Mr. Clean is my Mr. Right.

This guy?

Is my new best friend.

Love at first scrub.

And this guy?

Sayonara.

Ciao. 

Adios, not-my-amigo.

I haaaaate scrubbing the bathtub with a scrub brush.  The bottom of our tub is textured, and the brush just never seems to get it clean no matter how much I scrub.

But Mr. Right Clean?

Bee-you-ti-ful, baby!

I first fell in love with Mr. Clean when he effectively removed black SHARPIE - aka PERMANENT marker - from my white refrigerator door.  (In order to protect the not-so-innocent, we won't say how the black sharpie got on the refrigerator in the first place. *ahem*)  He's been my best friend ever since.

So when I saw these bathtub scrubbers at the store, my heart skipped a beat!

Soap scum?  Wipes right off!

West Texas hard water spots?  No problem!

And that textured bathtub floor?  Sparkling!

Love this guy.

Oh yeah?  Well why don't you marry him?

I just might. ;)

This is NOT a paid or sponsored review - I just happen to really love these things!

100 things.

Did you guys do slam books when you were in elementary school (or maybe junior high)? No?

Well, back in the olden days, before cell phones and ipods, we were forced to find entertainment with paper and pen. We would use yarn to tie together a small stack of notebook paper, then decorate the front page as a cover.  On the next page we would write a list of numbers down the left hand side. All your friends would choose a number and write their name beside it.

At the top of each of the other pages you would write a question, and your friends would answer the question next to their number.  Questions like, Who's your best friend?  What kind of music do you listen to?  What class do you love/hate most?  What's your favorite food?  And the all-time favorite...Who do you like? (!)

Ahhh, the good old days.

I LOVED slam books.  Loved making them, loved answering other people's questions, loved reading everyone else's answers.  And I also love those chain emails where you answer a bunch of questions and then forward it to all your friends. ;)  Maybe it's my ego.

Anyway, I've seen those "100 things about me" posts on a few people's blogs, and I love them!  Sort of like a modern-day, computer-age slam book.  And of course I wanted to join the fun.

So here's your chance to click away now.

****

****

Anyone still here?  Ok, let's get going!

101 Things About Me You Always Wanted to Know But Didn't Have a Slam Book to Ask Them In.

1. I was born in Colorado, but we moved to New Mexico when I was 6 months old.
2. My parents divorced when I was about 18 months old.
3. I have lived in four different states: Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, and Florida, then Texas again, New Mexico again, and back to Texas.  With many, many, many moves inside each of those states.
4. I hope to never move again.
5. I went to 8 schools by the time I was in the 8th grade. One of them two different times, so that might count as 9.
6. I hated moving so much. Hated always being the new kid in school. Just when I would make friends, we would move. Hated it. Hence #4.
7. We moved to New Mexico when I was in the 8th grade and, although we did move around the area several times, I never had to change schools again. Except to go from junior high to high school.
8. When we moved to New Mexico, I told my mom, “As soon as I graduate, I’m moving back to (the city where I live now). ” And I did. Been here ever since.
9. I don’t like change. At all. See #’s 4 and 6. And 8.
10. I’ve had the same job for almost 17 years. See #9.
11. I was engaged once before I met The Mister.
12. I am one of the LEAST picky eaters you will ever meet. I can only think of a couple of things I don’t like to eat. And….if it’s something I normally like, it’s hard to make it so bad that I won’t eat it.
13. Except, I really don't care for fruit. If it’s already washed, peeled, and cut up I’ll eat it, but it’s not my favorite.
14. Especially bananas.
15. I would love to buy all organic if it weren’t so stinkin’ expensive. Our grocery bill has gone up about 30% over the past year anyway thanks to the economy. Now we’re back to beans and weenies (not necessarily together).
16. I’m a CPA but I hate taxes. And I’m really bad at managing money. Go figure.
17. I love coffee. With lots of cream and sugar stevia.
18. You may not know that I actually invented the Frapaccino before Starbucks did. I just didn’t know that I should have named it and marketed it. :)
19. When I was 10 years old I visited Sea World for the first time (when we lived in Florida), and for the rest of my growing-up years I wanted to be a killer whale trainer when I grew up.
20. I held onto that dream until it actually came time to go to college, and I discovered that Texas A&M was the only school in Texas (at that time) that offered a major in Marine Biology. Even back then, I couldn’t bring myself to be an Aggie, and so gave up the dream. Hmm, marine biology to accounting – big switch, huh?
21. I never loved my major. Which is probably why I hate taxes and am not good with money. But I stuck with it because of #9.
22. It has turned out well, though. Being a CPA has allowed me to have a flexible, part-time work schedule and still be able to contribute to our family's income.
23. Because of that, I get to take my kids to school and pick them up every day, which I’m so thankful for.
24. My love of whales continues to this day, and I was beyond the realm of excitement when I got to play with the beluga whales at Sea World about 12 years ago. Like....in the water with them, giving them commands. Oh my heart.
25. I am an introvert to the max. MAX. I fake it pretty well, though, so most people don’t believe it.
26. I’ve never been good at sports. I played soccer for two seasons when I was about 7 or 8, but that’s it. I actually got a doctor’s note to get out of PE in junior high.
27. And I totally lied to get it.
28. Instead, I was a band geek. And loved every minute of it. Loved marching band. LOVED. Band gave me an instant family when I went to college. (did I mention I loved it?)
29. And that’s why I’m so excited Kloe has chosen to be in band, too. I hope she will love it as much as I did and stick with it.
30. I was drum major my senior year in high school.
31. I was in the band sorority in college.
32. I don’t own sunglasses. I wear glasses and am not able to wear contacts, so I can’t wear fun, cheap sunglasses. It’s expensive having to buy prescription ones, so I have to keep them a few years which makes them always out of style. I actually did buy a pair for my trip to Uganda, but they didn’t come in in time so I didn’t even get to take them with me. And now, would you believe I CAN’T FIND THEM!
33. My mom wanted to name me Samantha Diane, but my dad said no because “no daughter of his was going to be called Sam!” So my mom wanted Valerie Diane, but, um, well, yeah....thanks, Mom, for not giving me those initials. And so I ended up with Valerie Christine. Valerie means “strong” and Christine means “follower of Christ”. Love.
34. I’ve never had a broken bone.
35. I’ve never been in the hospital except to deliver my babies.
36. I’ve never had stitches except when delivering my babies. ;)
37. I interact best with children under the age of 5. It’s been tough going in our house for the last several years. :)
38. I never was much of a sweets-eater until Jacob was born.
39. I've totally made up for it since then.
40. My feet stay cold from October through April.
41. About half-way through a book, I often skip ahead and read the end, then go back and finish it the right way. I’m trying to get better about not doing this.
42. I read veeerryyy slow.
43. I am not crafty.
44. But I wish I was.
45. My favorite color is green. I used to have enough green clothes to fill an entire laundry load.
46. Beth Moore’s Bible studies have changed my life. Most especially “Believing God”. She taught me an amazing love for scripture and changed the way I read it. Changed. My. Life. For real.
47. I cried when I saw her in person in September. Not in some weird, groupie kind of way, but because of what I’ve learned from her about loving Jesus.
48. I’ve never gotten a speeding ticket (not to say I haven’t deserved one).
49. I talk to myself. Out loud. All the time.
50. I had finally just gotten the flossing thing DOWN before I got my braces on. But now I’m not doing it ever again until I get them off. Flossing with braces is HARD and takes FOR.EV.ER.
51. This is my 2nd round with braces.
52. I don't like to drive.
53. But I love to travel.
54. My favorite places to go are San Antonio and Uganda. :)
55. I’m secretly hoping to someday be on the staff of SixtyFeet.
56. I’m really bad at small talk. See #25.
57. I don’t like swimming. But, yes, I can swim.
58. I think the last time I took an actual bath in the tub was when I was pregnant with Kloe. (must be a water thing, huh?)
59. I’m 41 years old and still don’t know what I’m good at. Sigh.
60. Not cooking.
61. Not crafts.
62. Not homemaking.
63. Not money management.
64. Not photography.
65. But I love photography anyway.
66. I prefer the mountains over the ocean.
67. My new favorite ice cream flavor is tiramisu. Mmmm!
68. I love to help people. I love giving to meet physical needs more than giving money, and would rather help hands-on when I can, but love giving money when I can't help in person.
69. I’m pretty sure I’ve never owned a pair of white pants.
70. I get highly worked up over political issues. But avoid talking about it on my blog like the plague.
71. I don’t do sad endings. Period. And if you recommend a movie or a book to me, you better warn me if it has a sad ending.
72. Even without braces, I don’t like chewy, sticky, or gummy candy: jelly beans, gum drops, gummy bears, starburst, now-n-later, tootsie rolls, caramels, etc.
73. Or hard candy.
74. In fact, chocolate is probably the only candy I like.
75. My family knows to let me check the mailbox.
76. I love getting real mail.
77. I’ve seen on some old blogs that there was a “good mail” movement going around bloggy land a few years ago. I think we need to start it up again. Anyone? That would TOTALLY make my day year.
78. My “receiving” love language and my “giving” love language are not the same.
79. My “receiving” language is quality time. Did you know there are two different dialects of quality time? Mine is activities. NOT conversation.
80. My “giving” language is gifts. Can be bad at Christmas.
81. I love reconciling my bank statement.
82. Oh! That’s something I’m good at. :)
83. And 10-key. I do rock at 10-key by touch. (that means I can run an adding machine at the speed of sound without looking) :)
84. I’m an avid list maker. I add things to my list that I’ve already done just so I can feel the satisfaction of marking them off.
85. In Uganda I learned the joy of wearing skirts in the summer heat.
86. I’m not a big fan of jewelry. I wear some, but not much.
87. I took Spanish in junior high, and now can’t speak a word of it except the days of the week and counting to 20.
88. I’ve always wanted to learn sign language.
89. I wish I could find more time for blogging.
90. And scrapbooking.
91. The brothers you hear me talk about on my blog are not really my brothers, they’re my cousins.
92. I do have a half-brother and a step-brother, but I don’t have any interaction with them to speak of.
93. Or my two half-sisters.
94. I hate roller coasters. And flying.
95. I recycle.
96. I’ve never had anything pierced except my ears, and they’re pierced twice.
97. I would secretly like to have a tattoo on my foot. It would say “Believe” in Chinese.
98. I used to be a Creative Memories (scrapbooking supplies) consultant.
99. Now I sell Arbonne. But not actively.
100. I’ve been on two cruises and think they are hands-down the best vacation bang for your buck. So. Much. Fun.
101. I’m an extreme night owl. In fact, I’m probably actually nocturnal. :)

Anybody else wanna play?

Boys.

Last summer I went on a PTA trip with four other ladies from our school. As tends to happen when you get a group of women together, the conversation quickly turned to all things female: labor and delivery stories, PMS, and of course, those dastardly panty lines.

Boy shorts. That was the end-all panty-line solution presented by two members of our troupe. However, my friend Jen informed me of a major knock against them….they are teeny tiny tall. Like those jeans with a 2-inch-long zipper. You know, like plumber pants.

But, desperate for a solution to said line issue, I began to shop around. (Aren’t you glad you know this information about me? I’m here to serve.) Jen was right. Teeny tiny tall. All of them. Everywhere. All of them….EXCEPT Gilligan and O’Malley! Found some. Tried ‘em out. Here’s the review. You’re welcome.

1. They still ride up just as bad even worse than regulars.


2. You can’t solve the ride up issue because when you pull down you’re only pulling on the little leg part, not the….umm….important part.

And.


3. You still have lines. They just go across instead of UP.

I didn’t even bother taking the tags of the second pair.

And that’s all I have to say about that.

Celebrate!

I did a happy dance when this banner came in the mail last week. Isn't it the cutest? I ordered it from Marla Taviano's sister, Bethany, who was raising money to buy a goat to provide for a family living in poverty in a third-world country. Isn't that so cool?

Look at this cute Happy Birthday banner she made (and her cute kitchen!).



I love how Bethany found a way to use her abilities to help those in need. I love how I was able to help someone in need too, by buying something cute and fun for my family. I may not have the talent to make fun and beautiful things that I can sell to help others, but shopping? That I can do. :)

(But, I would love to make some more of these to help us celebrate different occasions. Like birthdays. Valentine's Day. Even just summer or fall. I just love them!)

This is SO cool!

A friend emailed me this video and I LOVE it! I literally had tears at the end. Had to share (sorry about the ad at the beginning). Hope you enjoy! :)

Happy Blogoversary to Me!

Five days ago.

Can you believe I missed my own blogoversary? Crazy, isn't it? Guess that's what happens when life is flying at you at the speed of light and you can hardly see straight. Things fly right by without your even noticing.

Thanks so much to all of you who have joined me on this adventure - I'm glad you're along for the ride!

YO!

After Kloe's trip to Dallas with Grandma a week or so ago (still need to blog about that), Jacob got to have his turn this week. While he was gone, we upheld our family tradition of celebrating with food. :)

We have a new Cup of Yo that just opened here, and since we've never eaten there we thought we'd give it a try.



Isn't this a cute little place?



Mmmmmm, so yummy. Have you tried it yet? My favorite was the blueberry sorbet. Kloe loved the pink lemonade sorbet, and The Mister chose his old standby - chocolate. Toppings galore, fresh fruit, sauces, whipped cream....everything your little heart (and hips) could desire.

Sure am glad frozen yogurt is fat free! ;)

A Return to Obsession

I used to be a total TV junkie. Several years ago, there were three or four (or five) TV shows that I watched faithfully. You know, as in, "Gotta go, it's time for my show," or, "My show's on. Call me back during a commercial," or, "No, I don't want to go get ice cream, my show's on." (that's when you know it's serious). We're talking loooong ago, like Once and Again, Providence, Ed (anyone remember that one?), and of course, ER. One by one, they all got canceled. Truly, I'm convinced that God canceled them all so I would get off my duff and rejoin the real world.

Since then I've been very intentional about not getting caught up in any other shows. I live in a house with a few people who, um, are a little obsessed really like TV a lot, and so I've had to really watch myself. I don't sit down and watch TV (except movies), even though it's on all.the.time. at our house. I don't watch American Idol, Biggest Loser, Big Brother, or The Bachelor/ette. Not Survivor. Not The Office. Not Desperate Housewives or any of the CSIs. I've seen Grey's Anatomy exactly once. And I never saw one single episode of Lost. I know. Please don't shun me.

I did start watching Extreme Makeover Home Edition about a year ago. Ok, so that's one.

But then.

But then....one of the shows that began to appear pretty regularly on our TV every week - same bat time, same bat channel (apparently I've had these obsessions since childhood) - was Castle. And I would catch snippets of it while I was doing the dishes, or folding laundry, or, you know, dusting the entertainment center while it was on.

And then suddenly I found myself staying tuned for the scenes from next week's episode, and double checking the time and channel. And I may have even planned my schedule around it a few times once. I got totally wrapped up in the whole obvious tension between Castle and Beckett.

And.....I got totally wrapped up in the whole obvious question. Is it? Or isn't it? I would watch with squinty eyes, analyzing and examining and pondering. I think it was over half way through the season before I finally realized that Richard Castle is not Jas0n Bateman.

After all, I had never heard of Nathan Filli0n.

And I was totally out of touch with the TV world.

And the last time I saw Jas0n Bateman, he looked like this:



And now? Well, do you see why I was confused?



They totally look alike, don't you agree?

Toy Story Fun

I love finding "easter eggs" in movies....and accidental goof-ups, too. The Mister says it's my hidden talent. :) I found this list of fun facts about Toy Story 3 on Yahoo, and....I think I missed every. single. one. of them when we saw the movie last week. Actually, I did notice the license plate thing (see below) but (of course) had no idea what it meant. *sigh* Maybe I'm losing my touch.



• A113, the number of a classroom at CalTech where many Pixar animators studied, shows up as an Easter egg in every Pixar film. In the Toy Story series, it's the license plate on Andy's mother's car.

• Sid, the bully from the first movie who wears a skull T-shirt, appears as the garbage man in the new film wearing the same skull T-shirt. (!)

• There's a postcard on Andy's dresser addressed from the featured characters in last year's movie Up, Carl and Ellie Fredrickson.

• Lightning McQueen from Cars is referenced a few times throughout the film: A miniature toy car at the daycare center, on a child's shirt at the center and on a train that shares McQueen's number, 95. That number is itself an Easter egg, referring to 1995, the year the first Toy Story was released.

• A calendar from Pizza Planet is clearly seen. Pizza Planet has appeared in every Pixar film except The Incredibles. (IT HAS?? Did you guys know this?)

• Pixar has a history of hiding a character to be featured in a later movie somewhere in a current film. Nemo first appeared in Monsters, Inc., and Toy Story 3 newcomer, Lots-o-Huggins Bear (who, ironically, is not very huggable), first appeared alongside a bed in Up. A poster on Andy's wall shows a character from next year's Cars 2. It shows Finn McMissile, a British sports car/secret agent who plays a major role in the sequel. (anyone remember Buzz in the credits of A Bug's Life?)

• Buzz Lightyear's batteries are from Buy 'N' Large, the giant corporation responsible for ruining the planet in WALL-E. (hahahaha - this one made me laugh!)

• At the Sunnyside daycare center, Mr. Ray the Scientific Stingray from Finding Nemo makes a cameo. Nemo himself appears as a sticker on Andy's toybox.

• John Ratzenberger keeps his streak alive of appearing in every single Pixar film made to this point(!). For Toy Story 3, he reprises his role as Hamm.

• Ken, voiced by Michael Keaton, was based on a 1988 version of him called Animal Lovin' Ken which included his "own chimpanzee to care for and love." Um, okay. The Barbie featured in the film is based on a 1983 version titled Great Shape Barbie.

• Ken wears 21 different outfits in the movie.

• Woody has 229 animation points of movement in his face. Buzz has 215 animation avatars in his face.

• There are 302 characters in the film.

• Toy Story 3 marks the best opening weekend in the history of Pixar, which is quite a feat, considering all eleven Pixar films have opened at number one on their respective weekends. Toy Story 3 is the first film in the Toy Story series to be released in the very lucrative 3D format.

There you have it, your Toy Story trivia fix for the day.

Glad I could be of service.

One more thing to do, please.

Please pardon me while I have a meltdown.

I just spent an hour and a half working on this post. I was just about ready to publish it. I hit preview, and when the preview screen came up, about 3/4 of the post was gone. Vanished. Kaput. Are you kidding me? I'm so stunned I can hardly breathe.

I may need a moment to regain my composure.

....

....

....

(please stand by)

....

....

....

(this may take longer than I thought)

....

....

....

I'm not really feeling better, but it's late and I need to get to bed, so I'm going to try again anyway.

Ahem. Let's see, where was I? Oh yes....

It's ridiculous how many projects I've had going on the past week or so. Ridiculous, I tell you.

• I've been trying to get these cardstock planets mounted on foam board to hang in Jacob's long-in-the-works space room. The special foam glue I bought made the planets wrinkly, so I went back and bought spray adhesive. We'll see how it goes.





• There's a ton of yard work around here I've been trying to get to. Spraying weeds, re-cleaning out the flower beds (the grass is creeping in again), and I still have 3 more vincas waiting to be planted.


• At the last minute, I decided to copy these fun summer buckets I saw on Jen's blog. I don't know how I would make it through life without copying. In my defense, though, Jen said she also copied. :) I ran into our favorite teacher, Mrs. J., in Target at 10pm a couple of nights before the end of school as I was buying things to go in the buckets. She asked, "Who are you making the buckets for?" I said, "My kids. Because Jen did it and I'm copying." She said, "That's how we learn - by watching other people." Yay! So see, I'm not copying, I'm learning. :)




Aren't they fun? I included bubble swords, water guns, water balloons, a roll of drawing paper, a book to start off our summer reading plan, fun baking mixes (credit for these also goes to Jen), tiny little starter pots and veggie seeds, sunglasses with a case, sidewalk chalk, and a Sonic card. Almost everything came from the $1 aisle at Target. Well, you know, except for the Sonic cards.

Wondering why there are 3 buckets? I couldn't resist also making a fun family bucket - also from the dollar aisle (some things were in the $2.50 section). It had a horseshoe set, a badminton (this is how Mr. Spellchecker says you spell it?) set, a watering can (b/c Jacob broke Kloe's a couple of weeks ago), the frosting for the baking mixes, a couple of water bomb splash balls, and a frisbee.

They made short work of all my efforts!




• I worked until the wee hours Wednesday night/Thursday morning making these cute (if I do say so myself) tote bags for end-of-the-year teacher gifts.





• And then there's more yard work.


• I've been researching and scheduling fun summer activities for my kids to do....WITH THE BABYSITTER. But I'm not bitter. Much.


• We recently bought Jacob a new dresser. We also ditched the huge Rubbermaid tub that was posing as his toy box, and bought a new shelf to hold small canvas toy bins. A LOT of stuff (aka, toys) had to come out of his room in order to keep it from feeling like an earthquake zone. And so on the side - and on the sly - I've been sorting through two giant tubs and a paper sack full of toys. Oh, the joy.


• It's that time of year again to sort through all the closets and dressers for outgrown and unloved clothes and shoes. The trunk of my car is almost full and there's still more to do.


• And there's still more yard work.


• And did I mention we're wanting to put our house on the market sometime in this decade?

And then there's all the regular day-to-day stuff. Laundry, dishes, cleaning, groceries, cooking, bills, blogging....I'm exhausted!

And I've gained 4 lbs.

It's ridiculous.

Calling All Ice Cream Lovers

Tonight (Wednesday) is 31 cent scoop night at Baskin Robbins!

Their website says "participating stores" will offer ice cream for 31 cents per scoop, so you may want to check out your local store to see if they're participating. They are honoring America's firefighters, and The Baskin-Robbins Community Foundation will donate $100,000 to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.

It's from 5-10 p.m. tonight only, and the limit is 3 scoops per person (awww). Don't miss it!

10 things you might not know

A couple of weeks ago Beth Moore had this fun post up on her blog, and I thought it would be fun to do one here, too. I'd really love it if you guys would play along. I know there are at least 2 of you who read my blog....haha, just kidding, there are 3....so come on, play with us!

Here's how to play, according to Beth:

What are 10 things – right off the top of your head – that we would only know about you if we knew you really well? 10 random things ranging anywhere on your personal map that make you a tad distinctive? Or just plain weird? Think quickly. Don’t go for deep. Go for quirky. Don’t try to put them in any kind of order and don’t make them long. Just start typing. I’ll go first to give you the idea.

And here are Beth's 10 things:
1. I have an addiction to Ziploc bags.
2. I hate wet socks worse than almost anything.
3. I was the only baby out of 5 born to my mother with no anesthesia. She never forgot it.
4. I wore braces for 12 years. I still often sleep in a retainer.
5. I am a read-aholic. I read over others’ shoulders. I walk the aisle on airplanes to see what others are reading. I read what’s laying on people’s desks during meetings while they think I’m listening.
6. I love Black music. (huh?)
7. I need slices of cakes and pies to be cut neatly with a sharp knife and not gouged out with a fork. (Nearly just got a shiver at the thought.)
8. My children call me “Doodle.” I no longer remember why. Sometimes just “The Doods.”
9. I am a very slow driver.
10. I’m a go-girl. I love the rush of taking off in an airplane. I smile almost every time.

I did play the game over at Beth's blog, but I can't remember what my answers were....and who could ever find your own comment amongst the thousands over there? So here's my new list:

1. I have a love hate relationship with my bangs.
2. I have a weird affection for office supplies.
3. If I'm reading a really good novel, I often skip to the end just to find out what happens, then go back and finish reading it the right way.
4. I hate calling people I don't know on the phone. RSVP-ing for parties, finding out how late a store is open, even ordering pizza. Hate it.
5. I buy pretty annual flowers to plant in my flower bed every year, but usually let a good percentage of them die before I get them planted.
6. I don't like to drive. Anywhere.
7. I would rather have more dinner than dessert. (usually)
8. I worked as a train attendant on the Polar Express when it came to our town 2 Christmases ago.
9. I went to 8 different schools by the time I was in the 8th grade.
10. I like okra pickled, but not any other way. Ewww.

Ok, what about you? I can't wait to read your list!

April Fools!

April Fool's Day this year just happened to fall on the day we were celebrating Passover, so I was a little too preoccupied to do much foolin' this year. Fortunately I had seen this idea at Redbook.com that I thought would be a fun, easy trick for my family.



The Mister? Loved it!

Kloe? Delighted!



Mr. Finicky Jacob? Not so much. :)