Your Input Needed! Design This Blog!

I have a friend who is the nifty creative type and, as his last position involved a defeated political candidate, he has a bit of time on his hands. So... I think I'm going to have him design a blog template for this site. Something custom and all me!

But I don't know what that is.

This is where you come in. I have two ideas in mind and I want you to tell me what you think. Your opinions will guide his web design and, ultimately, the permanent look of the Mama In Pajamas site. Keep in mind that I kick a@@ when thinking of concepts and can not in any way, shape or form describe those concepts. As you can imagine, the graphic designers at work love me.

Concept One: Bright oranges, yellows, and greens (not neon, think nature's flowers). A more contemporary look and feel, with thin stripes and big circles and such. Vibrant and fun.

Concept Two: Chocolate brown, tan, and cream with perhaps a pop of color but I don't know which color. Fairly traditional and 'at home' and cozy. Maybe with a pair of bunny slippers in the header. Heh.

So... concept one or two... What shall I choose, O bloggy friends???

Top Gun: Revisited

The New York Daily News did a 'Where Are They Now?' story on the stars of Top Gun. Even back then, when I watched the movie 8 trillion times on the ol' VHS player, I wasn't a Tom Cruise fan. However, I was a HUGE Val Kilmer fan. The sand volleyball scene still has the ability to make me drool. I think I broke the VHS rewinding that particular sequence over and over and over.


In fact, that particular scene may have been the inspiration for my high school and college career goal: I was going to follow the pro beach volleyball tour and volunteer my services as a towel girl.


*sigh*


Wouldn't YOU want to towel him off???

Finally Home

We're home after a week-long trip back to Nebraska to see the folks. This involves a 6 hour trip to my parents' house, followed by a 4 hour drive to my inlaws, and wrapped up by a 5 hour jog home. Add in one poodle, luggage for a family of five, and Christmas presents??? It gets ugly. However, it's just not Christmas until we pile into the vehicle and spend the holidays with family!
A full week without blog posting means I have a lot to say. Ready?

• I'm figuring out my DSLR and LOVING IT! I bought a book by Ben Long, written specifically for my camera, and it has been super helpful. I think I've taken about 400 pics in under 2 weeks.
• My favorite gifts, other than the camera? New dishes and silverware!!! My dishes were Walmart specials and had huge cracks running through them. My silverware was purchased at a discount warehouse and looked like I'd lifted them from the local buffet. I may now have incentive to invite people to my house for a meal.
• The middle child was the perfect age for Xmas this year. Christmas Eve was a blast - Miss A raced to check the Norad Santa Tracker every few minutes, screaming when Santa had moved to another location and begging us to come tell her where he was... since she can't read, ya know...
• I have a cute haircut and snazzy new highlights, thanks to my niece. I have a hard time spending $85 every 6-8 weeks, so lately I've been buying a box of hair color and doing it myself. However, my niece works for tips and she's BRILLIANT with color, so I'm now sporting carmel blonde and copper red highlights in my medium brown hair. Gotta say... it's fun!
• I'm going to start running again. Honestly, I am! It's been over a year since I ran further than the mailbox, so it's time to kick it in gear. I'm thinking if I can run a 5k in May, I'll reward myself with an iPod Nano. Bribery is a very effective training tool! Anyone in? I'm going to start a running log here on the ol' blog so you can all keep me honest.

I'm sure there's more, but I have a million internet sites to surf. Catch ya' all later!

We're Watching!

Are you???

http://www.noradsanta.org/

Dear Mother Nature

Dear Mother Nature,

The temperature has hovered in the single digits for days now. In fact, I've even heard that the temp has dipped below zero in the evenings, although I wouldn't be able to confirm that fact since I view any temperature prefaced with 'negative' as a sad, sick joke. I believe I've had enough.

Therefore, I expect you to stop with the cold and the wind and the snow forthwith. As in immediately. As in RIGHT NOW! I'm not demanding warm weather, however it would be lovely to be able to leave the h0use without looking like an Eskimo.

Sincerely yours,
Dianna

Starting To Find The Spirit

I'm slowly coming out of that crazed, frantic state. I can look around me now and see the beautifully illuminated houses and not see it as an indictment of my own inability to get lights up this year. I can eat other people's decorated cookies and holiday candies without guilt. We opened our family gifts tonight, and I realized that my girls couldn't have cared less if I had bows and ribbons on the boxes.

However, I have received FOUR... count them, FOUR... Christmas cards from friends and family who mention that they truly enjoyed our letter this year. So I feel completely justified in freaking out over my wait for last minute inspiration this year. Lord, I feel the pressure building already for Christmas Letter 2009.

We'll be leaving for the annual out-of-state trek soon and I still have a million things to do, but I'm starting to let a little of it go. If it doesn't get done, it will be here when we get home. And heck, who doesn't want to start a new year at least a week or two behind in laundry and cleaning? I'm going to drink some eggnog, watch Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye in White Christmas, and enjoy the season.

Speaking of enjoying the season, have you seen Straight No Chaser's version of the 12 Days of Christmas? We watched them perform on Christmas in Washington and were alternately awed and rolling with laughter.

You Know You're Addicted To Twitter When...

(Click on image to enlarge)

I'm Going To Regret This When She's 16

I'm sure this will be irritating in a few years, but at the moment I'm finding that there are advantages to having a really cute daughter...

Slightly older neighbor boys come by to help scoop the snow from the driveway...

Bah Humbug (Or Why Christmas Stresses Me Out)

Why is it that, upon reaching adulthood, the 'magic' of the season transforms into the 'misery' of the season? I still love Christmas carols and holiday movies and watching my kids' faces light up when they see Santa, but there are a few things that push my stress levels over the edge. For instance:

Wrapping Presents. Am I the only one who worries that my sub-par gift wrapping abilities will convey an unintentional disdain for the recipient? That they'll look at my imprecise corners and un-beribboned packages and decide that I don't care enough to put my best efforts into the decorative aspect of the gift? I'd like to create a note to accompany each gift, explaining that I spent hours shopping for 'just the right thing', but hate wrapping gifts with a passion and, as such, have never learned to curl a ribbon with style and flair.

Christmas Cards. I've set myself up for this one... it's all my fault... but the pressure to create a clever Christmas letter kills me! I'm the creative type and decided one year that the traditional 'here's what we did all year' letter wasn't good enough. And now, every year I must try to top the previous year! Even my own mother looks forward to that letter... so I don't want to disappoint the 70-some people who receive our annual card. In my heart, I know they just want to see pics of my kids but in my head... well, I've set higher standards.

Holiday Baking. I'm a complete failure in this category. I like to bake, but I don't have the time, energy, or money to spend baking 8 million trays of cookies and candies for the neighbors. I freely acknowledge this. And yet I still feel guilty because if I was a good neighbor and a nice person in general, I would be taking little plates of goodies to people up and down the street, spreading holiday cheer and making merry. Instead, I hide in my house and pray no one rings the doorbell.

Surely I'm not alone. Surely I'm not the only one who is a complete Scrooge about certain aspects of the Christmas season? So make me feel better.... tell me what pushes your buttons during this most wonderful time of the year?

Searching for Christmas Miracles

There are some things that are beyond understanding. There are those things that make your heart hurt... that you struggle to understand... that you can't see any sense in, no matter how hard you try.

During this holiday season, as we prepare to celebrate our second Christmas with P, I have two dear friends who need Christmas miracles. They each have a daughter in Vietnam, and because of governments and new rules and crazy processes, their daughters aren't home yet.

I understand the reasons behind all of these rules - I truly do. Ethical adoptions should be the goal of each and every one of us, because someday we will have to explain the whys and the hows to a child who trusts us to always do the right thing. I applaud the theory, but the application hasn't met expectations, and that means that children are in orphanages far longer than they should be.

Please take a few moments from your day to think about these two friends of mine. They deserve holiday miracles this year. 'Tis the season, after all.

Christmas Came Early

Look what Santa brought me! I am so in love with this camera... you should see the pictures I've been taking today! And that's just on the automatic settings, since I have no idea what half of these buttons do.

I've already bought a new camera bag, an extra battery, a huge sd card, a lens filter.... and I'm trying to decide which digital camera class to sign up for. I don't think Santa realized how expensive this little purchase was going to be!

Ho! Ho! Ho!

More On Twilight

Lest you think I have no artistic sensitivities whatsoever, more comments on the Twilight movie:

• There were several times when either Lisa or I leaned over and whispered, 'Vampires in loooooooove' before giggling hysterically.
• That scene in the meadow, when they're playing baseball? And then Laurent, James, and Victoria show up? And they all crouch down and lean towards each other in a menacing fight-scene-from-West-Side-Story type of way? I almost fell off my chair in embarassment for the actors.
• At the end, when Edward saved Bella by sucking the infected blood from her arm? I felt like I was watching porn, the look on his face was so revolting and wrong. (Not that I've watched porn or have a lot of experience with that, although I do have an obsession with that tv show, The Girls Next Door. But that's a story for another blog post.)

But you see, I still loved it! So say what you will about my taste in cinema... I will simply declare myself a devoted member of Team Edward. And ignore my family for a few days while I re-read all four of the books.

In Case You Are Wondering...

He noticed.

But I'm already on page 196 of Twilight... again :)

Oh My... A Vampire Movie

My friend, Lisa, and I went to see Twilight on Sunday afternoon. I went into the theatre with incredibly low expectations, thanks to bad reviews from critics and book lovers alike. It's possible that those low expectations were the key because I LOVED it.

I giggled. I gasped. I sighed. Essentially, I regressed to the 9th grade for the length of the flick and adored every overwrought, emotionally-charged scene. I'm planning to move my family to Washington. I want to find Rob Pattinson under my Christmas tree this year (and the first person who tells me I'm old enough to be his mother is automatically banned from this blog forever). I loved the movie.

My love is not blind. I found the special effects to be cheesy and parts of the soundtrack drove me crazy. But my love allows me to overlook these flaws, in the way that love for my husband allows me to ignore his complete lack of ability to sort dirty laundry by color.

I wish I hadn't given Twilight to my sister to read. I want to dive in again rightthisveryminute. Our school book fair is tomorrow night. Do you think the husband would notice if I bought another copy?

Breaking My Own Rule

But if your kids were this adorable, wouldn't you post a picture?

Making Mama Proud

N has been playing in a basketball league sponsored by the Optimists (I LOVE the Optimist group in our area - I'll have to tell you about them sometime). Anyway, today was the last game so we took the whole family and trundled off to swelter in an overheated gym. N scored 6 points out of the 10 put up by her team and they won the game. Offensive jugernaut, we are not. However, our defense kicks butt - we have a team filled with scrappy little girls. The games this morning were followed by a basketball skills competition. N hadn't participated before and I wasn't expecting a lot from her, but most things for N are a social occasion anyway and she wasn't expecting anything either, other than a good time with some of her friends. Therefore, we were both surprised when the brat won the 3rd place trophy for her age group! Hmmm... there may be a lesson in there about underestimating my kiddo. Tomorrow we'll be heading back to the same place for tryouts for the more competitive winter league, also sponsored by the Optimists. I'm ... umm... optimistic about her chances - primarily because N is a good head taller than most of the girls her age and that makes the coaches drool as they envision the rebounding possibilities.

Not to be outdone by her older sister, I came home to find P and the husband waiting anxiously by the door. The husband told P to tell me what was wrong and, in a teeny tiny, very quiet voice, P said, 'I stink'. So... there you have it. Her first sentence! We celebrated by changing her diaper promptly.

Curbing the Christmas Excess

Christmas gift giving brings together two of my favorite things: shopping and spoiling my girls rotten. The holidays are usually an excuse for me to buy anything and everything that I think they may want or might need. As my kids are good about being appreciative and playing with toys long after I would think they'd be done with them, I've always felt fine and dandy after spending a ridiculous amount of money on gifts. But this year, we're curbing the runaway train.

I'm sure the current economic situation has something to do with my desire to cut back. We haven't seen much of a direct impact at our house (other than those 401ks and college fund statements that I refuse to open), but I do wonder how much worse things could get before they get better.

Mostly though, after months of news stories telling of hardships and job losses and home foreclosures, I feel the need to recognize the reason for the season in a more meaningful way. Our family has been blessed by job security, a fixed rate mortgage interest rate (ha!), and good health. We are together, we are safe, and we are happy. What else do we need?

We'll all be getting four gifts this year: something we want, something we need, something to play with, and something to read. We were going to go with only three gifts (to echo the number of gifts brought by the Wise Men to the stable), but I wanted to add the 'play with' category. I felt slightly guilty about altering the original plan until N pointed out that Jesus didn't have mp3 players back in the day, so we can be forgiven for adding a category for electronics. (Any guesses as to what N really wants for Christmas?)

In a couple of weeks, we'll be opening our gifts and playing with our new toys. But we'll also be remembering the birth of baby Jesus, the gifts brought by the wise men, and the angel who led them to a stable in the tiny town of Bethlehem. And we'll be feeling very blessed for the health, peace, and prosperity that 2008 brought to our family. I hope 2009 brings more of the same for all of us.

Shhh... Do You Hear That?

I had one whole hour of peace and quiet today. One. Whole. Entire. Blissfully silent hour. I had finished all of my editing for the day, coordinated a bunch of things for the PTO book fair, cleaned the kitchen, done a few loads of laundry, and taken a shower... at 2:15 in the afternoon, but still... I was clean. The girls went down for naps and I sat in the living room, snuggled under a blanket, and read a book.

Did I mention that it was completely silent?

It was amazing. I rarely get a few minutes in the house to myself, and it's even more rare to not have a multitude of activities with which to fill that time. Granted, I could have found things to do, but I chose not to and it was wonderful. I highly recommend that all of you find one hour of peace sometime very soon. I'd like another one, please.

A Prayer For My Sanity

I sent an email to my coworkers today, letting them know when I would be out of the office for the holidays and including a note to say I would be spending that week in Nebraska with our families. I received the following prayer from one of the graphic designers I work with:

Oh Lord, please lay your gentle hand upon Dianna's soul, so that she may refrain from smiting those members of her family that so rightly deserve it, and may you stay her tongue from speaking those things that everyone is thinking but is too ashamed to say, and may you give her restful sleep so that she can more easily put up with what will undoubtedly be tremendous loads of horse sh*t each and every day she is away from home, where she gets enough of that sh*t as it is. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost (who will be very busy keeping her from gouging out eyeballs with the blunt silverware)... Amen.


From his fingertips to God's ear.

It's Finally Ready!

My 2008 Adoption Gift Guide has finally been published! Wow, that has been in the works for a very long time.

You can check it out here.

My Scale Lies

And I love it! I stepped on that little beauty this morning, thinking that I should get an idea of how hard a row to hoe today and the scale LIED to me! It said I lost a pound! So obviously, I rewarded that darling little scale with new batteries and I had chili cheese fries for lunch.

Denial is a beautiful thing.