what is the deal with . . . . . ?

Let me put on a skinny tie, wear a suit jacket with the sleeves rolled up, make my best 80's comedian voice and ask you "What is the deal with . . . . . . . . .

- kids and cereal boxes? Why must they have the box right in front of them when they eat cereal? It's the only food they do that with. Yeah, I used to do it too, but why? Are those the only entertaining packages? Hmm . . . a lot trader joe products have pretty funny packages, so why not those?

- hair salons and their have-to-be-witty names? Why do salon owners feel they have to name their salon something like The Mane Idea or Hair we Are or Live and Let Dye? Why? I don't even know if these are real places, but you get the idea right? What would you name your salon?

- the phrase "at the end of the day". I know I've written about this before, but this phrase really irks me. Not if you say something like, "I go home at the end of the day", but when it's used to mean something like when all is said and done. EVERYONE uses it. ARGH! I think one day I'll count how many times I hear it. I'm going to watch a news channel and take a shot whenever anyone says it. ;P

- living close to a foreign country giving you foreign policy experience? In that case, since I was born and raised on the U.S./Mexico border, I'm a foreign policy EXPERT! I could see Mexico while driving every day.

- this apartment? Ewwww. . . . .


feeling: ready for 2 digit temperatures, even if it's in the 90's . . . the low 90's
listening to: that Kings of Leon song. It reminds me of Dancing in the Dark

finally, a link!

My bloggy friends always have the coolest links on their sites (a-hem, Jess). I don't. My posts are always more like . . . blah, blah, blah, me, me, me, blah, blah, the kids, blah, blah, Rodrigo, blah, blah, me, me, me. Don't fret. I have a link for you! Behold, my latest time waster . . . . picnik. I wasted HOURS on this thing yesterday while my family went neglected. You can import all your flickr pictures and make all sorts of cool stuff. By far, my favorite effect so far is the focal black & white.



I have a ton of Brianna's baby and toddler pictures that I'm planning to use this on. I was messing around with pictures of me yesterday. Here are two of my pictures in Orton-ish, night vision, cinemascope, and cinemascope with a polaroid frame. Some of you will remember the first picture from my unfortunate eyebrow wax incident a while back.



So what are you waiting for? Go check it out!

feeling: I have things I should be doing
listening to: nothing

valentine's day recap and links

We had agreed that we would have a really low key Valentine's Day. I was concerned because I didn't want Rodrigo to spend too much money. We'd just bought Brianna's bedroom furniture last month, he bought my iPod shuffle earlier this month and we bought Alec's bedroom furniture this past weekend. I told him that my shuffle could be my gift so I wasn't expecting anything. When he left to work yesterday he'd given me a giant chocolate bar which I thought was really cute. In the evening I received some pink, green and orange roses. My eyes teared up immediately. When I was working on a new blog template and trying to make a banner, I'd told Rodrigo about how I loved the combination of pink, green and orange. I was touched that he'd been listening, remembered and actually thought of it. He loves me.
As for the kids, well, they loved yesterday too. They think Valentine's day is a holiday for them too. Not like a lovey dovey holiday but a holiday when they can get goodies. Kind of like Halloween but sans costumes and with different color combos. Anyway, Brianna got a whole bunch of lip glosses (because I "never buy her any lip gloss". "Never" meaning I only buy her 3-4 lip glosses every month or so), a "fat cat" and several cards. She also received pencil, stickers, cups, erasers and about a million Valenines at school. Alec got cards, of course, a Milo and Otis movie which he loves but had never owned and a Lightning McQueen big cookie.



















I also wanted to share some links that I've come across today . . .

- I think I'm going to print out a few pages of this article and just pass them out whenever another person asks me "So, when's the wedding?"

- I only have the rest of today to make some Chinese New Year crafts for 23 kids. Any simple ideas?

- I don't know how many of you have tried this new cereal but it is LOVED at my house. Rodrigo and the kids have already gone through three boxes in less than two weeks. I've only tasted about one spoonfull but it's pretty good.

- I received the new Red Envelope catalog yesterday and there are lots of nice St. Patrick's Day gifts.

That's all for today!

feeling: super busy making 12 hairbows and other crafts BY TONIGHT
listening to: Semisonic ? (Closing Time) <-- I think that's the name of the band. I hadn't heard this song in years

link time

Some of my favorite posts are when people put links of various things they've found. I love finding new things. I thought I'd share some cool things I've seen lately. . .

- I am one of those Valentine's Day suckers. I love all the cute gifts that are available this time of year. I love these little message beans.

- I usually have a Hello Kitty background on my computer but I couldn't resist these. Surprisingly on the Kleenex site! Aren't they cute?

- My favorite type of gifts has to be personalized gifts. I love to know that someone thought of the gift. My favorite place for personalized gifts is Red Envelope. While browsing the site, I came across these chocolate fortune cookies.

- I'm also loving the personalized Hershey's Kisses.

- If you have extra money just lying around and want to buy me something, buy me this. A Momoberry Hello Kitty doll! -gasp- Ooh! I just saw this one! You could buy me either one!

feeling: I want coffee
listening to: Audioslave (I Am the Highway)

today's news

- Phew, I voted. Did you? I feel like I just took a final. I'm sooooo glad this election is over and now ready to hear the results. I read up as much as I could on the candidates and all the propositions. I am sooooooo glad I did, because some of the propositions were worded in a way that seems, hmm, not so different either way. I was glad to have known already my thoughts on each. I am happy to not have to see any more mudslinging ads. At least for a little while. I'm sure there are going to be a whole lot if the 2008 O.C. (Obama/Clinton) really happens.

- Saint Bono continues his good work. I love him. Although, I think technically, if canonized, he'd be Saint Paul.

- FINALLY!

- I bought Cars for Alec today. I predict that I am going to have to watch it about 75 million times. In the first week.

feeling: HOT!
listening to: Barefoot Music or Harold Barefoot (Doggy Fun)

linky time!

Have you contributed to the Yahoo Time Capsule yet? There's still time. I LOVED this idea! My babies are on there. The message is pretty personal (and by personal I mean sappy), so I won't post the link, but I won't mind a bit if you find it.

Are you doing NaNoWriMo this year? I've toyed with the idea for three years now and I just haven't been, well, inspired. I'll let you guys know if I do it or not.

I still want one of these.

Wow! People don't waste any time! It isn't even a for sure thing and look at all this merchandise already. These two are my favorite so far.

Oh, come on. I thought playing tag was just part of growing up.

Toast with Trader Joe's almond butter and raspberry preserves is the best tasting thing I've had in a while. I'm addicted.

We heard coyotes behind our house last night. I'm serious. Towards the middle of that page you can get a sample of what we heard. Only we heard it louder, longer and it made me jump up in bed.

feeling: I should stop making crazy noises with my lips
listening to: Rodrigo talk about some networking thing that I don't understand.