Big Warm Fuzzy Thoughts

This isn't a gratitude post or even a big thank you post, but it's kind of a combination of all the good things I was thinking this morning. Not many mornings start by thinking positive thoughts.

1. Thinking back to when I was pregnant, I thought it was incredibly thoughtful for people to give up seats, hold doors, let me ahead of them in line.  I still get this a lot, and I think it's also because I'm three apples high.
2. I love people who let the woman with the toddler holder herself between her legs go in front of them in the restroom.  Anybody with a potty-training toddler knows how crucial this is.
3. My Starbucks app wasn't installed this morning and taking forever to re-install and load.  In the meantime, I was just prepared to pay cash.  However, the woman next to me offered to cover my breakfast and drink.  I thanked her, but I could cover $3 - if I couldn't, I don't belong in Starbucks to begin with.
4. The other Starbucks note is that, in my technology-challenged state, Starbucks said they could work with me if anything ever happened to my app.  I had the cash so it wasn't a huge deal.  I don't need my little star that badly.  (If you go to Starbucks 15 times, it tracks on the app or your Starbucks card and you get a free drink.)  Still, I love the employees of that location.  They're very sweet.  The Starbucks by my apartment also gets some credit for seeing us run in there with a toddler holding herself and opening the bathroom door ahead of time for us.
5. I love that Buzz Bakery has Splashdown every Wednesday and Sundays where they have a bubble machine, beach balls and cheap food for the kids.  It also has a bar, but I wasn't there for Happy Hour and forgot that it has a bar.  I did buy a Thin Mint Rice Krispie Treat though.  The kid has really enjoyed herself, and it's a nice local thing to do with her.

That's all for now.  I think it's so easy to complain and whine that it's easy to not take the time to be happy or thankful or grateful.  I'll be back to my miserable self soon, I'm sure.

Maurice Sendak

“Children do live in fantasy and reality; they move back and forth very easily in a way we no longer remember how to do.”

More Maurice Sendak quotes here.

Girls vs. Boys.

I was, and still am, of the mindset that both boys and girls are difficult to raise. They each have their own challenges. Add in personality and each individual child is full of surprises. I, as you know, only have a girl, but ever since we knew the gender, people would be like "oooh, a girl, you'll have your hands full" and this was usually from parents of boys. I'll admit it. It kind of offended me because I don't think girls are much more difficult. Maybe it's because I was a girl so I feel that should give me some kind of advantage.

This article is pretty interesting, and I've read similar articles every so often. I think, in part, boys and girls are wired differently, but I do agree and never really thought about that the fact that we, as a culture and as parents, treat them differently whether we mean to or not. I was about to say earlier that boys are more rough and tumble which may be true in general, but Little Miss runs, throws, kicks and falls just as much as the next kid which goes to prove that we go into gender with a mindset. I will say that I feel like girls are slightly easier in terms of opportunity. You can give a girl a doll, a tool set or a ball. She can dance, play soccer, or draw. However, if you have a boy that dances and carries his doll around, people look at him a little sideways when it could just be a phase.

I actually think personality has to do with more than gender. Little Miss is totally stubborn and, being an only child, is used to having the world revolve around her and getting her way. So, when she hears no or we remind her that the world does not revolve around her, anything can happen. That's normal though. On the other hand, she can be a people pleaser, too. She loves positive feedback. She gets such a smile when she hears she's a good girl.

So, parents of both genders, what do you find easier or do you think it just comes down to your child's personalities?

No Mr. Darcy for Me

I'm always a sucker for online quizzes even if I think they're a load of hooey. I actually like the results to this one though I believe I've taken this quiz a couple of times and, each time, received a different result. I'm copying Sanna.

This result says: You are Anne Elliot of Persuasion! Let's face it; you're easily persuaded, particularly when friends and relatives try to use "the Elliot way" against you. But this doesn't mean that you don't have conviction. Actually, your sense of duty is overwhelming. And though you won't stick your neck out too often, you have learned to speak up when it counts. To boot, you know how to handle sticky situations. You love deeply and constantly.

Take the Quiz here!

George Carlin

In honor of George Carlin, here are some quotes. When someone passes away, I always find remembering the good times helps, and we've had a lot of good times with George Carlin.

Some national parks have long waiting lists for camping reservations. When you have to wait a year to sleep next to a tree, something is wrong.
George Carlin

Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

Walk Out

Have you ever walked out on a movie? Entertainment Weekly compiled a list of movies from which viewers walked out. With movies being $10.50, I rarely walk out of a movie. Even when movies were cheap, I never walked out. However, my college roommate and I went to Dante's Peak. Our friends came in and told us to leave and join them across the way to see Scream instead. So, we did. Now, before you all start talking about jumping theaters, it was a special deal where the college rented out the movie theater. We got to see the current releases for like $5.00. The only catch was that the movies were at midnight. So, it wasn't a huge deal to skip out on a bad movie. Turned out, we almost walked out of Scream, too, but we stuck it out. I'm a big baby and that opening scene with Drew Barrymore creeped me out. Once I got past that, I was fine. I've seen bad movies before, but those were the only ones that I almost left.

From Naomi's blog...

What Your Handwriting Says About You

You are highly energetic. You are a passionate, intense, vigorous person. You are somewhat outgoing, but you're not a natural extrovert. You think first before you act. You tend to be independent, rational, and logical. You are very detail oriented and meticulous. You are a careful thinker and a true intellectual. You need a bit of space in your life, but you're not a recluse. You expect people to give you a small amount of privacy, and you respect their privacy as well. You are somewhat traditional, but you are also open to change. You listen to your head and your heart. You are a good communicator. You work hard to get your ideas across effectively.

What Does Your Handwriting Say About You?

From Teble's blog...

Um, I'm not sure what this means... I guess I just know my alcohol except tequila. I got that one from the process of elimination. Oh, well... cheers!

98%ALCOHOLIC

Sense & Sensibility

Interesting. I can't say I'm a huge Austen fan, but I do enjoy the movies. I can't say I identify with any in particular, but I'm not against this result. I'll have to rewatch the movie now.

Take the Quiz here!

From Teble's Blog...

Your results:
You are Wonder Woman

You are a beautiful princess with great strength of character.

Wonder Woman 73%
Spider-Man 65%
Supergirl 63%
Superman 55%
Green Lantern 55%
Robin 53%
Iron Man 50%
Hulk 30%
Catwoman 30%
The Flash 25%
Batman 20%

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Test

When Bad Grammar Happens to Good People

It seems everyone has his or her pet peeves about the English language. I know I have mine. However, I also know I have big weaknesses when it comes to using grammar, punctuation and words correctly. For instance, my syntax has always been horrendous. My nouns and verbs don't always match each other.

This article mentions "verbing" nouns - where words that are usually nouns are used in a verb form. In some cases, the usage is correct or accepted as correct. In some cases, the usage is made up or completely wrong. I can't say it bothers me as much as the author, but it does make me wonder.

An example from work today: we have letter copy that sounded awkward, but it was actually correct. We made it incorrect so we could appeal to the masses.

As for "verbing", I do use Google and Wikipedia as verbs. Plus, I make up verbs all the time in common conversation. I can't think of an example right now, but I do make up my own words. Oh, I often use the phrase "I snoozed and I losed" as the past tense of "You snooze, you lose". It just sounds better than "I snoozed and I lost".

Do you misuse any words or use incorrect grammar on purpose or do you have any pet peeves?

From Teble's Blog

You Are a Dash

Your life is fast paced and varied. You are realistic, down to earth, and very honest. You're often busy doing something interesting, and what you do changes quickly. You have many facets to your personality, and you connect them together well. You have a ton of interests. While some of them are a bit offbeat, they all tie together well. You friends rely on you to bring novelty and excitement to their lives. (And while you're the most interesting person they know, they can't help feeling like they don't know you well.) You excel in: Anything to do with money You get along best with: the Exclamation Point

What Punctuation Mark Are You?

What's in a Name?

I just looked up Baby's name. Her name is the #22 most common female first name. 0.51% of females in the US share the same name which equal to around 624,750 women. Choosing her name wasn't as much of a trial as I had expected. Husband and I both went through the Name Book and picked our favorites. Then, we narrowed down the list of 10 or so to the ones we both liked. It basically narrowed down to one. He liked one. I liked one. There was one name we both liked. We actually had a middle name chosen first. It's a combination of both our mother's names. It's a lot of pressure to choose a child's name!

FYI: Baby is more popular than I. April is the #142 most common female first name. 0.154% of females in the US are named April - approximately 188,650 women. Husband has us both beat though. His name is the #3 most common male first name. 3.143% of males in the US share his name - approximately 3,850,175 men! I don't know how accurate the statistics are, but they come from this site.

Thank You

Thank you. They're easy words. They're simple. Someone says or does something nice to you. You say "thank you". End of exchange. Why then, do I feel weird if I just say "thank you"? It's like I owe a compliment back. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love compliments. I like hearing I'm pretty, that Husband is a great guy, that Baby is perfect. Who doesn't like hearing nice things? It's just I have a one compliment limit. Any additional compliments make me uncomfortable.

Here is an example: yesterday, I was in the elevator, and a woman gets on. She sized me up like you do when you see someone new. I gave her a smile and then read my book so as not to encourage conversation. Plus, it's a really good book. Anyway, the woman says, "I like your jacket." I say "thank you." Then, she continues to say, "It's beautiful, the way it matches your dark hair and dark eyes. It looks warm. Is that real or faux fur?" I tell her that for $20, I'm pretty sure the fur was fake. She tells me that it's a really nice jacket and wants to know where I got it. I tell her. As a sidenote, I should mention the jacket is nice, but it's not that nice. It's just a hooded jacket from Old Navy, but I do get compliments on it all the time. Anyway, this is the entire elevator conversation. I just got really uncomfortable, and the woman was just telling me how great my jacket was and how nice it looked on me. It should be a perfect scenario! Why is it I just couldn't just say "thank you" without feeling all weird?

It's all about the dress...

I just recently saw 27 Dresses. It got us talking about weddings and being bridesmaids. First, I would think holding the dress while a bride relieved herself would be out of my range of duties. Second, and I know the movie exaggerated things, but why are ugly bridesmaid dresses even available for purchase? I mean, there's wearing a color or style that's not your favorite or even perfectly flattering, but why are the petticoats and parasols even designed? It's just wrong.

I have to say that I've been super lucky in all the weddings that I've been in. I've worn all three dresses at least twice and genuinely like them. However, I've known a lot of people were totally uncomfortable in their bridesmaids dresses. I wouldn't want my best friends to be uncomfortable. I like to think my friends liked the dress I chose. If they didn't, I don't feel bad. The dress I chose for my bridesmaids was really reasonable. I would have worn it. Hey, they were lucky I didn't put them in my favorite color, purple. I at least know they liked the color. That said, it's always fun hearing about other people's bridesmaid nightmares. Below is a photo of my last bridesmaid dress.

Rehab as an Excuse?

It seems like as soon as a celebrity does something stupid, he or she enters rehab. Don't get me wrong, I think rehab is a great resource for those in need. However, do you need rehab for having a bit too much to drink and saying something you regret? It seems that celebrities are using rehab as a way of getting out of taking personal responsibility for stupidity. I suppose rehab puts the celeb out of the spotlight for 4-6 weeks which is kind of like a time out. However, like a time out, as soon as it is over, he or she is back out socializing and doing ridiculous things.

In general, there is a lot less personal responsibility in the world. We now live in a society that blames everyone and everything else for things that go wrong. Song lyrics, music, movies, television - all influence our lives, but they aren't necessarily to blame for the downward spiral in personal ethics and responsibility. We try, as a society to fix the symptoms but never the problems.

It's enough to drive a person to drink.

Someday, My Prince Will Come...

This is actually inspired by the book, Someday My Prince Will Come: True Adventures of a Wannabe Princess. You have to admit that it's a great title. Far be it from me to say there is something wrong with wanting to be a princess or wanting your own prince. However, this is a big pet peeve of mine. Warning: I've always said they may take away my girl card for admitting this, but I never liked the movie, Cinderella. My big pet peeve is waiting for a prince.

Here's the deal, wanting and getting a prince is great. Seriously. A prince of a guy or, if you can get it, a real prince is hard to find. I'm sure it's a lot harder to get if you sit on your pre-princess bottom waiting for one to show up. I always liked it when characters or people find each other.

Further rant: I mean, really, if Cinderella was going to clean a house, why not clean the house of someone who will pay you? I realize it was a zillion years ago and there weren't like child labor laws and you were allowed to beat your kids (let alone what you were allowed to do to stepchildren), but come on! Things can't be working out if you're talking to the animals and your best friends are mice. You'd think if the fairy godmother was looking out for her, she'd be able to bag a prince much easier or even show up earlier... you know, before those poor mice worked their fingers to the bone on a dress that was just ruined. End of rant.

Superbowl XLII - That's 42, right?

The Superbowl is this weekend. Everyone knows that I really couldn't care less about sports of any kind. I only care marginally about athletes and the only thing I care about is how hot they are. That said, I do watch The Superbowl. Even when Husband was out of town, I went to a Superbowl party. I love the commercials. Even during the bad years, I like the commercials. However, I really love the food. Much like Thanksgiving and a lot of other major holidays, the true meaning of why we gather together is lost and it all comes down to food. However, with the big game, the food is all unhealthy and usually involves melted cheese. What's not to love about that?

Sidenote: If we're not Roman, why do we use Roman numerals to denote what number Superbowl we are celebrating? Why can't we just use 42? Eh, maybe it's just because no one asked me what we should do.

Is This Something Only Men Can Do?

We were watching Friday Night Lights last night. In the episode "Wind Sprints", Coach Taylor goes to Matt Saracen's house. Grandma Saracen gives the coach a piece of cake. In the car, the coach shoves the entire piece of cake in his mouth. I've seen many men do this. Is it an inherent gift that is bestowed upon the male gender or do we have such low expectations when it comes to male table manners that this is something they hone over time? I would never dream of eating cake without a fork, let alone shoving an entire piece in my mouth. Yet one more mystery of the male gender...

The Bucket List

I was watching a commercial for The Bucket List yesterday. Though I do not have a desire to see the movie, it got me thinking of of my own list of things I'd like to do. I can't say there are too many concrete things I'd like to do before I die. I mean, I know I want to travel more, see and do as much as I can. However, it's hard for me to compile a list. It's easier to come up with a list of things I don't need to do before I die. I definitely don't want to jump out of a plane. That said, I have always wanted to go up in a hot air balloon. I'm not sure why or where the idea originated, but I've always wanted to do it.

So, in no particular order, here is my list:
1. Ride in a hot air balloon
2. Learn to play the clarinet
3. Finish my pilates DVD without injury
4. Tour South Korea to see the orphanage where I stayed as a baby
5. Bake and decorate a cake

Sadly, I have small goals. If I was living with something terminal, I don't actually think I"d concentrate on all the things I haven't done. I think I'd spend it doing things I already know I like to do with the people I love. I do believe having the list is a good idea. Why wait until something big forces you to do the things you've always wanted to do? In my case, most of the things I want to do are relatively attainable except maybe finishing the pilates DVD. I really hurt myself every time. For the big things, I like to look at them as goals. They're something big for which to save, to anticipate. It's always good to have something just out of reach.