Someone tagged me...so here are 6 little known things about me...

I have other things to catch up and blog about (and even a couple of other tags waiting in the wings) but I heard recently that my Aunt in New Jersey checks our blog every day is disappointed if there isn't something new!! So, here is a tag from a while back that I never got around to finishing. I have been rather sick the last several days, the interior painting is way behind schedule but the outside is pretty much done. We found a water leak in the irrigation/sprinkler system under the new flagstone we JUST put in! Ugh....poor Steve had to rip a bunch of it out...Joe and Shelly (my Aunt and Uncle from Oregon) are in town this weekend which is always a lot of fun!!!

So, here is a picture of me to liven things up a bit. I sort of have this habit of going to games with my in laws and enjoying the games so much (baseball, football, it doesn't matter) that I either read the game program cover to cover or, like this time, remember to bring a book! (It was Memoirs of a Geisha.)

So the Tag.... 6 Little Known Facts About Me!!!

1. I know this is terrible, but I fall asleep on the couch almost every night. I used to be good at going to bed. But I have found that some of my best free time is after the kids and Steve are all in bed! Steve has the hardest time falling asleep so I can't read in bed - the light bothers him. Obviously watching TV is off limits too! I used to fight it but I finally realized that I would respect his need for quiet and just stay up later and end up sacked out on the couch. And, especially now being pregnant, I sometimes get comfy and it is just easier to stay!!!

2. My favorite Fast Food vice: A Toaster Ham and Cheese Breakfast sandwich with a Hot Fudge Milkshake from Sonic. Oh my gosh, it could kill you, which is why I don't get it very often, literally maybe once or twice a year.

3. I love a good bargain and clearance sales but I occasionally splurge on something full price without feeling guilty. For instance, I needed something to wear for our Christmas pictures in December. We have done so many casual family portraits; this one we are dressing up. I had spent several afternoons while running errands going to Ross, Marshall's, Kohl's, Target, and Mervyns to find something cheap that I can wear and not look too much like I am pregnant and would be universally flattering and cost hardly anything. I had found nothing so I finally went to Ann Taylor and found the PERFECT deep red silk top. It was not on sale. AND I bought jewelry too! Ha!!!

4. I went to a boarding school in upstate New York for a month of my senior year. For some reason, my public high school was part of an organization of mostly private schools (about 30 or so in the country) that offered specialized short intern programs for high school seniors. Our school had an internship in Forestry and Wildlife Management. Next to no one took advantage of the program but I did. I applied to 3 schools and ended up going to The Emma Willard School in Troy NY. They are located right outside Albany, NY and their specialty program was an internship in the State Legislature. I worked in the office of Assemblyman Tucci from Brookline, NY. I pulled and sorted files, went to the assembly floor to have him sign documents, went on errands to the copy center and library. I actually found out that Kurt Cobain had died while working on a project on LexisNexis - a kind of pre-cursor to the internet that provided AP news bulletins and access to business and legal documents. I went down to NYC (well, outside) and stayed with a friend at her college for a weekend. It was a liberal arts college with a very liberal social agenda. Boy, did I learn a lot! :) We went into the city on the train and I saw Joseph, rode the Staten Island Ferry, went to the World Trade Center, stuff like that. All in one day.

5. I grew up Figure Skating. I started when I was 8 years old. Not early enough to become an Olympian, but, I did train a couple times a week with a private coach, competed locally (I placed 3rd in my first competition (out of 3...but it was a very close 3rd!) I really enjoyed it - my parents were not uber wealthy (which you need to be to truly excel...or have a sponsor!) so us 3 girls were mostly in it for casual competition and the personal growth experience. Finally, when I was about 14 or so, we as a family decided to walk away from skating. It was so weird - it had really defined us for so long but the world kept turning and the sun would rise and set even though we quit.

6. I got in a car crash while skipping school and ended up talking to my DAD at 911!!! My high school had a closed campus so we really weren't supposed to leave. But, my boyfriend Eric was downtown working at Kinko's and he was really sick...so I wanted to be a good little girlfriend and take him some orange juice and a muffin. So, I left. I was a senior and kind of over high school anyway. I was in Portland down near the old Civic Stadium and I needed to turn left, a yield left turn. So, I waited until I thought it was clear and obviously didn't see the "oldsmolbuick" coming up over the crest of the little hill and I hit its front left bumper/fender/light with my left bumper/fender/light. Crap. It crunched the light and fender of my car. It did next to nothing to the tank I hit!! At least I didn't wreck his car. So, I went across the street to the Mercedes dealer to try to figure out who to call. They didn't know the non-emergency number so we just called 911. I wasn't even thinking where the call would go or that I was IN the city and county my dad worked for and not where I should be!! So, I get on the phone, start telling the operator what happened, my name, where we were, etc. and kind of kept mumbling all upset that my dad who is a 911 guy was going to kill me for skipping school and getting in a wreck. He asked me who my dad was and I told him. He said "Oh. You're "Mac's" daughter. I will get him on the line with us." Sure - of course I called where my dad was...and I totally wanted to talk to him right now. NOT. Bottom line, my car was still drivable and I waited for him to come and escort me home where I sat in the living room with my parents having one of those "We are so disappointed with you" discussions and if I wanted the car fixed, I would get to pay for it. Some how the car never got fixed!!

Caroline cracks us up....

She has a way with the English language that is beyond her years. Sometimes the things that come out of her mouth are surprising but make us laugh because it sounds so funny coming from a 4 year old. Phrases like "as a matter of fact" come to mind.

Anyway, last night as we were putting her to bed, she started singing unintelligibly in a high falsetto voice. She said "Mommy, do you know what that is? That is 'singing like a WOMAN!" And she kept on going and going. We couldn't stop laughing. It was the funniest thing I had heard all day. (But that isn't saying too much considering I spent the day in a Juror Pool waiting to find out if I would get used or sent home...)

Edited to add Jury Duty info...since Maddy asked. It was thrilling. Not. I did my public duty, showed up to the Superior Court Downtown Phoenix at 10:15 am like instructed. They called out names 45 or so at a time to be escorted with a bailiff to a specific court. The room was HOT, it was like packed airplane terminals with a bunch of canceled flights. At 11:26 they made an announcement that we could all go to lunch until 1pm. For real? What was I going to do for an hour and a half? Have you BEEN to downtown Phoenix? Well, I had been making small talk with a woman from Gilbert so we went to a deli together. We were back well before 1pm and didn't get any new announcements from the clerks until 1:30. They called a couple more groups of 45, my Gilbert friend being one of them called, and then, at about 2:45 they announced the rest of us (Most who came that day, by the way) would not be needed and they would call us one at a time to get dismissed and check out to receive our "Proof of Service" papers. Funny thing, on the shuttle ride from the court to the parking garage - the driver of the shuttle said that all while growing up, children are anxious to get picked for the kick ball teams, audition for dance companies, try out for baseball teams, etc. and they are so devastated if not chosen. He said that with Jury Service, the tide changes - every day he sees adults so elated to NOT get chosen! I would agree with that.

"Oh, looks like you are painting. What color did you choose?"

my house in all it's glory...

None of them yet. Seriously, my house has looked like this since November of 2006. I am not even kidding. It is my dirty little secret. It is a joke with all my close friends and family who are here a lot. I always say "before the next (birthday party, family holiday event, next milestone) we will get the paint done." But that first requires choosing a color. I can tell when someone is a new friend or has not been here in a long time because they come in and say "Oh, looks like you are painting. What color did you choose?" None, of course. I found colors I liked in a Restoration Hardware catalog and they sell the paint samples in the store. I bought samples. I liked a color from a new hotel we stayed at in California. They got a hold of the owner and got me the paint code for Sherwin Williams and I bought a quart. I got a Pottery Barn Benjamin Moore color and bought a quart. On and on...

Why am I repainting what I consider to be the perfect Red? Why would I change when people come over and say "Your red is awesome, your olive green is beautiful. Your camel color is really nice." Honestly, I like all my colors. I am just tired of my cave in the family room. It gets next to no natural light and when most of the year we have the blinds turned closed to help keep cool, it is dark. No, it doesn't make the room smaller, just dark. So, I have been wanting to lighten up for a while. Obviously. I just now set a deadline that i would be done before the end of February. And since more neutral colors are more appealing to future buyers, I figured I needed to go that route.

Oh, but then I got crafty last night! I was sitting and looking at the colors on the wall and said to Steve "I like the green of that one, but the darkness of that one but the tint of brown in that one..." So I dug out all my paint samples (6 lined up on my counter) and started to make "dump paint" - mixing all of them in different combos to see what happens. Dump #1. Too Green. Dump #2. Too Dark. Dump # 3. Holy Moly - I CREATED my bedroom color!! Seriously! I called Steve in to look at it sampled on my bedroom wall and he didn't believe me that I put a color on the wall until he moved to see the sheen and see that it was wet.

My bedroom paint color...not a great picture but I do like the color - it looks like a gallery, no?

It did end up drying a bit darker but it made me realize...has the perfect interior color been under my nose for almost 6 years and I didn't know it? The weird thing is I always thought that color "just missed" the mark a little bit but my bedroom and bathroom are the only colors I have not been trying to change in 6 years! This picture doesn't even accurately get the color but I like how black framed art looks against it and I have a lot of that in the rest of my house.

We are going to paint the nursery/sewing room today (yes - I have master plan to share my sewing/hobby room with my babe) and I am going to paint it the new neutral color. If I like it well enough (since it is also in my bedroom!) I will paint the rest of the house that color. I will also be doing something I saw in a Model Home in Colorado. The entire interior was painted the same color but when the designer got to the "kids rooms" they added an accent color either with an accent wall, a bold horizontal stripe or painting the top two feet of the wall the accent bedroom color...all while leaving it mostly the neutral color. Once I get my fabric swatches of the crib set I am ordering (NOT MAKING THIS TIME!) then I will pick an accent color. I am thinking the bold wide horizontal stripe look just above crib level, maybe 18" wide.

Glen on the roof spraying the paint. It is looking really nice.

Exterior Update - the rains of late last week and Glen's weekend trip to Tucson got us a little behind but he is finishing today and so far - it is a huge improvement. I love the new door handle and hopefully the new lights will be up today!!!

Dude, someone is totally nesting!

Steve said he looked up nesting online...wondering what was wrong with me. I told him not to bother - he just needed to go with it. For the most part, he is pretty agreeable. I want to paint a ton this weekend. He said he read pregnant women are supposed to be careful with painting - especially oil based paints. I told him not to worry as my plans all involve water based latex! My house is less of a mess than yesterday, that is good, so I can jump back into some projects. I am almost done with the girl's new ballet barre/dress-up clothes hanging spot in their room (just need to polyurethane the rod,) and look what I have been watching FOREVER on www.overstock.com - I was eying it for a while and then when we were ready to finally buy it, it was gone - out of stock. But I looked again this week to see if they had anything else. It was back!! So I ordered it today. Not bad for $200! (And shipping is always $2.95!) 415 reviews and 5 stars...I don't think we will be disappointed.

Mini Face-Lift in Progress...

We have this amazing friend/neighbor, (I will call him Uncle Glen) and he will be a friend for life I know it! He is our "Go-To" guy when we have a home improvement question or problem and we are stuck. He has replaced my garbage disposal, helped us assemble the swing set, stuff like that. He is always impressed that I "know stuff" and am not just a "dumb girl" (his words) that I know things like what a locking nut is, a key-hole opening, HP of a garbage disposal, etc. But every time he drove by our house, he told me how terrible the front of my house looked because it is in serious need of a paint job! I know!!! Tell me something I don't know!! We would tell him we were just working out spending $1500 to have it painted - we had 3 bids last year. Our house faces South and the sun really does a number on it over 8 years. It really is awful. He, being the contractor jack of all trades, is a paint contractor (I didn't know this) in addition to everything else he does - commercial custom welding contractor, building airplane hangers, etc. He offered to paint our house for the cost of paint in exchange for what I already always do anyway - keeping him well fed on special treats like homemade bread, cheesecake, dinners, etc. So, he taped yesterday and I bought a few new fixtures for the exterior - new coach lights, new lock and handle set, etc. I am SO anxious to unload the ugly 1999 builder tract home brass handles and half-round desert ugly concrete light fixtures.

Here we are so far....a before picture of our plain jane home with taped windows and all...hopefully the new jewelry will help!
We (and by that I mean me) have chosen a dark almost black finish for the exterior fixtures - an antique iron and oil rubbed bronze look. I think it will be a huge improvement. We are saving so much on the paint job I am glad we can make these improvements too!! Yea!!!!

I voted today.

Have you?
Edited to add: This has been one amazing race to follow. I have had CNN on in the background for hours and there comes surprise after surprise - upsets, too close to call, going against conventional wisdom, the tide turning after weeks of...whatever. I was hoping for a Romney/Obama Arizona outcome, unfortunately, that is not the case. But as we learn in Social Studies and Government and Poli Sci classes, we can really only comment and have room to complain if we made an effort to exercise our right and duty to participate.

Someone used my camera....

...and took the cutest picture of her little chubby feet! I love the red toes, courtesy of last week's babysitter who gave the girls a pedi. Caroline said she was trying to take a picture of the cute ruffle jeans. Cute? I couldn't agree more.

Ruffles 'n Toes by Caroline, age 4