Bless Your Heart

So my mom and I are planning a baby shower for my sister and we’re stumped as to what activities we should have. Sara (my sister) wants to have games of some sort. I’ve never planned a baby shower, and all the ones I’ve been to there were no games. I’ve read a few books and done some internet research, but they all seem to have the same games, just with variations (the string game, don’t say the word baby or I’ll take your pin, baby bingo, how well do you know the mom, etc). Any ideas for something different that hasn’t been played to death at other showers?

Saturday night was date night. J and I went to dinner at Carrabba’s (we had a gift certificate) and then to see Shanghai Knights. We called ahead for seating at Carrabba’s and when we got there they asked if we’d like to sit at the pasta bar. We’ve only been to Carrabba’s once or twice and weren’t familiar with the pasta bar, but agreed to be seated there. It was so cool! The bar lines up in front of the kitchen. We were on the appetizer, salad, pizza, and dessert side. It was like watching a Food Network show. Those guys move so fast. I really admire people who work in the restaurant industry. I just don’t have the balance, coordination, or could handle the pressure they’re under. It was so interesting to watch. The appetizer/dessert guy was really nice and chatted with us a little. There were 2 other couples there and the appetizer/dessert guy ended up giving us all something free (we had dessert). So, sit at the pasta bar if you can!

Shanghai Knights was pretty funny. J loves Jackie Chan and I love Owen Wilson so everybody wins. Plus, Jackie Chan’s movies are about the only kung fu type movies I like.

J & I spent some time Saturday sorting through some things, getting the house ready for sale. We’ve officially sold all of the original group of things we listed on Ebay. Who knew we had such desirable stuff? So we listed a bunch of books and I have a lot more stuff to list tonight. I’ve got to watch J though, he’s getting so excited he’ll end up selling everything we own!

Sunday I went with Mom and my two sisters to look at some more houses. My Mom cracks me up. She’ll knock on the door of a house that’s a ‘for sale by owner’ and ask if we can come in right then to look at the houses. We’ve yet to be turned away. It’s so interesting to me, looking at all these houses, especially when people are still living there.

I’m filing our taxes this weekend and I thought I’d share a tax break. You can deduct hobby expenses as long as they don’t exceed hobby income. So, to all of the crafting, scrapbooking, painting people I know- save your receipts! There are some other deductions that aren’t commonly known are: safe deposit box rental, tax prep & filing fees, investment fees. The details on all of this can be found here, at the IRS’s website.

“I just don’t think I could live without pudding.”– D at lunch yesterday. No one was talking about anything remotely pudding-esque, but I admire her devotion.

“It’s like 2 big pepperonis on a plain cheese pizza.” -P commenting on the sight of T’s big man nipples. He refuses to wear a t-shirt under his white dress button down shirts. Isn’t that a rule of some sort? Wasn’t that in the men’s handbook they all get? Page 3: Register for the draft, learn how to drive a straight drive, and for Pete’s sake wear an undershirt!

“Phew- she should really do something about that chest hair.”– D (again- she’s witty!) on co-worker R as she passed by in yet another v-neck. Seriously, someone needs to sit that woman down and just have at her with some Nair. Or at the very least, some strong packing tape.

It’s official- our home has been taken over by our dog. He now sleeps with us. Gasp! I was one of those people who always swore I’d never let the dog sleep with us. No way. I see what kind of mad house my Mom lives in. She’s got the dog AND cat in the bed at night. And I’ve recoiled in horror and disgust at my sister’s house when I see her and her husband basically making out with the dog. They let it kiss them on the mouth! Ew! And I’ve heard enough stories about how their dog likes to spoon with them. Shiver. Well- you should never throw stones right? It started innocently enough- Nelson just crashed with us when we were on vacation at the mountain house. It was cold. We’re good at rationalizing. Then I went away for the weekend to Christmas shop at Ikea so J let Nelson sleep with him then too. That’s ok too right? Then sometime last week, Nelson just kind of decided he wanted to sleep with us. He starts out all cuddly with J then ends up at the foot of the bed. The other night he plopped his head right next to J and fell asleep. J says to me all quietly “I can feel him breathing”. Good grief. Nelson’s also finagled the majority of lap time lately. You can just see the kitties seething over the lap time loss. They hover in the corner, plotting their revenge.

Friday night I babysat for Davis. His dad promised to be home between midnight and 2am because I had to work at 9am on Saturday. I reminded him of this as he was going out the door. When did he come home? 3:30 am!! Arrrrgh! I was such a zombie on Saturday. So after work I went home and napped. Got up in time to make dinner, we watched Trading Spaces, then it was back to bed. Remember back in the day, when you’d be out until 3 even though you knew you had to work at 8, and you’d be just fine after a quick nap and a soda or two? I felt like I had been beaten in a back alley! Ugh- I officially feel old.

Sunday I went pottery painting with Natalie. We had a lot of fun and I painted a cute light switch plate for my future niece/nephew’s nursery. I don’t get it back for a week though, so I’ll have to post the finished product then. Natalie painted an adorable fish for her bathroom. I’m sure Paul will be excited that there’s another fish in the house! =)

What a horrible tragedy. I remember being in school when the Challenger exploded, my teacher crying, us kids just trying to understand. What really strikes me is how close they were to being home safely. My heart goes out to their families.

My winter swap box arrived yesterday. Such cool stuff! Click here for a larger image. Christy sent: heart shaped bath confetti, sampler pack of International coffees, my favorite white mocha Ghiradelli cocoa, these awesome super soft slipper socks, yummy smelling hot chocolate scented candles, a beautiful journal, raspberry scented hand wipes, funky leopard print tissues, Jolee’s Boutique snowman stickers (my favorite for scrapbooking!), and a photo album with a beautiful cover that she made herself! I just love everything! Thank you so much Christy!!

*Unrelated: pictures of my future niece or nephew’s nursery can be found here.

I’m such a sucker for a cool techno gadget. A friend at work labeled me a gadget girl- and I think she’s spot on. My latest love is the can opener my sister gave us for Christmas. I know, I know- how lame and domestic to be excited over a can opener right? But it’s so cute! And it’s so cool- it’s cordless and it runs around the can. I’ve always been a regular manual can opener girl but the Gizmo has me spoiled.

Now to distract you from my domestic lameness- I finally rented About a Boy the other night. Loved it. Also, I’ve added a couple of more things to our Ebay collection. J’s already found another sports related item we can sell too. He’s bringing it home tonight so I’ll add it tomorrow. Today I’ve got some painting to do. The home improvements continue. I stained the kitchen cabinets and the built in bookcase in the den the other day and today I’m painting the side door & some mirrors. Tonight we’re going to dinner & bowling with M & S. I work with M and met S at church. M separated from his wife last year and is ready to get back into the game so I’m playing matchmaker. Let’s hope we’re all still friends at the end of the night! ;)

J and I are really digging this whole Ebay thing. We’re constantly checking it- “Did we get another bid?”. I’m going to clean out my closets and see what else we can put up. We were so excited when we got a 2nd bid on our bobblehead. We felt like real Ebay sellers then. Thank goodness Rachel & Margie dispense such good Ebay advice- we are total beginners. We’ll make sure to invite them on our yacht paid for with Ebay earnings! ha!