i got nothing.

it's been raining.

and raining.

and raining.

oh, and, uh, raining.

i still don't have a halloween costume for nate. i have some options.

this week we have been laying low (b/c of the rain and b/c of the multitude of sick people around us. STAY AWAY germs.)

we are unable to jump in leaves or go to the park. even when it's not raining, the parks are too wet to play!

this week karl and i also participated in the GREAT CEILING DEBATE 2009 which was one of those thrilling arguments in which married folks participate. basically, the contractors fixing our ceiling could NOT match our swirly, funky ceiling pattern that someone hand painted in 1950 something. they tried and tried and tried and took pictures and got a variety of tools. it just wasn't working. i won't tell you what 'side' karl or i took but i will tell you that our ceiling now has a nice, pretty smooth finish. it doesn't match the rest of the house but it doesn't look like shit either! THRILLING people. absolutely THRILLING. (much like this blog post!) i bet you wish you were there. the poor men painting were here so much that nate started referring to them as daddy. (teasing.)

the weekend is supposed to be rain-free but i am not holding my breath.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

today is the last day

for six years, karl has worked as a business analyst and then a developer for some variation of the company: stephens/staffmark/cbspersonel. he has had four bosses. he has had no less than six offices/cubes. he has worked on several floors of the downtown stephens building (most recently 17) and then moved to their current office in west little rock. additionally, since, uh, 2006 (?) he has been freelancing web design for our (his!) company, Simple Click Design.

today (today!) we close that chapter (though he still will be working on selective freelance projects). Karl is moving on over to Capsearch.com. Capsearch is a web-based research utility providing lobbyists, legislators, educational institutions, businesses, and associations with real-time information on changes in legislature and state government. It is formerly affiliated with my old employer, Arkansas Business. Here is an article about breaking ties and about Karl joining. I won't go into a terrible amount of details, but they have received funding from several wonderful sources and have a great amount of support. This product has proved to be successful in Arkansas (after just a year!) and i know they are raring to get it out to other states.

(if you skimmed all that read here: it's an internet startup!!)

we are all pretty pumped about the transition (though some days it's makes me want to vom out of nervousness; apparently, i don't handle big changes all that well). The offices are back downtown - the home of both our our careers here in Little Rock! i will be so happy to have an office down there again!

additionally, i am picking up some freelance work here and there (some from my former employer in fact). Nate is going to Mother's Day Out once a week and I am looking forward to contributing some cash money right before the holidays! (which are FAR FAR away. clearly.)

what do you do when there is major change in your family? like i said, i kind of want to vom, but instead believe i will play to role of Good Wife and throw some energy into decorating his new office! suggestions welcome. i'm thinking taxidermy with a hint of post-it.

muddy buddies

this weekend i participated in (among other things) a MUD RUN! It is an annual 5K in Little Rock - costumes required. we didn't have a lot of prep on the costumes so we decided upon superheros with kiss style makeup. the race is basically a three mile run and and then you go through a little balloon arch (yea! balloon arch! always a sign the RACE IS OVER! woo hoo!) and then the last tenth of a mile is an ENORMOUS mud pit. the weather was perfect but that mud was FA-reeeeeezing. we took our shoes off to hop in and our toes were numb within the first hundred yards. there were mud puddles up to about my mid-thigh/waist. the three of us pictured above (keely on the left, waynette on the right in the last image) held on to eachother and flung mud everywhere. keely and i eventually opted to crawl - which was REAL fun and much easier. i kind of felt like a stripper (an awesome stripper who keeps her clothes on) i'm not going to lie. i also felt real badass running with a cape on. i think it made me FASTER! the only downside of climbing out of the mudpit was having to get nakey beside our car to put on dry clothes.

(many thanks to melissa p.h. who got up with us and rolled nate around in the stroller while we raced on.)

more photo recaps of the weekend to follow...

dex-tah works here

so, yea, we had to get a new roof. and a new ceiling. well, part of the ceiling anyway. it looks like dexter (a serial killer who murders bad guys in rooms wrapped in plastic and chops up their bodies and throws them in the ocean) (as seen on showtime tv.) (or, in our case, netflix.) (quality tv we watch with nate on sundays.) works here. HOPEFULLY the full project will be done tomorrow. it's been oh so fun sitting around and waiting on the roofers and contractors to show up for two weeks. i am not a big fan of this type of home renovation - this FIXING BROKEN THINGS type. it makes me sigh and pull out my check book SLOWLY. i like painting and decorating and redoing cause i want to do so. (then we can spend with reckless abandon, yes karl?) eh, well, such is life, yes?

i have been wanting to thank some friends for some bloggy love/awards lately but i never know how! i get all socially awkward about blog awards - do i give them? do i display them? I NEVER KNOW. Honestly I think the thing that bothers me about blog awards like these are the HORRENDOUS graphics/images. I mean WHAT IS THAT in the first one? a plate? an O? one of those circular sewing thingeys? and spelling CREATIVE with a K in a scripty typeface does not make one more creative. Am I right? and the other? Well, who wears a hat and heels like that while walking their miniature dog? NO ONE I KNOW for sure! so i don't want to seem all ungrateful because i ADORE bloggy love but I feel that maybe I (or someone equally cool and with more motivation than me) should come up with a cool graphic for an award? Some cute vector art? ANYTHING PEOPLE. These just make blogs ugly. (Please forgive me, creators of these images. I, personally, find them aesthetically UNpleasing.)



this one is from BLAZE LIKE FIRE. (I like to think you have to say that real loud and real fast!) I have to name seven things you might not know about me. (also, how is that KREATIVE? i do not understand.) (but i'm going to do it anyway! HA. i'm such a SHEEP!) (baaaaaaaaa!)

7 things you may not know about me:

1. i have strong feelings about crappy graphics on blog awards. (well, i guess you probably know that now, huh?)
2. my husband and i have been to the movie theater three times since Nate was born. It was to see Wall-E, Up, and Where the Wild Things Are. We (apparently) like to keep it G rated.
3. last week i wrote a letter to my neighbor after my dogs got out (which has happened maybe TWICE in four years) after she complained ('if you can't control them, keep them on a leash') as we were clearly chasing after them with leashes. (and they didn't go far and didn't go anywhere near her.) I OBEY LEASH LAWS LADY. I DONT EVEN LIKE DOGS. i ripped up said passive aggressive letter and decided to dismiss her rudeness.
4. after four years of dog ownership, i still don't like dogs that much. i feel they should only live for five years. (i know! i'm an awful person.)
   
5. i made bread from scratch today. i'm not all that domestic but this one was on MY LIST of things that one must cook at least once in one's lifetime. (it was super delicious hot out of the oven. yeow. score one for me!)
   
6. twitter makes me happy. it can live for more than five years.
7. i still feel like a complete freakshow about my homebirth - more so now that more people in my direct circle are having the babies. i still want to try for homebirth #2.
   

this one is from the amazing stacia! five things i am obsessed with:

1. this song (STILL!):

this print from the beautiful and talented christen byrd (lucy and olive's mama) which i am buying as soon as i start nate's robot room! (she also has these REALLY cool tags for when you take your babe to the nursery or a babysitter):
3. this website: regretsy.com which pokes fun at CRAZY products put on etsy.
4. these sweater boots from Urban Outfitters. TEENY TINY IMAGE.
5. SID the Science Kid on PBS. It's a show about this adorable little nerdy scientist named Sid whose household celebrates Christmas, Kwanzaa, and Hanukkah! It's my favorite. (and a Jim Henson Productions creation!)


so yea for you if you had it through this long, rambling, disconnected post! i am not going to nominate ANYONE to receive an award just yet. in fact, i believe i will be designing a little award (bad ass blogger? skulls? yes?) and THEN i shall bestow it upon the blogosphere. how Kreative, right? BOOSH.

(also as a side note i am reverting back to the stupid blogger commenting system. disqus sucks. they both do. sigh.)

pu pu pu pumpkin

nash's mommy and nate's mommy (gag! shannon and i) took our boys to the pumpkin patch this friday. (seriously click on the link... nash in the overalls... running amongst the pumpkins... it makes me want to vom he's so cute!). The patch was a great success and, literally, SUPER FUN. nash and nate are fast friends and s & i also; we stand around giggling at the boys. for instance, nash thought all the pumpkins were "BALLS!" and nate thought all the pumpkins were "APPLES!" so they ran around screaming BALLAPPLPEAPPLEBALLBALLBALLAPPPLE for, oh, about two hours. it was pretty hilarious (and adorable. ahem, clearly.)
we tried to get their pictures in one of the MANY head-putter-inner picture thingeys (do they have a name?) but nate and nash just kept circling around and giggling and playing peekaboo and highfiveing... so it didn't so much happen. but look: NATE in an OWL. shocking, i know! (you better believe the word OWL in a part of his vocab.)
amongst the pumpkins (can you believe this was him last year?):

a true gq pose (bony hip out, shoulders back, gazing into the distance, hair in eyes, lips pouted out) (totally raising a metro):

and, cause it's cute:

my parents were in town for the rest of the weekend and we enjoyed some quiet time with them and nate (i made stew! we carved the pumpkin! we watched football! we raked leaves! we jumped in leaves!).

pretending pregnancy

so, real quick, i have to tell you that nate and i were running late to go to his little gym class this morning and i skipped breakfast. instead i gulped down a vitamin and chugged half a bottle of gatorade. this vitamin/gatorade combo had a seriously ILL EFFECT on me. halfway there, i started feeling pretty nauseous and like i was going to vom. i did what any normal person would do and dumped out my diaper bag all over the front seat just in case (if you are going to spew, spew in this style) of emergency spontaneous vomiting. i made it to the next light (the michaels/pizza hut/academy sports parking lot) and the saliva was FLOWING so i pulled in the back of the lot, opened my door, and threw up a bunch of liquid gatorade! honestly, it was fine. i was fine. just needed to get it out! this poor man with his umbrella and backpack sees me from the road and comes running over to check on me (how sweet, right?) and i TOLD HIM I WAS PREGNANT. cause i was real embarrassed to be puking, half in a parking spot, baby in the backseat, head hanging out the door! and i wanted to make him feel better (!!) (what is wrong with me?) and assure him i was fine and not THE DYING (cause i wasn't even sick AND am most certainly not pregs.) he said congratulations with a big goofy, knowing grin!

i mean REALLY. i feel ridiculous about the whole thing. pretending to be pregnant. that's the kind of karma that gets you knocked up real quick, right? JESUS MARY AND JOSEPH.

today i broke my blender

the kitchen smells like burnt blender rubber (i.have.no.idea.how.), it's been raining for 40 days and 40 nights and my small companion wants to go 'ousiiiii' NO LESS than every five minutes. (can you say CABIN FEVER.) (first local person to suggest the wonderplace gets a bullet to the brain. it's fun; there's only so many times i can go. and it's, uh, unfree. like many other fun, unfree places.) honestly, we aren't really that bored. i'm just REAL pissed my blender, like, broke (the same blender we use EVERY SINGLE MORNING to make breakfast shakes!) so i feel this gives me the right to complain about everything... cause, well, clearly.

for the record, i was TRYING to make cauliflower 'mashed potatoes' and the bit i salvaged (after slamming around the rubbery blender and waking nate from his nap!) tasted pretty swell. i would like to try again BUT it is literally POURING BUCKETS AND BUCKETS:

and if you have ever taken a kid to the grocery store in the rain (especially my store where they keep the carts outside so there are no dry carts; hence, no dry place for your little one to sit), it's not that fun!

PLUS our roof was SUPPOSED TO BE DONE today and, instead, the tiles/slats *what the hell are they called* SHINGLES? are still sitting half in and half out of my carport (which means i can't actually park in my carport!). in the meantime, the ceiling in our office keeps drip drip dropping. it's like a real SUPER AWESOME country song.

only really classy folk make PATIO SEATIN out of their future roof:

i mean where else would i set my 2 p.m. margarita? (WHICH I WOULD SO HAVE RIGHT NOW IF I HAD A FUCKING BLENDER!)

fall foliage is a fun f(ph)rase

so this weekend began, for me, on thursday evening (just like college!) (or, wait, did college weekends start wednesday?) with the cardinals game. the cardinals, my friends, had an error in the bottom of the 9th that cost them the game (and, arguably, the series) and me my sanity! i was standing, pacing our living room, screaming at the television like a crazy person. (don't worry...nate was asleep so he didn't have to witness his mommy throwing things at the television.) (and tweeting angrily.) THANKFULLY, i had some friends playing darts at the good ole VFW, so i was able to meet them and drown my baseball sorrows in cheap pitchers of beer and shuffleboard.

friday night i hit up happy hour with m&s (cause now that she has a boyfriend her blog name and layout totally have to change....HAHA!) for a bit, and then karl and i attended a rehearsal dinner at the Little Rock Club (schmancy!) for one of his childhood friends. We had a bit of a babysitting debacle so MANY MANY thanks to our friends brad&erin for coming over last minute and hanging out with Nate.

saturday brought not ONE but two weddings! karl attended #1 (his childhood friend) and I attended #2 (ben&kelly). Here is a shot of the alter:

It was so gorgeous. (gush, gush, gush) I did not bring my camera (trend as of late! sorry friends!) but there were candles and pumpkins and fall foliage EVERYWHERE. there were boots and hats and scarves and red tipped noses. the bride looked STUNNING (and smiley and happy as a bride should.) the groom and his groomsmen arrived to the ceremony VIA CANOES. they just paddled right up! there was a live band and fireworks and an outdoor bar and a bonfire and a tiered cupcake cake! I am sure E will have some pics up soon - it was an absolutely gorgeous affair! i was so happy to be included in their special day. BOOK CLUB FOR LIFE, yo.

today we had lunch with m&s once more - got to check this boy out before m jets off into the sunset. afterward we shipped nate off to gigi's so we could (you aren't going to believe this!) CLEAN OUR HOUSE. how sad is that? i know all of you with toddling children understand - it's near impossible to deep clean with a little one creating more mess as you go.

so here i sit, in my clean! and quiet! house.... feeling like a lucky and loved lady....blogging while post-bath naterade (footy pajamas!) gives 'ra-rro' some love.

on a blog housekeeping note, i know some of you were having issues with the new DISQUS commenting system - i changed it to let you comment with your twitter account also. please comment so i know you can OR, if you can't, email me. i have been SUPER frustrated with the blogger commenting system as of late, and i really want to switch over to wordpress. BUT i do feel some allegiance to blogger and i have been here so long! (HELLO MAY 2005!) (and i am opposed to change sometimes dammit!) I like people to know how to find me, how to get here, and not have to update their settings and feeds and blah blah blah. sigh. but i also want to be able to respond to readers via email (hence the attempt at disqus.) i have been playing around with wordpress templates. don't tell blogger.

don't you say i don't make things happen

so. er. um. uh. yea.

i totally colored my hair

AND

pierced my nose.

in the same day. i'm more of a jump right in kind of girl. and once i decide something, well i GO GO GO do it. PLUS i am super happy with both choices so that is a bonus.

my mom says that it is gross and she can't believe i stepped foot in a (gasp) tattoo parlor and that it is (fucking; yep she said that!) ugly. she (jokingly) suggested i wear a burka the next time we visited so she didn't have to see it. my dad thought i was joking and my sister (borrowing a phrase from my dad when i pierced my tongue way back when) said it was the mark of a retard. (for the record, none of us use the word retarded lightly but that expression does make me giggle. it's just wrong.) so, basically my family was very supportive and ON BOARD! one of my darling dearest best friends told me that i was going through a quarter life crisis and that i should do something less drastic like (and i quote) like "just get pregnant again." HA. others also gave the idea TWO THUMBS DOWN but i was a hopeless cause - not to be talked out of it! i figure i can take it out in a few months if i hate it, but i'm pleased as punch at the moment.

two of my besties (for the record, i am opposed to the expression 'besties' and am using it here in jest) kristen and melissa went with me to said tattoo parlor (7th street in Little Rock for all you local readers; they are quite professional. very, very pleased with my experience.)

kristen held my hands and i made a quiet little EEEEE sound as the post went through my nostril. i tried hard not to look at any of the equipment so if you have a technical question about this whole nose dot things, i am NOT your girl. i saw a corkscrewey thing on the post of my little dot and turned away. don't wanna know. did it hurt? yes. it felt like a super intense eyebrow wax. that still hurts the next day. and, yes, it also feels a little like there is a large boog in there so that will take some adjustment. also, i did ask if it would bleed which is something i did NOT do when i pierced my tongue way back when (the day of my 18th birthday b/c my parents would NOT take me before then!). the tongue bled and i was surprised and thought i was dying. the nose did not. (though she said some peoples do a little.)

i didn't know what side to get it on. i hadn't even thought about it until they asked and then i just blurted out right. i like my nose. i like my right side best. PERFECT, right? RIGHT SIDE it was. then, when i got home and googled "nose peircing" i discovered that many people think getting it in the left nostril helps with pain during child birth. huh. who knew? ah well, if my next labor is like my fast and furious first, i don't think the whole tiny dot in one nostril thing would help.

i have been OBSESSIVELY cleaning with the recommended antibacterial soap and a q-tip. which is super fun for me b/c my doctor doesn't allow me to use beloved q-tips in my ears. (i have ridiculously small ear canals and produce more wax than the average human being and q-tips are apparently bad for me.) (sometimes i use them anyway. i love a good q-tipping. who doesn't, right?!?! don't tell my doctor!)

so, here is my teensy teeny itty bitty new friend dottie. karl likes it! (he says he does anyway!) Honestly, it feels like its supposed to be on my face and i am sad i didn't do it sooner (ahem, in college as one of my darling dearest best friends suggested - "that's a college thing!" she said.) ah, well, too old, too fat, whatever, i don't care! I LIKE IT! i'm gonna rock it for awhile.


this is what nate did when he saw it:
laughing at me just like the rest of my family!

llama llama red pajama

isn't he sweet in his little dog (WOOF WOOF) pjs?

things i need recommendations on: (WARNING: COMPLETELY SELF INVOLVED AND RIDICULOUS POST AHEAD!!)

these are the ridiculous things i have been pondering lately re: my personal appearance.

1. should i cut my hair?
2. should i color my hair? (in college, my roomates and i once colored my (then blondish) hair a shade named SOFT BLACK. we took several shots of vodka before we rinsed that hair dye out! it was, uh, an interesting look for me.)
3. should i pierce my nose? (does it really leave a scar? would people really notice? i don't want to be the only 90 year old woman in my nursing home with a nose ring still in b/c i am terrified of scarring.) (is it completely silly to do at almost 29 years old?) (cause i know that a teensy teeny little nose dot would look totally adorable on me.)
4. should i get a (gasp) TATTTTTOOOO? (it would be my first. i am strongly opposed to tattoos on my own body. plus, i know if i got one... i would probably get another and then another and then before the year is out i'd have a sleeve and/or a naked lady on my forearm.)

these questions seem to indicate an identity crisis AN URGE TO DO SOMETHING as we celebrate fall! i want to do something FUN to combat my seasonal, uh, issues. i realize the majority of them MAY sound like a bit like a regression as far as personal appearance go but this whole i-don't-have-to-go-to-an-office thing AND the i-can-wear-work-out-clothes everyday thing is (while awesome) making me CRAVE doing something (semi) drastic. and none of them are harmful! i'm just saying: a new pair of shoes simply will not cut it!

help internetz.

(END COMPLETELY SELF INVOLVED POST).