Men

John has built some amazing things around this house: a Grecian-type trellis over the pond, a bar out back - complete with built-in grill, and a beautiful fountain that runs over plate glass. He's very creative, and very capable.

So why, oh why, can't he change a freakin' roll of toilet paper?

Crazy Stuff I Know

Maryland State Symbols:

Bird: Oriole

Boat: Skipjack

Cat: Calico

Crustacean: Blue Crab

Dessert: Smith Island Cake

Dinosaur: Astrodon johnstoni

Dog: Chesapeake Bay Retriever

Drink: Milk

Exercise: Walking

Fish: Rockfish (Striped Bass)

Flag:
Flower: Black-Eyed Susan

Folk Dance: Square Dance

Fossil Shell: Ecphora gardnerae gardnerae (Wilson)

Gem: Patuxent River Stone

Horse: Thoroughbred Horse

Insect: Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly

Reptile: Diamondback Terrapin

Seal:
Song: "Maryland, My Maryland"

Sport: Jousting

Team Sport: Lacrosse

Theaters: Center Stage & Olney Theatre

Tree: White Oak

Sigh

Some days, I find it really difficult to maintain my sunny disposition.

It's been, like, five in a row now.

Wordless Wednesday

The power of suggestion is very real.

Is insomnia contagious? If so, I think I may have contracted it from my friend, Casey.

Just in case you were wondering...

Apparently, the new words are as follows:

Twinkle, twinkle little star
Me me me me me me me.


At least he got the tune (mostly) right. ;)

Recipe for Disaster

In the directions on a bottle of sleeping pills: Take with a full glass of water.

That's what friends are for.

Kelly, I posted at 11:14 last night. And at only 8:04 tonight, you were already worried about me not getting a post in today? Breathe, sweetie!

And thanks for giving me something to say. ;)

HE thinks he's funny.

Late last night, there was a short for an upcoming show called "Stupidity" on television.

John slugged my shoulder, pulling my face out of a book. "Honey," he said coyly, "Your show is on!"



Jerk.

That's my boy.

A few years ago, a friend of John's gave him Darth Tater. Since that time, this particular potato head has been sitting on a bookshelf in our (not often used) living room. And on the infrequent occasion that one of us passes it, we declare, "Darth Tater!" and giggle a little.

JJ found Darth Tater today. He brought said potato head to the kitchen table where he examined each of his appendages with the serious concentration of a medical student studying for a final exam. He slowly removed the arms, and the feet, and tugged at the cape. With a little help, he then put all of the pieces back together again. Finally, he shook Darth Tater, and heard the extra plastic parts rattling around inside. JJ's eyes became wide as he looked at me and proclaimed...

"CANDY!"

Wordless Wednesday

What I'm thinking right now...

Many good things can be made even better with chocolate frosting.

'80s Baby

It snowed flurries for about 10 minutes this afternoon, so I opened the shutters on a front window. As JJ has only seen snow a couple of times, I pointed outside and said to him, "Look! It's snowing!"

With his nose pressed against the window, he uttered a single word: "Cool!"

The Interview

Not too long ago, my pal Jason at The Jason Show was interviewed on his blog by another blogger. After reading his interview, I volunteered to be interviewed by Jason, so here it is:

1. If you had to choose between being covered with ants from head to toe or being stuck in an elevator for three hours, which would you choose?

I absolutely HATE bugs, so I'm going to have to choose the elevator for this one, Bob - er, Jason. And seeing as how I got to choose the elevator, I'm also going to assume that I got enough advanced warning to plan to bring a book. Three hours of uninterrupted book reading... without the guilt of knowing I should be choosing to do something else? Now, that's just awesome!

2. Which type of natural disaster are you most afraid of?

Earthquakes, I think. Probably because I know so very little about them. I guess I live on the correct coast then, huh?

3. What is your favorite restaurant and why?

I love Skies, the revolving restaurant at the top of the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City. I've only eaten there once, so I don't recall if the food is good or not, but I try to go there for drinks every time I go to KC. The view is absolutely beautiful, and the floor moves, so even though you remain in the same spot, you get a bird's eye view of the entire city in about an hour.

4. What is your biggest guilty pleasure?

I have the most incredible sweet tooth ever. If it is so sickeningly sweet that most people can only eat half of it, I'll take two... covered in milk chocolate. I own The Twinkies Cookbook... and I use it.

5. What is the naughtiest thing you've ever done?

Years ago, I worked for a company that made a regular habit of screwing me over. So, when I knew my days were numbered, I signed up to max out my contribution for the company's Health Savings Account. I then withdrew my complete benefit to have braces put on my teeth, and quit my job after having made only the first of 26 payments. It was a completely legal action, but probably required a certain moral flexibility to premeditate.

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Want to be part of the interview fun? Follow these instructions:

1. Leave me a comment involving the words, "Interview me."

2. Be sure to include your email address, because I will respond by emailing you five questions. (I get to write the questions.)

3. You will update your blog with the questions and your answers to the questions.

4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.

5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will get to ask them five questions.

Ten seconds ago...

Marly: "JJ, put the pen back, please."

JJ: "No, Mom."

Marly: "JJ, put the pen back now, please."

JJ: "No!"

Marly: "JJ, I'm going to count to three. And then I'm going to take the pen away from you. One... two..."

JJ (terribly excited): "Three!"


This isn't supposed to be fun for him.

For Angie...

Drawing a Blank

It's been a rough week.

Wordless Wednesday

Worth a Shot

The other day, I commented about JJ's growing vocabulary. Since that time, he has upgraded a couple of words. Both "bunny" and "penny" are now being pronounced correctly.

So, as a matter of experiment, I am now going to comment on how very cute it is that JJ still wears diapers. ;)

Priorities

While wandering the mall last weekend, someone suddenly caught JJ's attention. I followed his gaze to an adorable little girl. She was probably just a little older than JJ, and she was wearing a cute little beret, with long blond hair flowing down the back of her pretty little dress. I prompted JJ, "Why don't you say hi to the pretty girl..."

As he usually plays the shy card, I was extremely surprised to hear JJ say, "Hi, pretty girl!"

She smiled, as her father grabbed her hand and jokingly said, "Graduate from medical school, young man. Then, you can talk to my daughter!"

Ah, motivation.

Hey, he can count.

This evening, as per his usual routine, JJ was marching around the kitchen muttering something completely incomprehensible. I thought I'd help him out a little by chiming in, "Fee, Fie, Foe, Fum!"

He never missed a step as he continued marching, now proclaiming, "Four, Five, Six, Seven!"

Dear Fisher Price: Really?

Thanks to my friend Kelly and a nifty toy party a while back, JJ is the proud owner of the Fisher Price Amazing Animals Spinnin' Around Musical Zoo. It's a cute little toy that JJ plays with for hours. He likes it especially for its "animal cars" - the elephant, giraffe, and monkey with wheels on their feet.

As a matter of fact, for the first few nights after receiving this toy, JJ actually took the animals to bed with him. Personally, I think they're very cute. And it was a great idea to give each of the "animal cars" another nifty feature - the elephant's head nods, and both the giraffe's and monkey's heads spin around.

But perhaps it wasn't the greatest idea to have the giraffe's head spin ALL the way around.

Legal Eagles

There is a commercial for Afrin airing right now that cracks me up. It shows a woman in a business suit walking along a downtown street. In an effort to help you visualize her congestion and stuffy head, she has the giant head of a teddy bear. She then removes a bottle of Afrin from her purse, inhales it, and her teddy bear head deflates/morphs into her actual head.

Have you seen it?

Have you noticed the single word that appears at the bottom of the screen on the right hand side? It says: Dramatization

Thanks.

Wouldja look at that!

I posted every day for a week straight. And contrary to popular opinion, it really wasn't intentional - or a resolution. I just had that much to say.

Wordless Wednesday

This is what I believe.

An old Cherokee was teaching his grandchildren about life. He said to them, "A battle is raging inside me ... it is a terrible fight between two wolves. One wolf represents fear, anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego. The other stands for joy, peace, love, hope, sharing, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, friendship, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."

The old man fixed the children with a firm stare. "This same fight is going on inside you, and inside every other person, too."

They thought about it for a minute and then one child asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?"

The old Cherokee replied: "The one you feed."

Before I forget...

Talking with JJ lately can be a bit of a trip. His vocabulary is growing daily, but there are still a few words that he has just a little trouble with. For instance, when you hear JJ ask you for a piss, you might think he is suddenly potty trained. But alas, no. What he wants is a kiss (which, in my opinion, makes the fact that he is indeed not potty trained completely irrelevant).

He also has selective issues with the letter "N". Any coin he finds is a pemmy. And on every page of the book, "Ben's First Ride", JJ is anxious to find "Bem". So it was no surprise that at the pet store this weekend, he was terribly excited to see the bummies!

And I have no idea how Grandpa became Punk, but it's so much fun to see what he'll come up with next.

And he's only two years old.

Every once in a while, JJ gets a tiny storm stuck in him, and he just has to let loose. Tonight, in the midst of Hurricane JJ, a little hand smacked me in the head. Shocked, I yelped, "Ouch!"

JJ immediately stopped, looked at me very seriously, and said, "I sorry, Mom." He then proceeded to climb up on me and wrap his arms around my neck. A second later, he asks, "Piss?" (JJ-speak for kiss. How cute is that?) After a big wet one, he climbed back down to continue mass destruction of our family room.

So, do you think I'm in trouble?

Mamma Mia!

John gave me this movie for Christmas.

Now, I've been know to claim that the '80s was the greatest decade for music ever, but I have to admit... I love me some ABBA! So really, it was not a huge stretch for me to completely adore this movie.

The fact that Pierce Brosnan is also in it? Icing on the cake.

I've been busy.

This is a far cry from solving all of our problems... but it helps.

Happy New Year!

After all that 2008 was and was not for us (and many others), I have searched deep recesses to find an old perspective made new for 2009. My word for this bright and shining new year, and my wish for all who stop by: