The One That's #200!

Before I commence with the nonesenseness that will be my 200th post, I wanted to thank everyone who may have thought of me or prayed for me or crossed their fingers for me this morning when I made my big solo debut. Although I probably looked like something akin to a deer caught in the headlights and felt like I was in a bubble shielding myself from any tomatoes that may have flown my way, I guess it went pretty well. When someone who typically doesn't care to give me the time of day went out of her way to tell me she enjoyed my song, I guess it wasn't a total failure.

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This is my 200th post. In about two weeks, it's my blogaversary. Big stuff happenin' here. I'm not going to do 200 things about me, or ask for 200 comments, or even try to use my brain today to come up with something clever. I'm clevered out right now, not to mention tired, so I'm going to post some complete and utter nonsense that has run through my head or happened to me within the last couple of weeks or so that I've been saving up for a random post. Let the randomness begin.

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My mom got me a gift card to Cost Cutters for Christmas. It was her not so subtle way of forcing my hand to cut my hair to her liking again. I will admit; I needed something done to my hair. It had been quite awhile since I even had a trim. But after a lot of thought, I decided I was unwilling to part with my luscious, long locks. OK...maybe not luscious....but for sure long. On my lunch break one day last week, I went and got it cut: alittlebit.

This is what she was hoping I'd come

home with.

And this is what I actually came home with. Except with bangs. Sorry, Mom. I know you're disappointed. Maybe when I'm 40 I'll cut my hair short again. Or when I finally get sick of my hair ending up with toothpaste spit and food all over it. That gets kinda gross.

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What do you do when your four year old daughter approaches you with her latest "masterpiece" after practicing her pre-school like culinary skills? I was approached by Care Bear yesterday afternoon to try a sample of her deliciousness. What I saw in the bowl looked like something the neighbors cat might have puked up. I smiled and took a pretend bite. "Mmmmm....delicious.", I said. "No mommy. Take a real bite." "Uhhhh....What's in it Care Bear?" "Smooshed up Teddy Grahams, apple juice and string cheese." Ohhh....so that's what those chunks are. "Umm...sorry, Care Bear. I'm really not hungry right now. Maybe I'll try it later." She was disappointed, but I was grateful to her that she didn't push the issue. I'm hoping I didn't end up squashing the future Rachel Ray. Next thing you know, I'll see Care Bear's exact recipe in Good Housekeeping.

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Last week, I went to Chipotle for lunch. What am I talking about? I always go to Chipotle for lunch. All the employees know me there. Except last week there was a new girl running the cash register. She didn't know me. I was sporting my ultra cool Broncos jacket with my name embroidered on it compliments of my dear MIL.

"Are you a Broncos cheerleader?!" she said.

"Why, yes, actually, I am". I said. But not really. I told her no, I'm not. She thought my jacket looked "official" therefore thought I was a cheerleader.

I love her. She got a tip. And a recommendation from me for a raise. She's my new favorite person.

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Care Bear likes pillow talk. Well, truth be told, the kid likes to talk whenever about whatever at all times of the day. But after night-night prayers, she really likes to talk. Last night her talk was revolved around how much she loves me. And then she told me a secret. "Mommy, I love you so much I'm going to ess-plode!" Take note: According to Care Bear, the correct pronunciation for the word is not "explode" or "eggs-plode" but "ess-plode". See, some people say it "egg-splode", but that is wrong. It doesn't really matter how you say the first part of the word, but when you hear Care Bear say it, it will always be "ess-plode". Just so you know.

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I start my new work schedule tomorrow. My boss came into my work area yesterday (you know; my third work area in three months) and told me, "OK. How about you move back over to where you were last week when you start your new schedule."

WhatEVER. I'm getting dizzy and confused from so much moving. I keep going to the wrong desk after lunch and in the morning because I can't remember from one day to the next where I'm sitting. And it's not over. OH NO. Big changes and stuff happening in the office. The head honcho wants our area when the change occurs. Us peons will be moving. That makes the tally by the time it's all over : 5 moves for Kristen in as many months. But I'm not complaining. I'm not bitter. Color me happy.

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And that's all the randomness floating through my brain for now. Enjoy your Monday (tomorrow that is. Today is Sunday).

The One Where You Pray For Me; Cross Your Fingers; Generally, Wish Me Luck

I'm singing a solo in church on Sunday.

I'm not typically a soloist.

I'm wondering now why I volunteered.

I heard a song on the radio that I liked that fit my range.

They (the band) jumped right on that opportunity.

I haven't sung a solo in church since I was Care Bear's age.

When I sung that solo, I kept looking back at the piano thinking someone was going to accompany me, but to my surprise, no-one was.

I sang acapella.

Sunday, I have my band backing me (thankfully).

My husband will be playing drums directly behind me.

I'm nervous.

I think I might be sick that day.

J.M. (my band-mate, fellow singer, friend, and general sweetheart) e-mailed me the other day and told me "You Rock!"

I hope she's right.

I wish my blogging friends and family were able to be in the audience cheering me on.

Wish me luck.

I'm up in a little over 36 hours.

And I Said She Wasn't a Cuddler

Feisty is a lover girl. She hugs like a champ, kisses like a butterfly and the "I love you's" flow like honey from her lips. But when it comes to going to sleep, she needs her space. She takes after her mama in that aspect.

Feisty is not a good sleeper. I've alluded to that in several previous posts. The child has just recently begun sleeping 8-10 hour stretches at a time. But getting her to sleep is a challenge every single night. I do every little thing that has been suggested in every parenting book, every Sunday School class and from "pro parents", but not a whole lot works with her. Tonight was nothing new.

She and I were laying down together watching Boz and was making every effort to calm her down. She would wiggle one way, then wiggle the other. She would ask for milk; ask for cereal; try to persuade me to put together puzzles. I finally got her to settle down enough to lay down and concentrate on Boz and relaxing. Every now and then I would coax her to close her eyes. Eventually she cuddled up right next to me, touched my face, told me, "I love you, Mommy" and closed her eyes. After a few short moments, her little arm cradled my neck and within minutes she was asleep.

My neck is still warm from her sweet little arm resting on it. She's now softly and sweetly sleeping in her room and I can go to sleep happy because my baby, who is no longer a baby, treated me to a sleepy time cuddle tonight.

Sleep well, my love.

The One Where I Enroll Anakin in "Women of The 21st Century--101"

The conversation:

Anakin: Do you want to play Checkers, Kristen?

Me: Sure. I need to do the dishes first, though.

Anakin: You always do the dishes, don't you?

Me: Not always, but usually.

Anakin: Oh, I know why. Because that's a woman's job, isn't it?

I promptly dropped the dishes. Daddy will be doing them tonight.

The One Where I Have to Adjust---Again

Not too long ago, my Mom approached me with the idea of switching our schedules around. For those of you who may not know, my mom watches my kids when I work, which is 2.5 days a week. She asked me if there was a chance we could switch to doing half days every day saying that she feels it would be easier on her to watch them 5 half days a week as opposed to 2 full days and a half day. Initially, I didn't think this was going to fly with my office; part time jobs are few and far between and we had just arranged schedules with a fairly new person in the office, which was the reason I was uprooted not too long ago.

Surprise, surprise, my boss said she thought we could make it work. The catch being: I'll probably have to switch desks--again. No biggie....I'm used to it by now.

By the time my Mom got the go ahead from her peeps, I had plenty of time to think about this change. It's going to be a big adjustment, and if it weren't for my mom's "mental health" (no, my kids aren't insane....they haven't turned her schizo....but they are a handful), I think I would be backing out of this deal. Here are the cons:

• I will no longer...never again (after Thursday)....get an entire day alone with my daughters.
• I will no longer get to take Care Bear to pre-school.
• I will have to drive to my office (15 miles away) every day.
• I will no longer have the afternoon to myself with Feisty while Care Bear and Anakin are at school.
• I will no longer get to lounge in my jammies and fluffy socks til mid-afternoon or whenever the urge hits me to practice some personal hygiene.
• I can no longer procrastinate on doing laundry or dishes until mid-afternoon or whenever the urge hits me to practice good housekeeping skills.

I love taking Care Bear to school. I love seeing her go in to her classroom with excitement and anticipation of what the day is going to hold for her. I love watching her turn her name over on the "Who's Here" board. I love her excited face and ginormous hug when I come to pick her up. I like seeing the other moms.

I love having the afternoon with Feisty. She thrives on alone time with mama. It's rare that it happens and she takes full advantage of it...or rather me....and Care Bear's toys.

I love just being there two days a week with them. I wish I could be a full time stay at home mom and this will make me feel more like a part time mom.

This is by no means an effort to make my mom feel bad for desiring to change the schedule and it is be no means a guilt trip. My mom watches them for me out of the goodness of her heart...for free...and for that I am indebted to her indefinitely. I understand her need for good mental health. I'm just processing my thoughts on the whole thing and trying to make peace with this newest of changes in my life before it occurs next Monday. So in light of that, here are the "pros" of the change:

• I will get some adult time and conversation every day.
• When Care Bear goes to Kindergarten next year (*sob* this will be the subject of a very sappy post in the near future) I will get to take her every morning which with the current schedule would not have been possible.
• I don't have to witness their teary faces and death grips on my neck and legs when I leave them at the crack of dawn anymore (on those two full days).
• I will no longer have to set my alarm for 6:00 a.m. (just cuz I don't set the electronic alarm, however doesn't mean that my human alarms won't awake me at that time.)
• I will get to see them some of the day every day.
• I will get to take them to story time at the library on Fridays, which my mom has always done and I have always wanted to do but couldn't because I work(ed) on Friday mornings.

So starting next Monday, I will be reporting to duty every day at 12:30 sharp. Or 12:32 or 12:35 in some anonymous desk that is yet to be determined.....and in the meantime, I will enjoy my one (1) remaining full day with them on Thursday. Feel sorry for me; feel happy for my mom.

Celebrity News by Kristen--Issue 2

Doing My Small Part to keep Bloggy-World Informed

Volume 1: Issue 2

Justin and Alyssa
Justin Timberlake (who I will non-affectionately refer to as J.T. from here on out) made the news this week again. So I guess Scarlett didn't float his boat, so to say. He was seen "courting" ex-flame Alyssa Milano this week and also hanging out with Eva Longoria. Wait a minute...isn't Eva engaged? I thought so. Hey, J.T....you got something against women your own age? If you really wanna hang with women who were graduating high school long before you were an 'N Syncer, how about giving Reese Witherspoon a look? Now, there's a sweetheart and a half if I ever saw one. And she's classy. A classy lady could really bring your sexy back. But I suppose a girl who refuses to show her belly and generally keeps her hair the same color all of the time is too un-interesting for you, eh? Maybe if she got her nose pierced....

Next thing you know, we'll be hearing that you're "courting" Lance Bass. I do hear that he is single again. Maybe you should give going solo a try for awhile.

Paula Abdul

Paula Abdul has a chronic pain condition. She's on pain killers. This is why she acts like she just came off of a three-day bender when she's in interviews and judging on "American Idol"....or so say her reps. I think I can help ya Paula. First off....only take the amount prescribed to you. Not the whole bottle. Secondly, don't add a fifth of Jack to your coca-cola cup that is ever present on your judging table. Chasing pain killers with liquor will probably tend to exacerbate that "loopy" condition. And if you don't like nasty rumors being spread around about you and your "fraternizing" with the young male contestants on the show, my advice is this: "Don't look so dreamy with drool spilling down your cheek this year if there is an Ace or Corey look a like....even if they do come down to your table and croon in your ear. People will talk." ...or maybe that drool is a result of your drugs and Jack...I don't know.

Beyonce Knowles

Hey, Beyonce.....Ariel called....she wants her dress back. This is no "Dream Girl" dress. Unless she plans on taking a flying leap into the great blue to chase after her dream mer-man. Bleh.

Passions--the soap opera
NBC has just announced plans to cancel the eight year soap opera after adding an extra hour to the Today Show in the morning. The soap debuted in 1999 and is infamous for its supernatural storylines (i.e. a doll that comes to life, a 300 year old witch with a 4 year old daughter) and for its pathetic damsels in distress who pine after the same man all their live-long days. I must admit, I am guilty on occasion of tuning into this show, but only because it follows the best soap evah--Days of Our Lives.

There is talk of possibly moving the show to another network (MY Network TV or Soap Net), or even making it an internet based soap opera. The kicker? The current cast must all be on board. Tell ya what I'd say 'bout that: "Take your minimum wage internet based soap opera paycheck and shove it. I'd sooner work at McDonald's." Soap opera stars are already the lowest on the totem pole of actors. Move it to the internet and what you've got there is career suicide.

Tune in next week for another edition of Kristen's Celebrity News. Until then, keep your eyes and ears open.

**There is a new poll on the sidebar related to this post.

My Life Monday

Rachelle has brought back My Life Monday. Yipeeee!! The subject this week is "Where I Live and How I Got Here."

I've lived in the same state my entire life, save a year or two away at school and a few months stay in Arizona. Other than that, I've remained close to home.

When I finally moved out of my parents house for good at age 22, I lived in various different apartments with various roommates in the same state, but in a different town than where I grew up. After I met my husband, we initially lived in a town-home in the city where I work, but once Feisty was born we decided that with three kids we simply had to find a place to live that ideally had a backyard and a garage and was in a family friendly neighborhood. So, the search began.

Shortly after we began looking, we were down visiting my parents one evening when lo and behold....we discovered a house on their street was available for rent. My husband jumped right on it and contacted the landlord. Before I knew it, the lease was signed and we were moving in. The house was just what we envisioned for ourselves: Three bedrooms, a nice yard--fenced backyard--in a cul-de-sac and with a garage. What's more? It is three doors down from where my parents live.

We have lived here for 2.5 years now and our children love it. They have friends in the neighborhood, they pop on down to grandma and grandpa's when ever the urge hits them and they feel at home; which is the most important thing of all.

There are downfalls to living 3 doors down from your parents, but in my opinion, the good far outweighs the negative. My kids are walking in the same footsteps I did as a kid; playing in the same parks and going to the same schools. Pretty cool if you ask me.