Red Hot

I had this random image come to mind of when I went to a Christian private school when I was little.
Now where I seriously got that tube of hot pink Wet N'Wild lipstick, I will never know. I wasn't much for makeup when I was little. Fascinated by it, yes..... but any good at putting it on or really knowing what to do with it at all... not so much...

I remember putting on one coat and thinking it didn't look that great. But.... having never really put lipstick on before, I wasn't sure. So I put another layer on...... and then another..... and then one more. I swear there must have been about half a centimeter caked onto my lips. And then (and only then) I thought it looked pretty awesome. Please keep in mind the braces and glasses and way too short curly hair. Oh, and the awkwardness... keep that in mind too.

Flash forward about 10 years....

What a wonderful phase I went through in my last few years of high school. I made my own bell bottoms (with fabric scraps from my mum's sewing basket). I wore army boots that I hand painted with flowers.... I believe I had a watch safety-pinned to one of those boots too. I always carried around a plastic butter knife.

I took my black eyeliner and used it to carefully outline my lips and then fill them in. I think this was pre-black lipstick. Or you could buy it, but only at Halloween.... I don't quite remember why I decided to use eyeliner.

And then I had to take the bus. I was definitely wearing fishnets with my army boots. And some kind of gauzy, floaty dress with something I had hand tie-died over top.... Clearly my black lipstick was a little over-the-top for my small town's commuters...

And flash forward another 10 years...

How I long for a good lipstick..... I am stuck in a Burt's Bees rut (not that that is a bad place to be..... I just long for some bright red lips, or some warm raspberry lips). I am a little less brave than I used to be. Or more intimidated by the make-up counter than I should be. Or something like that...

Burgers, of a sort....

M is watching some crazy FoodTv show right now.... full of sandwiches stuffed with french-fries and coleslaw. These sandwiches are seriously like 6 to 8 inches high. How you can even take a bite is beyond me. Also why you would want to is clearly over my head as well....

M just mentioned another sandwich he had heard of that is also over the top crazy.....
I think is must be some sort of 'man' thing to find this sort of thing attractive. A Crispy Cream Burger?!? Why!

But regardless, it exists....

Watching these outrageous shows that showcase some unbelievable meals ( 5 pound meat pizza, 6 pattie-burgers, omelets the size of a pizza....) its really no wonder that a huge majority of the USA is obese. Sometimes when I see such obvious contributing factors to poor health, I just can't help but think out loud that it's no wonder.... even though I am sure a good portion of the population are not eating things like this.... Well, I hope anyways...

Must be my clean living Canadian genes coming into play, but I am so revolted by such displays of unhealthiness. Makes me squirm and shudder.... and long for huge glasses of clean water and large delicious salads and gorgeous pieces of fresh fruit....

Tater-tots

M called me this evening, while I was out running a quick errand before dinner.

"How are you Honey?"

I feel a little suspicious sometimes when he calls me on the phone and is extra sweet. Probably as he hates talking on the phone, which can drive me nuts sometimes.

"Fine babes, what's up??" I said guardedly as I tried to figure out why he was calling me when I had just seem him about 1 minute previously...

"Well, V just stood up by himself..... I thought you'd like to know!" he said cheerfully.

Oh my god... he did?!?! The details that followed explained things a little more clearly. He had crawled his way over to the coffee table, gotten up onto his knees and then used the table to stand up.

I drove home so fast, cursing the tater-tots that I had run out to buy. Why did we need tater-tots again? Why was I rushing out to buy them at 6:45? What is wrong with us????

As I rushed up the walk-way to our apartment's front door I was imagining him toddling around the apartment and worried that I had missed everything. So I was pleased when I opened the door to find Daddy and V chillin' on the floor playing with the musical table.

I went and got V a little cheesey puff and we tried to tempt him into standing up to get it..... but it only made him frustrated and screamy, so we gave up quickly...

Anyways, this combined with the fact that I found 2 more teeth (which makes 8 altogether), and that he will be 9 months old in approximately 36 hours makes me think that he's in a hurry. A big hurry.

And I want him to slow down already and he's not even a year old. Where did my little man go? Although as my good friend has pointed out on numerous occasions "Jaym, he's never been a baby. He's always looked like a little man." So maybe he was just born in a hurry (although it certainly didn't feel like it).

I eagerly look forward to every little new thing that motherhood will bring, but sometimes I long for the time that has passed. I feel like this as each new month approaches, and I get ready to do the next page in his baby book.

Oh my little man....

Nag Champa Part 2 (aka how tired my brain is on friday nights)

Last night while I was googling images I came across this website, perhaps the fakest fake website I have ever seen. I was so impressed by it's fakery that I had to share it with others...

Really I was looking for an interesting picture of Nag Champa incense, but instead found a site proclaiming the Nag Champa was an animal hovering on the very edge of extinction.

It's an animal? Really? Or at least that's what my tired little brain thought last night while I was sitting on the couch.

Man, I can't wait to tell someone! Who would have thought all these years I was burning some kind of animal product?! Ewwww...

Wait...... wait a minute.... that's just a mouse...... and hold on another second there, I am pretty sure that second photo is from Africa, or possibly Australia but definitely not from India. And I am pretty the 3rd picture is just random liver...

So this morning when I took another look at it, I had a huge giggle... Clearly it was a long week. My poor brain.... also my kudos to the silly people that made that site (probably the guys that run the head shop that it links to). Most impressive...

I also ran across this interesting blog referencing Nag Champa too..... check it out!

Nag Champa

Whole Foods smells like Canada, or at least that's what I thought when I walked in there this afternoon.

I was working in Winter Park yesterday and today, and didn't know that there was one right around the corner from my office. I just about caused an accident when I saw it on my way to Publix. Who wants to go to Publix when they can go to Whole Foods instead?!

I grabbed a basket and strolled the aisles looking at expensive olives, organic grainy things, fancy mustard, really smelly cheeses and other lovely things.

But what reminded me of Canada was walking into the Health Food section. I took a deep breath and exhaled more relaxed than I had been in a while. Somehow that combination of vitamins, incense and essential oils took me back to Johnson Street in downtown Victoria. And then over to Chinatown, where I mentally strolled down FanTan Alley and stopped at that lovely bakery on the other side of the alley and bought a few red bean buns. And then went for some peanut satay at Ferris's Oyster Bar (since closed I believe). And then over to Market Square where I bought some mini donuts, looked at second-hand clothing and then went into BeadWorld.

I emerged 20 minutes later with a bunch of organic baby food, and a really expensive steel water bottle (which apparently I justified by the fact that I will never buy bottled water again now that I have this fancy water bottle.....right.....).

And a pear.

It was a really good pear.

Perhaps the best I have ever had.

M has already requested that I not be allowed to shop there by myself.....
And to be honest, I am not sure if I trust myself..... I mean really.... did I really need a $25 water bottle? No...... So did I deserved the small lecture I got yesterday about being a little more frugal? Probably....

My new water bottle is really sweet though.... AND I didn't buy any water today

GPS

On Sunday M took me on quite the drive.... Or I guess I should say he took a drive and I took a ride (this stuck in my head from listening to too much George Carlin).
Well, anyways.... we drove all through Polk County. The backwoods is an interesting place indeed. It was like a total time warp. Teeny little towns, all with signs directing you to their 'historic district'.

M and I can never resist these signs, and always find ourselves driving through some slightly dodgy area of town, and then bumping over a few cobblestones down a narrow street lined with some very new looking lamp-posts...

And finding places like this.....AND it was also a discotheque.... and it was on Main Street...

We brought our GPS, which really is M's parent which we 'borrowed'. As in we borrowed it about 2 years ago and haven't given it back since.... I dubbed it the "Ghetto Positioning Device" after an unfortunate experience with it a few years back. It took us through the ghetto outside of Atlanta where we saw, well, the ghetto, but 'for real'.

It may not look like much, but trust me, it was.... punctuate the experience with several grown men riding child's bikes which clearly they had stolen, the sound of me repeatedly checking to make sure the doors really were locked and an unfortunate red light which stopped us right next to this lovely grocery store...
And so 'Ghetto Positioning Device' it was....
It's ghetto-positioned us more then once, usually with ridiculous results. I laugh mostly, when I find us somewhere 'new'.... like the unpaved road and gas station decorated with animal heads and Dixie flags in back-country Georgia. And more recently, a 'scenic route' that took us past an apartment complex where all of the residents were hanging out in front of their 2 story building (or so it seemed anyways), watching us (all of them) while we carefully bumped through the pot holes on the road in front of them. The doors were locked. I checked. Numerous times.

So we end up at the Strawberry Festival in Hillsborough county Sunday afternoon and had so much fun checking it all out. It was at least 10 times bigger than the Silver Spurs Fair/Rodeo, and also filled with delicious strawberries..... and other new delicacies that I haven't had the pleasure of yet (deep fried pickles... good? I wonder). Only $10 to get in and endless things to keep you entertained..... If you are looking for something to do this weekend, check it out!

Seagalology

M and I went out to dinner last night, sans bebe.

M's mum is celebrating her 60th, and we had dinner at the Animal Kingdom resort restaurant Boma. Cocktails were ordered, we both ate waaaaay too much and generally had a fantastic time.

It is a funny thing to leave him at home. This was the first time we have had a babysitter that wasn't a family member. And since I work with both people that looked after him last night, I had utter confidence that he was in the best of hands...

During dinner, however, I was at a loss of what to do with my hands. Since generally on the weekends and evenings they are kept busy rattling things, holding very small spoons, trying to fasten diapers onto wiggley bums and holding our chubby little man, it really is an odd feeling to not be doing any of that.

(I am watching a bit of early morning Steven Seagal while I try to write..... circa 2006, and he has the worst hair ever)
Maybe that's why I went back for thirds?And then got a huge plate of dessert??

(He's looks like a slightly bloated Elvis, and my fingers are itching to spray some defrizzer on his head)

And probably that's also why I started crocheting again. My hands need to be kept busy, or I do things like reorganize the pantry at 9 pm, which is just plain silly...

V and I are patiently waiting for Daddy to wake up, as we are going on an adventure this afternoon. A secret adventure. So I wish he would hurry up and wake up! And enjoy some Seagal with me.... such a great way to start the day.

I was looking for a picture of Seagal to post on here, but ran across this website and maybe its the great thing ever......So instead, I will leave you with a picture of V looking very excited about playing with Chewie..... and Chewie not looking too pleased about whats to come. Have a lovely Sunday!