I’m glad I’m not the one answering the red phone in the oval office.

Posted 28 Apr 2010 — by Mrs. Jenna
Category blog bidnass, house stuffs, please and thank you

I’m bad at making decisions. Remember how I asked you guys to help me pick a photo for my Modern Bird print? And then I picked one.

And then Mr. Lame Sauce himself sent me the proofs, and I changed my mind.

And now I can’t decide on colors.

So, once again, interwebs, I request your assistance.

I’m not married to any of these. In fact, I’m thinking about skipping the wood tone and doing a two color. But I can’t pick anything worth a damn.

SO. Here’s what Mr. Lame Sauce has been kind enough to draw up so far.

Plum

Plum

Wine

Mediterranean

As you can see we ended up liking the full body one better after all. But I can’t decide on a color. I really DO like the plum but it seems too dark. Our living room is creams, mossy greens, mediterrenean blues, and dark browns. This will be in the living room, more than likely.

We have these pillows on our couches, to try to bring light to the colors:

And there’s just a smidgen of our rug in the background of this old skool photo:

Here’s a link to Modern Bird’s color chart.

Now…help! Please and thank you. :)

Awards!

Posted 27 Apr 2010 — by Mrs. Jenna
Category blog bidnass, I am awesome, other people are awesome, RAD

First, I was given the Stilletto Award by browneyes @ The White Blue Sky (formerly Larry’s.Ass). (Don’t worry, the blog is still larry’s ass – if you getthe joke.) Yay!

What is a Stiletto Award???

There are thousands of blogs, and there are hundreds of awards. The Stiletto Award is a little different than most!

The Stiletto Award Is For Excellence in Blogging!

I want to salute the women who balance life, family & relationships with style & class! Those women who share their experiences with us…who encourage us, inspire us, teach us, make us laugh and basically keep us going! You know who they are! While you read this blog, your family is looking at you wondering what the heck you are laughing about so hard…or why the tissue is necessary for internet browsing. It’s the one that the kids are excited about cuz a new post means a new craft project or family outing. The one that inspires you to be a better mom, friend, person in general. The one that reminds you that we are all “in this life together” and you’re not the only one going through the hard stuff. The one that you secretly wish your blog was like…

2. BRAG ABOUT IT
3. SAY THANKS
4. SHARE THE LOVE
5. DO WHAT YOU DO…keep at it. Keep inspiring and encouraging and sharing your life! We love it and we thank you!!!

If you’ve received this award, someone out there thinks you deserve it! Be proud! Display the badge with honor! You earned it…after all it means that you brought something special to at least one other person, and really, isn’t that what life’s all about????

THE RULES!
This blog is meant to be shared, to be given out, to be bestowed upon any and ALL women who exemplify what the stiletto represents. If you’ve received this award, here’s what you do:

1. Display your Stiletto Badge of Honor on your sidebar! Wear it with pride!

2. SHARE THE LOVE!

I pass this award onto my girls at Loose Marshmallow and Chocolate Monkey. They are two of the funniest girls I know and I LOVE their blog. LOVE. I just wish they’d write in it more. (HINT HINT, hookers.) (Yes, I am summoning my inner Lafayette a la True Blood. You should watch that show. Srsly.)

And second…oh, you shouldn’t have! Metta1313 @ 365 days: 30+Mommyhood gave me the Honest Scrap award! She’s awesome and if you don’t read her blog, you should. She’s also pretty damn cool because our babies share the name Abby!

So how this award works:
Tell 10 honest things about yourself. And of course pass it on…

1. I am a recovering band geek and get the chills when I hear a drumline. Go ahead…put a kick me sign on my back. S’okay.

2. I can’t wait until Abby learns how to read so I can force all the Little House books & Ramona Quimby series on her.
Speaking of, did you see they’re turning Ramona Quimby into a movie? I don’t know how I feel about this.

3. Nail clipping is one of the most disgusting noises ever. Especially when heard at work. It nearly makes me dry heave.

4. I drink a Slim Fast shake every morning for breakfast. Sure, the “not eating” thing is nice, but I honestly drink them because I think they’re yummy. (Don’t even tell me they’re not. Rich Chocolate Royale. Drink it. Love it.)

5. I am emotionally invested in the Minnesota Twins. If they ever get to the World Series, I’m going to be a wreck.

6. I am just as snarky IF NOT MORE in my subconscious than in “real life.” Sometimes my inner dialogue makes me feel bad that I’m so judgey. Sometimes I wish I could tweet mentally to avoid having to sum it up in 140 characters or less.

7. I just had to spray excessive amounts of Odor Eaters into my converse because THEY WERE THE SMELLIEST SHOES EVER. It always SEEMS like a good idea to go without socks. It looks cute too. However…smell ya later.

8. At least once a week I want to totally redo Abby’s room to be girly. I’m trying to hold back until she gets a big girl bed or we move. This will prove to be difficult.

9. I am totally afraid that when we DO want to move (in the next 3-4 years) that we won’t be able to break even on our mortgage. I have nightmares regarding this topic.

10. And finally, someone tweeted about this today: I’m nervous about meeting a lot of my favorite bloggers when I attend BlogHer in August. I’m scared I’ll be super dork and they’ll be all “Whoa. I’ve been tweeting at YOU? Later Nerdasaurus.” At which point I’ll hole up in my fancy schmancy hotel room and OD on cocktail peanuts.

And…I’m spent. Thank you for the awards, ladies! I’m honored!

Hands.

Posted 26 Apr 2010 — by Mrs. Jenna
Category Abigail, other people are awesome

I’ve been thinking of blogging about something for a while and haven’t, just because it was still too new. Sitting here with Abby in my lap, I feel like I have to say it now.

Three weeks ago Wednesday I went to the hospital to say goodbye to my friend Sarah. When I got there, her friends and family were all gathered at her bedside, going around saying why they were thankful for her. We started with eyes, then ears, mouth, and so on. When we got to her hands, her mother said something I will never forget as long as I live.

She said, “I am thankful for Sarah’s hands, because if you bend her fingers back just so, you can see the dimples she had in her hands as a baby.”

I couldn’t even breathe after she said it. I’ve lost family & friends before, but never as a mother. For the first time I understood the real pain of losing a child. It’s so cliche, but when people say “You don’t even know how much you can love until you have a child of your own…” it’s so true. It’s so true…it almost hurts when you love that much.

So now, when I sit with Abby in my lap, staring at her hands, I think of Sarah. Every time I see the dimples in her knuckles…it’s Sarah. It’s still new enough that it makes me tear up and be sad. I know that someday I’ll see those dimples and smile. I’m looking forward to that day.

So much…and so random

Posted 26 Apr 2010 — by Mrs. Jenna
Category Abigail, blog bidnass

Hello, dear interwebs.

Busy busy weekend behind us. One which started with a Friday headache and ended with a mountain of laundry and a crabby Abbers.

We picked up our new ottoman on Saturday, went to the memorial service for my friend Sarah, watched the movies Brothers and Angels & Demons (reviews below) and dealt with Abbers and her newly erupting SECOND TOOFIE. Within weeks she’ll have a couple of teeth on the bottom like the proud hillbilly she is. (Please, no hillbilly hate mail. I mean that in the nicest, toothless way possible.)

(Here come movie reviews for movies you’ve more than likely seen already. Enjoy!)

So, anyway, we watched “Brothers” on Friday night. Pretty good. I for the most part HATE Toby Maguire, but he wasn’t horrible in this. I was afraid of him, and I think that was the point, but I kept looking at him and then Jake Gyllenhaal and couldn’t figure out what the question was. If Natalie Portman’s character knew them both in high school and CHOSE TOBY MAGUIRE ON PURPOSE then what is this world coming to? SERIOUSLY?! I cannot put logic into this thinking. Jake Gyllenhaal had a neck tattoo and smoked and WAS HOT. Toby Maguire was gross and thin and had a military hair cut. I can’t discuss this anymore. I’m getting angry. Final call? Worth seeing. Kind of depressing, but good nonetheless.

Then we watched DVRed “Angels and Demons.” I had neglected even bothering with this movie because I couldn’t stare at the HORRIBLE haircut Tom Hanks had in the “Davinci Code.” Two and a half more hours of that mullet? NO THANK YOU. But I caved since it was Saturday afternoon and we were being lazy. Turns out…NO MULLET! Hooray! And Ewan McGregor! Things were looking up. And then I pretty much called everything else in the movie except for the end…and then the second end. (Yeah, this is one of those movies where you’re all “Ahhh, it’s over. OH WAIT. It’s still going! Here’s that extra half hour!”) So Ewan plays a priest character, and throughout the whole movie I kept thinking about the movie Quills where Joaquin Phoenix plays a priest or something and I don’t need to tell you more because that movie was hot and awesome. Final Call, entertaining, I guess…if you have 150 minutes to burn. And watch Quills too.

Reading those reviews makes me realize I should stick to regular blogging and not do reviews.

Anyway, I have a boatload of pictures from the past month to get up. I’m going to attempt to before the month is over.

Also, my order from Modern Bird is taking longer because I can’t make a goddamned decision. You’d think that the outcome was going to rule whether I live or die.

How do I begin to explain…

Posted 22 Apr 2010 — by Mrs. Jenna
Category blog bidnass, I am awesome, other people are awesome, RAD

A coworker walked up behind me and read this in the top right hand corner of my browser.

I started to try to explain, and decided to just say “Twitter, dude. Twitter.”

That seemed explanation enough.

If you’re not already following me and my gang of mommas and poppas on Twitter, you should. This post might make a little more sense. Otherwise, if you read probably the most awesome post written by someone other than me, it could also shed some light on any confusion.