I Hate Dove

Ok, today - feeling a little down about the pudge factor - I decided to try and be good and limit my afternoon treat. I decided on only 2 Dove "Milk Chocolate Promises with Caramel" bites (I mean a "serving is 5 pcs!). They are lovely little chocolate squares with inspirational messages on the wrappers. Or so they claim.

As I'm sitting enjoying my first bit o chocoloate love, I glance down at my wrapper to see this:

Nice. Now my very small seed of guilt has ballooned into a potted plant of guilt. What gives? What the heck kind of "inspiration" is that??? As I sit going through the stages of grief, I slowly transition into the anger phase. I will not be bossed around! I will not be made to feel guilty! Most certainly not by a piece of foil! So I defiantly unwrap my next square, pop it in my mouth and check out the wrapper:

OK! OK DOVE - I GET IT! I'm a pig. I disgust you. I get it! Back the eff off! Man - who died and made you hall monitor? Sheesh.

In all honestly, I'd just like to know who the ____ does the brilliant marketing for Dove? If I ever meet them I will pelt them with all the small 'oragami' style folded foil wrappers I'll be collecting - in defiance of evil, evil, mean Dove Chocolate.

Just In Case...

....there are any of you still hanging on (God bless you!) I'm posting to say that it will likely be a while before I post again. Nice huh?

To catch you all up: OUR HOUSE SOLD! (can I get a w00t)?! But the new folks needed a quick close so we are getting up and out by this weekend. (By Superbowl time according to hubby). Sooo the last two weeks have been a flurry of packing, packing, packing, moving, packing.

Because of said move, we will be moving in with my folks (yes my husband is a saint) while our new home is being built. In that aspect we haven't even finalized the plans yet so it will be a good 6-8 months before we get into our new digs. SO, in the meantime living in one home with two families, 5 people, 2 bathrooms, and limited computer-using space will likely put a further crimp on my blog time.

And finally, to be honest, I'm not sure I still have my blog spark. Just don't have anything fun to say or talk about lately. Things have kinda been a stress kettle around here since the holidays so I just haven't had much fun, interesting stuff to share! I thought if I took a break it would come back stronger than ever but so far, not so much. So we'll see. If nothing else I can post house updates! (neato keano I'm sure).

So, dear reader(s) have a wonderful tail end of winter and hopefully I'll be back here belting out witty prose sooner rather than later!

Dig It

Ok, if you know me, you know I am not Oprah's biggest fan (can I even say that out loud - will a Harpo Studios helicopter descend on my house at 3 a.m. now??). However, today while perusing CNN I got accidentally linked to an article from her magazine - and LOVED it. To be clear - it was not written by Oprah (thank God). It was written by one Ms. Lisa Kogan. Its a discussion of all those snarky little comments, clueless questions, or just plain mean digs that have come her way over the years (culminating in what she refers to as "The Question That Must Never Be Posed to Any Woman, Ever" which she was asked just three weeks after delivering her first child).

I'm posting the link at the end of this blog for your perusal just because its too good to miss. Its an easy and fun read with a bit of a zen message in there somewhere.

In the spirit of the article, I will share my own "most memorable" snark - and while I do think it may fall into the "clueless" category, it still made the top of my list:

I was about 6 months pregnant. During my pregnancy I had been lucky enough to have a friend/co-worker who was also going through her first pregnancy and we were about 3 weeks apart. One day we decided to go across the street to Starbucks for a treat (decaf of course - don't send me emails). We got our coats on and hopped on the elevator. Another lady had happened to be waiting for an elevator at the same time and got on with us. Things were politely quiet for a second until the lady spoke up. Looking at my friend she said "I have seen you around and I just have to tell you, you are just the most adorable pregnant lady I've ever seen! You're like a toothpick that swallowed an orange!". My friend graciously thanked her and made some comment or other about not feeling very much like a toothpick. Then things went quiet again. I sat there in the corner of the elevator feeling rather awkward and quite a bit like chopped liver. There I was, my cheeks matching the color of my red mohair coat ... the non-most-adorable pregnant woman ever. Once we got off the elevator and my friend and I separated from the other woman, my friend tried to smooth over my ruffled feathers by telling me "I'm sure she didn't even know you were pregnant! That's why she didn't say anything!" Maybe. Or maybe not. We'll never know. And I'll always wonder.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/personal/01/13/o.slight.collector/index.html

The Big Event

Well the day finally came.  I thought I'd be a lot more excited than this.  Instead I just feel kinda blah about the whole thing and not as filled with anticipation as I figured.  Yup - we sold our house!  After nine months on the market, 3 offers that botched, and I-have-no-idea-how-many showings - our house is under contract and set to close on Feb 3rd.

So as if I haven't been an absentee blogger already, I'm just here to say that will get worse.  Getting a 5 BR home boxed up is no small task. And the problem is, I just don't feel like doing it.  Any of it.  I even looked into hiring packers but it would have been well over $1000 and I can't really justify spending that much on my sheer laziness.  But we do really have to get our butts in gear since we basically have 3 weeks to pack up everything we own (short of a few things) and get it all to storage.

Yup - storage.  We're building our next home and since the market is as horrid as it is we refused to break ground until we sold our current home.  Now we have to finalize plans, get an architect to draw them up "officially", put them before the development review board, get subs lined up and materials chosen/priced out and then dig a really big hole.  What will we be doing in the meantime?  Living with my parents.  Yeah.  All of us.  For about eight months near as we can guess.  My husband is a saint.  Of course when he remembers he'll be saving about $3000/month by doing that, he seems quite content.  And honestly we're very lucky to have parents nearby who will let us crash their empty nest for a bit.

We save money, get instant babysitters, and a free ride; they get 24 hour access to Cora.  It seems to work for everyone!  :)   (and before you have a hissy fit - no we are not really getting a free ride, there will be payment made as soon as we can figure out ways to do it which will fool my mother into accepting it).   

But back to the main point here ... why am I so darn blah?  Is it self preservation in case something falls through? Am I emotionally overwhelmed (this is the place I came home to after my honeymoon - the place I where I brought my first child home from the hospital)?  Am I just freakin avoiding packing?  Who knows.  We've had a lot going on lately even apart from the move.  

The only response I have to all of this is the old Indian adage: "How do you eat an elephant?  One bite at a time."   Or in our case, one box at a time!

Post Holiday Blahs? Nah.

Ok, I will be the first to admit, once HappyTime(tm) has passed I can tend to get a bit down. January just seems so bleak... its cold, I'm pale, nothing fits well (thank you extra holiday goodies) and there just isn't much to look forward to. Or at least that is one way of looking at it.

One of my NY resolutions this year is to start looking for the silver lining more instead of just noticing the cloud. So, it is in that spirit that today, instead of looking at all the downers, I will look at all my blessings!

1. I have the most amazing husband on the face of this planet. My husband puts up with me - which is saying a lot. I'm not the world's easiest person to live with. He works so hard to provide everything our family needs and to make me happy. And he does both beautifully. In addition, whoever came up with the term "co-parenting" clearly was thinking of my hubby. In fact there are times I feel like I'm the one slacking off while he carries the load. I'm a very lucky woman to have him in my life.

2. My daughter is beautiful, smart, healthy and happy. I know all parents think their children are the best, smartest, etc etc. And I'm no different. Which is a wonderful thing. I am just as in love with my child as I am with my husband which makes for a very happy home life. Of course there are times she is a challenge (or just being a parent is a challenge) but those are the times she (and the family as a whole) are growing and developing and so for those times I am grateful. My daughter amazes me everyday.

3. I have a wonderful home. Yes, we are trying to sell and have been for quite some time - but it will happen. Houses don't stay on the market for decades... just months. We just have to wait that out, and then we get to build our dream. But in the meantime we have a wonderful home that keeps us safe, warm and dry. We have the house that we came home to after our honeymoon. We have the house we brought our first child home to. We have more than enough space and all the amenities we could ever need.

4. My family is near me and healthy. Right now, for the first time in a long time, my entire immediate family is in the same area. I know it won't last forever but its sure nice right now. In addition, my family all are hale and hearty. There will come a time when my parents will face some of the golden year health challenges. But for now, everyone is nearby, healthy and blessed.

5. Hubby and I both have jobs and they are ones we enjoy. In the current economy it would be enough that we had jobs that met our needs. But we are both lucky enough to have jobs that we enjoy - most of the time. We both like what we do, and whom we work with and that makes each day so much easier. We are fortunate to have the paychecks we do, and while I like to think we've been smart with our finances, having the jobs we do allows us to be able to do some of the fun things in life which keep us balanced and fulfilled.

I could go on listing many, many more. But I think that's enough for today. I've made my point - both hopefully to you dear reader, and more importantly to myself. So happy new year, and may 2009 bring you all the blessings you can count!