did, but it was worth going to. It's too bad I'm preggers, 'cause they had the new Simpson's roller coaster open. Sigh. At lease Zalebaby didn't leave me to go for a spin, although it would have been nice to sit down while he was on it. My hips were killing me from all the walking and standing.

Saturday at Aquatica was a lot of fun. We slept in and got there around noon. There was only 1 ride I couldn't ride on, which was a stomach down racing ride. Normally, I would have loved that ride, but with Bean it wasn't do-able. My favorite attraction was Roa's Rapids, which is based on the lazy river idea, but with life vest instead of inner tubes and it has a faster current. It was lots of fun to drift around. I really over did it on Friday, so floating around on Saturday was the best.

Sunday, we went back to SeaWorld and saw the shows and exhibits we missed on Friday. I loved the dolphin and whale show, it made up for the Shamu show. We also spent almost an hour watching the seals play. Then we walked back to the hotel and drove home.

Mom Came to Visit

Mom came to visit on Friday, she flew in around 4:30 and I dropped her off at the airport at 8am Monday morning. It was a quick but lovely visit.

When she came, she checked a bag and brought a carry on. She filled her suitcase with 48lbs of maternity clothes for me from my sisters. She's got more winter clothes waiting for me when I go up to see her for Thanksgiving. She was too funny with the weighing of the suitcase to make sure she didn't go over the 50 lbs limit.

I've settled on what we are going to do for the baby's room while she was here. I've been racking my brains, trying to figure out how to combine my sewing room and the guest room to free up the sewing room for the baby. Mom talked me into putting the baby into the guest room and leaving my sewing room as-is. She assured me that I'll want to have a bed in the room with the baby. Then we went to a daycare consignment sale with my friend A, who is a month ahead of me with her 2nd child. I found a comforter, bumper, diaper hanger and lamp shade that complement the bedspread on the guest bed, for $15. Sold! I have some wonderful fabric that goes with the set to make a dust ruffle for the crib. Here is the set:

I've also decided to go with a "Once Upon A Time" theme for Bean, leaning more toward Mother Goose than Disney.

What Year Do You Belong In?

You Belong in 1954

You're fun loving, romantic, and more than a little innocent. See you at the drive in!

What Year Do You Belong In?

Pink it is!

Woot! I'm having a little girl baby. Now I get to make all kinds of fun girly clothes. At least while she's small enough to let me dress her. She'll probably turn out to be a tomboy and never want to wear dresses. Still, I'm going to have fun while she'll let me.

The first shot of Bean at the Dr's was bottom up. The teck no sooner put the wand on my belly then we got to see she's a girl. I saw butt cheeks and 2 thighs, the teck said look, it's a girl! and she highlighted the in-between parts to show us her girly bits. The exam was the coolest. We got to see all of her, all the bones, her heart beating-all four chambers of it, her kidneys and stomach. She even looked at the wand, which made her look like an alien. It was the neatest thing.

Pink or Blue?

I've got my 2nd trimester genetic screening today....which means they will do another sonogram. The doc told me at the last appointment that we'll be able to see the gender, if the bean cooperates. I'm so fricken excited. I hope Bean will pose for us.

Book review:Breaking Dawn (Twilight Series, Book 4)

Breaking Dawn (Twilight Series, Book 4) by Stephenie Meyer. Since I have trouble with these reviews, I thought I'd steal a page from Tripping Toward Lucidity's book and review the story by answering questions.
What led you to pick up this book?
I picked up this book because it is part 4 in a series where I enjoyed the first 3. I enjoyed this book and eagerly waited until it was my turn to read. When I signed up for it at the library, I was 365th on the wait list for it.
Summarize the plot but don't give away the ending.
For me, this book wraps up the other 3 books. Bella's journey to conquer her fears and grow into herself and to gain her happy ever after. It had a couple of twist and turns that I didn't anticipate. Overall, it think it was far less intense then the others.
What did you like most about the book?
That the ending conflict was settled without a big brawl.
Share a favorite scene from the book:
I loved the description of the cottage that was built for Bella and Edward.

bump-de-bump

Something happened between Monday and Tuesday night...........I got a bump! The picture is a little exaggerated, I'm twisted a little bit to get the picture, but I no longer look like I have a beer belly. Yay! --Please ignore my droopy pants, my butt isn't deformed that way ;-)

R.I.P. III is here!

It's that time again. Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings has issued his fall Challenge and I again am taking him up on his offer. I just love to torure myself. It's not the scarey stories, which I like to read in the fall, its writing the reviews. But, to grow we must be challenged, so write them I will.

I'm going with:

Which is: Read Four books of any length, from any subgenre of scary stories that you choose.

The Gothic/Horror/Suspense genre isn't something I normally read, although I do like the ghosty fansty/sci-fi. So I've been looking at the other blogger's lists and I've come up with a list of my own. The first two Carl pointed out and they intrigued me. I love the title of the 2nd one.

• The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
• The Ghost In Love by Jonathan Carroll
• Underground by Kat Richardson
• The Tenth Gift by Jane Johnson-- not sure if this one fits in the genre, but it looks good
• Touch the Dark by Karen Chance
• Glass Houses - Rachel Caine

And what ever else I find. One of the best things about the challenge is all the new books the other blogger's bring to my attention.

Little Bean's Screen Debut

Woot! I went for my first trimester screen today and I made this video for Zalebaby since he couldn't make it to the appointment with me. Don't listen to me babble please, I was just chitchatting with the Dr. while he was checking out the little bean. Overall, everything looks good, which makes me very happy. I go back on September 16th for a 2nd trimester screening and I'll find out Bean's gender then.

Let Me Out!!!

I'm dying. It's 2:15 and I'm stuck here until 5. Somebody shoot me and put me out of my misery. I'm the only one in my department today. The only window I can see leads to the hallway not outside and it's cold in here. I've done all my work and am just waiting on the phone to ring, just so I can take a message for the salesmen who are not here. If I had nail polish, I'd be doing my nails just to complete the bad secretary image.

I bet no-one would notice if I sneaked out....

I've got nothing

I've got nothing to say, but when are my ta-ta's going to stop growing?!?

I did have something funny happen to me last week, but I wanted to wait until I had a picture to post with the story, but the picture thing doesn't seem to be happening yet, so I'll just tell the story.

So, I went to Kroger after work and a guy asked me how many months am I. If it wasn't for his very pregnant wife standing beside of him, I would have clocked him. As it was, I gave him a completely shocked look. After all, I was barely 11 weeks! Now I was wearing a bias cut dress that outlined my belly, but when I looked in the mirror that morning I didn't think I looked preggers, just a little chunky. Needless to say, I've retired that dress until after baby. Not that I mind the idea of looking pregnant, but it was soo weird to have him ask me that.

Zalebaby, sweet as he is, insists I look preggers, not fat. He gets a gold star for that. Now, if he'd only do the dishes.

Cloth or disposable dipers?

I've been pondering the question. Zalebaby is all for disposable, but I'm looking a my pocketbook.....it just so happens that Baby Cheepskate is having a give away of 12 bumGenius 3.0 One Size cloth diapers to one lucky reader. I can't say no to that! So I've got my fingers crossed. Has anyone used these? Can I get some recommendations? Me being clueless and all.

Little Bean's first picture

See the 2 little +'s on the picture? In between them is my Little Bean! The bean's measurements indicated it was 8 weeks and 2 days on Thursday, which makes it's due date Feb 28th, one day off of what the original due date calculations said. The Doc said that everything looks good and I got to see Little Bean's heartbeat, it was going a mile a minute. So neat to see. I do have a large cyst on my right ovary, but the Doc wasn't too worried about it. He said we'll just keep an eye on it.

Dr. Horrible! OMG!!!!

I'm a dork. I've come to terms with that. Please allow me to share it with y'all.



This is only going to be available until Sunday so, watch while the watching is good.

I just love me some Neil Patrick Harris and Nathan Fillion (drool, slopper).

Woot! A Contest/Give-A-Way!

Dana over at Old Red Barn is having a Contest/Give-A-Way of a beautiful Quilt made from the Ginger Blossom fabric collection. I'm drooling in the worst way. Not only does she make wonderful soaps and sugar scrubs, but her quilt is stunning! Go check her and her quilt out!

Vickery's Bar & Grill at Glennwood

My birthday dinner was at Vickery's (I made a point to remember the name last night) It's amazing what you can remember when you aren't drinking.

Vickery's is a lovely little neighborhood restaurant and dinner was yummy, what I could eat of it. Meat is so not agreeing with me right now. One bite of the fried chicken and I was done. Shudder. The mac and cheese on the other hand, was fricken to die for. Crunchy on top, soft and gooey underneath. Yum. I want more.......

We finished up my evening with a trip to see my favorite 1 year old (and his parents of course!)

It was fun to sit and have a quiet evening with friends.

I want to wish a Happy Birthday to my Zalebaby, the best MaGoo a girl can have.

Snap, crackle and pop!

It's my birthday today and I am so looking forward to dinner with Zalebaby. We're not going anywhere special, just to a restaurant that a friend manages....which is not to put down the restaurant, food's great---I can never remember the name of it. We always call it Little David's restaurant ;-)

The little bean was misbehaving something fierce this morning, but has settled down now and I'm interested in food. The eating thing is driving me crazy, I've actually lost weight. I'm eating all the time, but it's not sticking.

My 1st Doctor's appointment is Thursday. I'm excited! I can't wait to see the little bean.

To beat the queasiness....

Morning Sickness is a misnomer. It's not just mornings! My body is substituting nausea for hunger pangs. I don't get hungry anymore, I go straight to queasy. What fun! I've learned that if I eat a special K bar before I get out of bed, I don't get queasy before I'm out of the shower and ready to go downstairs. Then I eat yogurt before I leave for work. When I get to work, I make a pack of instant oatmeal and then I'm OK until 11, when I have another special K bar. Then Lunch at 12, fruit around 2:30 and one more special K bar at 4-4:30 to tide me over until I get home, where I'll have a snack of some sort before I make dinner.

At this rate, I'm going to be a blimp, long before the little bean gets here.

If only I could find a way to have a nap around 2pm. Drat that work thing. I wish it wasn't necessary.

Details.....

Christy wanted details:

"I want an update! How are you feeling? Have you told anyone in your real life? How did you tell your hubby? Details. I want details!"

So here's the story.

I told Zalebaby I was pregnant on Wednesday, the day I was my period was due. Not that he believed me, but I was pretty sure. The wait from Wednesday to Saturday was a killer. Every time I went to the bathroom I expected/was afraid to see that I started bleeding. I never did. I was taking care of a friends animals while she was out of town and on Saturday morning, on the way back from letting the dog out, I stopped at CVS and got a pregnancy test. (why do they sell them 2 to a box?--Now I have an extra one laying around)

Zalebaby insisted on reading me the instructions. I had to pee so bad it hurt.....I ignored him and peed on the stick while he was trying to read the instructions. I put the cap back on the stick and laid it down on the bathroom counter to wait the 3 minutes. Zalebaby couldn't wait that long and went in and picked it up as soon as I came out of the bathroom. He was so cute. He picked it up and said "congratulations Mommy". Awwww. I responded with "thank you, Daddy. See? I told you so!" He'd been teasing me, giving me grief about not being late, I just miss counted days..... He called his dad a few minutes later, to tell him I'm "probably" pregnant. Too funny.

I called my mother and told her I had bad news. That I wouldn't be able to come home for Christmas this year. My Mother, the drama queen, gave me a hostile "why?". I giggled and told her I would be about 8 months pregnant...she got all excited, then said "you can still drive home for Christmas" Sigh. I don't think I want to do a 13 hour car ride that pregnant. It would probably take 14 hours with all the potty breaks!

I told some of my friends about being preggers on Sunday at a little pool party when they wanted to know why I wasn't drinking with them. I called my sisters on Sunday and told them the news, they were excited for me. Hockeywife is disappointed that she won't be able to meet the baby until the summer, as she will be in Germany until April.

I'm feeling a little queasy. Isn't 5 weeks a little early for this? I get queasy before I eat and after I eat. I'm ok while I'm eating and then I'm fine about 1/2 hour after I stop eating the queasy goes away. It just sucks.

I'm craving naps. Going to bed early doesn't help, I just wake up earlier and stare at the celling. I just want a ten minute nap here and there.

I made an Dr.'s appointment, the obgyn doesn't want to see me until week 8, so I'll see them 7/17, 2 days after my 36 birthday.

Well, Christy, you wanted details..... ;-)

The wait is over...

NOW WHAT!?!

waiting is so hard

I hate this time of the month. The waiting. To bleed or not to bleed, and how do I feel about either option. I'm "due" today and this is the first time since I've gone off birth control that I haven't started early. I'm working really hard, not to get excited. Trying not to jinks myself. I feel like writing this is a jinks too, but I would rather babble it here, to the blogsphere, then to get excited to my hubby and friends and be wrong. I'm giving myself until until Sunday before trying to pee on the stick. I'd really hate to get a false negative.

It's been six months of trying...as much as I enjoy the trying part....I'm getting worried. sigh. I'd like to be preggers before my 36th b-day.

What Your Taste in Chocolate Says About You

What Your Taste in Chocolate Says About You

You are sophisticated, modern, and high class. Your taste is refined, but you are not picky. You are often the first to try something new. You are emotionally expressive and sensitive. You're effected by everything around you. Your friends appreciate your open heart, but they are afraid of hurting your feelings. You love to be in love. You crave romance, whether you're single or not. You feel lost when you don't feel passion... you need someone to adore.

The Chocolate Oracle

Midsummer Night's Dream review...sort of.

The last part of my Once Upon A Time Challenge is to read Midsummer Night's Dream. Midsummer Night's Dream is my hands down favorite Shakespeare play. I've seen it performed at least 20 time if I've seen it once. Sometimes it's good, other times it is horrible. One of the things that makes the difference is whether or not the actors understand what they are saying. Don't laugh. You'd be amazed at how many times I've seen the play where it was obvious that the actor didn't get the meaning, the sense of the lines. So I thought I'd share my favorite monologue with you.....and what I think the meaning is.....

HELENA :
How happy some o'er other some can be!

Through Athens I am thought as fair as she.

But what of that? Demetrius thinks not so;

He will not know what all but he do know:

And as he errs, doting on Hermia's eyes,

So I, admiring of his qualities:

Things base and vile, folding no quantity,

Love can transpose to form and dignity:

Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind;

And therefore is wing'd Cupid painted blind:

Nor hath Love's mind of any judgement taste;

Wings and no eyes figure unheedy haste:

And therefore is Love said to be a child,

Because in choice he is so oft beguiled.

As waggish boys in game themselves forswear,

So the boy Love is perjured every where:

For ere Demetrius look'd on Hermia's eyne,

He hail'd down oaths that he was only mine;

And when this hail some heat from Hermia felt,

So he dissolved, and showers of oaths did melt.

I will go tell him of fair Hermia's flight:

Then to the wood will he to-morrow night

Pursue her; and for this intelligence

If I have thanks, it is a dear expense:

But herein mean I to enrich my pain,

To have his sight thither and back again.

To Paraphrase, nay to sum up:

I'm happy for Hermia, but I'm pretty too! Why won't Demetrius see that anymore? He use to love me, now he loves Hermia! I love him, all his faults are charming to me. He is acting like a child, making promises then denying them. I will tell him of Hermia's plan, even though I am betraying my best friend, just to try to get him to see me again, hopefully to love me again.

To me, that is what Helena is trying to say. This monologue was one of my favorite audition pieces. Even if Helena is a whiny little pain in the ass.

Book Review: Legend by David Lynn Golemon

From Wikipedia--The word mythology refers to a body of folklore/myths/legends that a particular culture believes to be true and that use the supernatural to interpret natural events and to explain the nature of the universe and humanity.

So for my Mythology section of the Once Upon a Time II Challenge, I went with Legend by David Lynn Golemon. It is not classified as a Fantasy or Sci-Fi book, but as a thriller. It is about the search for El Dorado. It's kinda a modern Indian Jones story. There is global power conflicts, scientific backstabbing and secrets, kept for centuries. The mythology of the story is in the myth of El Dorado and the Aztecs who built it. It was a good read, but I wanted to read more about the clever way the Aztecs protected their treasure, rather than the modern politics around finding it. I probably won't pick up any more books by Golemon, his style is heavy on the mechanics of weapons and fighting. While I love a good fight scene, I'm not really interested in all the bells and whistles of tanks and guns.

Book Review: Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

Goose Girl by Shannon Hale was a fun quick read, a re-telling of the classic fairytale. I loved the way that Shannon Hale fleshed out the story, providing the Goose Girl's background as well as adding the more psychic than magic powers to the story. I also enjoyed Isa's personal growth journey, her learning to trust herself and stand on her own two feet.

My Google Reader is overflowing with entries....

Hi Everyone! Sorry for the long absence. I went on vacation. Zalebaby and I decided to stay at home and be tourist in Atlanta. With the cost of gas, it was much cheaper to stay at home (no hotel bill, no boarding the dogs bill) and do day trips around Georgia. I did insist it be a true vacation and refused to cook all week. Ya me!

We went on vacation from May 17th to May 26. When I picked the week, I picked it because of a day Atlanta Braves' game. Zalebaby wanted to go to a business man's game, as he has never done that. I had no idea that Monday was Memorial Day. I so loved the bonus day off!

I'll tell you more about vacation when Zalebaby gives me the pictures (he's a photoshop god) but here is the only one that came out good with my stupid camera (no, it's not stupid me, I made ZB take pictures with my camera as well as his to prove that there was something wrong with mine!)

Me at the New World of Coke. It was much better than the old World of Coke. We wouldn't have even gone to WOC if it wasn't for the CityPass that we bought.

Before and after

Before you sits 80% of my book collection:

I only thought about taking a picture after I removed the books from the folding bookshelves I've used since college. We're re-doing the guest bedroom, since the bed has been sitting on the floor since we've moved here. We rent, so please ignore the blue sky wallpaper, it came with the house.....but look! Brand new, grown up bookshelves! Thank you IKEA and my stimulus check!

I think when we actually buy a house, I'm going to need to add another bookcase or 2.

Yummy! Spicy Banana Cookies!

Zalebaby and I have been eating bananas like they are going out of style, 'cause they help with his heartburn, but after a while, it gets old. Like the bananas that turned soft and brown hanging on the holder. So I decided to try out the Spicy Banana Cookies recipe I found a couple of weeks ago at sticky, gooey, creamy, chewy . Drool. Yum. They were really easy to make and the only thing I did different from the recipe is I added extra chocolate chips and left out the nuts. I hate to say it, but I didn't get any pictures. I took them to a dinner party and they were gone in no time flat. I'm hoping that Zalebaby leaves a few more bananas to get over-ripe so I can make some more cookies......I bought an extra large bunch of bananas at the store to help to make the cookies happen.....there is nothing wrong with hedging your bets, right?

Magic Bites/Magic Burns.......Review

I love reading, I hate writing.....which is why I keep doing these bloody Challenge. The challenge for me is to actually write the Review. So today, I'm going to review 2 books by the same author, Ilona Andrews.

Magic Bites and Magic Burns are Urban Fantasy books that are set in a world where Magic and Technology work, but not at the same time. It's kinda like Magic and Tech are battling it out over who's rules the world is going to follow, Einstein's or Merlin's. This world also includes Were-animals and Vampires. With the Vampires, there is a twist. The Vampires are not your run of the mill, blood-drinking Hunky Bad Guys, vampires are more-or-less mindless creatures who are controlled by "The People". Which are, I think, humans who have an extra mind skill, who can control the by putting their consciousness in vampire's mind which allows the "rider" to control the vampire's body. The stories take place in Atlanta (which is where I live) and is one of the reason's I picked up the first book, Magic Bites. In Magic Bites, we are introduced to Kate Daniels, who is a mercenary that deals with paranormal problems. She is strong woman with a bad attitude and a secret. You gotta to love that, I know I do. She is blindsided by the murder of her Guardian and hunts down his killer.

In Magic Burns, Kate's got a new problem. How to save Atlanta (and the world) from Celtic Ghouls bent on killing all of human kind. In this book, Kate is even more of a bad ass then the in the first book, plus she has more depths as a person, we get to see her reason things out and we get a little closer to finding out her secret....well, we do find out her secret, but we still don't know what it means or why she is in this jam....And! There is a tease of a romance starting. I'm so loving that part. I'm dying for the two of them to get together. I find the way the tension is building up to be very sexy. It's going to be hard to wait until next year for part 3. I'm not known for my patience.

May Day

Happy May Day! Flowers for everyone and it's time to dance the maypole! Did you wash your face in the dew this morning?

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

May Day has been a traditional day of festivities throughout the centuries. It is most associated with towns and villages celebrating springtime fertility and revelry with village fetes and community gatherings. Perhaps the most significant of the traditions is the Maypole, around which traditional dancers circle with ribbons.

I love to dance the maypole. I use to do it everyday when I worked at the PA Renaissance Faire. It was one of my "duties". Rough job, right?..... You know what? I don't think I've ever dance the maypole on May Day. heh.

If you are a geek and you know it, clap your hands!

So, I'm a geek, I know it. Here's the proof. I spent the past week re-reading the first 5 books in a series so that I could read the new (to me) number 6. I will do this for almost every series. It's a sickness I tell you.

Zalebaby just laughs at me. "At least you get your money's worth out of your books."

There are only 2 series that I collect that I won't re-read the entire collection, The Eve Dallas series by JD Robb and the Honor Harrington series by David Weber. Both are simply to big to re-read all the books before my desire to read the newest overwhelms me.

One of my favorite things to have happen, is to find a new-to-me author that I love, who has a large collection of books published, so I can delve into their worlds and enjoy the stories, without having to wait for the next book to be published. Talk about being a literary addict......there are worse things to be addicted to, ya know?

Review: The Outlaw Demon Wails (Rachel Morgan/The Hollows, Book 6)

Now this one is on my Challenge list. I very much enjoyed The Outlaw Demon Wails (Rachel Morgan/The Hollows, Book 6) by Kim Harrison.

The Outlaw Demon Wails is the sixth book in the Hollows series. I really like the series, but I wouldn't recommend picking up this book if you haven't read the other 5. That being said, it was a good read. It definitely had a new tone to the story writing. Rachael is trouble with a capital T. If there is a safe choice or a dangerous one, she'll go for danger every time. At least that was the way she operated in the other 5 books. In this one, she spends a lot of time fighting herself and her instincts, to stay out of trouble....which of course, puts her in even more trouble.

I'm wondering if there will be a book 7. Harrison has wrapped up most of the plot lines of the series, but she did introduce a few new ones. I know if she writes more books set in this world, I'll read them.

Review: A Curse Dark As Gold by Elizabeth C Bunce

Although this book isn't on my list for the Once Upon A Time II Challenge, it certainly falls into the fairytale category....well sort of, as it turns out to be work of ghosts, rather than fairies.....

A Curse Dark As Gold by Elizabeth C Bunce. This was a wonderful retelling of the classic Rumpelstiltskin. One of the things I enjoyed about it, was the way the story was structured around the Mill. The building itself was a major character in the story, with it's own will and personality. Charlotte Miller, our heroine, starts out the tale not believing in magic or curses. She is a strong willed, determined person, and the fairytale element of the story creeps in slowly, changing her perception of the world. I love the journey she takes, from sorrow to joy, never loosing her determination to do the right thing, no matter how hard it is.

What Fun!

I had the best time last night with Teresa. She rocked and was so funny. We talked about everything under the sun. I was a little nervous about meeting her, what was I going to say? What if we have nothing in common other than blogging? I was so afraid my shy side was going to come out and tongue tie me. (you'd be surprised by how often that happens) But no, she made me feel comfortable right off the bat. She's just like her blog, warm funny and down to earth......and a little -ahem -earthy. It's too bad we got together on a school night, some weekend this summer we are going to have to sit down with a couple of pitchers of Margarita's....and see just how raunchy the conversation can get. Tee-hee! (maybe we could talk Mary Ann into coming for a visit this summer)

She made me the best box of goodies:

I'm so looking forward to playing with fabrics she gave me and I love, love, love the bracelet her daughter made. I was so excited to see one of her signature button dragonflys. The green sun catcher is going to be hung on my patio doors so I can see the light thru it and I love the little cardinal sitting on his nest. He is destined for a spot on my Christmas tree. Thank you so much Teresa for all the goodies. I can't wait to see you again! What a great blogging date.

Two Shoes

Sorry, no pictures of the Stromboli, but yum! So very yummy! I remembered to bring my camera downstairs, but did I take any pictures? Nope! By the time it came out of the oven, (at 9pm!!) We were sooo hungry and it smelled so good, we dove right in, camera forgotten. So this morning I took shoe pictures like so many of my favorite blogers have been posting lately. Jen over at Scissors. Paper. Glue has started a Shoe photo swap. So cute and such fun. I didn't join the swap, but I thought I'd offer up my favorite shoes. Please forgive the blurry-ness. I think I need a new camera--my pictures look good when I view them after I take them, but when downloaded.....blurry. I've corrected as much as possible, but I'm still not happy.

Wedding Shoes:

I had an outdoor wedding in Maui, so I wanted wedges with an ankle strap to walk on the grass with. Do you know how hard that is to find? I spent all summer trying to find a pair. I found these at the end of the summer in the Kenneth Cole store. I adore them and I love the fact that I've been able to wear them after the wedding, especially since I'd paid more for them then any other shoes in my life, which is not saying much, as they were on sale for $90. But then I got my wedding dress at Macy's for $80.....

Girly Party Shoes:

I don't remember where I got these, but I always feel pretty and feminine in them

Carb Coma

Guess what I did all weekend? I love, love, love this book. Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. My diet has gone right out the window. So far, I've only made 2 of the breads, the basic brioche dough and the peasant loaf. Both were yummy, so yummy. I've been making cheese toast like it was going out of style. I'm dying to make the calzon or the stromboli. I have enough dough left in the fridge to make one of them tonight. Now if I could just remember to pull out my camera I'll have pictures for you tomorrow.

I'm not surprised.....

This does not surprise me. Although I would rank my artistic side higher than the computer side.....

What Be Your Nerd Type? Your Result: Literature Nerd Does sitting by a nice cozy fire, with a cup of hot tea/chocolate, and a book you can read for hours even when your eyes grow red and dry and you look sort of scary sitting there with your insomniac appearance? Then you fit this category perfectly! You love the power of the written word and it's eloquence; and you may like to read/write poetry or novels. You contribute to the smart people of today's society, however you can probably be overly-critical of works. It's okay. I understand.
Drama Nerd
Gamer/Computer Nerd
Anime Nerd
Artistic Nerd
Social Nerd
Science/Math Nerd
Musician
What Be Your Nerd Type? Quizzes for MySpace

The Once Upon a Time II Challenge

Yay! It's that time of year again, it's the start of -The Once Upon a Time II Challenge!!! I did this Challenge last year and I found so many new authors to read, so when Carl V over at Stainless Steel Droppings made the announcement, I started compiling my list.

I'll be doing Quest the Third which is:

Fulfill the requirements for Quest the First or Quest the Second AND top it off with a June reading of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Quest the Second is: Read at least one book from each of the four categories. In this quest you will be reading 4 books total: one fantasy, one folklore, one fairy tale, and one mythology.

So my list of books (which I reserve the right to change up at any time) are:

1) Fantasy-Magic bites by Andrews, Ilona

2) Folklore- Swimming without a net by MaryJanice Davidson, a modern mermaid story.

3) Fairy Tale- Goose Girl by Shannon Hale, I've read another of her stories for the 1st challenge

4) Mythology- Legend by David Lynn Golemon, is a stretch, it's a thriller about the search for El Dorado. I may replace this if I find something not set in today's world....but I'm excited to read this one.

I'm so looking forward to everyone's review and find new great reads.

Lucky/Not So Lucky

I had an interesting weekend.

Friday Night: Atlanta, GA

Area: Cabbagetown

Interesting Occurrence: Tornado

Saturday Night: Savannah, GA

Interesting Occurrence: Tornado

Personal Damage: None.

Details:

Friday afternoon, my girlfriend Elli (who lives in Amsterdam) came into Atlanta for a visit. Zalebaby and I went to Heat's house in Cabbagetown, along with a bunch of other friends, to meet Elli and her husband and go to dinner. We all went to dinner at a Mexican place a couple of miles away in the Virginia-Highlands. On our way back to Heat's house, around 10 ish, we noticed the stop-lights were out around their house and the power was out on the block. No biggie, that usually happens when it rains that hard.....so we went in and lit candles and hung out for a while. Then one of the girls gets a panic phone call....is everyone alright?

It freaked us all out. None of us had been listening to the radio on the way back from the restaurant. We didn't know that a tornado had ripped the roof off of the lofts that are 300 yards down the street from Heat's house. In the dark we couldn't see a thing. When we stopped by Heat's on the way to Savannah Saturday morning, we could see the damage. wow.

Like I said, we went to Savannah on Saturday. Guess what happened there? There was 11 of us that went to Savannah for the festivities. We were roaming Riverwalk after dinner (more like wiggling thru the crowds, getting beer spilled on you with every step) when J tripped and twisted his ankle- the irony of this is he doesn't drink. J and A were sharing a room with Zalebaby and I, so we decided to get him back to the Motel where he could put his foot up, leaving the rest of the gang to enjoy the crowds. I was so over the crowds. During the day, it was a lot of fun, after dark, not so much.

I was a good thing we went back when we did. We had no sooner gotten back to the motel and settled in, then the power went out. A was in the shower and she yelled at us to quit fooling around and turn the lights on! We propped the bathroom door and the room door open so the emergency lights could give her enough light to finish up in there. We dragged the chairs out onto the walk way and enjoyed the night air. (we were on the 2nd floor) Our friends, fortunately, had left river walk before the lights went out and were wandering around City Market looking at the vender's when the power went out down there. Imagining trying to get out of river walk, in the dark with that many people jammed into it scares the bjesus out of me.

So our friends make it back to the motel and we are all sitting around, talking and drinking, the tornado siren goes off. Lovely. The tornado didn't set down anywhere near us, but enough is enough! What a weekend!

worry and frett.

All the Details have been ironed out and Zalebaby and I are going to Savannah for the weekend. Well, really just overnight on Saturday. The dog care has been arranged, the hotel is booked, Zalebaby is excited and I am dreading it.

We're going with a bunch of friends who want to do the St. Patty's day parting. I'm not looking forward to the drunk party crowds that Savannah's St Patty's day weekend seems to be. I say seems, since I've never been there during St Patty's day. I love Savannah, it is so beautiful. I'm a bit of a history junky and love to do museum tours. I'm whiny because I don't want deal with the hassle. Boy is it going to be a hassle. I'd be less whiny if we had planed this earlier and gotten a hotel room on river street and we could just walk out the door and do as we please, but the planners of this adventure got a hotel in the outskirts of Savanna and are planing on driving in so we can party on river street. Like that is going to work out well. Hello---drinking and driving? Not to mention parking is going to be a joke. I know that there are going to be shuttles, so I'm going to do some research and find out where the stops are.

This party weekend is so not the break my heart, mind and body are crying for.

This and that a'la Christy

This and that a'la Christy:

I'm a bit disorganized lately. I'm not finishing what I started. I've been using my nautical purse, but I haven't added anything to it yet. I'm thinking I'm going to add an applique whale to it. Very simple to do, if I'd just sit down and cut out the whale.

I also scored big when I went thrifting. I've been meaning to take pictures of the patterns, but it hasn't happened yet. I picked up 10 to 15 1950 patterns in my size (unheard of!) at .25 each! I found a wrap dress that is adorable. I so want to show it to Erin at Dress A Day. She would so get my love for it. Pictures, soon, I promise!

The cause of my worse than usual disorganization? Lost Odyssey. My Tax return came in last Friday and briefly I was rich. Then I paid the bills and bought myself a treat. It's the first true RPG (role-playing game) I've had for the 360. I am so addicted. This game should keep me occupied for a month, at least. The high-def graphics blow me away. So far, there is only one thing I'm not thrilled with, the world is not 360 and I can't look thru the characters eyes when I move around. It doesn't stop me from wanting to play. Last night I only stopped because it was the season finally of the Sarah Connor Chronicles.



Parting shot:

This was parked outside of my office this morning. To bad I didn't see the sales rep, I so would have hit him up for samples!

Thrifting

I'm going to an estate sale tomorrow. I'm really excited about that. I went to them all the time before I moved to Atlanta, since moving here, I've fallen out of the habit. It might have had something to do with all the Friday night Parties I went to when I first moved here......but I'm not quite sure how...... ;-)

Help Please!

I broke my sewing drought last night and made a purse. I cut it out months ago and it sat by my machine waiting to be sewn. Since NASCA was in rain pause most of last night I decided to put it together. (NASCA is my dirty little pleasure, it's all the pretty drivers going fast) It turned out OK, but I like the inside better than the outside. So, the outside needs some jazzing up. That's where I need help, so please, please offer some suggestions! (I'm looking at you, Mary Ann and Candi)

The outside:

The inside:

I could take it apart and reverse it, but the pockets are too short to be of any use on the outside, I would loose anything I put in them. I used scrap fabric to make it and I don't have enough to make deeper pockets.

Detail:

So, help me out. What can I do to make the bag less plain? Or is it OK as it is?

Total Eclipse of the heart.....

I'm showing my geek side.....
Zalebaby and I went outside last night around 10:30 and got to see this. It was so very cool. I've never seen a lunar eclipse before. It seems every time one was occurring, we had cloud cover. Even for this eclipse, we missed most of it due to the clouds (and where the moon was...had to wait for it to get high enough to see over the other houses) but it was thrilling to see the moon last night. Not for another 3 years, Dec. 21, 2010 will there be another total lunar eclipse.

In high school, I was lucky enough to go to the "rich" school. I lived 4 houses into the school district. High school sucked, its no fun being the geeky poor girl in the school where all the doctor's kids went to school. One of the cool things about the school was it had a Planetarium. I loved astronomy class. The teacher was crazy fun and the subject matter kept my attention. It was one of the few classes I enjoyed. I so wish that I could have had more classes like that.

My so called sewing room

My sewing room is haunting me. I even walked in it yesterday and looked at the piles. Piles of fabric, piles of stuffing, piles of patterns, piles everywhere except on the treadmill that I haven't used in months. I keep that free so I will use it. Or so I tell myself. Sigh. I need another sewing job to kick myself into gear. I've been wanting to make a table runner and placemats. I've got plenty of fabric to do it with, but I haven't wanted to be in the sewing room to do it. I must clean it.

I've also been thinking about making a hand pieced doll quilt. I want something that I can work on in front of the TV with my hubby. He gets a little whine-y when I go upstairs and sew after work, unless its a paying job. Plus, I like to sew to the TV and I don't have one the the disaster area I call a sewing room.


bonus Picture: hubby and my niece at Christmas

Roses smell sweet

I'm so lucky. My bosses got me roses and a card for Valentine's Day. Totally surprised me and made my day.

He's Coming Home

Yay! Zalebaby is on his way home. I've missed him terribly. It's been rough being sick as a dog and not having him around to baby me. It's been worse, what with his family situation and me not being able to be there with/for him and being sick. Now the poor baby is driving home thru the tornado's, in the rain, with a cold of his own. I pray the trip goes smoothly for him. I can't wait for him to get home so I can baby him. If all goes well, he should be home around 9pm tonight, which gives me enough time to get home from work, clean the house and change the sheets before he gets there. I might even have enough time to take a nap.

Sadness

Zalebaby's mother passed away early Sunday morning. This was not unexpected as she had cancer and when we saw her over Christmas, she was on a downward spiral. He got the call last week that he needed to come home, so he left here Friday afternoon and did the 14 hour drive to Upstate New York. He spent Saturday with her, talking to her and making her laugh. He feels good about that. Zalebaby loves to be the funny man.

What he is not so happy about is having to be the strong one and handle all the details. He is the only one of the 4 kids that doesn't live in that podunk town. He's the only one to escape from their trailer-trash lifestyle. Believe me, they could keep Jerry Springer show going for a month. That includes his mother's husband, never to be confused with his Dad. So all the stuff that should have been taken care of long before his Mom got this bad, never got taken care of. Or even talked about. So guess who got stuck with it? I wish I was there to comfort Zalebaby, but a small part of me is really glad I'm not. I couldn't be nice to most of his family. I lost my father to cancer 12 years ago and they way his mother (and the rest of the family) handled everything makes me angry to tears.

She didn't have to die this way. She had Colon cancer and if she'd gone to the doctor at the first sign of trouble, she could have beat it. Instead, she waited until her bowels shut down then went to the doctor. At that point, she still had a good chance of beating it. She was given chemo pills, but stopped taking them because they made her sick. The whole thing just makes me so mad. My Dad didn't have a chance against the cancer and she throws it all away.

Sorry Christy, yesterday was a sick day....

So what do you take to stop the diarrhea when you keep throwing up the Imodium AD? I've also learned that grape poweraid makes for neon lime diarrhea. Just a fun fact to start your day. I'm done with the ralphing and (keep your fingers crossed) with the diarrhea so I'm back at work. I'm so ready to go home and laydown.

Da Da Dum

I love reading blogs. I get all kinds of crafting and sewing ideas. I love reading everyone else's life stories and the recipes...Woot! I love the cooking blogs! When it comes to me putting fingers to keyboard.....not so much. I don't know what to write. When I do something crafty, I always seem to do it at the last minute and don't take any pictures, so I don't really want to blog about it. During Christmas, I made 2 wonderful simple wraps for friends of mine. Did I take pictures? nope. So.....no proof that I made them...why blog about them.....it's a vicious circle. Which takes me back to the start of this post. I love reading (and commenting on blogs) which is why I feel like I should have one. I want to give back, but I'm not doing such a good job of it. So I'm going to challenging myself to post at least twice a week (I'm trying to set a reasonable, attainable goal). Hopefully it won't be complete drivel, but I'm going to give it a try.

I Partied Like A Rock Star.....

My bed and I got together around 4:30 or so.....no really, I did party and it was good. I've got no pictures to prove it. We went (10 of us) to a tapas place in Atlanta called Loca Luna it was the same place I went to for my bachlerette party. It was fantastic. We had reservations for 9:30, but we got there at 8:45 to avoid the cover charge....which meant more money for drinking! Yay! So my crew met up at the bar and drank until they seated us at 10. Which as packed as they were, I was impressed that they got us seated that quickly. We ate and drank ourselves silly, toasted the New Year, kissed our way around the tables then went back to my house and partied some more. Here's the embarrassing part.......we broke out the xbox 360 and played Dance, Dance Marathon. (we've got 2 dance pads) Nothing in the world is funnier than drunk dancing at 2 in the morning. I so wish I had pictures to post!