you know what grinds my gears?

The fact that I had to buy my kids' Halloween shirts in August and I'm already too late for the really cute Christmas pajamas.   It's October 28th

the end.

way back machine

Easter 2010 - Baby Girl was 9ish, 10ish months old.  I don't remember when Easter fell that year.  Notice how crazy her hair is. 

Easter 2011 - Baby Girl was 1.9ish, 1.10ish.  I think Easter was late April last year, so I guess she was 1.10?  She still wears those pajamas on occasion.  Mother of the year, right here.   I wish I had a better picture of her with her Easter Basket from last year so you could see her face,  but that's the best I can do. 

 

Another one from Easter 2011 so you can see her face.  Isn't she cute? 

I can't wait to see what her hair looks like this year,  I feel like we're going backwards into the crazy hair territory.   I'll let you know.

Black Friday

I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving and the mashed potatoes were plentiful!  We had a great holiday and Baby Girl was so excited to see all her relatives!  This is the first time she would actually interact with them without me practically holding her the entire time.

This morning, for the second time in my life,  I braved the Black Friday crowds.   The first time was a few years ago,  I woke up at 3:30,  got to Kohl's by 4 when it opened and bought the sweater I had my eye on, and went home to go back to bed.   It was pretty uneventful.

This year was slightly different.

We have needed a new TV for awhile,  ours tended to do a weird squiggly line thing and be funny colors that was somehow related to the HDMI input.  We've tried to fix it,  but everything was a short term fix and it was clear the end of its useful life was coming.  We decided to watch the Black Friday ads to see what was going to be on sale and if we could get a good deal on a TV, we'd do it.   Target had a 46" Westinghouse for $298  so we had plans to get it.

We knew there wouldn't be a lot of inventory for this TV,  it was well marked that each store had limited quantities.  Andrew though we should get in line at 9.   I thought he was being rediculous.   9:00?  Three hours early in small town NH?

We did a drive by past Target at 8:00 before heading back to the hotel to get ready.   I told Andrew 30 times it was ridiculous to check,  that there was not going to be a line.

There was a line.   At 8:00.   Luckily for me,  it was still a relatively short line and Andrew hopped out with nothing but a mostly dead iPhone to keep him company.  I went back to my in-laws' house to get a camp chair, and some gloves for him.  Why I didn't get TWO camp chairs and a blanket is still unknown.  Not my brightest moment.

I went back to the hotel and tried to figure out what to do,  now that we were going to be sitting in line for 4 hours in the (literally) freezing cold.  I put on my flannel pajama pants,  put my jeans on over them (thank god I don't wear skinny jeans...),  put about 3 shirts on,  packed flannel pants, jeans, and a sweatshirt for Andrew and that was the best I could do.  I grabbed both of our Nooks (and mine isn't backlit, so clearly it wasn't going to do me any good.   Andrew had requested a coffee,  but hello - coffee and 4 hours without a bathroom is not a good combination.  

The first few hours were awful.  It was freezing - I had to go back to the car a few times to warm up my feet since I decided not to bring my Uggs to New Hampshire with me for this trip.   What can I say, I'm an idiot.   We only had one camp chair, so we had to trade off every 10 minutes.   I couldn't ready my Nook.   Andrew's phone was practically dead.  I wanted to cry I was so cold.  It sucked.  I almost went back to the hotel about 30 times. 

At 9:30 the manager came out,  explained how the TVs were going to work.  They had 43 tickets for 43 TV's.  They were going to give out tickets and you'd bring your ticket to the changing rooms and get a TV.  Sounded easy enough.  Then he handed out Luna Bars and I decided to name my firstborn after him.   (I'll explain to Baby Girl why her name is Manager Jason from Target later).

At 10:00,  he actually handed out the tickets and we knew were we guaranteed a TV!   It almost made the past 2 hours worth it because there was a VERY long line and most people had to give up the 46" TV for $298 dream.   Not us though!  Just two more hours to wait!

Around 10:40ish,  two of my brothers-in-law,  my sister-in-law ,and niece showed up to get in line for X-boxes (and they ended up being lucky to get them,  they ran out of them before we left the store!).   We chatted for a bit and then the BILs went to get me and Andrew coffee!  I have never been so excited to get a decaf coffee.    After that,  the time flew buy.    

For crowd control purposes,  Target was letting 30 people into the store,  waiting 30 seconds and letting another 30 in,  rinse and repeat.   We part of the first 30 in the store,  ran and got in line for our TVs,  ran over to the x-boxes and grabbed three of them and handed over two when the ILs came in,  paid, and hit the road.   We ran into a slight snafu when the boxes didn't fit in our car,  but some car shuffling today took care of that.

So....  long, freezing, boring night of Black Friday insanity yielded a new TV and somehow Andrew ended up with a new x-Box too.   I'm still not quite sure HOW that happened. 

If we had been more prepared it actually wouldn't have been that bad,  but we were kind of flying by the seat of our pants.  I hope to not need a new TV for a long time... but we desperately need a new laptop.   Good thing Black Friday only comes once a year, and Cyber Monday can be done from the comfort of my house!

I'm not sure how it's already the middle of October.    It's ridiculous how fast time goes by.   I'm starting to buy into that old saying that they older you are the faster time goes by.

But time going by means it's almost Thanksgiving and then Christmas!! 

Speaking of Christmas,  I'm tempted to buy the Santa's Little Helper app for my phone (sorry,  I don't know if it is available for Droids).   Has anyone used it?  Rants?  Raves?

It helps you keep track of what you have already bought,  how much you have spent,  and what you still need to buy.   I usually track all that on a spreadsheet,  but I really like the idea of having an app for it.   My idea is that having that information at my fingertips when I'm at the store will help me spend less money.   I can never remember what I've bought and how much I've spent while I'm at the store shopping, and this should help.

It's only 99 cents,  so I don't know why I'm so hesitant.   I hate paying for apps though,  even ones that are less than a dollar.    I want to know that I am getting something for my ninety nine pennies!

10 on Tuesday

1.  Don't hate... but I'm starting to think about Christmas

2.  Today I decided to absolutely introduce Elf on the Shelf this year.  Then I realized that I won't can't be the one at home in the morning to look for the Elf, and I made another decision to absolutely not do it this year.  I don't think I can handle that right now.  I'm currently having a "where did I go wrong in my life" crisis.

3. I.AM.GOING.TO.ENJOY.CHRISTMAS.THIS.YEAR.  I will not end up crying on Christmas Day.  I will NOT DO IT.   Andrew and I have started taking some steps to make sure Christmas is better for us this year.

4. I've also started thinking about Halloween and Thanksgiving

5.  I did get Baby Girl's costume. She tried it on today.    Much cuteness abounded.

6. We are staying in a hotel the night before and the night of Thanksgiving.  I am more excited about that than I am about Christmas.  My baby is not going to be there.   It's just going to be me and a huge bed.   I may or may not let Andrew in. 

7.  I love that my town still does trick-or-treating on Halloween unlike way too many other towns that do it on the Sunday before,  but damn,  the creators of trick-or-treating never thought about working mother's!  I'm still not 100% sure how the logistics will work out,  but I'm sure everything will fall into place

8.  I can't wait to put my Christmas Tree up.   I think Baby Girl will love it.  She was still somewhat scared of it last year,  and then she ignored it.

9.  I have already asked Santa for 3 different things,  how many do you think he will remember?

10.  what do YOU want for Christmas?

help me decide

Halloween is coming and I have no ideas about costumes.   Her first year she was a pumpkin, a cow, and a cowboy

 Last year she was a bee:

So what about this year?  Her current favorite characters are Dora and Abby Cadabby.  I find costumes for each,  but they have problems.   The Dora one - let's be honest it's a pink shirt and orange shorts,  with a wig.  But we live in New England and it tends to be freezing on Halloween,  and I really don't think she will wear the wig or the back pack.

 

And the Abby Caddabby one  - but again,  this is New England where it's cold on October 31st.   I guess I could get a size bigger than she needs and put a white long sleeved shirt and leggings underneath it... but that will just look stupid.

 

And I am back to square one with no ideas.    I like the ones at Old Navy because they seem to geared towards those of us that live north of the equator...  http://www4.assets-gap.com/Asset_Archive/ONWeb/Assets/Product/858/858497/quick/on858497-00qlv01.jpg  sorry,  Blogger won't let me upload the picture for some reason..  It's times like these that I wish I let her watch more TV to have more options for Halloween... she doesn't even know what a princess is- though I made her watch the royal wedding, natch.   Not that Kate is technically a princess,  but insignificant details bore me

And then I need to find a costume for myself since we are going to a party this year.   I know that most women just use Halloween as an excuse to be supper slutty,  but that's not really how I roll (though I was Britney pre-K-fed my junior year in college complete with my sidekicks Xtina and Eminem - this is one of the rare times I wish digital cameras had been popular when I was in college!),  and no one really wants to see a slutty 30 year old suburban mom.  That's lame.   I need a non-lame, non-slutty,  easy to assemble costume.   A little help?

It's a grand old flag

Per usual (at least for this year) today is cloudy, a smidge bit foggy, and in the low 70's in Olde Cape Cod.

In the past 48 hours I have gone to the beach, gone in the pool twice, gone to Smitty's, read my book the hammock, eaten practically every meal from the grill, and forgot to reapply my sunblock. I've been avoiding the yacht club so I don't spend any more money, but other than that I've pretty much done everything there is to do and I can go home now.

The weather isn't cooperating to give us a super 4th, but in the immortal, but very overused words of Dave Matthew's Band..

celebrate we will because life is short, but sweet for certain

4th of July Family Picture, 2008

what to do, what to do.

Valentine's Day is next week - are you ready with your hearts and chocolates and flowers? V-Day is not a huge event here in the Casa de O'G, but I did buy Baby Girl a little present: And more paper to go with it, natch. Total cost $8, and it got me hours upon hours of aggravation! I loved finger paints when I was a kid. Back then they didn't come in nice, no spill tubes, so I was constantly making a huge mess with them. But there was something about the smell... god knows what kind of chemicals were in it, but I secretly hope Baby Girl's finger paints smell the same way!

No chocolate or candy for Baby Girl this year. Maybe next year. Probably not.

I'm thinking of getting Andrew a little present too. I don't know what -I don't think he will want finger paint. I also don't want to spend more than $5, and the only stores available to me during my lunch hour are Target, A.C. Moore, and Barnes and Noble. So what can I get Andrew for $5-10 at those three stores that requires almost no thought from me? What? That defeats the point of a Valentines Day present? Oh. My bad.

Happy New Year!

Per usual, Andrew and I had a quiet New Year's Eve. We got Thai food (didn't feel like waiting for Chinese) and rented The Town. I actually stayed awake to watch the ball drop and we had a glass of champagne. Pretty exciting stuff! There was a time in my life when I actually went out on New Years Eve... that was before this boogaloo took over my life:

She's starting to answer to Boogaloo, and try to say it. Oops! Sorry the picture is blurry, I didn't realize it when I was taking them, and I have no photo editing software. But you get the point.

What are your resolutions? I actually don't have any this year. I really don't want to examine my life that closely, I don't know if I'll be happy with what I see!

However, I do have some goals for the new year. One is to start and keep up with a 2011 family scrapbook. I made a 2008 one, started making a 2009 one, but stopped, and I have one from June 23, 2009 through June 23, 2010... so I'm all over the place. But I'm committed to getting at least one page for each month of 2011 done. I'm going to start with Christmas (maybe Thanksgiving?) for the 2011, which is slightly cheating, but this way I will still have all of my girl's holiday seasons captured.

In order to accomplish this goal, I need to dedicate some time each week to scrapbooking. I don't have a good place to do set up my stuff at home - which means I have to take it all out and put it all away every time I want to work on it. So I always find an excuse to not work on my books, which is how we ended up with only a 2008 scrapbook completed! I'm not sure how I'm going to get this done, but I'll be happy in 20 years that I did it... if I don't jump off my balcony in a fit of frustration when I don't have room to do ANYTHING!

Happy and Healthy New Year to all of you!

Let it snow!

Mama! It's NOMING!!

Ready to go outside Baby Girl?

This blizzard could not have come at a worse time. I simply cannot call into work tomorrow, with it being the week after Christmas, everyone who can take vacation did take vacation and those of us that are left need to keep everything running. Me not working tomorrow is not an option... but we're foretasted to get around 18inches of snow. 18 inches in itself isn't the end of the world (though it is a huge pain in the neck), but the blizzard conditions that are coming along with it mean I really shouldn't be driving 130 miles in a teeny tiny Carolla. However, as long as daycare is open tomorrow, that is exactly what I will be doing. Yuck.

Christmas has come and gone. Baby Girl got so many toys! She has a snazzy new ride on Elmo Bus which she loves and a million other things. I've already gone through her toys and put an entire trash bag of them away, and I still do not have enough room for everything she got. We really need a playroom for her. It's going to still be a few years before we can get out of this place, and I honestly don't know how we are going to do it. This house will be overrun with toys before we can get out! But she's a lucky girl, she has a lot of people that love her.

Everyone think good thoughts... please let daycare be open tomorrow, please let the blizzard conditions decrease before 6am Monday, and let's all REALLY hope my Carolla does not spin off the road!

whoa

Well that was an action packed Thanksgiving!

All I did for 5 straight days was eat and drink. By Sunday night I wanted to crawl into bed and never get up. But it was a really fun weekend.

And tonight we have Rudolph and The Grinch on TV... which means it's Christmas time! yay!

And on a non holiday note, I won a raffle at work which yielded me a new iPod nano. I am now the owner of a classic iPod, an iPhone, an iPod shuffle, and an iPod Nano!

Guess how often I listen to any of them.

Yup.


Never.


I would if I had an input in my car to listen to such a device, but apparently they weren't considering iPods in 2003 when my little car was manufactured. I am able to rock out to tapes though, because apparently people still needed tape decks in 2003. That one gets a big DER to Toyota!

And the Nano has a video camera in it, which my iPhone does not - I have a really old iPhone. So I'm pretty excited about that. Because I'm hopeful that I will not only keep my nano charged, but also have it with me and at the ready when Baby Girl does something cute.

HA!

10 on Tuesday

1. Abby's Flying School freaks me out. But I kind of wish that Mrs. Sparklenose was my teacher. And that I had a gerbilcorn for my class pet.


2. Thanksgiving is in two days!!! MASHED POTATOES!!!!!!!!!!!!

3. I am making the Pioneer Woman's green bean casserole for thanksgiving. Say a little prayer for me. And everyone who is going to be at Thanksgiving! I've realized that Thanksgiving is probably not the best time to try out a new recipe, especially a green bean casserole that is made from scratch. As in no Cream of Mushroom Soup and no French's Onions on top. I may have realized this too late.

4. MASHED POTATOES!!!!!! GRAVY!!!!!!!! WOOOOOO!!!!

5. My co-worker is young, cute, and reminds me way too much of me circa 5 years ago. I want to tell her that in 5 years she will be me. Married, never lost all the baby weight, may or may not have baby snot on her sweater, and constantly fighting a losing battle to remain a superstar at work. But I won't. I'll let her realize that on her own. My hope for the young Padawan is that she doesn't have sit next to a younger version of herself in 5 years. Also, if she could stop trying to take my job, that'd be cool. Not that I didn't usurp the job I currently have from someone else....

6. My toddler thinks she can climb stairs one at a time, like a grown-up. It's cute. Futile, but cute.

7. I have a TODDLER. WTF. I've given some serious thought to the fact that she is Baby Girl on this here website. She's not a baby anymore. I can't call her Toddler Girl, that's just lame. So I think she will remain Baby Girl until she gets married. (ew! I will be old when she gets married! OLD!!!)

8. I'm beyond bummed out that Grey's Anatomy isn't on till January. I heart Grey's. Even though it's not as good as it once was (side note - does anyone else think Private Practice is getting better this season?)

9. I'm officially declaring my girl crush on Jennifer Aniston over. It was a long run - probably 15 years. But I think we're over. I don't have another one lined up though. I guess you just can't replace Rachel Greene.

10. Baby Girl has 9 cousins, none of which she will see on Thanksgiving. Wierd, huh? I don't want to think about how the day will go without her running after "MOMMY!!!". She loves her big cousin. However, I'm pretty sure "MOMMY" will enjoy her day without a 17 month old being her shadow!

11. Because I cheated with #4, I'll do a # 11: MASHED POTATOES, GRAVY, STUFFING!!!!!!!!! AND CHEESECAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I will enjoy it... I will enjoy it....

I'm listening to Christmas music today!

We had our first frost last night. Andrew had to go out and warm up his car, lest he turn our baby into a toddlercicle. I stuffed her into her mini peacoat (so cute) and fleece hat to go out the door. Thanksgiving is THREE WEEKS FROM TOMORROW!!!

It's officially the holiday season and I AM CELEBRATING!

This is one of the few times of year I don't mind living in the arctic circle. Palm trees just don't belong to Christmas. I'd be more than willing to have them growing in my backyard the other 10 months. But Holiday Season = COLD!

wow

November? what?

Dear My Life,

Please stop flying by. Thanks.

Love,
MKO

Yeah. November. Almost Thanksgiving. In the past few years I have grown to LOVE Thanksgiving week, mostly because my company which is notoriously awful at recognizing federal holidays, does in fact give us the day after Thanksgiving as a holiday. And Wednesday happens to be my regular day to work from home. So I only have to go into the office two days that week of Thanksgiving. Therefore: Thanksgiving = possibly the best week of the year.

We do the every other year thing with Thanksgiving, mainly because we couldn't figure out what else to do. This year is Kwinzee for Thanksgiving.

Pros: No driving the day before Thanksgiving, no pork hidden in the stuffing (BLEH), and Baby Girl isn't going to freak the eff out because there are 18 million people around. Cons: no appetizers (for reals. I know. awful.), I am at my mother's beck and call (what? ungrateful spoiled child?), there are 3 sets of stairs that Baby Girl will try to be climbing ALL DAY and no way to block them off.

I was pregnant and threw up a lot the last time I was at my parent's house for Thanksgiving. I am neither pregnant nor throw uppy this year, so let the festivities begin!

Happy Halloween!

My girl will not wear her costume, so I hope you weren't expecting pictures. When I try to put it on her, we get a stage III temper tantrum. The one this morning lasted 20 minutes and only stopped because she got herself to the point where she couldn't breathe. She basically only stopped because her survival instinct kicked in. I haven't tried the costume since then. But we've said hi to it a lot today, trying to become friends again. No dice.

It's back!

Yes, Holiday Season is back upon us. By which I mean it's time to start thinking about Halloween! Well, if you have small children, it's time to start thinking about Halloween. If you don't have to fight over costumes a month in advance and scour every store you can think of to find something for less than $20, because who are we kidding, my 16 month will wear that costume for about 30 seconds, then you don't have to start thinking about it until October 29th. Then you have to run out and buy candy for trick-or treaters.

Target wants me to pay $20 for this costume: Um, no. What a cheesy costume! It's even worse in real life. I would pay $20 for a cheesy lobster costume, but I can't find one!

Tis the Season!

Well Thanksgiving has come and gone. We had a good Thanksgiving this year. But, yes, the pork stuffing was on the table. I will NEVER understand that. My in-laws make a really good Thanksgiving dinner, despite the pork stuffing, so all is forgiven. And my mother saved me some REAL stuffing.

Baby girl was better than we expected her to be. She really doesn't like her routine to be changed and the poor kid has had no semblance of routine since last Tuesday. She's a trouper though, and made it through with an acceptable amount of fussing. She's teething now, so she's been a grumpalump for a few days. I don't understand why evolution has not taken care of the ridiculous way humans get teeth.

I didn't get to Friday confessions this week, but it was a holiday week. I'm busy!

I'm really proud of myself with Christmas shopping this year. I have my niece, sister-in-law, and father done. Well, I haven't purchased my father's gift yet, but we know exactly what it is going to be. Santa Claus has finished putting together Baby Girl's presents too. So we have a few more people to buy for, but we're doing well for November 29th!

Speaking of November 29th, today is my half birthday. Just so you know.

My 10 year reunion was last night. It was.... interesting. No one has changed. And talking to people that I haven't talked to in 10 years was strange because I really felt like I haven't left high school. We'll see how the 20 year one is.

updates

Baby Girl had her Christmas pictures taken on Saturday. My smiley happy baby decided to be a grumpalump for her pictures. Not a single smile. Why do babies do that?

We bought New Super Mario Brothers Wii. It's very fun. But very hard. I had to have a conversation with Andrew before we played it - reminding him not to get frustrated with me, because I am not good at these new fangled games. Yet he still did. Anyway, it's a fun game and we are enjoying it. Though we won't really dig our teeth into it until later tonight when the babe is asleep.

I am so so so so so so excited for a 3 day work week. This week is better than Christmas week. And I get to work from home on Wednesday. I LOVE THANKSGIVING!

Happy Halloween!

I have been a terrible blogger this month. A thousand apologies. I will endeavor to be back at my normal posting frequency in November.

I hope you like November's picture. I took it today while we were walking with the family in Marina Bay. I think the foliage this year has been really pretty, but, sadly, it's well past its peak now. From now till the end of May when the leaves are FINALLY all back on the trees, New England can be a depressing place to live. Of course, it doesn't help that we move the clocks back tonight, and the sun is setting at 4:37 tomorrow afternoon. Le sigh.

Baby Girl had her first Halloween today. She had 3 costumes, and went trick or treating with her cousin who was a Patriots cheerleader. Of course neither one of them understands Halloween (obviously) but they were both really cute.

Tomorrow is Baby Girl's Baptism. Not looking forward to it. I didn't want her Baptized, but clearly I lost that fight.

Riddle me this: What is the difference between a Baptism and a Christening? Is this something I should know after going to Catholic school for 16 years?

Happy Easter!

Easter is really low key in the OG household. We are strictly weddings/funerals churchgoers, so to us Easter means family and ham. This year we're celebrating with my family, which I can't say pleased Andrew's family too much. But I am confident that soon (maybe in another 3 years) they will understand that I still have a family, but it a work in progress. It's also something that is a never-ending source of stress and has a tendency to create drama around holidays where none should be created, but such is life. I'm already a little scared of what the 4th of July will bring this year, what with a brand new tiny newborn in the house - I doubt we will be going anywhere. I can't imagine the friction that will cause. Isn't married life fantastic?