I'm Blushing!

Thanks to a new (to me) Atlanta blogger, Aspirations of a Southern Housewife, for giving me the Honest Scrap award. So here are ten honest things about me:

1) I'm nearly totally illiterate when it comes to popular culture. Yesterday I looked through People magazine while I was getting my roots done and I didn't recognize about 90% of the people in it. Never watched American Idol, Survivor, Real Housewives, etc. etc., Sex in the City, DWTS...and so on...basically any pop cultural phenomenon more than in passing.

2) I am a neat freak perfectionist. This is a problem because I live in a household with too much stuff and really, really messy people.

3) Number 2 leads to Number 3....I'm usually pretty cranky. All the time.

4) I don't like to drive. Never have and this gets worse as I get older. Having a know it all teenage driver in the car with me does not help.

5) I've been about 40 lbs. overweight for the last 15 years. It makes me so mad that I spent all of my 30's and most of my 40's whining about how fat I am. In a positive light, it has saved us a lot of money on clothes I wouldn't buy in size 14.

6) I know every word to about 1000 songs from the 70's and 80's, but no matter how many times I've heard it, I still don't know the words to anything recorded after 1985. I think my brain is full. ( Would you like to hear Piano Man? All verses? I'm your girl!)

7) I've been thinking about ditching the blog lately, especially after all the late unpleasantness. Maybe it's time to lower the online profile. I'm sure that's disappointing to the tens and tens of you who wander over here everyday! Then again, if I didn't do this, I'd probably just be sitting around talking to myself.

8) I always wish I could be one of those fantastically energetic people who hop out of bed and accomplish so much before I've had my coffee. I have a couple of friends like that and I'm so envious. Me? I get caught up in reading two newspapers, messing around on the computer and drinking a pot of coffee. Then....looky there, it's 11:00! Guess I better take a shower. Maybe run over to the office. Good thing the boss is accomodating.

9) I'm amazed I have so many kids. Especially since I don't particularly like kids, especially other people's kids. I don't miss my kids being little, but I do miss the days when they loved me. Now, I'm just a crabby person who stands in the way of everything they want to do (and I won't give them enough money to do it.) I really miss having girls in the house. A lot.

10) I can't imagine ever being married to anyone other than DOTR. I fell instantly in love with him when I was 17 years old, two weeks after I went to college. It seem like yesterday but it's been almost 30 years. Wow, I'm old.

And today is my birthday. 47. Ugh.

Moving right along, one of my favorite bloggers (we're still fighting over our secret ugly boyfriend, Garrison Keillor), Green Girl in Wisconsin, gave me the Over the Top Award. Thank you so much, my dear.

1-Your cell phone? iphone

2- Your hair? curly

3-Your mother? babbles

4-Your father? ugh

5-Your favorite food? cookies

6-Your favorite drink? diet coke

7-Your dream last night? none

8-Your dream/goal? cleanliness

9-What room are you in? bedroom

10-Your hobby? reading

11-Your fear? lots

12-Where do you want to be in 6 years? here

13-Where were you last night? choir

14-Something that you aren’t? sweet

15-Muffin? blueberry

16-Wish list item? furniture

17-Where did you grow up? Nebraska

18-Last thing you did? slept

19-What are you wearing? pjs

20-Your TV? on

21-Your pets? none

22-Friends? close

23- Your life? normal

24-Your mood?bummed

25-Missing someone? Jamie

26-Vehicle? BMW

27-Something you aren’t wearing? bra

28-Your favorite store? williams sonoma

29-Favorite color? red

30-When was the last time you laughed? last night

31-Last time you cried? Tuesday

32-Your best friend? Charlotte

33-One place you go to over and over? kroger

34-One person who emails you regularly? SIL

35-Favorite place to eat? Viva Mexico

I stink at choosing folks to pass this on to, so if you are reading and want to play, feel free.

And check out my bloglist to the right. I've done a little tweaking....found some new interesting blogs and got rid of a few who either haven't posted in awhile or stopped being of interest to me.

Under the Knife

J3 is scheduled for surgery today to hopefully repair a meniscus tear in his left knee. If it can be repaired, he is looking at a three month recovery, which means that his wrestling career is over. Last year he made it to state sectionals, got 4th in our very difficult region, and got an honorable mention all county in a weight class with three state place winners ( and we have one of the strongest counties in all the different sized school classes in the state).

If they can't repair it and just end up cleaning it out, he can wrestle in two weeks, but his knee will bother him for the rest of his life.

Ying. Or Yang.

Couldn't be repaired, so he trimmed it and the boy lives to wrestle another day.

Pure

In a feat never accomplished in all the years we've resided in the 'burbs, we went in to Atlanta twice in three days for social events. You know how rare social events are around here (I'm not talking about saying "I'm kinda hungry", looking down at the grungy outfit and deciding it's good enough for Viva Mexico kind of social event). We went to a soft opening for Pure Taquaria in Inman Park last night. The franchisee is someone we know from our old baseball park, and we were invited by another couple to meet them and four other friends. This is the third location, the other two being in the 'burbs (just not our 'burb).

So anyway, I was feeling all trendy and hip this week (stop laughing) in my flowy boho blouse and cool pants no matter their matronly size.

Then, this morning I woke up and looked at my to do list. Clean out the refrigerator, dig out the scariness under J3's bed, work on the leaves. And my shopping list....contractor packs of can lights, a new doorbell, milk, orange juice, bread, eggs, cream cheese. You get the picture.

Goodbye hip. Hello housewife.

Just Leaf Me Alone!

Hit Man

If this comes to your town.....go. Seriously, do it.

An insurance rep invited DOTR and me to see this at the Fabulous Fox Theatre last night. I'm not a big concertgoer, in fact, I was not looking forward to it. At all. I hate (in no particular order) 1) driving in to Atlanta; 2) going anywhere on a weeknight; 3) finding something to wear that's casual yet dressy....I have church clothes and I have slob clothes and that's about it; 4) making nice to people I don't know and probably will never see again. Along with my house being, once again, in renovation hell...well, I wasn't feeling the love yesterday. Jammies and pizza was more what I had in mind.

Instead, I got dressed in passably fashionable black pants/flowy blouse outfit (thanks, Steinmart), fluffed and primped for about 45 minutes and we were on our way. Drinks and appetizers in the bar at Livingston across from the Fox, then on to the show.

And then....WOW! The soundtrack of my life. Peter Cetera. Two people from American Idol (never watch it, but I don't live under a rock) and a tiny girl that Oprah discovered, Charise, who can't weigh 80 lbs. dripping wet, but blows Whitney out of the water on "I Will Always Love You". The crowd was incredibly diverse and his banter between songs was hilarious.

Two hours flew by and I couldn't believe it was over.

If somebody asks you to go, say yes.

Everything Old is New Again

I found chocolate brown paint under the wallpaper in my living room and light green paint in the foyer.

How fashion forward, c. 1964.

What was I thinking?

We started moving the furniture back into the basement. The floor looks so pretty and new.

The furniture looks like it should be on the front porch of the SAE house. Or on the curb. In the rain.

This is how it happens, isn't it? You do one little thing, and as long as we're doing that we might as well do this, and now that we did this, that looks like crap. And so on and so on. It all started with a little mold and now it's turned into this.

A new sofa. Just for starters.

I am so hosed.