High Maintenance or Hollywood Icon?

Since I turned 40 last November, it seems as if the upkeep on my person has increased at least 10-fold.

Maybe it's just a figment of my imagination. Maybe all the fluff 'n stuff hasn't really changed that much. Maybe it just takes me longer to get it all done. Or maybe the boost I get from all the primping and prodding doesn't last as long as it once did.

In any event, I feel like my maintenance is practically a part-time job.

In the last three weeks I've been manicured, pedicured, highlighted, massaged, waxed and cosmetically scraped. My hair's been cut, my teeth cleaned, and one tooth has been filled. I've been prescribed medications and even special toothpaste.

The labels on my lotions and potions now read "hydrating", "anti-aging" and "illuminating." That natural glow of youth seems a little less bright these days.

A shower no longer involves a simple shampoo, condition, lather and rinse. I now must color-protect, deep moisturize and exfoliate.

And after the shower...oh my! There's the concealing, powdering, and camoflaging - not to mention what lies ahead after I get dressed.

I guess this all means I'm either one step closer to the old folks home...

or I'm becoming Paris Hilton - without the money and multiple DUI's.

Brothers and Sisters

Conversation overheard this weekend while the kids were watching a basketball game in the living room:

Bayley: Wow! Those guys from Perdue must have had a long trip. Where is Perdue anyway?

Kendra: Duh. It's in South America.

And later, I asked Bayley where Kendra was and he said, "She's probably in her room practicing rolling her eyes."

She's twelve, which explains that.

I keep telling them they will actually like each other in about fifteen years.

Ummmm...Not Feeling the Love

Recent comments from my two year old to me - his dear sweet mama.

The one who gave birth to him.

The one who recently discovered Push Pops and lets him have one every day.

*****

While lying in bed with me and hubby after interrupting our much-needed sleep at 5:10am:
Hey mom. Your breath is hot on my head. Roll over.

During another early-morning sleep interruption:
Get out of my face.

And another:

Leave. I need more room on 'da pillow.

While leaning on the side of the bathtub having what I thought was a sweet conversation:
Hey mom. Cookie Monster have no tongue and no nose. Mommy have no chin.
While
wrestling him to the groundhelping him get his pajamas on:

Your hair feels really weird.

More times that I can count:

I no like 'dis dinner. I want a Push Pop!

******

At least he didn't say I have two chins.

Work....Ho-Hum

I'm swamped at work these days and just can't get it together to post much of anything.

And lo and behold....my wonderful husband, who is cleaning out photo files, sent me these of me and Adam at my office when he was a mere five weeks old.

I only took three full weeks off work, and then worked part-time for a month, bringing my new little boy with me to the office. You can never start too young teaching strong work ethic, don't 'cha know.

(Actually, I spent most of my time drinking Diet Coke and talking to the office staff while Adam was passed around from one anxious young girl to the next. He got paid in kisses and cuddles, which is much better than money if you ask me.)

Anyway, getting the email from my husband today brought back lots of sweet memories of those early days.

And Adam's expression in both of these is priceless!

As if he's saying, "Is this what I have to look forward to?"
**yawn**
*drool**

Thanks for letting me share.

Hope your week is nothing but exciting so far!

Pass the Popcorn and Milk Duds

** Final updates with guesses.... and answers for those not guessed. Thanks for participating. This was fun!

I saw this meme about movie quotes at Lauren's and thought it looked like lots of fun. I had a ball reading through movie quotes and putting together this list. It was hard to narrow it down to only ten.

Let me know if you do this on your own blog. I'd love to try my hand at guessing!

Here are the rules:

1. Pick 10 of your favorite movies.
2. Go to IMDb and find a quote from each movie.
3. Post them here for everyone to guess (if you know them all, please don't guess every one).
4. Strike it out when someone guesses correctly, and put who guessed it and the movie.
5. No Googling or IMDb-ing. That's cheating and that's no fun.

Here are my quotes:

1. "I do wish we could chat longer, but... I'm having an old friend for dinner."
Leigh Ann guessed this one. It's Hannibal Lector from Silence of the Lambs.

2. "Could you please get me some ice to numb her earlobes?"
Lynne got this line from Grease, where Frenchie is piercing Sandy's ears.

3. "You don't need a patch on your arm to have honor."
Lauren knew this was from A Few Good Men.

4. "Perhaps he knew, as I did not, that the Earth was made round so that we would not see too far down the road." Karen knew this is from Out of Africa.

5. "Say Lou, didya hear the one about the guy who couldn't afford personalized
plates so he went and changed his name to J3L2404?" FARGO

6. "Well that's not something the State Department tells dependents when the battle occurred over the wrong line on some map." TOP GUN

7. "When I touch my wife, I like it better if her skin doesn't crawl."
You're right Buford Betty. This is from When a Man Loves a Woman.

8. "You know everyone thinks we got this broken down horse and fixed him. But we didn't. He fixed us. Every one of us. And I guess in a way, we fixed each other, too."
Lauren and Leigh Ann both got this one. It's Red Pollard talking about Seabiscuit.

9. "I don't scratch my head unless it itches and I don't dance unless I hear some music. I will not be intimidated. That's just the way it is." REMEMBER THE TITANS

10. "It's finding the center of your story, the beating heart of it, that's what
makes a reporter. You have to start by making up some headlines." THE SHIPPING NEWS

All the Oooky Stuff In One Fell Swoop

Any of you that have children, know children, or were a child (that should cover everyone, right?) know that their little worlds are not always sunshine and roses. Nor are their minds.

Take my two year old son, for instance.

From the get-go, we have always been very upfront about the correct term for body parts. Okay, except I say hiney or bottom. Because really, who wants their child saying gleuteus maximus?

And, oh my goodness, those body parts become the topic of conversation very early on, don't they?

So.... a few weeks ago Adam's regular Sunday School teacher had the flu. He went to the class next door that just so happens to be taught by the Senior Pastor's wife. When we picked up, she told us what a good boy Adam had been (thank you, Lord!) And when she asked Adam who loves him, he sweetly turned his face up toward her and said, "Jesus does."

And then, we were not two steps out of the doorway when he asked me, "Hey Mom! Jesus have a pen*s?"

To which I lovingly responded without missing a beat, "I have no idea, son."

In addition to body part names, we've also taught Adam left and right. He knows which shoes go on which feet. He knows we take a left, a right, a right, a left and then a right when we drive to our house from his school.

Yesterday morning I was having a little snuggle with Adam. The clock said it was 6:30, but my body was saying it was only 5:30. Darn that daylight savings time. It may save daylight but think of all the things it doesn't save.

Sleep and sanity for example.

So, anyway, there I was, half asleep. Adam was contentedly drinking juice from his sippy cup.

Suddenly:

"Hey mom. I has a prod-lem wiff my nose."

"What's the problem?

I has a booger in my left nostril.

Go get a Kleenex.

No!

Then I guess you and your nostril will just have to suffer.

Okay!

And, since we're on the topic of body parts, I thought I'd let you know that I had a little "cosmetic scraping" done on my back and upper chest yesterday. Those years in the sun are beginning to rear their ugly head.

This was purely voluntary, I might add....but doesn't just reading the words "cosmetic scraping" give you the willies?

Cosmetic scraping.
Cosmetic scraping.

And then, to round it all out, I have my very first mammogram tomorrow morning. Oh my goodness. I'd rather go to the dentist.

Cosmetic scraping.

And so there you have it. All the ooky stuff in one-fell-swoop.

My life really is this exciting.

P.S.-- I wonder what Google search will lead some poor soul to this post.

Welcome to My Blog Party - (Prize #100)

I am so excited to once again be taking part in the Ultimate Blog Party hosted by 5 Minutes for Mom. I participated last year and found wonderful new blogs and made some great blogging friends, too.

In fact, I've been richly blessed by the whole blogging experience, moreso than I ever imagined when I started my blog in July 2006.

A little about me:

I met my husband on e-Harmony on April 5, 2003 and we were married on New Year's Eve that same year. On that day I became a step-mom to two children. A year and a half later we had our son, Adam, and we became a family of five.... and the inspiration for my writing here.



I work full-time outside the home, running the business side of an art gallery, custom frame shop and design studio in the Buckhead area of Atlanta. I spend my days surrounded by color, fabrics, frames, oil paintings and a group of wonderful artisans and designers from all over the country. We also contract on large hospitality design projects which requires lots of drinking of caffiene and eating of peanut butter M&M's.


This year I'm also giving away a Blog Party prize. (I'm #100 on the 5 Minutes for Mom prize listing.) A regular feature of my blog is Jill's Book Bag, so I thought it would be fun to give one as a prize for the Party. The bag is a roomy green/navy/white striped tote. I'll fill it with two cookbooks, a book on entertaining, a $25 Target gift card (who can't use one of those??!!) and some other goodies geared toward the winner...maybe you love coffee, maybe you're an avid scrapbooker or tennis player.



Follow the simple steps on the prize page to list those prizes you'd most like to win. I hope I get to send this off to YOU!

Thanks for stopping by. Have fun visiting all the other parties. I'm off to do some partying myself.

Prince Adam

As I was watching the ABC special last night on The Royal Family I became intrigued with the Queen's Court - hundreds of people tending to Her Majesty's every whim.

And then it hit me..

The Royal House of Norwood has it's own royalty: Two-year old Prince Adam of Georgia.

Office of the Private Secretary - Responsible for channeling all methods of communication (verbal and written) between the Royal Household and its subjects and government. Involves much sorting and keeping track of papers, drawings, incident/injury reports and invitations from school. Must file and maintain medical records and receipts, permission slips, check-in badges for Sunday School and hundreds of other miscellaneous reams of documents for tiny toddler.

Office of the Master of Household - Includes staff to coordinate travel, cook meals, plan events and clean Royal Residences. AKA: Mommy

Office of the Royal Collection Department - Responsible for all fiscal matters relating to the Royal Family and its personal and official business, including but not limited to: daycare tuition, stash of clothes purchased at Old Navy's 40% off sale, and treats to cut the whining off at the pass whilst in the car reward good behavior.

Office of the Lord Chamberlain: Source and focal point for all important matters which have implications for the Royal household. AKA: Daddy

It's also very fitting that my husband's ex-wife has called me The Queen on more than one occasion. I got a big kick out of that. My throne is out of commission but it was good while it lasted.

We're just like Buckingham Palace without the history, castles, crowns and private yacht.

Hugs & Kisses

Well, the flu has struck the office so I'm all alone here today answering phones, helping clients, trying to get all my own work done...and furiously slathering on hand sanitizer. I may bathe in it before the day is over.

But, I didn't want any more time to pass before I thanked my dear friend Kat for this award. And, it's the perfect time to pass it on to all of you....my wonderful and downright LOVELY blog friends.
Thanks for checking in, leaving comments, and writing wonderful blogs of your own that challenge me, teach me, entertain me, and bring me so much joy.
I've really gotten quite attached to y'all.

Back soon.... (sanitize, sanitize...)