look here

think first - then stick!

on the way home from the beach on monday, we got behind this truck in james city. maybe you can see that there is decal on the rear window... it said:

GET OFF THE PHONE

AND DRIVE! DUMBASS!!!

well that is real classy, eh? first off, i can't help but notice the poor grammar. shouldn't it say "get off the phone and drive, dumbass?" second, nathaniel pointed out that it'd be kinda funny if it were on the front window and written in reverse (so the driver in front of him could read it in their rear view mirror, like an ambulance, you know?)



but that isn't where he had it glued. having it on the rear mirror only spoke to those who he was passing (or that were catching up to him, like in our case). what was he thinking???

i'm not a fan of bumper (or anywhere else on the car) stickers. are you?

what dads are for...

this weekend, we went down to morehead to visit some of my old friends. we ended up having SUCH a great time that we stayed the whole weekend.

well these friends have a nice yard, with nice grass. at one point kendal got a little restless and his dad took him into the yard. i went inside, and when i came out, this is what i saw:



my first thought was "oh my god he's gonna get eaten up with bugs from sitting on the ground" but what was i supposed to say? well, i said nothing and ran and got tina's camera (since i forgot mine - thank you pregnant brain!)



kendal was having such a blast playing with the clover flowers. he had them stuck behind both ears, in his shirt,...



and between his toes!



it really was sweet watching him sit on the ground with his dad. i know for certain that i would have never done that (sit him on the ground sans towel or blanket), not that it is a bad thing to do. i just don't like to feel the grass. i don't even walk barefooted in the grass!



so i guess that is what dads are for. letting their children do things they would not get the chance to do with their mamas!

i saw this postsecret and it made me cringe.
i think, officially, i have embraced my whiteness.
actually, i covered it in SPF70.

doodle bug, doodle bug, you're house is on fire!

when i was little, we used to go under the shed with a pine needle (or small stick) and try to rustle up the doodle bugs. we'd stir into their hole and chant "doodle bug doodle bug, your house is on fire" over and over until the doodle bug came out (usually because we stirred him out, not because he was climbing out). when they were stirred out, they usually looked dead, as they would be flat on their back. we'd put them in our tiny little hands and in a few seconds, it would flip over and start walking (backwards) in our hand.



i was just reading about doodle bugs (random, huh?). i learned two things.

#1 the doodlebug that lives in the hole, that is just the larvae. apparently when the larvae is ready to molt into the adult stage, it goes into a "sleep" for about 3 weeks in the hole, and when it is done, it climbs out and onto a stick or grass and flies away! here is the adult:



#2 they DO bite. and when they bite, the inject a little bit of poison that makes it burn for several minutes. i've never been bitten, though. maybe that was luck. maybe i was just a doodle bug whisperer.

was being the key word there. once i decided to keep a doodle bug as a pet. cool pet, huh? well, all was great, it lived in a jar half-full of sand. i think there may have been a stick in there or something, but i used to feed it the aphids off of mom's rose plants. i guess ants were too hard to find (since a doodle bug is also called an antlion).



well mom saw all those aphids on her rose! guess what happened to my doodle bug after eating aphids that had been sprayed with pesticides...

i buried him in the front yard. even decorated a rock for his tombstone. i bet it is still out there!

i never thought i'd see the day...

i'm such a meat eater. those of you who know me know that simple fact. beef, in particular, has always been my favorite meat.

if you remember from my last pregnancy, i could not eat chicken. it made me sick to even look at it. well, let me tell you what has happened to me during this pregnancy thus far. beef. beef is a no no. last night i grilled grass-fed beef ribeyes last night. yum. it looked delicious. one bite into the medium rare steak and i thought i was gonna puke. on the second bite, it was confirmed... i could not eat steak. (i did eat the corn on the cob, though, corn is a yum.)

about every other week, my dad fries crappie filets outside at home. i've loved eating them until the last time they were cooked... i couldn't stand the smell of the grease, much less the fish. i couldn't even eat the cornbread/hushpuppies that mom made, because the smelled like hot oil.

on the cruise, i kept getting seafood (because generally i love it). well, shrimp, lobster, crab, fish, all yucks. i think my favorite meal on the boat was either some sort of cold creme based fruit soup or the mushroom alfredo pasta i ate. yea, real fancy, huh?

so today it is already 1pm, this morning i felt really really sick (never did throw up, though, i feel like if i had i may feel better). i ate a biscuit (plain) from sunrise biscuit kitchen and a large tea. i think thus far today the only thing that has been good was that tea.

so now i need to eat but i don't want to. but if i don't i'll get a migraine. ah, the dilemma.

my version of thurber...

one of my long time favorite books is names thurber's "the thurber carnival"


this book is a collection of short stories, essays, and collections from times past... in particular, my favorite part is called the pet department. here are two excerpts from the pet department:


Q. No one has been able to tell us what kind of dog we have. I am enclosing a sketch of one of his two postures. He only has two. The other one is the same as this except he faces in the opposite direction. - Mrs EUGENIA BLACK

A. I think that what you have is a cast-iron lawn dog. The expressionless eye and the rigid pose are characteristic of metal lawn animals. And that certainly is a cast-iron ear. You could, however, remove all doubt by means of a simple test with a hammer and a cold chisel, or an acetylene torch. If the animal chips, or melts, my diagnosis is correct.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q. We have a fish with ears and wonder if it is valuable. - JOE WRIGHT

A. I find no trace in the standard fish books of any fish with ears. Very likely the ears do not belong to the fish, but to some mammal. They look to me like a mammal's ears. It would be pretty hard to say what species of mammal, and almost impossible to determine what particular member of that species. They may merely be hysterical ears, in which case they will go away if you can get the fish's mind on something else.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
so anyway, nathaniel and i had an email 'transaction' today that reminded me of thurber's pet department. here goes it:



(incidentally, this is called a pee tree)

Q: i have to pee and i want to do it outside. could you write me a permit for a one-time pee out by the old oak tree? my cats also like to pee and poo outside. do they need a permit? will i get fined if i take my dog down to the creek and make her pee and poo right next to the water? what if i give her a bath outside and the water drains into my yard? do i need a permit to do that too? i'm using biodegradable soap!

A: The dog doesn't need a permit because she prefers to poop on the carpet.

Cats that live a majority of their time outside, are deemed permitted to use culverts, leaf piles or mulched areas. Cats living predominantly inside must use a self contained kaolinite filtration system.

Since you, presumably, are human and thus have opposable thumbs unless you have been involved in an unfortunate pruning accident may not use the "old oak tree." You are required to use a water wasting device that will transport your waste to a leaky tank in your backyard which will hopefully make it through your pump tank to the drip lines by your "old oak tree", unless the power wires have been cut. As to whether or not you close the lid when finished, refer to your husband.

he laughs at the weirdest things!

this is nathaniel saying "up" to maggie (with pretend food). needless to say, maggie was not tricked. but, kendal thought the "up" command was very funny! i have lots of video of this. this one is the best though. the laughing went on and on for a long time!

bouncy rocket

what sweet little noises he makes!!! too bad my camera disk was full... i would have kept recording!!!

hair dilemma

well my hair is big. my hair has always been big. when i say big, i mean BIG. i have so much hair it is pathetic. i'm like the opposite of a balding woman.

so from time to time, i get tired of my hair (as most women do) and need a change. when my hair is long, i want it short. when it is short, i want it long. so i was thinking of doing both... keeping the back long and cutting the front short. what do you think?



on a serious note, i am kinda tired of my hair. it really is heavy, and i wear it up every day. it is "easy" so to speak, since all i do is wash and brush it. i usually let it air dry in the car and then promptly pull it up into a bun before anyone sees me. but, even buns are heavy (and get old). sometimes a woman wants some style! styling my hair as it is now is a long and tedious project. i have to dry it (which takes forever and i get really really hot). then i have to straighten it (since my hair isn't wavy enough to let it go natural, and besides is frizzy as all get out so i really can't just let it go natural). straightening it takes forever, since i have to do it piece by piece...

several times in my life i have sported this haircut, the "inverted bob" whatever that means. but, it is the short in the back and longer in the front. i'm sure most of you have seen me with this cut. my hair does grow fast though, so having this cut requires monthly visits to kim. which as i go now, it's nearly monthly anyway (for color).

so, kate is getting this haircut very soon (next week) and i was considering getting it too. keep in mind my color is more like the brown photo, and i'll probably get it colored like that in the end anyway (highlights in the front). i suppose i could try the blonde, but that requires too much maintenance too since my hair grows like a weed and i'd have to die my roots too often! what do you think? keep it long or cut it short? make a comment!

Rearing Snakes

NO PHOTOS ARE IN THIS BLOG BECAUSE I KNOW MY MOM READS IT AND SHE IS VERY AFRAID OF SNAKES, EVEN PICTURES! if you want to see pictures, click on the links. and mom, stop reading now because this is about snakes! last night, nathaniel and i read this article about a possible KING COBRA in fayetteville. i'm sure if you watch the news or read the paper/internet news, you've seen this already. basically, a dude down in cumberland county said that he saw a king cobra. he identified it because it reared up his head. so let me tell you a story that happened to me years ago, back in the DOT days. we were working on a future bridge corridor out near fayetteville (near hope mills). we had to walk about 500' down a sewer easement, which was neck high with kudzu. the utility company bushhogged a trail for us that was about 20 feet wide (just enough for our drill rig to drive through). we were done with our drilling and surveying the elevations of the borings, and all the guys were out of the woods. i was left carrying the survey equipment (tripod, level thingy, and my notebook) so i had my hands full. i started walking out and about half way to the road, i heard something moving behind me in the kudzo, so i stopped and turned around. out ran this long, skinny, black snake that was sitting on its tail with his head raised up high (about 1/2 of his body was in the air, he was maybe waist high on me but of coarse he was a little ways away from me and this story is about 5 years old so it may be exaggerated some now). anyway, my first thought was that this was a very nosey black snake (black snakes usually run from you before you ever see them). i was noticing the belly of this snake was silver, which is different than a black snake. black [rat] snakes have yellow bellies (that is how i remember it is a black snake, because they run from you - yellow belly... get it?) ok, so this snake had a silver belly. which is different than any black snake i've seen before. so after about 10 seconds of us staring at each other, this snake LUNGED forward towards me maintaining its erect posture! at this point, i rearranged the equipment in my hand so that the tripod was in the front and ready to be propelled forwards to get between me and this snake. but, after a moment, this snake decided i must not be a threat so it just backed away into the kudzu (moved down to the ground). so when i got out of the woods, one of the drillers informed me that i had encountered a black racer, which are known for being aggressive. he said "be glad you didn't run, because i've seen them run after someone, bite them, and whip them!" after reading this story on WRAL, nathaniel and i looked up the black racer. it was very likely that it was the snake i encountered. also, we found another snake (called the eastern coachwhip) which is much more aggressive, and happens to be the LONGEST snake found in NC. i wonder if THIS is what the man thought was a king cobra. if you click on all these links, you will see that the "mean" snakes all do look similar, especially the king cobra and the eastern coachwhip. and i know for SURE that snakes can flatten their head, it doesn't have to be a cobra or a cottonmouth. so anyway, my theory is that this man encountered a coachwhip. and the fact that "pit bull pups and chickens" have been missing says to me that #1 someone is stealing puppies and #2 a fox is eating some free chickens!!! these snakes do not eat things that large. maybe the pups, but only if they were weeks old, not 2 months old.

glow in the dark cats

i found this blog online when i searching for a "glowing white person" (like myself). it is too funny not to post.




Scientists at the Gyeongsang National University in South Korea have cloned cats that have the ability to glow-in-the dark when exposed to ultraviolet light. By inserting a virus into the skin cells of a mother cat and placing those contaminated cells into the womb, scientists were able to prove that it was possible to clone an animal with a manipulated gene. Apparently, this development could allow for a better understanding of human genetic diseases in the future. But what about the benefits of glowing cats? If you ask me, cats that could truly glow-in-the-dark would make for an unique and styilsh night-light. And, much like the new litrospheres, they last for about 12 years. The only downside is that the latter requires no power source while cats require a steady diet. Still, the crazy cat lady down the street could have the most power efficient house in town

sometimes it sucks being white

and i mean that literally. today was both a day for good news for me as a woman, and a day for bad news for me as a whitey.

the good news is #1 my BP was fine even with the fact that i just learned the bad news (described below), and also that we now have a due date for baby #2. december 18th is the special day accd to my cycle, and december 24th is the day accd to the ultrasound. so, that week then, we can expect a new little baby!

between now and end of july, we have to decide whether or not we want to find out the gender during our second (and last) ultrasound. this time it is nathaniel's decision!

the bad news is that i got a call from the dermatologist today to tell me the results of last week's biopsy. ( i had a "questionable area" removed from the back of my left calf. this spot, to me, looked like a freckle and i never suspected that it would need to be removed. as a matter of a fact, i never even noticed it until she pointed it out to me.) well, it is melanoma. yes. at 32 years old, i have my first melanoma diagnosis. and those of you who know me know that i am a sunblock freak. i suppose i've not always been so "good", as i gave way to many hours to the tanning beds back when i was in college (and a little after). if i knew then what i knew now...

so in 3 weeks i go for a excision, where they will cut off more skin. so much skin that this time, i have to "stay off my leg" for a while so i won't pop any of the stitches. right. how does one do that with a (nearly) 9 month old?

please, if you read this blog, find a dermatologist and GO have a body scan. it takes less than 5 minutes, is painless (they just look at you), and is SO worth it if they can find any bad stuff and remove it before it is too late. just last fall i had a precancer removed from my clavicle. (i actually went in to have a mole removed because i kept knocking it off with my fingernail, it was right under my bra and really was in the way. she saw that spot on my shoulder and suggested i get it off since they were already doing one spot, wouldn't be too much trouble to do two). i'm glad she encouraged me to schedule the full over scan. so the body scan, if you have state employees insurance, only costs the $40 specialist copay. any biopsies will be applied to the deductable - WORTH IT!!!!

been making some invitations tonight... dad is turning 60 and we're throwing him a birthday party!

so, anyway, here is the "template" i found online. these cards sell for $225 for 25. WOW!




i made my own version of it using CorelDraw. i printed both the large card and the smaller tag on cardstock, punched half-holes in the sides of the large card, small holes in the tag, then used the corner rounder on ALL of it. i used gold jewelry string (had some at home but it is pretty cheap), and what took the longest was threading the tag and tying it to the card! i also used one of the small dimensionals behind the tag. this helped with the tying part.

so anyway, here is MY version (which probably cost about $5 for 30, not including the ink, which i did try to minimize the wasting of it as i printed using the "fast normal" quality print).




what do you think?

i said duty!

one of the things that got on my nerves while "at sea" is the push for tax and duty free shopping. what exactly is tax and duty free? isn't it EITHER tax OR duty free? isn't saying tax and duty free like saying a brown and chocolate lab? or a big and large man?

i guess i just don't get why the "tax and" or "and duty" has to be a part of the phrase. isn't it really tax free? or duty free... since duties are taxes?

ok, i'm confusing myself.

chocolate + chocolate = experiments

today for some reason, i am totally craving chocolate - so much, that i just had a great idea.... this idea came as i was squeezing chocolate syrup onto my finger to eat.



what would happen if you mixed chocolate syrup with chocolate powder? do you think that would be good or just gritty? well, i haven't tried it yet, but i may.

so sad to go!

i never thought i'd be sad to leave for a vacation, but i am! it is so hard to leave kendal. i know he'll grow a foot and cut 2 teeth and start crawling this week, and i'll miss it all.

last night, i got very sick. maybe it is from not eating. maybe it is allergies, or a cold. maybe it is a combination of the 2 (or 3). i just knew i'd get sick before this cruise. i've felt it coming for several days now. hopefully the salty air will heal me quick. if i can leave.

i dreamed last night that i was so sick that i couldn't go, so we missed our vacation. and i wasn't sad about it. i felt guilty for wasting all that money, but i wasn't sad that i didn't have to leave kendal.

i know for years we've been trying to talk melissa into taking a cruise with us, sans kids. i suppose now i know why she would never commit. i don't think we'll do it (sans kids vacation) again (since it is harder to "pawn off" 2 kids than 1). in the future, we'll only take family vacations. it will be our new tradition.

so anyway, pray i don't die. pray i get better. pray kendal doesn't miss me too much. pray i don't miss him too much! i read today that you have to be at the nassau airport 180 minutes before your flight leaves! that is a long long wait! (RDU is 60-90 min.)

the passing of time

my computer plays a slideshow of all my "kendal" photos as the screensaver. i often find myself watching it, saying "awwwww" at the way kendal has grown! recently, i sifted through all of his baby clothes with the intent on sorting OUT the "genderless" newborn clothes to send to melissa (since she is waiting to find out the gender on baby #4). i boxed the remaining boy clothes up according to size. i really can't believe he used to fit in those tiny little newborn clothes! it was funny the memories that become attached to certain outfits. i suppose i can see now why mom didn't throw away (or donate) any of our baby clothes. i could see myself hanging on to all these things, even if i wasn't going to use them again (which HOPEFULLY will not be the case).

i was doing this packing about the time we were planning on a cruise sale date of may 10th (the next available cruise after the one we booked). to be honest, i kinda was sad about that (fortunately it worked out that we could bump it up a week) because i'd miss my first mothers day with kendal! but, now i won't miss it, and we STILL get to go on a cruise. i already have that deep dread in my stomach about leaving. it is already so great that i have nearly stopped eating except when starvation mode hunger kicks in. i used to get this feeling when we'd visit melissa in missouri from the day we arrived and, likewise, it worsened as the trip grew long and the drive/flight home grew near. (this was when grace was a baby, and again when faith was little too). i used to love to see them, but the entire trip i dreaded the leaving part. i even contemplated moving to MO for a while (i don't know if M knows that).

well i'm aimlessly rambling now... i can't believe how fast time passes when you become a mother. i know it "speeds up" as you get older, but once that motherhood part kicks in, time REALLY flies. i can't believe i'm 32. i can't believe kendal is 8 months (almost). seems like just yesterday i graduated from college and traveled eastern NC with the DOT. and it seems like just last night i met nathaniel. and just 2 hours ago i was pregnant.

so here is my photolog of my screensaver version the passing of time. go ahead. you can say "awwwwww" too!

-18 weeks

1 hour

5 days

2 weeks

1 month

6 weeks

7 weeks

8 weeks

9 weeks

10 weeks

11 weeks

3 months

3.5 months

4 months

5 months

for some reason, i can't upload any more photos... so i do have one for the 6 month and 7 month period, but i'll have to try later to do it. maybe it is too early for blogger to be working right!

spam letters

do you ever read these letters? well, sometimes i do. just to see what they say. i wonder, #1 who writes them? #2 who is fooled by them #3 HOW are those who are fooled fooled?
really. read this one i had this morning.

Re: Greetings,

I am Mr Brown Stanford, Kay Account Manager in well-known Bank,herein
London, England However, I have already sent you this same letter by
post one month ago, but I am not sure that the letter promptly get to
you since I have not heard from you, now i am resending it again.Can you
be my partner?

Regards and respect,
Mr.Brown Stanford

what happened to punctuation (other than commas)? grammar? sentence structure in general?
i'm dumbfounded. (not dumbfooled!)