Gilmore stuff
Well, it's no news to any Gilmore fans that the show has been "not great" this season and last. But I continue to watch and last night I was not disappointed.
I really like Christopher. And I like him for Lorelai. I like it when he called her "Mrs. I feel 500 emotions in one hour." He really gets her! Sometimes I feel like that too, Lorelai.
I like that TJ (who I don't like) and Liz (who I like because she played Susan's crazy sister Chloe years ago on ER) named their baby girl Doula, after having a doula and a homebirth. That was charming.
I like that Luke finally stood up to Anna. While I am not thrilled about the whole Luke-April-Anna plotline, I was proud of him. He's not going to let another person he cares about slip away from him.
I liked Paris and Doyle and their dancing in the background when Rory was on the cell phone. That was funny.
Somethings that bug:
Rory's plotline--where is it? Why bring back Marty?
Why does Lucy call Marty "Boyfriend?" Marty is a fine name.
Doesn't Rory have other friends from Yale? Throwing in these two girls has not been my favorite.
Why does Lane have to have twins? Wasn't it enough that she was having a honeymoon baby?
Well, I will have to keep watching and Mark too, even though he says he doesn't watch Gilmore. He really does, sometimes.
Holiday hazards
I am a little accident prone, so I always appreciate the reminders about holiday hazards such as the consumption of holly berries, misteloe, ornament hangers or fire hazards: dry Christmas trees, candles, overloaded electrical sockets.
Though none of these above scenarios have actually happened to me, I did have a complete bottom lip exfoliation by "tear by hand" tape the other night.
Just be very careful when putting packaging tape in your mouth. I intended it to be there for a moment and to rip it off with my teeth and ended up ripping off several layers of lip skin on my bottom lip. Not very good for kissing under the mistletoe.
To my family, this will just be another one of those stories to go along with "stomach caught in zipper of Guess jeans" and "comb stuck in hair" from years ago...
The perfect tree for us
This is our tree.
From a distance, can you tell that it's "pre-lit?" (I prefer pre-lit to artifical).
It's very cool though because with a remote control you have 3 lighting options: you can change the lights from white to colored to white and colored.
This is great since Mark and I were having the big debate about what kind of lights. Every Christmas, I have used our white lights. After 8 Christmases together, he really wanted colored lights. Then, Linens and Things advertised this tree as a full page ad in USA Today on Wednesday. Wow, our Christmas dilema was solved.
We'd be thinking about pre-lit. Several friends and family members have done it. It seemed to avoid some unpleasant holiday moments, such as getting the tree in the car and stringing the lights, as well as the paranoia as to whether or not it's actually drinking water or going to catch fire.
Sure I was a little sad as the kids and I were putting up the ornaments. My first fake tree. But if we don't like it, next year we can go back to a live tree.
So, during the day, when I am home with my little ones, I will have white. Then the big kids and Mark can change to colored when they come home. If we want to go wild, we can have both white and colored lights. Really, everyone's happy. Now I will just have to get some greenery or some home spray or a candle so it can smell like a real Christmas tree.
No Parking
After walking around Raleigh, I commented to my mom that people were so smiley there. "Mom, everyone's smiling at us."
While that is nice, I guess I have a bit of New York in me. I prefer people just don't even make eye contact.
While snapping pictures of Christmas scenes in the City yesterday, I have to admit, I liked this one on 5th Ave. across from Saks.
Don't even think about smiling at me : )
A night in NYC
Thanks to my brother and sister-in-law who were visiting for Thanksgiving, Mark and I were able to leave 3 out of 4 kids with them and go on an overnighter to NYC. We had a great time. Mark found a great hotel on Central Park South.
One fun thing about NYC is there is always something you can stumble onto that is really cool.
For us, it was the stars at the Time Warner Center. This may not be a "destination" in the City, but since we were already in the neighborhood, we were thrilled.
Colored lights in these Christmas stars were choreographed to beautiful, instrumental Christmas music. I especially loved Carol of the Bells. It was quiet and peaceful. So, if you are in the neighborhood, check it out! You can even have lunch or dinner at Sapphire, a great Indian restuarant that's up the street.
North Carolina highlights
We were a happy five-some.
Julie and I had a great weekend in North Carolina. Highlights included:
Seeing Mom as a missionary
Not one but two trips to Target
Cheesecake Factory
Nice small airport
Meeting Mom's missionary friends
Driving around Raleigh in my fancy van
Mall-time, buying new clothes and shoes!
Nice long chats with both my mom and sister
Lots of laughing
Monet exhibit at NC Museum of Art
Getting to know baby John
It was not fun to say goodbye again. But it was a welcome break and we had a wonderful time. Thanks Mom and Julie!
Girls weekend
So, I am headed off in a few minutes with Sam for a girls' weekend with Mom and Julie and her baby. Check back next week!
Thanks for all your comments.
Photo organization
Now that I have my new camera, and will be taking most of my photos digitally (I was probably 50 percent film and 50 percent digital), I wanted to put out the question to my wonderful friends who read my blog:
What do you do with your digital photos?
Do you print them out at home or print them out at Costco, etc.? I have printed them out at home occasionally but not seriously. I had thought instead of getting prints made and then putting them in an album, but then I wondered if I should just order albums directly from iPhoto (we have a mac). Seems like it would be cost efficient and save time as well.
I had a good system for my prints from my film SLR, but am looking for some sort of system for the digital prints. They are organized well on my computer, thanks to iPhoto, but I want to take it to the next step.
thanks in advance for your help!
Committing to a new show
Well, those of you who know me, know that I like to watch TV and talk about TV shows I watch.
Mark and I were so sad about West Wing going off the air. We don't really get into reality TV either. I was looking for a new show.
I do have my regular shows I watch: Grey's Anatomy, Lost, the Office and Gilmore. And I follow them faithfully!
So, I am announcing that I have a new show I love: Ugly Betty.
I had DVR'd the 6 episodes, and starting watching them recently. It took me an episode or two, but then I became hooked.
The characters crack me up. But Betty is the best..sweet, smart, awesome Betty, trying to make it despite the forces of the universe working against her. America Ferrera is fabulous. I thought she was great in Real Women Have Curves and in Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.
Last week, I decided to try the New Adventures of Old Christine again. It is funny. Another one for the DVR.
Let me know if you've found any new shows to watch.
And thanks to my darling friend Karen who linked to spoilerfix.com (I wish I knew how to link!) It's a great way to get news on your fav. shows. But only if you want to have a spoiler. Don't go there unless you do!
We match
Here are Matty and Sammy in their first official matching outfit--pajamas from the Gap. They are too big (4T and 12-18 months) but I just couldn't wait to have them in them. They've worn them several times but never on the same nights (some one spills or spits up.) They were all clean from the bathtub.
They having matching Christmas outfits from Grandma which will debut in a couple of weeks, I am thinking the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend.
I have had several matching shirts for Josh and Matthew, but it will be fun to have these 2 boys closer in age, and easier to find things that match. Not that I am crazy about matching, it's just kind of fun occasionally.
This was also taken with my new camera, which is my Christmas present but of course I couldn't wait. The old camera had 1.3 megapixels, this one has over 7 and has been very fun to play with this week. Thanks to all my camera advisors, you were a great help!
Free stuff
One advantage to Mark's job is that every now and then some free stuff comes our way. Now who doesn't like free stuff? I sure do.
I enjoy my new pro-whitening Crest spin brush courtesy of a client. And he brought home an off white long microfiber tablecloth that was used at an event a while back. We've enjoyed Hasbro toys and games along the way.
But yesterday was great. Mark has a contact at Johnson Space Center. They were talking about kids and Mark mentioned Josh's interest in space. Yesterday a great package came: insulated bag, backpack, NASA postcards, NASA flight badge and an astronaut ice cream sandwich.
Thank you JSC! You made a boy's day. What's your most favorite free stuff you've gotten?
Be Flexible
When I was leaving on my mission, I asked everyone in my family (who spoke at my farewell which was 7 other people) to briefly speak on someone they admired from the scriptures.
My mom chose Ruth. I don't remember much from the talk (it was 14 years ago) but she did say she loved Ruth because she "was flexible" and then she reminded me to "Be Flexible."
Although 14 years later, I would think I'd remember this advice, which seems extremely timely now that we have 4 young kids. But flexibility has never been my strong suit. Along with quick and dirty, you could deem me rigid and a little demanding and having high expectations of others. These qualities don't quite go along with being flexible.
Yet, kids need you to be flexible so I am remembering:
1) All plans with kids are tentative, especially if you have a baby that needs a nap.
2) Even though I plot out my activities of the day with great thought and ambition, there are lots of scratch outs in my calendar and that's okay. Target will still be in business tomorrow. Were we happy? That's what matters.
3) We were all soaking wet from running around in the rain all day yesterday, so we were in pajamas at 4 p.m. and had a great afternoon being cozy at home.
4) Despite my last post on cleaning, the wood floors, which baby now likes to roll around on, are filthy. There just hasn't been the right moment to do that.
5) Big sister may need a friend to play with to keep her world together, so we make a couple calls hoping someone else is flexible too.
6) If I am more flexible, I am happier. And I know my kids respond better to me when I am a happier mom.
Cleaning Day
Well, today is Monday so it's cleaning day. Several other friends have designated Monday as their cleaning day and it really make sense to me.
It's silly for me to clean on Friday (unless we are having guests for the weekend) as everyone's home on the weekend and really contribute to the mess that I would I have just spent my morning cleaning up. So by Monday a.m., I send everyone off and I spend the morning putting the house back together. This has made me less stressed on the weekend as well because I know I am not going to be cleaning during the weekend. I see a dirty floor and I say to myself, "It's okay. It will be clean on Monday."
So, by Monday afternoon, I can look around and say this place looks pretty good. Bathroom and kitchen have been cleaned a little deeper than just a daily wipe of the counters. I mopped. I may have done a +1 job. (like wiped down the stools or something "extra".) The carpets have been vacuumed, wood floors mopped, a little dusting might have occured.
Today to make it fun, I raced myself against the clock. I tried to see how much I could accomplish before 9 a.m. It did make the time pass. I also invested ($8 at target) in a set of 4 colorful microfiber cloths. These have been very helpful. They are cheery and bright and I can wash them and they make cleaning slightly more enjoyable. I really like microfiber.
I should say even though I take my position as CEO of our household very seriously, nothing is ever done really thoroughly. My mom's nickname for me is "quick and dirty."
I should also clarify that Monday morning is really the designated cleaning time, because if it doesn't get done before we leave for our morning activities, it doesn't get done until the next morning, or when I feel like doing more cleaning. I also never spend naptime cleaning. And I have also abandoned the hope of a spotless house until Samuel is on a mission. Any thoughts out there on cleaning?
TGIF!
Thank goodness it's Friday. I am ready to put this week to bed. I am looking forward to a fun weekend.
These are some things I am looking forward to next week:
Fresh episode of Gilmore
Fall season finale of Lost
No more phone messages/mail/visits from candidates asking for our vote (note:this makes me want to vote against you!)
Halloween candy gone or thrown away
Finally acclimated to daylight savings time (this impacted my life more than I want to admit!)
Long weekend coming up next weekend
Primary program a week from Sunday
Only one more week until I see Mom!
Sammy at six months
Happy Six Months this week, Samuel!
This is the first picture we took of you without all your tubes in the NICU. You had just been bathed and wrapped up in a new blanket. Your beautiful hair was combed for the first time. It was about 9 p.m. You just looked so bright and awake. I was so happy to see you and hold you.
Here you are at six months old, so happy and easygoing. I don't even care that you hate the exersaucer and bumbo. Any excuse to sit down and hold you is fine by me because this is going way too fast. You are scooting backwards. You love to push up from the floor. You are entertained by all your siblings. You laugh and smile and make us so happy. We love having you in our family!
