Going Home

okay. so it was pointed out to me that i should not blog while drinking wine, watching thor, or on my ipad. lol. so just in case anyone is worried,i  was not wasted or even drunk. but autocorrect does some interesting things. and proofreading really is a must. speaking of, i am typing this on my phone somewhere between asheboro and greensboro. so, it will also be pretty rough. the beach was awesome. im pretty sure driving home from vacation is one of the levels of hell though. its like no matter how well you plan everyone is tired and crabby. and you are borderline desperate to get home. and the five hour trip somehow takes an eternity. thank god for car dvd players. so we are going to get home in time to unload the car then get the girls ready for bed. and praying they will go to bed at a decent time. i will write extensively on what all transpired at the beach in the coming week. hope everyone has a good saturday.

Wednesday

Weel, here we are at the halfway point...

Our vacation is halfway over. It has been wonderful! I have loved getting to spend so much time with my family though I admit I'm beginning to miss my house and my things.

Contrary to any segment of Josh's, I have definitely broken my toe. My little toe on my rit foot. I think it got put back into place on Monday night when josh convinced me to let him pull it. Which was excruciating. It is still swollen. Still misshapen. And still hurts like a mo-fo. Currently ther is a trio of Dors band-aids holding my little toe to the next me. That seems to be making it feel a little better. But it aches in a way that I cannot explain and is oh so very painful.

The beach has been wonderful. A little drama. But that is to be expected. Vscationing with the diaper set is really not a joke! They hare difficult. Bottles and baby food and nap times and potty breaks. It is really challenging. The whining. The crying. The fussing. It is truly exhausting. But simultaneously it has been so fabulous. Seeing Evie and Hunter take in th ocean for the first time. Fighting to keep Elly from eating sand. Playing in the pool and chasing each other around the house laughing. It has been awesome.

Tomorrow we are doing the beach again and pictures and maybe more shopping followed by supper at Olive Garden. Friday is the aquarium and maybe more shopping. Lol. Then Saturday we will be packing back up and getting ready to head home that night.

It's been great. The next fewe days are going to be awesome!

Randomly Sunday

So exhausted from all the packing but so excited and nervous that I haven't been able to sleep yet. Well, except for the doze off on the couch curled up watching TV with Evie. But that doesn't really count.

Packing was...intense. The amount of bags we are taking is insane. And we really aren't taking many toys for the girls. Just clothes. And all the day to day stuff. Like spoons. And bowls. A crap, I forgot to pack bowls.

Dang it. Okay, that remedied.

It's been a wild day.

Evie killed me on the way home from dropping Mushu off at my mom's. (Yeah, it's really handy when your mom owns a boarding and grooming kennel lol) We're driving the highway when suddenly Evie yells, "Oh no!" from the back seat.

What baby?

Mushu! Ma's house!

Yes. He's at Ma's. Remember? He has to stay there while we're at the beach.

Oh no!

Yes. He can't go with us.

Oh no! Mushu! Mushu!

That girl kills me. Lol. So, she has asked about him a couple more times since we returned home. But fortunately she was tired. Both girls apparently were.

So, some random thoughts for the day...

Tennis shoes in the dryer can hit the door hard enough to open it.

I may possibly have the ugliest knees I've EVER seen...might help if I could quit banging into things with them.

What does a broken toe look like? Mine certainly feels broken. And it's swollen...and purplish. And I cannot move it. *sigh* I am ridiculously accident prone.

Well, I absolutely have to go to bed! Goodnight sweet world!

What dreams may come...

Seriously Sensitive to the Ick Factor

Today, we here at the Dowd household participated in that fun-filled and kinda disgusting tradition of carving pumpkins.

I was very excited...I imagined Evie digging in to the pumpkin and getting icky. In fact, I made her strip down, fearing the potential stain factor of pumpkin guts. Lemme just say that was a waste of time.

Yeah...last year, 14 month old Evie was really creeped out by the icky, sticky, stringy gunk. After sticking her hand quite briefly into her pumpkin she refused any further contact. But a year has come and gone since then. Evie has acquired all sorts of new skills and experienced a lot of things. The kid can totally get into making a mess! I really envisioned her loving gutting a pumpkin.

Apparently she just has too much of a personal attachment to the veggie.

Fortunately though, my lil punkin' headed youngin', my lil Elly-Belle got totally into the pumpkin gutting experience. She ripped goop from the insides. She chewed on the pumpkin lid. She sampled a pumpkin seed. She stretched strings of pumpkin viscera between her chubby little fingers and cackled manically. She got orange goop in her hair, on the cabinets, the trash can, Evie's hair and even MY hair.

It was a lot of fun.

Evie threw a couple of fits though. Of course. She didn't want to touch the guts. She didn't want to touch the seeds. She was mad that Sissy threw guts on her. Lots of drama, as usual.

Evie was pretty tickled by the end result.

Her face was just in complete awe when she got to see the jack-o-lanterns all lit up on the front porch after it got dark. She just loved it! On and on about her pumpkin and her sister's pumpkin.

Sissy cried when we picked all the seeds up. Cried again when I took the giant spoon we used to help scrape out the innards away from her. Chased the pan full of seeds. Then couldn't care less about the silly pumpkins once I gave her a sippy cup and a toy.

I'm still kinda bummed that Evie didn't particularly care for gutting the pumpkins. But hey, there's always next year.

When Brilliance Backfires

Okay, so maybe my obsessive need to make lists doesn't necessarily qualify as brilliance. But apparently neither does my decision to try and be more laid back and less OCD.

I resisted the temptation all week to make any lists regarding our vacation next week. No "To Dos." No "Don't Forgets." And I did really well. I didn't have any sort of psychological or emotional break down. I wasn't freaking out. I didn't even really feel unprepared. I mean, how hard can it be to pack for 6 days away with two very young children?

Ohmygoodnessgracious.

Last night I started really thinking about it.

And now I'm just going to make a few lists.

But I tried! I really did! A pretty good effort if you ask me.

But last night I started sort of ticking off in my head..."Gotta remember Sissy's sleep sheep, and some spare sheets for the pack n plays, and to take several movies for Evie to watch, and to load up the iPad for Evie, and to set the thermostat back, and to take Mushu's bed with him to the B&B he's staying at while we're gone..."

And as I thought of all these things I kind of started freaking out.

I thought that not making a list would make me less OCD. Turns out it just makes me disorganized. So I'm giving into my inner neat freak, opening up Wunderlist (a phenomenal to-do list app) and typing away!

Also we are planning on doing pumpkins today (hopefully) for the girls. If so I will totally take some pictures for posterity and post those tomorrow. I haven't decided how much I will be posting while we are at the beach. But I know there will be so much to record! I can't wait to see what Evie thinks of the ocean. And Sissy is going to LOVE the sand.

Happy Saturday!

The Tide of War is Receeding

So the war in Iraq is...over?

According to Obama, it's supposed to be. Or will be soon. Or will? But wait, hasn't it, sorta like, already been over?

I remember sitting in band class my senior year and watching the footage as we bombed Iraq. Here we are 8 years later. The better part of a decade has been spent "fighting" in/against/for Iraq. And other than one less sadistic maniacal dictator, what exactly does the United States have to show for it?

We have lost 4,479 American soldiers in Iraq.

That's nearly 4,500 empty seats this Thanksgiving.

It would take 9 Boeing 747's to fly that many people.

Or 82 Greyhound buses.

It's a tremendous chunk just gone from this generation of Americans.

It's a tragedy.

I hope it doesn't just go all to hell in a hand basket after American troops withdraw. Because God knows we'll just end up right back over there.

I had this tremendously long rant mapped out in my head. It was terribly liberal and irrate and heated. And in the process of preparing to write my blog, I googled to find the total number of U.S. Troops lost and on seeing the number, I just lost all my heat and hot air over the issue.

I know a lot of people were really for going to Iraq. There were a lot of horrible things going on over there. Bad people, doing bad things. And typical Americans, we feel the need to play the cowboys. Ride in and right the wrongs. Free the oppressed. Bring justice to those who deserve it.

But I just can't quit thinking about the moms and dads whose babies didn't come home.

So whereas you may have one opinion or another about the war, you may be for or against withdrawing. I want to take a moment to thank those who have gone. Thank God for those who came home. And ask God to please ease the hurt and heartache left for those who won't come back again.

No it's not Veterans Day or Memorial Day or anything else. But we should be thankful for them every day.

Okay, off my soap box. Y'all have a great week end!

Is Baby Bunching Best?

No.

It's not. I will save you the 5 minutes you might spend reading the rest of my blog right now and just say it. No. Baby bunching sucks. It's a pain in the ass. It's a 6 month-long nightmare of crying babies and diapers and spit up and sleepless nights. It's sitting with your head in your hands and crying in the corner wondering how in the hell this has ever happened.

Would I change anything? Rewrite our paths?

Absolutely not.

Already my children don't remember that horrible time period. A year from now, it will be a blur to me as well. Lost amidst the hectic day to day drama of a preschooler and a toddler. Forgotten in the laughter of two beautiful little girls who don't remember any time that they weren't together. Two sisters who will share a room and probably fight until I'm ready to pull my hair out.

In a decade, the only parts I will remember of the first 6 months of parenting two under two will be what I can read here and in the girls' baby books.

We survived. But I'm sure there will be more struggles ahead. Evie is having some serious issues adjusting to a mobile sister. And I get the impression that Sissy is going to be a BIG tattle tell. Having two girls in the terrible twos at once is going to be a bit of a handful. Sending them off to school a year apart is going to break my heart and give me some serious empty nest issues I'm afraid. Then they'll be driving at the same time, college at the same time.I don't think life is easy-peasy from here on by any means.

Would I recommend baby bunching?

It depends. I think it's something that is right for some people but not everyone. Not everyone is meant to have two kids. It's a challenge. And working full-time with two kids is a whole 'nother kind of job. Certainly having two kids in less than two years is not for everyone. But for some, it will work.

Looks like it is working okay for us.

The Good Sort of Problems

Some weeks, you really gotta focus on the positives to get through.

This has totally been one of those weeks. Not because it's been a bad week. Though it has had some pretty bad highlights to it. Which I'm not even going to get into because they are water under the bridge and a recap, however well intentioned, will just drag all those negative feelings and bad vibes back to the forefront of my brain and I really want to keep the good vibes flowing if you know what I mean. My gosh that what as a long sentence.

But this week has absolutely been dragging. Mostly because if I can just make it through Friday I won't be back here for 10 days. TEN WHOLE DAYS. Oh-my-gosh. The only vacation I've had in the last year was my maternity leave. And I don't need to tell you how non-vacation, non-restful and non-relaxing that was. In addition, the Dowd family has never gone on a beach vacation. I haven't been to the beach since I graduated from high school. The only family sort of vacations we have taken are a trip to the zoo, trip to Tweetsie, and last year we flew out to California to see family and attend my sister-in-law's baby shower before everyone moved to NC.

So I'm just trying to take everything a day at a time and focus on the good stuff. Like the fact that I'm down yet another pound. Putting me one pound under my goal weight of 118, though I am no longer TRYING to lose weight. I guess it's a good sort of problem. And probably not one I will have after a week on vacation. Though I do plan on continuing my daily walk while we're at the beach and don't intend to suck down greasy burgers and milkshakes three meals a day or anything.

I've also seen Elly crawling. Like, really crawling. I don't know if she has temporarily given up on walking or if she has finally realized that walking is a little out of her physiological reach right now and that ANY mobility is better than none. It's going to be really hard on Evie. REALLY hard on Evie. Until she adjusts, there will probably be lots of yelling and knocked noggins. That's Evie's response whenever Elly does something terribly unacceptable or will simply not yield to Evie's incessant screaming of "SISSY!" or "NO!"--she knocks Elly on the head. Mobility is a good sort of problem for us to have though.

Evie simply won't stop talking. About helicopters and the moon and Duck and our trip and Ma's and the new porch (at Ma's) and Daddy and herself and Dora and Mickey and...well, you get the idea. It's non-stop. I just take a DEEP breath and remind myself that not too long ago I fretted and worried because she wasn't talking. Well, I am eating those words.

The best news is that it's finally Thursday. I've got so much to do this weekend that it'll be Monday before I know it. I just have to make it through another day or so at work and I'll be home free. Then I'll be trying to pack and make sure everything is done and oh wow, there is so much to remember to TAKE when you are traveling with two very little people.

So, its been a week chocked full of the good sorts of problems. I'm feeling quite blessed and fortunate. Looking forward to a weekend of packing and making lists (which I will check more than twice!). I am going to make a pot of chicken and dumplins. Maybe go pick some pumpkins. Yep, life is good.

My Favorite Decade

Some people loved the 60s. Some long for the 90s. Some people are pretty tickled right here in the 00s...10s...whatever we're calling this one. I personally miss the 80s.

Now I know I was non-existent for half of the 80s. And I don't remember the other half. But many of my favorite things came from the 80s.

My favorite movies...The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, Risky Business, Top Gun, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Dead Poets Society, Dirty Dancing, and When Harry Met Sally.

My favorite music...Jessie's Girl, Bette Davis Eyes, Take It On the Run, Elvira, Tusk, Every Breath You Take, Sweet Child O' Mine, Girls Just Want to Have Fun, Like A Virgin, The Boys of Summer, Careless Whisper...etc.

And of course, phenomenal bands/singers: Michael Jackson, Poison, Bon Jovi, Whitesnake, Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, Tina Turner, U2, The Police, Billy Idol, Duran Duran, Prince, Heart, Journey, Hall & Oates, Air Supply, Blondie.

It was the decade when MTV came into existence and actually played music. The days of big hair bands and leg warmers with tights and shoulder pads with elastic headbands and Aviator shades. The advent of Heavy Metal and the Valley Girl. The mini-skirt came into fashion and Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein became household names. Jane Fonda released her first aerobics video. They were the days of Dallas and Dynasty and Miami Vice. The days of Princess Diana and Ronald Reagan. The Challenger exploded, Mount St Helen erupted, the Exxon Valdez spilled, Chernobyl melted down, the Cold War ended and the Berlin Wall fell. Cocaine and crack became mainstream while the First Lady started the "Just Say No" campaign. John Lennon was assassinated. Reagan was shot. The original Nintendo was released and the IBM PC became mainstream.

Everybody bought a Boombox, a Walkman and a VCR. Watched Thundercats and Transformers, The Cosby Show, Full House, Saved by the Bell and the Golden Girls.

It was a phenomenal era. I don't remember much of it, but I have fond memories from the 5 years that I was alive. I remember dancing around the living room with my mom on Saturday mornings listening to Fleetwood Mac and Heart albums. I remember my mom's Chevy Camaro and listening to Christmas music from tapes.

I definitely have a greater appreciation for the 80s looking back at them. I certainly wasn't old enough to care about the fashion and the music then. I didn't realize I had been born during such a spectacular decade. But hey, maybe that's one of the things that makes it so spectacular to look back on!

 

Fear of becoming what you hate

I'm sure everyone grows up with some sort of trait of their parents' that they fear to inherit. Maybe you grew up with a mom with a bad temper or a lazy dad and you swore to yourself you would never, EVER become that. Maybe you fear getting fat, not being successful, or developing a drug problem.

As for me, I fear alcoholism.

Just to clarify, I do not have a problem with alcohol. I occasionally imbibe a couple of glasses of wine or a beer. Sometimes socially, sometimes just to wind down in the evening. Most people consume alcohol in this way.

I was a pretty typical college student, participating in "Thirsty Thursdays" and Frat parties. I have had my share of hangovers and honestly I don't think I will ever be able to even look at a bottle of Tequila again. But I would never have classified my behavior as an alcohol problem. Just typical stupid college kid stuff.

While most people will go through their whole lives without developing any sort of drinking problem, there are those who aren't so lucky. The occasional social drink becomes a series of regular social drinks which develops into lots of drinking by yourself. Next thing you know, you've lost your job, your family and have drank the last of your money. And as much as you might hate the booze for what it's done to you, you can't stop.

For some people the alcohol itself loses the appeal and the effectiveness while the addiction for that disembodied, carefree feeling grows. Those people turn to harder chemicals to lose themselves. They find cocaine, heroine and meth.

Alcoholism is a seriously misunderstood disease. And it is a disease. I have experienced the devastation and destruction that the disease can wreak. The loss and the heartbreak. The anger and resentment. All still very familiar.

My stepdad when I was little was an alcoholic. He didn't start off that way. When Richard and my mom married, I was young. Honestly, he's the only "dad" figure that I remember. The only person I remember ever calling "Dad." I remember him being very John Wayne back then. Tall and skinny. Always in a hat and Levis. We built a barn and he taught me everything I know about riding horses. As time went by the drinking got worse. From social drinker to functional drunk to completely dysfunctional drunk.

When I was in middle school, I remember him becoming physically violent and psychologically abusive. He went from a jovial, easy-going guy to a mean drunk real quick. For whatever reason I remembered my brother getting on his bad side more often than me. My mom and Richard separated when I was in high school and my final contact with Richard was the day I found out he had sold my horse without my permission. Probably so he could have some beer and drug money.

Alcoholism has been found to have both genetic factors and environmental. Whereas I don't have to worry about the genetic factors from a stepfather, I have a healthy dose of alcohol in my genes already. In fact I have moonshiner blood running in my veins.

Maybe in my case at least the environmental influence has been to steer me away from any addictive tendencies. I feel like I'm always hyper aware of my reasons for wanting a glass of wine or a beer. I'm overly sensitive about people being three sheets to the wind around me. And of course I don't want my kids exposed to that sort of behavior. Social drinkers, even those who drink a lot on a regular basis, are not the same as alcoholics. I have seen plenty of both and most definitely know the difference.

What I wonder about the most is what is it that turns someone from a social drinker into a drunk? From a martini at happy hour to a fifth for breakfast? What finally flips that switch? While I watched someone go through that downward spiral personally, I was just a kid. So I certainly wasn't privy to any of the personal reasons. It seems like an awfully personal sort of question to ask someone anyways.

Some alcoholics recover. They get their proverbial shit together and they move on. Move forwards. I know some. You'd never guess that they had at one time suffered from a drinking problem. Many don't. While I never spoke to Richard again, I guess he never fully got his ducks in a line. He committed suicide this year. It bothered me a lot more than I would have ever thought. Especially having spent a fair amount of teenage angst wishing he was dead.

My worry is certainly not all consuming. Beer has too many calories for me and makes me burpy. Too much wine gives me a headache. And liquor in much quantity makes me puke. So I don't really see myself become a total lush anytime soon. In the meantime, I will continue to savor my glass of Riesling after the girls are in bed.

Appendix to My Previous List

So, since I published Monday's post I keep realizing these weird things about myself. Funny how that works. I spent all day Monday coming up with my 10 and then I have 10 more without having even put forth ANY effort.

*Like the fact that I make lists for EVERYTHING.

*Or my seriously abnormal fear of camel crickets. Have you seen those things? No joke. They are horrifying. They have long hairy legs and bulbous bodies and creepy sticky-outty eyes. Eesh. I shudder just to think about them. Especially because when you go into the basement and turn on the light they freak slap out. And they jump all willy nilly. And they end up jumping ON TO ME! It is truly a horrific and traumatizing sort of experience.

*Or that I cannot eat a tuna sandwich without BBQ potato chips.

*Or how about the fact that I can read things upside down and backwards.

*I cannot sleep with socks on my feet. If for some freakish reason I am able to fall asleep with socks on my feet, they get kicked off during the night. Usually though I feel kinda like my feet are suffocating if I'm wearing socks in the bed.

*I am ridiculously ticklish and hate being tickled. Because I pretty much collapse in giggles and it kinda hurts.

*Even the roof of my mouth is ticklish. Seriously.

*My favorite drink is Cherry Limeade. My favorite movies of all time are Jaws, Sixteen Candles and Babe.

*I don't think I will ever be brave enough to try and light a propane grill. I am just so accident prone without trying to mix gas and an open flame.

*I like to drink a hot cup of green tea in the afternoon.

See look at all these weird things about me! haha.

Ten Things to Know and Never Share about Yours Truly

I've been having random thoughts lately about random little tidbits about myself that most people don't know. So I thought I would share these things with you! Please, don't laugh at me. Okay. You can laugh. I do. But just don't tell anyone else.


1 - You'd never think it looking through my music collection, but I love Britney Spears' music. No. Really! Her songs are the ones that I have to crank up and do my goofy dancing in the car. I'm going to embarrass the crap out of my children when they get older and have friends and reputations to maintain. And it won't even be intentional. Just the side effect of too much Britney Spears at a young age. My goofy wanna-be-a-teen-pop-star dance technique is one of my 

2 - I am a total wuss about scary movies. Paranormal Activity creeped me out to NO end. Kujo made me scream. I saw Silver Bullet when I was about 10 and had nightmares for weeks. I cannot watch anything scary at night. If I do watch something scary then I have to either stay up all night or watch something light hearted or funny afterward so that I'm not thinking about the scary thing. Ironically, almost all I read is scary books. Stephen King, Dean Koontz...they are my absolute favorite authors. Some of King's books have actually made it impossible for me to sleep for several nights straight. Yet I continue reading them.

3- I'm not necessarily claustrophobic but I'm really paranoid about being trapped. No matter how large the space is I would completely lose my cookies if I wasn't able to get out of it. Being in the middle of a large crowd of people makes my blood pressure go up, I tend to clinch and unclinch my fists, chew my lip, etc. I can't handle it. I had to crawl under the bed the other day to retrieve a toy and it made me feel panicky to have the bed pressed so close. If I have an issue unlocking a door to get out of a bathroom I feel like I might scream. It's crazy bad!

4 - Conspiracy theories are incredibly interesting! Or at least the well thought ones. The crazier ones are...well, crazy. But some of the bigger ones are pretty wild to read up on and think about. Like all the conspiracies around JFK's assassination. Or the ones about the September 11 attacks. Theories about space travel and the government can be pretty far out there. But some of them are interesting to read about. Thought provoking. I doubt I will ever be selling everything I own and moving into a bomb shelter or anything but I could totally buy into some of them!

5 - Feet are super gross. Well, let me clarify. Other people's feet are incredibly gross. I don't want to see other people's feet very close. I hate it when my husband takes his socks off and rubs his feet. EWWW! Other people touching their own feet creeps me out. I don't have any issues with MY feet. And of course, I love my children's feet. I kiss on them and touch them without a second thought. But other people's feet, no way. Keep them AWAY!

6 - I am allergic to old school Cheeto's. There's some cheese powder they used back in the 90s that causes me to break out in quarter-sized hives all over my body. It sucks. But fortunately they don't use it anymore. So I can cheeto it up all I want to now! Unfortunately, my allergic reaction made me absolutely HATE cheese for most of my life. As a result I feel like I really missed out on some excellent turkey and cheese sandwich eating in my younger years.

7 - I still have my chicken pox scar. It's on my face just above my left temple. I can find it without thinking about it. Evie makes a sad face, pokes it and then gives me kisses for my booboo. I'm glad that my kids won't necessarily have to endure the chicken pox since they've been vaccinated. But something about missing out on that whole chicken pox misery is kind of bittersweet. It's nice to have some tangible proof of your childhood when you get older.

8 - I'm flat-out terrified of turning 30. I'm not sure why. I try to put on a brave face and joke about it. But there's something really horrible about rapidly approaching the big 3-0. Shoo. I think I will probably cry my eyes out on my thirtieth birthday.

9 - One of the reasons all four of my tattoos are on my back is I hate needles. I can't imagine getting a tattoo where I could see the needle going into my skin. (I'm kinda sensing a common theme on this list is how much of a wuss I am...haha)

10 - The song "It's Been Awhile" by Staind is still my all time favorite song. Despite it having fallen from popularity nearly a decade ago. It makes my stomach flutter to hear those opening chords.

The Autumn Leaves Festival

I grew up in the same area that I live in now. Every year we have what is called the "Autumn Leaves Festival." It is a street festival downtown. All of Main Street is blocked off, along with a couple of the side streets, and booths are set up. Vendors bring their crafts, homemade items, and food goods and sell them.

For whatever reason, a lot of the locals don't like the Festival. And yeah, a lot of tourists are in town bogging down traffic and causing accidents and generally getting in the way. And yeah, it's a little inconvenient to have to detour around downtown if you need to get around the city.

But it's so much fun!

And you know why? Two words: funnel. cake.

No really. It is a great street festival. There are a lot of neat crafts and vendors. Most of them are very Appalachian or country. And the food is spectacular! Ground steak sandwiches and collard green sandwiches and funnel cakes and blooming onions and...well, do I really need to go on?? There are peanuts and soft drinks and homemade ice cream. All natural honey and preserves and homemade jams.

I have gone pretty much every year for as long as I can remember.

It's great to get out and savor the sunshine. The Autumn Leaves Festival is usually the last good weekend of summery weather every year. You walk up and down the street, admiring the booths and crafts, you meet people that you haven't seen since last year. People you went to high school with, people you used to work with. You get to see that girl you had Biology with's new baby. And bump into that guy that you took Driver's Ed with, who you heard just got out of prison. And of course all the politicians are there...politicking.

All this down-home country goodness is mixed with all these out of towners. The Floridians and the Texans and the Yankees who think that the way we talk is just precious. And who just adore the blue grass music. And think our town is just quaint.

And they're right. We are precious. We're proud of our accents and our heritage and our music and our town. And to me that's what the Autumn Leaves Festival is all about. Getting back to our roots.

Most of the time, it's easy to forget that Mount Airy is a town that grew up nestled in the Appalachians. We are Appalachian people who got just far enough out of the mountains to survive the winters while keeping the beautiful Blue Ridge in sight. But I have always felt like the Autumn Leaves Festival takes us back to where we came from. Family gathering around listening to some raw fiddle and banjo jamming. Fried foods and homemade goods. Saying "Thank y'all" and "How y'all doin'?" and "See y'all next year."

It treats my soul. Makes me happy. And makes me look forward to this October weekend every year.

See y'all at the festival! Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Amazon is taking over the world...

And I'm okay with it.

Some people are a little...let's say unsettled, by the release of Amazon's new tablet. It's called the Amazon Fire and personally, I'm impressed. For just $200 you basically get an iPad, minus the logo and the camera. As much as I love my iPad and cannot leave home without it, I could see myself being as happy and $300 richer with a Fire. No joke.

I'm sure all the die-hard Apple believers out there are just shocked and appalled. But it's not brand loyalty that has so many less than thrilled with Amazon's release.

The product itself is a bit of a hot button for the privacy-paranoid among us.

Maybe it doesn't bother me so much because I have grown up submerged in media. I was in Facebook when it first started. My mom was a reporter and media was part of my life. Being in the know wasn't just fun, it was a job requirement. And whereas I despise the idea of identity theft as much as the next person. And I take what I think are necessary steps to prevent it. But I am in no way offended by the idea of media tracking.

If you didn't know, if you don't log out of Amazon, the site can track your internet activity and will use that information to try and market to your preferences. Ever noticed how eerily you were searching for ideas for an Autumn centerpiece on Better Homes and Gardens, then the next day you log into Amazon and they recommend you check out their awesome autumn centerpieces? Surely, you didn't think that was coincidence. Facebook does the same thing. I don't really see it as an invasion of privacy. To me, it's smart business.

If you owned a business and you could offer every customer that walked through the door EXACTLY what they wanted, wouldn't you want to do that? Yeah. Of course you would. Because pretty much guarantees you a sell every single time the door opens. Again, it's smart business.

So now Amazon has a tablet. The tablet is Amazon's. It uses their browser which pulls off Amazon Cloud to speed up searches. You can fairly well bet that Amazon is going to track the browsing and shopping of every person who buys a Fire. And why wouldn't they?

The biggest question though? WHO CARES?

Do you realize how much simpler Amazon has made my life? There aren't words.

An example: While I didn't do all of my Christmas shopping from them, I narrowed all of my ideas down via the Amazon lists. People post lists of "Favorite toys for Christmas" or "My 1 yo's favorite things" or "Best Toys for a toddler"...you get the idea. I had SOOO many ideas for the girls' presents and Amazon's lists and reviews really helped me narrow it down. Browsing through Amazon's favorite things, I even found my husband's Christmas present. I feel like I really got the perfect presents for my family with Amazon's assistance. And with their low prices, I could compare other sites and stores and got really good deals on everything as well.

Plus, you can get books and movies shipped to your house the day they come out. You can buy digital books, digital music, digital movies, etc and store them on the Amazon Cloud. It's phenomenal! I just wish that Amazon would get over their anti-Apple feelings and be just a little more simpatico with my iPad 2. Basically, I want access to the Amazon AppStore. haha. I love their free app-a-day!

The Amazon Fire is awesome. Gorgeous color touch screen that is supposed to be practically indestructible (Unlike the iPad's!). Everything is easy to access and totally synced. The system is smooth and sleek and has Wi-Fi.

So, yeah, I'm all for my activities being tracked. It makes my life easier! The simplicity and convenience is totally worth that minuscule loss of privacy.

Stress stinks

So I have been really stressed and worried about our financial situation.

Me being stressed = me not sleeping.

Also, enough stress causes me to lose my appetite, not be able to keep food down, have migraines, etc.

So after a little more than a week of worrying and not sleeping...well, to say I'm frazzled is an understatement.

*sigh*

So far I'm just sleep deprived. Not having a huge impact on my appetite yet. But ugh.

It is really amazing how much not getting a decent night's rest affects so much of your daily functioning. My blogging ability was pretty much the first thing to go. I cannot carry a cohesive thought for more than a couple of sentences. lol. Sorry guys!

Learning new things

Well, I was completely out of service yesterday due to a seriously sucky headache/migraine. And I think it killed some brain cells, because I had some great blog ideas last week and I can't remember a single one.

I remember an opening line to one: "Being a parent is tough, I think all of us can agree." But that's where the train of thought stops. I cannot remember where I was going to take it. And for the life of me I can't remember what the overall blog was going to be about. But I remember thinking "What a brilliant idea for a blog!" and then the opening sentence popping into my head. Mentally I told myself not to forget it. And of course, I am totally lost now.

So instead of where ever in the world of writing I was taking that sentence, I'm going to talk about my once wordless toddler who has turned into a terribly talkative two year-old. Seriously. I remember saying "I will be so happy when she starts talking." Now I just wonder when she's going to take a break.

Well, it's not that bad.

Yet.

But she does pretty much narrate our day from sun-up to sun-down. And there are times where I have to interrupt her and try to divert her train of thought onto something else because after hearing her tell me the same thing 30 times I cannot handle hearing it again.

It is so much fun to have little conversations with her now. Especially because so many of her little phrases are so funny. Like the way she says "Oh no!" You'd have to hear it to really appreciate how adorably hilarious it is. But trust me. It is. Or the way she says "help," it sounds sort of like "holpe." It's adorable. Really.

The other night we were talking about the moon, which she loves. She talks about how it's white, how it's bright, how there are stars near it, how much she likes it, and how it is hers. Yes, it is her personal moon. But during this conversation, I told her that the moon was far, far away. As she processed this her little happy face just melted and she cried "Oh no!" (Which sounds like "no no" when she says it) and put her head in her hands.

She's just so funny.

She's over being traumatized about how far away the moon is as well. 

A big up to Evie's slight delay in speech though?

Her language is still simple enough that Elly can easily understand her and she's catching on very quickly to language. I think by the time she's 18 months old, she will be on the same page as Evie (who will be 3 then, in case you don't like doing math). It may sound weird, but I really think she will be talking on the same level as a three year-old. I could be wrong though.

Evie does occasionally ramble off in sentences that don't seem to be in English. Just gibberish. Sometimes it's just because she gets in a hurry and her words ran together. Sometimes she just is saying nonsense. I think that's pretty normal for two though. By three everything is supposed to be discernible and I don't have any fear that she will meet that.

Plus, she knows all her letters. She's learning the alphabet song. And I'm trying to teach her to count. So far she can count to two...sometimes three. And she knows all of her colors. And shapes. And she's learning to spell.

One of my favorite things about kids is watching them learn new things. It is amazing! Two years ago, Evie couldn't get her hand in her mouth without help. Now she's building houses out of Legos and spelling her name. Coloring pictures and narrating stories. So much and it all happens so fast! It's just amazing.

I think one thing that I am most looking forward to though, as far as learning, is reading. I cannot WAIT for them to learn to read. And for them to start wanting to read longer stories. Like Winnie the Pooh and Charlotte's Web and The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe...things that I remember my mom reading to me before bed when I was young. I hope they are both avid readers. Reading has been something that I have absolutely loved and has been an important part of my life and cannot wait to share with them. 

Regardless of what they're learning, watching them learn new things is so much fun.