Five Question Friday - Oct 7

1)  What is your go-to comfort food or sweet?  The problem is, I don't just have one.  Fresh doughnuts, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, potato chips, Mellow Mushroom pizza, my mom's mashed potatoes with ham gravy...these are a few of my favorite things (sung like Julie Andrews).

2) What is the most romantic place you've ever been to?  Gosh, nothing immediately comes to mind.  I went to Bonne Terre a long time ago (before they changed hands and then closed) and it was lovely.  I've been to some nice restaurants.  But I can't really think of anywhere I've been where the surroundings themselves made me think "ooh, this is so romantic!".  Something to add to my bucket list!

3) What is your favorite thing about Fall/Halloween? The weather.  Memphis has beautiful, temperate weather in the fall...cool days mixed in with warmer days, lots of sunshine.  I love when it finally gets cool enough to wear jeans and sweaters.

4) How would you spend 24 hours alone?  OK friends, don't hate me, but I'm actually about to spend THE ENTIRE WEEKEND alone, starting in about 2 1/2 hours, and I cannot wait...I've been anticipating this for a while now!  Tonight, I will totally veg on the couch and catch up on all the DVR'd shows that have been building up all week.  Tomorrow, I have absolutely NOWHERE to be (which is unusual), so I'll hopefully get some exercise, paint my toenails, do some housecleaning, and meet up with a girlfriend or two for some shopping (maybe Mistletoe Merchants?).  And spend time reading (I'm in the middle of a couple of great books, but never get to read more than a couple pages at a time!) and playing on Facebook, I'm sure.  By Sunday I'll be getting a little lonely and will be wishing for Mallory and the kids to be around, but I will quickly remember that not many weekends like this come around and to treasure every moment! :-)

5) Does your husband bring you flowers?  Are you the "bring-me-flowers" type of girl?  He has sent me flowers at least a couple of times, which is very sweet.  I know they can be ridiculously expensive and they die after a few days, but there's just something about fresh flowers...I'd be totally happy for him to bring me home some Costco flowers, which are beautiful AND economical (hint, hint!!) :-)

I'm back...and it's Friday!

I'm not making any promises...maybe I'll start weekly updates again, or maybe I'll ignore my blog for another couple of months. :-)  But I have a tiny bit of a breather today and am clearly looking to avoid the work I DO need to get done today, so here's a 5 minute diversion for both of us.  I'll do a family update at the bottom.

1. If you had a weekly newspaper column, what would you name it? I don't like this question, because as the years have passed, all my creativity seems to have leaked out of my brain.  I'm ignoring it...I've got nothing.
2. Who is your mentor/inspiration? Oh my, this is a tough one.  I suppose the first name that comes to mind is Jesus...I really do feel like I've reached a point in my Christian life where I try to ask the age-old WWJD question in challenging situations. 
3. What is your wake up beverage of choice?  Pretty much every week day, my breakfast consists of a package of peanut butter crackers and an icy cold can of Diet Dr. Pepper (consumed in the car on the way to work).  I don't necessarily HAVE to have DDP in the morning, but there is something about that routine that is so comforting.  I wish I liked coffee, but I just don't...I've tried it a few times, doctoring it up with entirely too much cream and sugar, even cocoa...I just don't care for it.  I don't do tea, either...I don't like the inconsistency of beverages that you have to add a bunch of stuff to to make it drinkable. 
4. Would you wear your mom's clothes? Sorry Mom if you read this, but no.  We've not had the same taste in clothes in roughly 25 years...and we were never the type of mother/daughter pair who borrowed clothes out of each other's closets.  Now my mother-in-law is a different story...I love her fashion sense...but I'd have to lose about 60 lbs and shrink a few inches to make that work!
5. When you were a kid, did you put posters on your wall? If so, what were they of? As I recall, I was expressly forbidden to put holes in my walls, so no posters :-(  But I'm not really sure what posters I would've put up anyway, besides cute kittens or puppies.  Maybe funny posters, like The Far Side or Calvin and Hobbes, both of which I loved back then.

Family update...school is going really well for the kiddos!  Fifth grade is SO MUCH BETTER than fourth grade (due to the teachers, I suspect) and so much more manageable in terms of the homework expectations.  And Tyler is loving Kindergarten and going to "big school" with Sissy.  It's so nice to drop them off and pick them up together, and we are enjoying the raise that came with Tyler entering public school.  Mallory has been working out of town for what seems like an eternity now...since the beginning of August (he was in training in Arkansas)...but this is his last week and he should be back home and settled at the Wolfchase location of On The Border next week.  Nothing new with me...work's been pretty busy lately, which is good because it makes the time pass more quickly.  My non-work hours are filled with transporting children to soccer games, cheer practice, football games, and Girl Scouts...our life is good!

Five Question Friday -- July 15

Hi everyone!  Been a long, stressful week, so I'm probably going to make this quick.  So much to say, but no energy to say it today!

1) If you knew your best friend's spouse was cheating on her or him, would you tell her (him)?
Yes.  But only if I KNEW for sure (not just hearsay or suspicion).  Because as Jessica put it, if you don't tell your BFF, you're helping her spouse cheat on her, and that's not the kind of thing I'd do to my BFF!

2) Soda in a can or a bottle?
Preferably a cup with ice in it (even better if it's that nice crunchy ice like Sonic has).  But if I have to choose, I'd go with can...bottles are just too fizzy for me.

3) What do you wash first, hair or body?
Body (face, if you want to be specific)

4) What advice would you give to any new mama?
Sleep whenever possible.  And don't be afraid to mess up...tomorrow's a new day and very few things are irreversible!

5) What is your best hangover remedy?
I've got no magic bullets here...just ibuprofen and lots of water.  Perhaps if I'd actually been hungover more often, I'd have come up with something more creative by now, but luckily it's not a condition I've found myself in too many times (at least not since college!).

5QF - July 1

Can you believe the year is HALF OVER????  And that summer is HALF OVER (at least, for those for those of us whose kids go back to school in early August)???  Sometimes it feels like life is on fast forward.  Mallory starts his new job with On The Border today, so more details on how that's going next week.  And Happy July 4th to everyone...oh, how I LOVE Monday holidays! :-)



1) If you had the opportunity to bungee jump, would you?
There are few things that I think would be more terrifying than stepping into nothingness.  I consider myself a pretty open-minded person, but my brain just can't comprehend how anyone would enjoy doing that.  Though I will say that I think skydiving is even MORE crazy than bungee jumping...if someone held a gun to my head and forced me to choose between them, I think I'd prefer bungee jumping...at least you're attached to something!

2) Would you rather got to the movie theater or the drive-in?
Honestly, I had kind of forgotten that Memphis still HAS a drive-in.  I have so many fond memories of hanging out there on Friday nights in high school, and I've always MEANT to take the kids, but I've just never thought about it at a time when we could actually do it.  And now it's so dad-blamed hot outside...it may have to wait a little longer.  Of course, if I wait much longer, I'll probably find out that the drive-in has closed and I will have missed my chance.  So I guess my answer is "movie theater"!

3) Do you have your groceries delivered?
I'm not sure what part of the country these questions come from, but I don't know ANYONE who has their groceries delivered.  Do YOU know anyone?  I don't even know how you'd accomplish this, except maybe through amazon.com.  I can't imagine doing this, because I'm not very good at making shopping lists (unless I'm working from a specific recipe, which most of you know doesn't happen very often!).  My grocery shopping style is walking up and down every aisle, which triggers my memory of using up the last of the brown rice, or throwing away the Lucky Charms box yesterday.

4) Eyebrows -- do you wax, thread, pluck, or stay au naturale?
Pluck.  I am addicted to my tweezers and seriously cannot be away from them for more than about 24 hrs.  Given my addiction, there is no way I could actually let my eyebrows "grow out" enough to get them waxed or threaded.

5) Would the people you went to High School with be surprised by your life today?
Nope.  The only thing they might be vaguely surprised by is that I'm divorced (what? Perfect Stephanie made a mistake?), but other than that, I'd say my life has pretty much played out the way I expected it to. 

It's Friday Peeps!

Yay Friday!  I had a great time last night going out with Lesley and Carrie...went to Side Street Grill in Overton Square, and I really had forgotten how much more interesting Midtown is.  While I love Germantown and doubt we'll ever leave, everything is just so...sanitized.  It was nice to be surrounded by a totally different crowd of people...made for good people watching!  It's really hard to believe I've known those two wonderful gals for over 25 years!!

Five questions:

1) What is your current favorite TV show?
That's a tough one, because I really don't feel like I can narrow it down to just one.  Based on my DVR habits, it looks like my faves are The Office, Community, Glee, SNL, and Days of our Lives (I know, ridiculous, but it's just been a part of my life for so long, I can't abandon them!).  We also love to watch Biggest Loser and America's Got Talent.

2) What's the worst haircut you ever got?
Well, as I cycle through my annual school yearbook pictures in my mind, there are two that are standouts...7th grade, when I spent the summer getting my haircut shorter and shorter and shorter until I looked like a boy....and 8th grade, where I apparently decided to grow it back out somewhat, but asked my mom for a horrible home perm.

3) What was something you did as a child that you thought you were so cool for doing?
Hmm, do my parents read this? :-)  I recall walking to Raleigh Springs Mall with my friend Deirdre when we were probably around 12, even though my parents had NOT approved it (I don't think I was even allowed to be dropped off at the mall without an adult at that point).  Since we got away with it and had so much fun the first day, we decided to go again the next day, and got busted by my mom driving home from work.  Ashley, that was NOT cool!!! :-)

4) Do you have any GREAT frugal family fun tips?
No.  With a 5 year old boy and a 10 year girl, we're having more trouble finding any kind of family fun that appeals to both of them, regardless of price!!

5) Would you drive across the country if you had the money to fly?
Um, well, I guess it would depend on how much time I had!  If I needed to go to California for a wedding or something, I'd just fly.  But I WOULD like to drive out West some day, just because I've never really been and would like to see the sights.

Five Question Friday -- a couple days late!

Ashley and I had a FAB.U.LOUS time at the beach together.  Since I've misplaced my camera cord, I'm going to have to figure out how to download pics directly off the memory card.  But if you're on FB, you've probably already seen pics.  Tough to come back to reality, but I missed my boys and gladly traded the carefree beach life to come back home to them.  It also helped that my new car was waiting for me at the dealership...I have a beautiful new Ford Explorer!  My very first car that is EXACTLY what I want...no compromises involved.  Many thanks to my hubby for making it possible and for giving me my "princess" moment! :-)

1) What is your favorite summertime activity?
Given that I HATE to sweat, I'd have to say anything indoors!  But if it has to be outside, I guess it would be swimming.  I so wish that the beach was closer...even though it was just as hot there as it was here, the constant breeze made it so much more enjoyable!

2) Do you have one laundry soap you stick to, or do you buy whatever's on sale?
Well, most of the time we use Kirkland Signature (from Costco) because it's such a good deal, but occasionally they'll run a coupon for a name brand and I'll get that, just to have a little variety.

3) What is your favorite dinner to make in the summer?
Ha!  I don't have any "favorite" dinners that involve ME MAKING THEM!  But I will say that I have fond memories of my mom grilling shish-ka-bobs in the summer and making fresh raspberry pie (still one of my very favorites).  I don't think I got many of my mom's genes, given how pitiful I am at all things domestic.

4) Do you have any talents?
Hmm.  None that I can think of immediately.  I mean, I do have some musical aptitude, but it's been years since I played the clarinet.  I sure wish I could sing, but I'd say I'm pretty average in that area.  I'm a super speller...does that count? :-)  And I'm really good at the easy level of Guitar Hero!

5) If you could instantly be an expert in something, what would it be?  Why?
Well, my first thought is "making money", but that seems like cheating...a bit like using one of your three wishes to ask for a million more wishes.  So my second answer is "parenting".  Because it's the most important job I will ever do, and I don't want to screw it up!

No 5QF for a couple weeks...

Ashley and I are headed to the beach today!  See Facebook for pics during the week...5QF will return on 6/17!

Five Question Friday - May 27

Ugh! I'm STILL suffering from sinus mess!  It hasn't really gotten any worse, so I really don't think it's a sinus infection (yet), but I'm so over blowing my nose and coughing.  But hey, it's a holiday weekend...I feel better already! :-)

Tyler graduated from Pre-K last night *sniff sniff*.  We are now the proud parents of a fifth grader and a kindergartener!  So hard to believe.

On to the questions:

1) Do you apologize to your kids?
Absolutely.  No one is perfect, and I think it's important for kids to know that even parents don't have all the answers and don't always handle things perfectly.

2) What color are your nails right now?
Fingernails, natural.  Toenails, kind of a dark burgundy.  I honestly can't remember the last time I had painted fingernails...it's just too much trouble.  Before kids (and marriage!), I went and got a manicure every week...ahh, those were the days.

3) When you were growing up, how difficult was it for you to stay home from school sick? (As in, did you have to vomit or just say "I don't feel good"?)
My mom usually took pity on me if I said I didn't feel good.  BUT, I was able to do that because I didn't take advantage of the situation very often.  Important Life Lesson -- if you do what you're supposed to do 99% of the time, you can get away with a lot more than the people who always push the limits. :-)

4) When was the last time you bought a new comforter for your bed?
Well, it wasn't TOO long ago...back when we painted our bedroom, which was maybe about a year and a half ago?  But I'm not the type to swap out comforters on a whim...as long as it stays clean-looking (it's white), it will be around for a while!

5) Favorite website(s)?
Well, Facebook.  You probably knew that already.  I also love to read other people's blogs.  And for a chuckle, I like http://catalogliving.net/ and http://www.theonion.com/.  And I've always loved amazon.com, especially now that I have a Kindle.  They have EVERYTHING!

Five Question Friday -- May 20

I have been suffering with sinus mess all week...ugh!  Not sick enough to require an antibiotic, but I have a feeling that I'll take a turn for the worse this evening, as soon as the doctor's office is closed and we cross the state line into Alabama for the weekend.  I feel like a ticking time bomb!

1) Do you and your spouse go to bed at the same time?
Occasionally.  It's not really something we plan...if he happens to be home and is done playing on the computer, he'll come to bed when he knows I'm heading to bed.  When he worked at Russo's, he was usually at work until after I was already asleep, but now that that chapter in his work life has closed, perhaps the next job will have more reasonable hours.

2) A question for the ladies...what kind of facial hair do you like on your man?
Seriously?  Is there really a woman out there who says "ooh, I love kissing a man with a nice prickly mustache!  Especially if there's a little leftover lunch in it"?  Ick.

3) What's the worst vacation you've ever taken?
Hmm, not sure.  Lots of vacations as a kid rank up there, because they usually involved hours upon hours of driving and historical destinations like museums that involved lots of reading and slow walking.  My parents are not "beach people" and we didn't ever fly anywhere when I was a kid.  We did, however, drive to Colonial Williamsburg, Washington DC, Niagara Falls, Canada, Wisconsin, Boca Raton...I'm not kidding when I say "hours upon hours of driving".

4) What's the first-ever blog you follow?
I have no idea.  The whole blogging thing all started at once...when I started my own blog, I started following my friends' blogs as well.

5) Do you enjoy amusement parks?
I suppose that depends on how you define "enjoy".  I enjoyed Disneyworld, because they have lots of "easy" rides and I loved seeing my children experience it.  But those of you who know me know that I am prone to motion sickness, so anything that spins or drops is out.  I wasn't sad that the Teacup ride at the Magic Kingdom was out of service!  You won't find me ever planning a family vacation around Six Flags.

If you want to join in the fun, click here!     

Five Question Friday - May 13

Once again, I am finding work to be more relaxing than home...tomorrow, I am co-leading a Cars event for preschoolers at church from 8:30-2:00, Tyler has his first t-ball game at 10:00am (which I have to miss, and provide snacks for), and Ashley has a birthday swim party to attend from noon to 4p.  I'm exhausted just thinking about it!  Just three more weeks till the beach...

1) Tube socks, calf socks, crew, ankle, none?
I despise true tube socks, the kind with no defined heel.  I HATE socks that don't fit correctly and stay where they are supposed to stay.  The other options all depend on what else I'm wearing with them!

2) Was your child's (children's) name a mutual decision or was it a debate?  If you don't have children, do you plan on giving your spouse a say, or do you have a name you MUST have, regardless if your other half likes it or not?!
Well, since I'm not a selfish demanding b!tch, it was a mutual decision (what a strange question...I can't imagine demanding that I get to name a child that clearly has two parents!).  I will share a funny story...Ashley's name was originally going to be Brooke (because I liked it) Elizabeth (because I liked it and it was a family name on my ex-husband's side).  I can't recall if this conversation took place before or during my pregnancy (I'm pretty sure it was during, and perhaps we even knew it was a girl by then), but I was chatting with my then-sister-in-law about baby names and said I like Brooke Elizabeth for a girl, and a look of horror came across her face...that was HER name, that she'd been planning on naming her first daughter for years and years.  At first I was frustrated...I mean, what if she never even had a girl and the name went to waste?  But in the interest of family harmony (story of my life), we found a new name for Ashley Susannah.

Tyler didn't get his name until fairly far along in that pregnancy.  I wanted Cooper and his father wanted Drew, and we had a Mexican standoff for a while (I think we were both hoping that the other would "come around").  Then when we realized we weren't getting anywhere, we agreed to ditch both names and start over.

3) What is your favorite type of weather?
Sunny and 75.  Unless we're at the beach, in which case I'll bump it up to sunny and 82.

4) If left to your own devices, what time would you wake up every day?
Well, after a few days of sleeping late to catch up on my constant state of sleep deprivation, I'd probably settle in around 8-8:30...seems like that's when I tended to get up in college (on the days that I didn't have an 8:00 class).

5) Have you bought your cemetary plots yet?
Gosh, no.  There are just too many other things to spend money on at this point in our lives.  I guess the hope would be that life insurance would pay for it when that time comes.

Happy weekend everyone!

Five Question Friday - May 6

Happy Friday!  I actually took the day off today (I knew I needed a day off when I found myself thinking "wow, it's been a while since the kids have been sick...maybe one of them will get sick soon so I can stay home.") and had a wonderful relaxing day with my hubby...got to meet up with all the Brownsville cousins to welcome new baby James at Baptist Women's Hospital, did some shopping, had a super yummy early Mother's Day dinner at Bonefish Grill...great day!

1) Have you ever had roommates?
Yes, but never more than one at a time!  Amy and I were paired up as roommates our freshman year of college, and somehow she managed to put up with me for three more years after that (voluntarily!).  We are still good friends, though I wish we saw each other more (she lives in Little Rock).  And after college, I moved in with Lesley, one of my good friends from high school, for about a year and a half until I was on the road to being engaged and moved home to save money.

2) How many names do you/your children have?
This must've been written by someone whose children have an unusual number of names.  I guess I just always assume that everyone has three names (maybe four, if you're a married woman).  I have an Ashley Susannah and a Tyler Ford.

3) Did you watch the Royal Wedding?
Not yet.  It's on my DVR, and Ashley and I intended to skim through it together, but we just haven't had time.  I did look at lots of pictures and thought Kate was stunning, in both of her dresses.  I hope it works out for them...what a high-pressure situation!  Especially for Kate, to suddenly call Buckingham Palace home (that IS where they'll live, right?  With Queen Grandma and Prince Dad?).

4) What is the messiest room in your house?
Thanks to Mallory, there really are no messy rooms in our house.  I suppose Ashley's room is generally the messiest in the house, unless she has recently cleaned it, in which case I'd have to say that my side of the closet and my side of the bedroom are the messiest!

5) What is your ideal Mother's Day?
Well, hopefully a day as beautiful as today was (weather-wise), spending time relaxing with the two sweetest, most loving children in the world and my equally sweet and loving husband!  That's it, really.  Well, maybe throw in some good chocolate and a nap.

Happy Mother's Day to all my mommy friends!

Five Question Friday - April 29

My sweet baby boy is turning FIVE this weekend! *sniff*  Tyler bring such joy and silliness to our family...I just don't know what we'd do without him.  I'll try to do a regular blog post with pics from his bowling party last weekend, if I can figure out how to download pics without the USB cord (which has disappeared).  Also, random side note...I'm teaching Sunday School this week on the book "Heaven is For Real".  If you haven't read this book, it's amazing...a very quick read, and it will change the way you think about God and Jesus and heaven.

OK, onto the Five Questions!

1) If you could buy any car, money not an object, what would it be?
That's a really hard question to answer...I mean, when clearly money IS an object in real life, you don't even LOOK at or KNOW about those cars that the ultra-wealthy (and wannabe ultra-wealthy) people drive.  It would definitely be an SUV...I don't see myself going back to a sedan any time before the kids are grown.  Maybe a Lexus?  You know me...I'd have to do some MAJOR research before I could answer a question like this! :-)

2)  What was your worst first date ever?
Okay, this is a funny story, and now it's been so long ago, I'm not even sure I can remember all the ridiculous details.  I do remember thinking at several points "this has GOT to be a bad dream."  I was 17, and the guy was 20, I think?  It was a blind date, and he was a friend of some waitress I worked with at Ruby Tuesday's.  Normally I wouldn't have even considered a date with someone so random, but this was the summer after we graduated high school, and my friend Carrie was dating people left and right that she met while working at Blockbuster, so I decided to give it a try.

 As soon as I opened the front door, my stomach sank.  He was wearing a gold chain (yes, I know, a lot of guys did in the early 90s) and a gold NUGGET earring.  My dad gave him the third degree, and then we went to the Bartlett Malco to see a movie.  We got there kind of early, so we were walking along the (closed) shops in the shopping center, and he said "you know, I could push you off the curb in front of an oncoming car, and no one would even know!"  He thought this was funny.  I did not.  When we got in the movie, I made him buy me a drink, and then proceeded to hold it in the hand closest to him for the ENTIRE movie, so that he couldn't try to hold my hand.  Then, after the movie, his big suggestion for what to do afterwards was go "roll" one of my friends' houses.  I'm thinking "dude, you're twenty years old...seriously?"  He pushed and pushed, but I refused to tell him where any of my friends lived, so then he gets the brilliant idea that we're going to go down to Mud Island because his boss has a boat docked down there.  Now, at this point I'm really getting nervous and uncomfortable about what this total stranger might do to me alone on a boat, but he wasn't taking no for an answer.  Thank GOD there was a security guard blocking the way to the marina...I'm not kidding, I seriously debated about trying to mouth "help me" to him as this loser is trying to talk his way into the marina.  So then we're driving through a deserted area of downtown, and again, "you know, I could just stop the car and push you out in the middle of nowhere...what would you do?"  How did we ever live without cell phones????  At this point, I really wasn't interested in trying to be polite or not hurt his feelings any more...he tried to drag me around The Peabody and did manage to hold my hand (ick) but I made it pretty clear that I wasn't having a good time and didn't really want to continue this.  He took me home, complaining the whole way about how early it was and how much more he wanted to do, and when we pulled in that driveway, I BOLTED from the car and ran in the house so he wouldn't get any ideas about kissing me goodnight.  I seriously think I got down on the floor and "hugged" it, I was so relieved to be home and alive!!!  I plan to share this story with Ashley some day as part of my explanation of why she's not allowed to date until she's 40.

3) How old were you when you fell in love for the first time?
Another weird question.  Falling in "love" can mean such different things at different points in your life.  I certainly THOUGHT I was in love with boys when I was in junior high and high school, but I'd say those were really more like crushes since they were rarely reciprocated (and never with the intensity of feeling that I had!).  I suppose I'd have to say 17, since that marked my first real relationship (beginning of my freshman year of college).  And though my heart was truly broken by him, thank you God, for NOT letting that work out!  Just thinking about him now makes me feel nauseated.

4) When was the last time you reconciled your checkbook?
Well, I ALWAYS keep a running tally in my checkbook so I know how much I have to work with, but I've never really gotten into the whole "online banking" thing.  I reconcile it once a month when the paper statement comes in the mail (old fashioned, I know!).  But that's just my personal checking account...Mallory handles the family account, and he IS the type to check the transactions online every night, so I don't worry a bit about that account!

5) If you were going to fashion a "Wanted" ad for a best friend, how would you word it?
I don't even know where to begin!  Maybe I'm just thinking too deeply today about these questions, but I don't think any one person can meet all the needs of another person.  I have several close friends, all of whom meet the qualifications for that role in completely different ways!  I guess if I had to list some characteristics...honest, kind, empathetic, able to overlook my "know-it-all" tendencies, persistent in maintaining the relationship (because sometimes that's not my strong suit), talkative (because I am NOT good at being the more talkative one in a relationship!), and a rejector of drama (I am too old to still be acting like I'm in junior high, and so is everyone else!).

Hope everyone has a beautiful, dry weekend!

Five Question Friday -- April 22

No time for chit-chat...let's get right to it! :-)

1. What is your favorite Easter tradition?  Hmm, I'm not really sure I have one.  I mean, I try to make sure the kids get to go to at least one Easter egg hunt (though Ashley is missing out this year...Tyler had one at school, but we haven't been able to make any church ones due to birthday parties every Saturday this month!).  I know you'll think I'm a horrible mom, but I've never dyed eggs with my kids.  Just like I've never made cutout cookies with them.  I suck as a mom when it comes to stuff like that...I just hate cleaning up after messy projects!  I guess my new favorite tradition is the "Journey to the Cross" that Emmanuel does on Good Friday...a very powerful experience.  Last year was the first time we went, but it was so good I'm going by myself tomorrow night (Mallory has to work and kids will be with their dad).



2. Are you a "shower" or a "long, hot bath" kind of person?  Shower!!! My tub is never clean enough for me to want to fill it with water and actually lay in it, and the water always gets cold too quick...plus, I don't know if you've noticed, but bathtubs are HARD and UNCOMFORTABLE!  I've never really understood the long hot bath people.

3. Can you parallel park and if so when is the last time you did it? Yes, but it needs to be a fairly decent sized space.  Honestly, I can't remember the last time I had to do it.

4. What is your favorite Easter candy?  Reese's peanut butter eggs (the PERFECT ratio of peanut butter to chocolate) and Cadbury Cream Eggs.  I wil probably splurge on my "healthy eating" plan and eat one of each this weekend, because it will be another year before I'll be able to get them!
5. Easter: do you go all out with the Easter Bunny or focus on the religious part of the holiday?  A little bit of both!  Kind of like Christmas and Santa, I guess.

Have a happy and blessed Easter weekend!

Happy anniversary to us!

So here's a few pics for you to enjoy, taken three years ago today!  As you may know, our wedding was originally scheduled for the 19th, but the entire week leading up to the wedding was one crazy misfortune after another...ending with me having an awful stomach virus starting around 6am on the 19th that lasted 24 hours.  So I managed to drag myself out of bed and get us married real quick the morning of the 20th before Justin's plane was due to head back home.  Thank goodness the whole thing was very casual from the get-go, and postponing for 24 hours was totally do-able! 

Five Question Friday -- April 15

Would you believe I've been so busy this morning I forgot it was Friday?  And more specifically, Five Question Friday?  I love Fridays for that reason (and many others), so here you go!

1) What is your favorite sign of Spring?
Well, lots of things, but if I had to pick a favorite, I'd have to say seeing the dogwood trees bloom.  Our next door neighbor has a beautiful one, and it made me sad yesterday to see that most of the blooms have disappeared this week.  I still remember going to VBS with a friend when I was very young (probably pre-school) and having a lesson about the spiritual significance of the dogwood blossoms (they look something like a cross and have a little dab of red at the tip of each leaf, as representation of the crucifixion). 

2) What was your best birthday ever?
Ooh, tough one.   Fifteen was awesome because my BFF Heather threw me a surprise party, and I was TOTALLY surprised.  Turning 15 was a bummer, because I skipped a grade and was a year younger than all my friends.  They were all turning 16 and getting their driver's licenses and I still had a whole year to go.  But Heather knew how bummed I was, so she worked it all out with my parents...my dad took me out to dinner, and when we got home, all my friends were hiding quietly in our living room.  I think I almost started to skip the living room and go back to my room, and maybe my mom told me there was a present waiting for me in there or something.

Twenty-one was also an awesome birthday...again, I was a year younger than everyone, so it was like waiting on pins and needles to FINALLY turn 21.  And on my official 21st birthday, Three (local band made up of friends that I spent every weekend listening to) just happened to be opening for Letters to Cleo (national one hit wonder...what WAS that song called?) at Newby's, so it was like a big awesome birthday party for me.

3) What is your favorite dessert?
I just don't think I can narrow it down to one.  I LOVE desserts of all kinds...love fresh-baked cookies and brownies, love cake, love cobbler, love cheesecake...there aren't many desserts I don't like, unless they involve coconut or meringue.

4) What is the best excuse you've ever used to get out of a ticket?
I know this will shock you all...but being the goody-two-shoes, law-abiding citizen that I am, I've only gotten one speeding ticket in my life.  Now I will say, I encouraged Ashley (who was in the back seat and probably about 4) to pipe up and tell the officer that her grandpa was a police officer in hopes that he might take pity on me, but she was too shy to say a word, so I didn't bother to make excuses.  I'm a terrible liar anyway.

5) Do you wake up before your alarm, with your alarm, or after hitting snooze several times?
SNOOZE!  I cannot imagine the pain of having to get up the first time it goes off...I despise getting out of bed, and I purposely set my alarm clock 30 mins before I have to be up so that I can hit the snooze 3 times.  And yes, I fall back into a deep sleep in between the first couple, but usually by the last time I'm approaching a groggy wakefulness.  I know, all the sleep experts say that it's much better to get up on the first alarm and that going back to sleep actually makes you more tired, but I don't buy it.

Happy April 15th to all my CPA friends!!  Have a wonderful work-free weekend!!

Five stinking pounds

So I've been on my "healthy eating" routine for about 4 weeks now, and I've lost five pounds.  I suppose I'm a little jaded due to being a Biggest Loser fan, but those people drop that much (and more) in a week.  Yes, I know they are exercising 6-8 hours a day, and I can barely drag myself around the block most days, and yes, I know they have nutritionists and healthy food at their disposal...blah blah blah...but still...five pounds is all I've managed to lose?  After four weeks of recording the nutritional value of every thing that has gone in my mouth?  After giving up milk chocolate for dark?  After completely ignoring the candy basket at work for an entire month?

This is where it gets hard.  It's always at this point that I want to give up, that it doesn't feel worth it, that I'm tired of feeling "deprived" and want to go buy a couple of Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs and devour them.  But I haven't given up hope yet.  I have to admit, I really haven't had to go HUNGRY on my eating plan.  I've been satisfied, I still eat things I enjoy (no baked fish and steamed broccoli for me).  I eat 3 dark chocolate with almond Hershey Nuggets after lunch each day, which I look forward to and feel satisfied with.  I don't go to bed with a growling, empty stomach.  And I still lost weight.  So maybe if I can stick with it, and throw in a little exercise, maybe I can keep this up until this is my new "normal".  And then it won't feel like a diet, per se, but just a sensible way of eating.  Here's hoping...

Five Question Friday - April 8

Hola friends!  It's supposed to be a gorgeous weekend...I can't wait!  I'm sorry for all my fellow CPAs out there who will be working ALL DAY LONG both days this weekend...hopefully next weekend it will all be behind you and you can enjoy the weather then. :-(

And now, the questions:

1) If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
How am I supposed to limit it to just one thing??   Seriously, we all have a self-improvement to-do list, but I'm not sure I can prioritize it to the point that one thing stands out as the most important.  I guess I would say that I'd wish I wasn't such a people-pleaser sometimes and stop being so worried about what everyone else thinks of me.  I think that it has waned as I've gotten older, but I'm still way too concerned about being perceived as bitchy, or annoying, or lazy, or whatever, and I let that drive a lot of my behavior.

2) Write about a time you got lost.
Honestly, nothing comes to mind.  Back in the day before Mapquest, I always had an atlas and a city map in my car.  And now, I almost always print out directions if I'm going somewhere new.  I'm sure I've been lost before...I can think of a few times when I took a wrong turn...but I realized it pretty quickly and turned around.  I'm sure I'll think of the perfect story as soon as I post this and get back to work!

3) Camping or five-star hotel?
If you know me at all, this question will strike you as comical.  I cannot even fathom why someone would want to go camping.

4) Have you donated blood?
No.  I've thought about it...does that count?  All my life, I've been terrified of needles.  It's actually gotten a little better after growing up and birthing a couple of babies, but I still can't quite bring myself to do it.  Now, if a friend or family member needed it, I think I could definitely handle it.  But who puts themselves through such a yucky experience voluntarily?  Alas, people more concerned about community welfare than I.  Sorry Memphis!

5) Do you have a budget, or do you "fly by" most months?
Budget, definitely.  Mallory and I get "allowances" each month, to spend as we wish, but everything else is pretty well budgeted for.  I'm really not sure how you could run a household with two adults any other way!

Five Question Friday -- April 1

OK, so it's not yet Friday...but I won't have time tomorrow or any time this weekend, so it's either now or never!  As I was typing the title, I gasped...I HATE April Fool's Day.  Maybe it's because a) I have a HORRIBLE memory and will completely forget that it's April Fool's Day repeatedly throughout the day) and b) I can be a little gullible on occasion.  Here's hoping I make it through the day without looking like a fool (at least, no more than usual!).

1)  Have you ever had surgery?
Nope.  The only times I have ever been a patient in a hospital was to birth a baby (thank goodness!).  Yes, I'm knocking on wood as I type this...

2) Ever ride in an ambulance?
No to this one as well.  I have driven people to the ER, though, on several occasions, and while I like to think I remain calm under pressure, that's really not one of my favorite experiences!!

3) How are you in a medical emergency?  Panicked?  Calm?
Well, this is a mixed bag.  Thankfully I've never been in a REAL medical emergency, where CPR, or the Heimlich, or a tourniquet, or any of that "emergency first aid" are needed.  I think under those circumstances, I would totally panic.  Please God, don't ever test me on that one! :-)  But under lesser circumstances (such as the ones above, where I had to drive loved ones to the ER), I think I'm usually one of the more level-headed, clear-thinking people in the group.

4) Do you have a garden?  Flowers or veggies?
I hate gardening.  I hate everything about it...I hate digging in the dirt, I hate bugs, I hate getting sweaty, I hate weeds, I hate watering and fertilizing.  I think you get the picture.   I don't know the first thing about it...don't know what grows in what season, when to plant things, what kind of food to give them, how to take care of them once they're planted...it's just a big mystery to me.  And I prefer that it stay that way, or I might have to get off my lazy butt and do some yardwork!

5) When did you move out of your parents house?
Well, I went back and forth a few times.  I went to Rhodes College (here in Memphis) and lived on campus, so I basically moved out during the school year, but came home in the summer.  Then when I graduated, I went to grad school in clinical psychology...I moved in with Lesley and we shared an apartment for about a year and a half or so?  I quit school after a year, and then was on the way to becoming engaged, so I moved back home to save up money.  I moved out for good when I got married (the first time!), at age 24.

Have a good weekend everyone!

Friday, but no five questions

Well, the originator of the weekly "five questions" has had a family emergency this week, so perhaps I will have to come up with my own random questions.  But for now, I want to blog on something that's been on my mind.

I heard a fantastic speaker yesterday at the ASWA (American Society of Women Accountants) meeting...Susan Stephenson, who is the president and co-founder of Independent Bank here in Memphis.  So down to earth, and such a successful "working mother" who has raised three children while pursuing her career with a passion that is enviable.  I was totally with her until the end of her talk, when she finally explained the "secret" of being a successful working mother...you have to sacrifice your sleep.  There just aren't enough hours in the day to do everything you need to do to be a good mom, a good wife, AND a successful businesswoman, so you just have to give up sleeping.

This is not the first successful woman I've heard this from.  I've heard variations on this story, from Martha Stewart who reportedly only sleeps 3 hrs a night, to Biggest Loser participants who get up at 4AM to work out for two hours every day before going to work, for years.  Do you know how thin I could be and how uber-organized my house could be and how successful I could be in my career and how much volunteer work I could do, if only I could get by with 4-5 hours of sleep each night?  Maybe it's a "mind over matter" issue, but it's just not in me.  When I don't get enough sleep (and I'm talking AT LEAST 7.5 hours, preferably 9!), I'm grouchy, I'm angry about whatever it is that caused me to have too little sleep, my eyes literally will not stay open, and I just feel worthless.  And people, it's a major health issue!  There are all kinds of studies out there (studies linking obesity to too little sleep, equating driving while sleep-deprived to driving while intoxicated, etc) that show how important it is to get enough sleep.  So if I'm not going to sacrifice my sleep, what AM I going to sacrifice?  What do YOU sacrifice?  And why is our society structured in such a way that we have to sacrifice ANYTHING?  Deep thoughts...

Five question Friday -- March 18

In case you're wondering where the five questions come from each week, I steal them from Edi...but she gets them from the blog above.  What a great idea!

1) Have you ever testified in court?  For what?
Once, when I got divorced.  There are a couple standard questions they ask anyone who files for divorce (honestly, I don't even remember what they are...something like "do you see any hope of reconciling in the future?"), and you just answer with either "yes" or "no", but I'll tell you...being in a courtroom is nerve-wracking!  I cannot IMAGINE how scary it would be to actually testify in a real trial, even if I was nothing more than a witness.  Many thanks to my dear friend Jennifer for accompanying me to court that day, because I would not have wanted to go it alone!

2) Do you still have your wedding dress?
Yup, both of them!  At least, I think I do...I think the original wedding dress lives in a closet at my parents house...maybe Ashley will want it some day.  And the more recent dress is hanging in my own closet.

3) Is there a special place you like to go when you're happy, sad, stressed, etc?
Not really, though if the beach was closer, that would be my answer!  Why does the beach have to be so freaking far away???  Of course, if I lived too close, it probably wouldn't be special any more, so I guess it's a trade-off.

4) If you have kids, do they sleep with you?  If you don't have kids, will you let your kids sleep with you when/if you have them?
Nope, nope, nope.  I never wanted to open that can of worms.  Plus, I am a really light sleeper...the (very) few times I was so desperately tired that I brought one of the babies into the bed with me, neither one of us could sleep!  Now it's much more fun though...I love cuddling with both my kiddos before bed when I tuck them in and we occasionally have "slumber party" night in the guest room (only one kid at a time, though...I can't get comfortable if they're both in the bed, even though it's king size, and neither of them want to "share" me when we're in situations like that). 

5) Do you watch late night TV?
Not really, because I'm rarely able to stay up that late!  I've just never been a night owl.  You can ask Amy, my college roomie...I was probably the only person on campus who was in bed by 10:30 most "school nights"!  And that was late for me...the only reason I could do it then was because I usually didn't have to get up very early.  Now I'm usually in bed between 9:30 and 10p.  But I do love SNL, so I always record it and watch it another time.

Okay, now that we've dispensed with that...family updates.  Ashley is taking karate now, which she really likes so far.  She goes two or three times a week and is really working hard.  I'll try to post a pic soon.  Tyler only has a few more months until Kindergarten, which is really hard for me to believe.  Mallory's birthday (39) was last week and mine (37) is Sunday.  Other than that, no real news to report!  Hope you are all well.

Five Question Friday - March 11

Hola friends!  It's Friday (whew!), and for many of you, it's the Friday before Spring Break, which is even better...that means Ashley and I get a break from homework next week, so even though I have to work, it will still feel like a special week to me!!  And I am most definitely ready for the "spring" part of Spring Break.

So here's this week's Five Question Friday:

1) Do you know what your real hair color is?

Yes, it's a slightly less attractive version of the hair you currently see on my head.  Dishwater blonde, I believe is the formal name. :-)  I do get "highlights" every three months or so, and sometimes in the winter I go a tad darker...all just enhancements to my natural color.  For those of you who don't know, I DID go through a "dark" phase (both in life and in hair color) a few years ago...here's a pic:

I doubt I'll ever go that dark again, though it was fun for a while!

2) Do you plan ahead for summer, or fly by the seat of your pants?

This question would seem to imply that the person answering is "off" during the summer and has the freedom to "fly by the seat of their pants".  Alas, I am one of those people who work full-time, so summer is really no different than any other time of year, except that I have the added joy of finding summer camps for Ashley and Tyler.  Ashley did Y Camp for four straight summers, but bless her heart, she's sick of it (and I don't blame her), so I'm investigating other options for this coming summer.  Tyler will go to CTK for summer camp, so to him it will just be a continuation of the school year.

3) What is your favorite meal to cook?

I really, REALLY wish I found joy in cooking.  To me, it is a huge pain and an enormous effort to go through on a daily basis...I desperately wish we could just eat one meal a day (or a week!).  Perhaps then I would feel like it's worth the effort.  Sadly, I can't even come up with an answer for this question...any meal I have to cook myself is at the bottom of my "favorite meals" list.

4) Do you get offended by not receiving thank yous?

No, not at all...as long as I know the person received the gift (in the case of one which was mailed), it doesn't bother me at all.  To me, gift-giving is as much about the joy of giving as it is the joy of receiving (and I really mean that!), so it just doesn't really bother me if I'm not thanked for a gift.  Maybe that's because I really only give gifts to people I am close to, and so I know that they appreciate it without them having to say it.  Of course, it's NICE to know that someone appreciated something, but I don't want my gift to become a burden ("oh great, now I've got to dig out my notecards and write a thank you note")...that kind of ruins the "yay, I got a gift!" feeling that I'm trying to impart!!

5) How did you meet your best friend?

This assumes that you only have ONE!  I hate to narrow it down, because I have several friends that I consider "best", but we'll go with the top two.  We'll start with Carrie, since she's already pictured above...we've been friends since seventh grade (1985!).  I know we met in Band (we both played clarinet), but I can't remember if she came to summer band that year (before school started), or if I didn't meet her until school actually started.  I think it was the latter.  Anyway, I wouldn't say we became BEST friends until later on in high school, but we always "ran with the same crowd", so to speak, so we've been friends for over 25 years.

And of course, my sweet husband Mallory is also my best friend :-)  I haven't known him nearly as long (just 3 1/2 years, and we've been married for almost three of those!), but we both just kind of knew as soon as we met that we were kindred souls, I guess you could say.  We met on match.com, and I just knew as soon as I looked at his profile that it wasn't just coincidence that we found one another...both Methodists, both went to small liberal arts colleges and majored in psychology, a lot of the same likes and dislikes.  No, obviously that's not enough to build a marriage on, but it was enough to open the door so that we could discover the REST of the stuff that IS enough!

Happy Friday friends!!!

Five Question Friday

1. Have you ever forgotten your child in a store or at school?  I think I can honestly answer "never" to this question.  And please understand what a big deal that is, when you consider that their father and I have one of the most complicated custody schedules I've ever heard of (but it works for us!)...in four and a half years of rotating who drops off and picks up from school, I have a perfect record so far of remembering when it's my turn!

2. Where did you go on your very first date? (Like...first first, not first with your spouse or current significant other!) It was when I was a sophomore in high school (just turned 15)...my date and I double-dated with my BFF Heather and her boyfriend at the time.  It's a little foggy, but I do remember going to Oak Court Mall for some reason (did we eat dinner there?  No clue) and then stopping by the local "mom and pop" video rental store and renting a movie for all of us to watch at my house.  I was sooooooooooooo nervous the entire night because I had never kissed a boy before...the good night kiss was fairly unremarkable, but boy was I glad to have "the first kiss" out of the way so I could stop obsessing over it!
3. What's your "silly" fear? (We're not talking water and heights. Hmm, I'm not really sure.  I am NOT a fan of bugs, but I don't consider myself to be abnormal in that respect...I'll kill the small things, but if they are large enough to make a crunching sounds and/or a mess when you squash them, I generally find a way to trap them under a cup and leave them for my sweet husband to dispose of.  I probably have an irrational fear of being a victim of random violence, but again, I don't think I'm bordering on pathological (and I DO live in Memphis...not that crazy of a fear!).  If I come up with anything better, I'll post it.
4. Confrontation: do you cause it, deal with is as it comes, or run far far away? I avoid it whenever possible.  Hate it, hate it, hate it.  If everyone would just do what they're supposed to do, there would be no need for confrontation, now would there?  Maybe that should be my "silly" fear...my fear of confrontation!
5. Wood floors or carpet?  Good question.  I think I'm going to have to say a mix.  Growing up in homes that had an abundance of wall to wall carpet, I sometimes find wood floors to be a little too cold, echo-ey, difficult to keep clean (yes, I know my carpet isn't REALLY clean and I'd be disgusted if I saw all the crud beneath the surface, but there's just something so satisfying about the way carpet looks when it's freshly vacuumed!).  But they are really growing on me, and I think we'll be taking out the carpet downstairs and replacing with hardwood in the not-too-distant future.  But I still like carpet in the bedrooms.

Five Question Friday, as borrowed from Edi

I looooooooove sharing random facts about myself...since this type of post doesn't require me to download my camera, I MIGHT actually post a little more often.

1. Can you drive a stick shift?

Hmm, conceptually, yes. In practice, not so much. My dad REALLY tried to teach me when I was 15-16, but the whole concept of being a control of a vehicle was so overwhelming to me, and driving a car with a manual transmission was just too much. Yes, I've done it in my high school parking lot a number of times, and maybe on the street once or twice, but that was more than two decades ago (egads!), so I'm going to have to go with "no".

2. What are two foods you just can't eat?
I'm sure I have way more than two, but the first two that come to mind are raw bell peppers (and even cooked, they better be small!) and lima beans.

3. Do you buy Girl Scout Cookies? What is your favorite kind?
Yes, even before we had a girl scout under our roof, I have always been a faithful purchaser of Girl Scout Cookies. I remember going door to door selling them myself (they were $2.00 a box back then), and we had a lot of fun helping Ashley sell them this year (and we're still selling them! Come see Troop 624 at the Germantown Hobby Lobby tomorrow morning or the Kroger on Exeter Sunday afternoon!). Yes, Keebler has Grasshoppers and other knockoffs that are available year round for much cheaper, but that's not really the point...what makes G.S. Cookies special is you can only get them once a year!!! My favorite are Thin Mints, closely followed by Trefoils. But I'm a fan of Tagalongs and Do-Si-Dos as well. Yes, I'm a traditionalist.

4. How do you pamper yourself?
Well, I'm not really a massage/mani/pedi kind of girl, and who has the time or money for that anyway? I suppose my idea of pampering is on evenings when I am home alone (and tonight will be one of them...yippee!!)...other than maybe putting in a load of laundry or two, I ignore all other housework and just camp out on the couch, with the laptop and the remote. I catch up on all my shows for the week (no time for TV watching on school nights) and goof off on Facebook to my heart's content. Lazy, yes. But it truly recharges my batteries, and there are few things that can entice me to give up my every-other-Friday night ritual!

5. What is your nickname and how did you get it?
Hmm, well lots of my friends call me Steph, but that's only because Stephanie is just too long for a lot of people. The only other nickname I can think of is Fannie Sue, which is what my dad used to call me when I was little. I never understood why until I was older...I finally asked, and he pointed out that it's the end of my first name and the beginning of my middle name (which is Suzanne, for those of you who don't know).

OK, that was fun! Maybe I can make a habit of this...thanks, Edi, for the inspiration!

Double Digits

So our sweet baby girl turned 10 years old last week...where has the last decade gone?? She wanted to have a "spa day" with her three BFFs, Kaiya, Lauren and Audrey (all school friends), so I took the girls out to lunch, then to Sweet & Sassy (a salon for girls/tweens). I was underwhelmed by the service there...I don't recommend it...but the girls liked getting their hair and makeup done. I need to scan the "after" picture...didn't think about that when I sat down. Afterwards, we went to Gracie Bleu yogurt (one of a zillion "self-serve" yogurt places that has popped up around town) and then home to do girl stuff. They all seemed to have a good time, and it was fun to observe them and remember vividly what life was like when I was 10 years old!