Fangs

If you look close enough you can see Tag's rice-sized fangs in this picture. Hi-larious!

Click on the picture to enlarge it. Can you see her fangs?

They're back!

My hair is finally long enough to put some fun curls in it again. Oh how I missed being able to have bouncy curls. My hair is finally starting to feel like "my" hair again.

Pay no attention to the over-sized gray sweatshirt. I decided to curl my hair for no particular reason when I was lounging around in my sweats on a Saturday afternoon.

Happy V-day...Love, Mom

My mom made some Valentine's day treats for Aaron and me. She sent us a heart-shaped meatloaf (yes, a meatloaf...it's tradition) and a heart-shaped strawberry cake. Though equally delicious, the cake proved to be more photogenic than the heart-loaf.

A Day in the Life of Taggy

"Excuse me Mom, we're trying to sleep here!"

"Unhand that mouse...it's MINE!"

"Do I need to repeat myself? It's MY turn!"

"Fine! Wake me up when you're ready to share."

February Holidays

February is like another holiday season for me. Valentine's Day is this Wednesday and my birthday is exactly a week after that. Let the festivities begin...

Kitty Pedi

Everyone has heard the expression "curiosity killed the cat." Well, in this instance, "curiosity painted the cat." I was painting my toenails and Tag sat down in front of me and put her little paws out while watching me. Aaron went to get the camera and while taking the first picture Tag reached out and swatted the nail polish brush (above)! Unfortunately, I was using the pink nail polish at the time so Tag got it on her paw and then stepped on the carpet. Ahhhh!!! We got that messed cleaned up, then went for another picture, this time with the clear polish. What a glamorous, pampered feline. Must be a rough life. "Excuse me, I wanted pink, not this clear junk. Clear polish is not a fashion statement. Come on woman!"

Snack Fairy

Sarah and I have a kind of bartering system with snacks at work. When I get a new snack I give her one and visa versa, or if one of us is hungry, but doesn’t like the snacks that we have stocked in our respective snack cabinets then we’ll trade snacks for something more fitting for our particular craving. I told Sarah I was hungry today and she immediately offered up some snacks…no bartering required. She has been keeping a giant box of 100 calorie packs in her car for about a month and she eagerly asked what kinds of packs and how many of each that I wanted. She’s sick of them because she bought the giant box so it was like she was “dealing” them to get rid of them. Too funny. I went for 1 pack of Doritos and 1 pack of Lorne Doones. When she came back in the office from getting my snacks I exclaimed, “You’re like the Snack Fairy” and she laughed and did her best impression of the Nabisco Snack Fairy, prancing a little before returning to her desk. Watch out Collin Mochrie (the Nabisco Snack Fairy), there’s a new Snack Fairy in town!

Idolize This

I have been in love with Edy's ever since they came out with the Slow Churned line of ice cream...then I found out about these amazing new selections and it put me over the top. I think I'll be sending Edy's a Valentine's Day love letter! The new ice cream is special edition American Idol-themed ice cream and America will get to decide what flavor sticks around. I ran right out to Target to buy some as soon as I found out about it, but they were out of one of the flavors that I wanted so I had to make a trip to Kroger. There was a lot of "Hollywood Cheesecake" ice cream, but I wanted the "Take the Cake" flavor too so I dug through the stock and found a containter of the "Take the Cake" flavor in the very back! Happy day. I hurriedly ate my dinner so I could get to my dessert and boy was dessert yummy! I liked both flavors, but the "Hollywood Cheesecake" got my official vote on the Edy's website.

I wonder what Simon, Randy, and Paula would have to say about them. On second thought, who cares! I love the ice cream and that's all that truly matters, right?!

Come one, Come all...

One of my friends tracked me down and took some pictures of my co-workers and me while on display at our weekend gig... at the circus side show.

The Cassinator and Sweaty Speedo Saraman

Mark the Amazing Mulleted Midget
Bradalina the Beautiful Bald Bombshell

I guess our secret is out.

Just how well do you know me?

Find out how well you know me by clicking on the chart below to take the test! Good luck!

*The test website seems to have been messed up when Rebecca took it. Her score is actually 80.


Create your own friendquiz here

Cast of Characters

Michelle said, “I have become a recurring character on your blog,” and that gave me the idea to do a “Cast of Characters” list of my often-mentioned characters.

Aaron- My husband- the amazing, smart man that I fell in love with in high school and married in 2004. Also, one of my best sources of blog material whether he wants to be or not.
TagAlong- Our little furbaby- a somewhat psychotic, but oh SO cute kitty that I just love to pieces. She is probably the best form of entertainment in our household. Also known as Tag or Taggie
Mom- My Mom- one of my very best friends, favorite shopping buddy, and a general “pick me up when I’m down” kind of lady
Dad- My Dad- the silent yet strong type that doesn’t make quite as many appearances as my mom because he is “the silent type”
Nick- My brother- always good for a laugh whether I’m laughing at him or with him
Jen- Nick’s wife- my look-alike and overall sister in every way other than by blood
Carol- My mother-in-law- one of my most avid blog readers, an amazingly strong yet caring woman. Also my “back-up” when Aaron is doing something crazy and I need reinforcements
Jerry- My father-in-law- Aaron in 30-some years
Jennifer- Aaron’s sister- the mom of the most adorable nephew EVER and savior when it comes to all things cell-phone related.
Doug- Jennifer’s husband- the dad of the most adorable nephew EVER and car guru
Derek- Jennifer & Doug’s son and my nephew- the MOST ADORABLE NEPHEW EVER!
Deanna- Aaron’s sister- claims she is Derek’s favorite Aunt, but I know better (j/k Deanna)
Sarah- My co-worker and best friend since I moved to Indy- got me started on blogging and gives me good material daily
Michelle- My co-worker and zany friend- cracks me up on a daily basis with stories of her kids and funny sayings like, “Hi-larious”

Auditions for additional recurring characters are held daily. Say or do something crazy, intriguing, or down-right funny and you could appear on the list too!

Happy Belated New Year!

We didn’t do anything exciting for this New Year’s Eve. I decided to go shopping around 4:30pm so Aaron made dinner for us. What can I say…that timing was well planned, huh? After buying a new coat and some shoes (at GREAT prices) I returned home with dinner cooked and waiting for me. What a great way to start the New Year! Aaron and I opened a bottle of champagne that we got for our wedding (yes, our wedding that was 2.5 years ago) and rang in the New Year with a champagne toast.

Our other happenings since the New Year’s Eve ball dropped in Times Square:

I got a new job! I will start it on January 22nd. I have been frantically shopping for dress pants because my current workplace is so casual that I haven’t had to wear dress pants since before my diet last year. Since I dropped a full size in pants I need to equip myself with a new wardrobe that fits before the 22nd. I had some major luck shopping on my lunch hour though so I’m feeling pretty good about the new wardrobe. I bought 4 pair of pants and 3 shirts for $102 at JCPenny!!!! LOVIN’ Penny’s right now!

Aaron started his internship with the Public Health and Safety Office downtown Indy this week and that seems to be going well so far. Yesterday, his co-workers used him as a lab rat to test some new equipment. The only bad thing about the internship is that he won’t get paid near as much as he would if he continued to work at Carmel Rehab for the semester. Luckily the internship is only 14 weeks long and he can go back to making some moolah at Carmel Rehab again in March or April.

Jennifer and Baby Derek stopped by our house last weekend and Derek is crawling now!!!! I can’t believe my little nephew is growing up so fast! It’s sure a fun stage though, other than the fact that I had to keep pulling him away from TagAlong so that she wouldn’t lose her cool with him and snap. Amazingly, Derek did pet (pet = hit, when you’re 6 months old) Tag a couple times and she just sat there and looked at him. Thank goodness for that! Jennifer said that she has a new workout program now…it’s called “chase the 6 month-old all around the house.” I think I’ll need to borrow Derek every once in a while so I can keep my New Year’s resolutions!

That’s the beginning of our New Year in a nutshell.

On the Eve of Christmas Eve

Mom and Dad started the tradition of lighting an advent candle each day during December for our annual Christmas countdown. This year, Mom gave us an advent candle so that Aaron and I can continue the tradition. Only one more day to go before we've reached the last day of the countdown!

The Christmas Collection

Since we don't have a "real" baby to take Christmas pictures of, I was on a mission to get some cute Christmas pictures of TagAlong this Christmas season. Below are some of my favorite pictures from the collection...

This picture was taken right before Tag crunched down on one of the hanging lights and shattered it with her rice-sized teeth. Who knew, something the size of rice could be so powerful!

After chomping on the light, Tag ran away, then came back to inspect the damage.
Tag then went into hiding under the tree because "Daddy" yelled at her.This picture was taken later in the evening when Tag was inquisitively looking at my shadow. Look at those big eyes! My shadow must be pretty scary!Whenever Tag hears Aaron's car door shut in the driveway she always runs to the door to greet him. As the door opened, I betTag was wondering, "Hmmm, will it be Daddy or SANTA CLAUS???!!!!"
Next, I tried to get Tag to pose with a Christmas bear. I love this picture because Tag looks so un-impressed and really down-right irritated with the creature that is inhabiting her favorite snoozing spot on the couch.Last, but definitely not least...a sweet moment with Tag and the Christmas bear. A kiss. Of course she might just be trying to size up the bears ear for an evening snack. I think I'll choose to believe the "kiss" angle until teddy bear stuffing appears on our living room floor to prove otherwise.

Halleluiah

I got an early Christmas present on my commute…all 5 stop lights, that I encounter on my daily commute, were GREEN as I approached them today. I didn’t have to stop once!!! The heavens were smiling down upon me! It’s a true miracle!

May the Treats be Plenty...

and the pounds that I gain be few. I guess that’s an oxymoron, but that’s what I’m hoping for this holiday season!

Where is Superman when you need him???

Mom was in Indy for a conference a few weeks ago and she was staying at a hotel downtown. I met her downtown for dinner, and then we walked to TJ Max to do some shopping. On the way to The Max we got in one of those little picture booths to have some fun pictures taken of us during our ‘night on the town.’ (The pictures were funny, but they sure weren’t very flattering.) Following our outing, we went back to the hotel, planning on heading to the hot tub and pool.

This is when the real adventure began….we stepped onto the elevator and I pushed the button for the 12th floor. As soon as the doors started to close, the elevator fell about 2 feet and I pushed the “door open” button to try to keep the doors from shutting. Unfortunately, the button proved ineffective on the malfunctioning elevator. After the doors closed completely, I pushed the button a few more times and it still didn’t work. Mom started pushing the “bell” and the bell rang out, but no one came to our aid. It was at that point that I felt like yelling out a famous Louis Lane line…”Help Superman.” If only there was such a superhero at that very moment. Mom opened the door to the emergency phone and we found a phone that was covered in a 2 inch thick layer of dust. When a woman answered, mom told her that we were stuck in an elevator. We were told that a maintenance man would be there in a few minutes. After about 10-15 minutes in the elevator, Superman arrived, only this Superman wasn’t wearing a red cape and blue tights. Our Superman was wearing a blue and white maintenance outfit. He pried the elevator doors open and held them open about 2 ft for mom and me to squeeze out. For our troubles, the hotel manager had a fruit and yogurt tray delivered to our room and mom got free valet parking for the following day.

While in the elevator, I tried to keep the mood light so that I wouldn’t freak out, so I had mom pose for this picture as she hung up the emergency phone…

The fruit and yogurt tray was waiting in the room for us when we returned from the pool.

We got a chilled bottled water and a Caffeine Free Diet Coke too. I'm still not sure that this stuff made up for being trapped in an elevator, but it was better than nothing and it makes for a good story.

BackBlogged

I told Michelle that I was backlogged on my blog entries and she said, “Oh, you’re backblogged.” So, of course, I had to blog about that great new word! Thanks MJ!

The Boys

Aaron and I watched Derek on Sunday while Jennifer was at the Colts game. We had a great time with the little guy and I was able to snap this cute pictures of the boys.

I almost forgot to mention that Aaron helped change a diaper on Sunday! It was his first diaper changing experience, but I know it won't be his last!

'Tis the Season for Glitter

During the holiday season, I look forward to coming home to find Christmas cards in the mailbox. We had a large stack of mail yesterday and I was happy to see three Christmas cards among the sale flyers, coupons, junk mail, and bills. Finding a Christmas card tucked between a stack of bills and junk is always a welcome surprise. As I opened the first card and started to slide it out of the envelope, glitter started sprinkling down from the envelope onto the counter. The card had a glittery cover and the glitter made its way onto my fingers as I slowly pulled it from the envelope. I put the card in our decorative Christmas card holder, brushed off my hands and opened the next card. This card was a glitter-less card, but I still had glitter on my fingers so I unintentionally made it a glitter-smattered card when I put it in our card holder. The third and final card of the day was another glittery card and I laughed this time as the glitter sprinkled out of this envelope and clung to my fingers. By that point, my fingers looked like the fingers of a child who had just come from Arts & Crafts hour at vacation bible school. As I washed the glitter off my hands, I said to Aaron, “”Tis the season for glitter, I guess,” and we both laughed.

Thanks to Adam & Jen, Greg & Andrea, and Judy & Amanda for kicking off the holiday card-giving season for us!