Pop Quiz

One point to the first person who guesses what's in this take-out box.

Two points to the first person who guesses what restaurant provided said take-out. (of course, the art work was all mine)

All of My Political Eggs in One Post

...so you can skip right over it if you want!

On the way home from IKEA yesterday, we heard Jim Philips and all of his callers (it's so rare that they are all united on a single idea) ranting about this column from the Sentinel. In short, the members of the Florida Legislature don't pay anything towards their health insurance for themselves or their families.

After listening for the whole drive home, I too was incensed. And for once, I was so upset I actually said something! Here's most of the letter that I sent to my State Senator and my State Rep:

Every day recently, the local news has featured stories on multiple state and local public works that are going to be under-funded or shut down due to the lack of money in the state budget this year. And yet somehow you can justify not paying into your health insurance plan?

As a full-time employee of Company X, I have some of the most reasonable insurance going. Yet even I pay about $30 per week out of my paycheck, which covers insurance for only myself. [insert personal accounts of people I know of who don't have insurance here] Each of these people are Florida residents. Don't you care about them?

I find it morally reprehensible that you and your fellow State Senators do not have to pay for health insurance for yourselves and your families. Please consider changing that policy. A mere $100 per month per Senator and Representative could certainly fund necessary programs within the state, and can hardly be considered a hardship.

Today, I heard that $1 million was cut out of the state foster care budget, which has lead to an agency in Seminole County not having enough money left for one single adoption. I started thinking maybe I should e-mail my two new "friends" (who, by the way, are both republican... go figure!) every time I see one of these stories on the news. You know - "Hey Paula/Hugh - Just thought I'd let you know about yet another group of Florida Residents who have had to suffer while you continue to enjoy your free health care. Kisses, J-Mo"

As for the national political theater, here's a commercial for my candidate of choice. I wonder what it's like to live in a country where your President gives you hope for the future, and whose speeches give you goose bumps.

IKEA Ideas

Yesterday Scott and I ventured out to IKEA in search of two things that we saw last time we were there. (and of course, so that I could sit in all of the orange furniture. how much is too much orange? maybe this much!)

We ended up not getting either of the items we set out for (still haven't decided on "art" for our bathroom - we're torn between the frog in the flower and the big orange flower), but we did revolutionize our kitchen pantry.

OK, we didn't quite revolutionize it... but we took a step. Our pantry has been over-crowded and pretty much disastrous for years now, and I was pretty inspired by the kitchen set-ups with cabinet shelves that slide out for easy access.

And then we found Antonius. It's an extremely cheap version of what I was hoping to accomplish in the open section of the pantry. We spent a mere $50 for this frame and all of the sliding baskets, and this unit fit about 90% of what was in the pantry and on the kitchen floor. We then moved the stuff we use often (Gladware containers, garbage bags, cat food) into the pantry so that we wouldn't have to move the trash can or the new shelves (which are on wheels).

The ultimate goal is to clean out the pantry on the left so that we can move the junk in the closet on the right into there. Then Antonius can fit into the closet and won't be there in plain sight. Of course, Milo has taken to laying under the bottom shelf. We all know he loves to be places he thinks he shouldn't be, and this certainly fits that criteria!

Cleaning out the pantry did bring one strange situation to light: the 5 cans of green beans Scott is hoarding. Apparently with the price of rice and grains going up, he figures it'll only be a matter of time until green beans are also out of reach. And when that happens, we'll be prepared!

Janette Help!!

Please talk numbers to me and tell me that H.R.C. still can't win the nomination...

I'm having trouble finding anything Obama-related that isn't about Reverend NutJob and I'm thinking if they don't muzzle this man he's not only going to scare away the undecided democrats, he's also going to give the republicans and independents a reason to not vote for Obama.

Thankfully, I still have Jon Stewart to get me through these tough times! (the link goes to the video in case it doesn't embed properly)

Reality Sure Is Tough To Look At!

I have crow's feet. Is that what you call the zillion wrinkles accentuating the bags under my eyes? Well whatever they are, I have them. I also have a crooked smile, but I'd like to chalk that up to it being my fake smile-for-the-camera smile.

I took this picture because this is how my hair looks every day when I blow-dry it. I do the bottom layers first to curl them under, and then do the top. As you can tell, the layers really prefer to turn out anyway. But every day I think this messy twisted-up half ponytail is a fun look, and maybe I should just leave it that way.

I think this picture has cured me of that little delusion!

Note From the Editor:

I would like to thank "all" of my commenters for coming out today and catching up on the past few entries.

And yes Janette, it is developing into a nice purple. Here's an updated view:

Sadly, bathroom mirror self portraits aren't my strong suit. If I remember tomorrow, I'll go out in the sunlight and have Scott take some that won't need the flash.

Vacation, Here I Come!

I officially got my shifts covered. Scott's vacation time was approved. That means we're going on vacation!

Sadly, NYC was scrapped for something a little closer to home. I'm proud of us for not just catching a short Caribbean cruise just for the sake of cruising. Nope... not us... the intrepid travelers. We're going to explore the far-off, exotic city of Atlanta!

(Hey man - they have whale sharks, Anderson Cooper, and Coke! That's plenty to keep us occupied during our three days!)

I've been window shopping for hotels for the last week or so, and found something intriguing on Hotwire.com (did anyone else just sing their little jingle: "h-o-t-w-i-r-e hotwire dot com?" I do every time I type the address!): a 4-star hotel in downtown Atlanta for $95/night. Really? Four stars? Hotwire doesn't tell you what hotel you are booking until you pay them their money. But they guarantee the amenities and some other hotel basics. It seemed like a good idea to me.

By the time I got around to booking, the price had gone up a bit, but still cheaper than anything 3 or 4 star on any other travel site. So we booked, keeping fingers crossed that we didn't end up getting something totally lame.

Oh. WOW.

This is where we're staying. The more I read on their site, the more I fell in love. First: orange accents in the rooms. Orange! My signature color! A rain flow shower head! A "peek-a-boo" window in the shower so you can see the plasma TV from there! (I don't understand it either, but it's cool!) Amenities from H20+ (the same company who now supplies Disney Cruise Line with their soaps and stuff... I covet their body butter!)! A rooftop lounge! 400 TC sheets!

Of course, now I just wonder if we're going to get there and the concierge is going to tell us we're not cool enough to stay there. But we're not worried. It's going to be great.

Woo hoo! Vacation!

Gas

I originally took this picture on Sunday the 20th. I was on my way home from work and had to stop for gas and couldn't believe what I was paying. The silver linings?

a) My little car gets kick-@$$ gas mileage and this tank will take me about 300 miles.

b) My daily round trip is only around 30 miles

c) Since Scott hates my car, we primarily use his on the weekends

That means this tank of gas will last me about 2 weeks.

Unfortunately, gas at the very same station is now $3.53 - up two cents from the day before. By my next fill-up, I'm guessing I'll be paying $3.60. Anyone else want to take a guess? $5 for the winner...which will probably still be enough for a gallon of gas by the time you get your prize!

If You Squint and Turn Your Head Just So...

Interesting picture, no?

Who wouldn't love a picture of my camera, the back side of one arm, and my forehead with my beautiful orange shower curtain in the background?

So can you see what the focus of the picture was supposed to be?

About an inch above and to the right of the flash on the camera, there's a colorful red and purple line on my arm. That line represents possibly the strangest workplace injury I've ever gotten.

It's not a scratch, by the way, it's a very long bruise. It's also deep - I can feel it when I type letters far away from the jkl; - seriously.

So back to the wound. I got it from just being stupid. I was talking to Number Two and sat (ok, it was really more of a flop) down in my chair. But the chair was pushed back further than I was expecting it to be and my arm rammed down onto the manual feed tray of the printer that's right behind my desk. (you can see the printer - with the tray smartly kept in the upright position - in this file photo from the day the new office furniture came in) I hit the tray with so much force that I was pretty shocked it didn't just break off. Unfortunately, the back of my arm absorbed all of that energy instead.

About an hour before I left work, I saw the full extent in the bathroom mirror. Up until that point, I thought it was a little scrape and a goose egg. Somehow seeing the "giant gash that's got to be 6 or 8 inches long" (which is what I told Scott) made it hurt even worse. It was also a weird combination of pure white surrounded by angry pink that freaked me out. Now that it's pink and purple, I'm more sure that the arm won't need to be amputated!

Over the next few days, I'll keep an eye on it. I reserve the right to take more weird photos if the bruise turns any interesting colors, or spreads across more surface area. Also, I plan to be pretty diligent about keeping that tray in its upright and locked position when not in use.

Pictures

There's an incredibly violent war being waged between my stomach and its contents. I think it's food poisoning, but Scott disagrees. At any rate, I'm not really much for words right now, so here's some random assorted photos...

1 2 and 3 are (obviously) a pair of sand hill cranes in the 7-11 parking lot. It made me sad because you could tell from their behavior that they are used to being fed by people. And I don't think they sell bird food in the 7-11.

4 is Mom and Joanne at the sponge docks. OK, at the shoppes (if you saw them, you'd spell it that way too) at the sponge docks.

5 is Milo's monkey, which mysteriously appeared nestled in one of Scott's shoes last week. You never see Milo with the monkey, but it's never in the same place twice!

Untitled because all I want to say is a string of profanity

I am incredibly disappointed - maybe angry - maybe even furious right now. I'm mad at my state government. I'm mad at the US government. I'm mad at foreign governments. I'm mad at the politicians, the media, the gas companies, and even some people I know personally (but this isn't the proper forum for the latter).

Why am I mad? Let's take a little journey through various current events. That should shed some light.

Let's start with John McCain. I figure since I'm an Obama supporter, no one will really take my opinions on his likely November opponent very seriously and it's best to just get it over with. This is why I'm mad at John McCain:

“Barack Obama's foreign policy plans have even won him praise from Hamas leaders,” writes McCain deputy campaign manager Christian Ferry. “Ahmed Yousef, chief political adviser to the Hamas Prime Minister said, ‘We like Mr. Obama and we hope he will win the election. He has a vision to change America.’”

Apparently McCain's campaign is already in crisis mode, and needed to start slinging the mud early. So much for a clean campaign!

Since we're talking about our enemies, let's jump over to Iran, where President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says oil priced at $115 a barrel is too low. Wow. So yeah, I'm mad at him, but it's really amazing how short-sighted the leaders of this country have been for the past 30 or so years. One would think that after the gas crisis in the 1970's, we would have made finding an alternative energy source (or an alternative engine) a major priority. Here we are again 30 years later, consuming more gas than ever, dependent on our sworn enemies for our livelihood.

Who let that happen?

So in addition to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, I'm also angry at every president from Carter to Bush II. I'm also angry at every Senator (except John Glenn - because he was an astronaut and that buys him immunity) who has served in the past 30 years. Why not the House of Representatives? Well I'm mad at them for something else entirely:

NOTE: The next section comes from an Orlando Sentinel Editorial (which I disagree with). I couldn't find an actual news article to go along with it. Even entering the phrase "Haiti debt relief" into the cnn.com search bar does not bring up the story. And for that reason, I'm angry at the media.

The U.S. House made a compassionate and smart move last week in voting to speed up desperately needed debt relief to Haiti.

A sharp rise in food prices worldwide has deepened hunger, provoked riots and shaken the government in Haiti, the hemisphere's poorest country.

The relief for Haiti, added to a broader measure by South Florida Democrat Alcee Hastings, would let the country divert more of its meager revenues from loan repayments to feeding its people.Without help, Haiti could fall back into chaos and create a humanitarian and security burden on the U.S. doorstep.

The entire relief measure, aiding two dozen countries, would cost each American about $2. Now the Senate and the president need to follow the House's lead.

I'd rather have the $2. Quite frankly, if Haiti isn't willing to take care of itself, and is going to continue to need us to bail it out again and again, then maybe they should find another country to mooch off of. Give them the fish and they'll eat for a day. Teach them to fish, and maybe some day we'll get our money back!

As if I needed another reason to be counting the days until GWB gets booted back to Crawford, he's just decided to give $200 million to hungry people in other countries. You know what? We're not the biggest, richest country on the block any more. Why are we still bailing out everyone else while our economy implodes? The dollar is so weak against foreign currencies that our $200 million really doesn't mean that much in the grand scheme of things. The UN says they need about $500 million. So why not get $50 million from 10 countries? C'mon... that's how much Barack Obama has in his war chest right now. SURELY there's someone else out there who can shoulder the bulk of this burden. I'm pretty sure I could find plenty of hungry people right here in this country who could use that $200 million as well.

Here in Florida, it seems all of the state-run and state-funded agencies are going to have less money in their budgets next year. Why? Because the selfish A-hole home owners in the state all followed Charlie Crist's example and voted "yes on one" in January. (yep...I voted no... and I said at the time that this was going to happen...and Janette even agreed with me - in retrospect, a sure sign of the apocalypse!) So I'm angry at the majority of Floridian voters.

I'm also angry at our state legislature, who has recently decided that rather that attempt to come up with a state budget that makes sense, they are going to debate whether it's obscene to hang metal bull's balls on the back of your pick-up truck. Take heart, children of Florida. Perhaps the $60 fine for dangling fake testes will cover your education expenses, or the repairs of the roads you use to get to school, or the police, fire, and other emergency services that keep you safe. It's certainly not going to be property tax paying for those things. Home owners just don't care about you.

I am bitterly disappointed in everyone I have ever voted for who has a part in this ridiculous charade of government "for the people." I wish I didn't have to search for un-linked-to stories about where our tax money is going. Those things should be up front on every newspaper and news web site. Hold our law makers accountable for how they spend our tax money. Scott and I paid $6,444 in taxes for 2007. We live responsibly, within our means, and we expect our government to do the same. I want to know how MY tax money is being spent. I want someone to look me in the eye and tell me that $2 went to Haiti, and $x went to support our troops who are in the middle of a civil war caused by our invasion of a sovereign nation, and $y went to subsidies for farmers growing corn for ethanol instead of food. And damnit, I want someone to apologize for being so damned irresponsible. And then I want someone to step up and fix it.

I'm not smart enough, educated enough, or informed enough to do it myself. But I care, which I think is probably more than we can say for most of the people running our country.

Delta Force

On Thursday, Number Two was unpacking some new and exciting additions to our Cordial List - mostly ports way older than I am. He pulled out a bottle and showed it to me. He was marveling that it was tiny - 3/4 the size of a regular wine bottle - and trying to do the mental math on what we would be charging for a glass ($110 for 3 oz.). I saw the label and had to ask, "We're selling a port called Delta Force?" That didn't seem too classy to me!

So Number Two laughed and started humming the theme to Delta Force (which sounded an awful lot like the A-Team theme...). I made the joke that Scott would probably buy it based on the name alone.

When I repeated the story to Scott, he agreed until he heard the price, and then asked if the label had a picture of Chuck Norris with a knife in his teeth. I told him the bottle was from 1944, so no picture.

Over Thursday and Friday, I had conversations with multiple people about the Delta Force port. Mostly, the conversations were just passing musings with the servers - things like, "let me know if you sell any Delta Force!" And Number Two and I continued the Chuck Norris jokes.

This afternoon, The Boss asked me to print up the new cordial lists. Imagine my dismay when I saw DeLa Force on there!

Sorry, couldn't find a 1944 label image... but the logo looks just the same!

I'm not sure how many people there think I'm "extra special" now. I certainly feel like I've made a great case for the late-twenties onset of any number of learning disabilities!

Baby Eel

Where do you go to have one-on-one time with a live baby eel?

Well, tonight, the answer was simply, "Jamie's desk."

The Boss brought this little dude (you do see it, right? it's wrapped around my finger. the head is close to my nail - you can see the big ol' eye) into the office, and once he convinced me that it wasn't some sort of vermin pulled from a freshly washed bunch of greens, I was sort of taken with the little guy.

I'm not sure whether these Spanish eels are about to become a menu item or whether the Chef is just experimenting, but he served them to a VIP tonight - a glass bowl with water and some live eels used as a pedestal for a small plate of fried "Madusa" clumps of eels. I'm sure it made for a fascinating presentation, but after bonding with this little guy tonight, I think I would probably pass. This takes eating fish next to the window at Coral Reef to a whole 'nother level that I'm not 100% comfortable with.

Just after I took this picture, my little friend died. He was already pretty dried out when The Boss brought him in to me. While on my finger, he opened his mouth up, closed it, and then didn't move again. And I put him on a piece of scrap paper and threw him away... and then went and scrubbed my hands with soap and water.

Personally, I think I would prefer a death of asphyxiation to being dropped in a pot of boiling oil. Sure, it might take a little longer, but maybe it hurts a little less.

I didn't mean for this to be so morbid and sad. I just wanted to share my really cool picture. Oh well... I guess that's just the mood I'm in tonight. Sorry.

Visited

The Restaurant was visited last night. By whom? By the mysterious raters who control our fate in certain travel company guide books and websites.

Oh, what I wouldn't have given for a Valium or an elephant tranquilizer to take the edge off The Boss. He was a mess!

We're pretty sure it was them, but won't know officially for another week or so. Please please please let it have been them...

Happy Money Dance*

Well, my 4.5% raise kicks in on this week's pay check.

Even better than that is the fact that it seems attempt #4 to get the garnishment removed from my check was successful. That's an extra 10% as well.

How to spend the money? I'm thinking 401K, stock, and savings... though I did dream last night that we booked a 7-day cruise.

* The Happy Money Dance lasts only until Scott leaves for work and I have to finish filing our taxes. I hope there's enough in savings to cover it!

For the Love of Milo

A quick check of the archives shows that it has been 10 days since my last gratuitous Milo post. I hope this post makes up for it!

It all started with a sunbeam...

Milo was stretched out across the living room floor this morning just enough so that his front and back feet were at the edges of the sunbeam. By the time Scott and I realized it, the beam had shifted down a little bit. I imagine when he fell asleep, even his tail was in the warm spot!

(photo credit: Scott)

---

I dig this black &

white picture because it looks like Milo is doing the sensible thing and keeping his face in the shade while he sunbathes. No way he's going to look like a saddle bag with eyes when he's 14!

---

Coming in 2009: The Cats on Boxes calendar!

No... not really. I really am just fascinated by Milo's love of boxes. His face and posture here really seem to say, "I'm in the box. Don't question me!"

Most boxes he has been exposed to would collapse if he climbed on top, but since this box is still full (obviously we are failing in our attempts to "organize-it"), it simply acted as a pedestal.

---

And finally, we have Milo's complete breakfast: apple-cinnamon oatmeal and a shot of Airborne! I got up to put the camera back, and Milo immediately jumped into my spot on the couch.

"But Mom... you know I like peaches and cream. I don't like this kind!"

Not only does he have my place on the couch AND my breakfast held hostage, he also has the remote control, the throw, and the pillow. He's pretty much set for the day!

Car Bling

I have often fantasized about getting one of those scrolling LED message boards for my dashboard. I wanted to make it say "55 MPH" and have it in mirror writing so that the idiot tourists (darn Canadians) will know that the speed limit on Avalon is not, in fact, 35-45 MPH.

We recently saw such a product in Target, actually designed for cars, but it didn't seem to have a backwards text option. And in that case, what's really the point? I could put it on the back window, but I don't really care how slowly the people behind me are driving!

Last night on my way home from work, I was driving behind a car with one of these (in red... but the car was blue, so this one would have looked much better!). The message he chose to display? "I HATE HUMAN POPULATION." I called Scott to tell him about my find and we had a good laugh over the message.

Really? You're going to pay $30 to put that message on the back of your car? I can see the traditional "mean people suck" or a nice personal "I hate ," but to just write off the entire human race in one poorly phrased message to the world? Seems a little harsh to me!

If I had one of these, and that's not a hint - apparently they have to be wired into the car and I don't have that kind of know-how, I think I would make it say something friendly like, "hello car behind me," or "thanks for reading my message." I'm sure my mother would go with "Jesus loves you," but that's only going to make people say mean things about Jesus when she's driving slowly in front of them!

What would you choose to display to the world?

72!

72 WPM!

I'm a typing rock star!

…and I also got a 23 out of 25 on the grammar test.

Hurdle #1 cleared. Up next: updating the resume, finding a job, applying for the job, and interviewing. I wish I could just do this step over and over again!

Test Me, Baby!

My typing/grammar tests are this morning. I'm not really worried about passing, but I am worried about making it down 192 in a timely manner. I've budgeted 1 hour for a trip that should only take 25 minutes... hoping that's enough time.

Wish me luck!

TomTom

Nope... I haven't gotten a super-cool navigation system. I did, however, get to spend part of today with "Professor Tom," one of the few CHS '96 people I'm still in touch with. We started with brunch at Garden Grill. OK, catfish and flank steak isn't really brunch. But when it's the first meal you've eaten, and it's only 11 am, you still call it that!

Above is our traditional Jamie-Tom-Photo-of-the-Year (last year's photo can be seen here). After lunch, we walked the World Showcase. And believe it or not, I was actually able to get multiple photos this year.

At the very bottom are green-screen photos that Scott and I took at Innoventions and Spaceship Earth. They are comically bad, thus their inclusion here!

Enjoy!

Flower & Garden

It's that time of year, when I take off to Epcot armed with my camera and take a ton of pictures during the Flower & Garden Festival. I'm quite excited about some of the pictures I took - mostly of the new topiaries this year, but of course with some butterflies and orange flowers thrown in!

Chop!

Guess who got a hair cut today!

Please note: I didn't even attempt to do my hair for this picture. That's why there's a big bump on the top of my head. So far I'm loving it. I forgot how much fun having short hair can be!

...though I should stop doing that side-to-side head shake. I think I'm getting whiplash!

Just So You Know I Don't Hate Her...

Perhaps you've heard that Senator Clinton has once again been caught with her pants on fire. This time, repeating a story she heard from a deputy sheriff sitting on the couch in a mobile home in Ohio (not exactly a vetted source).

Yes, I think she's imploding, and it's sad to watch. Doesn't she realize that Americans respect the Mitt Romney "it's time for me to go" approach more than the Mike Huckabee "I'm going to stay in and pray for a miracle" approach?

Well, I did appreciate this speech that she gave last week. So here it is. I hope you watch it.

Typical!

Just a list of ironic or otherwise strange things in my world:

* I logged onto Sprint.com to pay my bill tonight and got the "free ring tone" password. And I found the perfect FREE ring tone - something silly and maybe even embarrassing that I couldn't resist, especially for the price - Barbie Girl! And so I clicked the Buy Now button. Right as I was releasing the mouse button, I saw the tiny alternate link below the Buy Now button that said "buy with promo code." Oops! Too late! So I paid $2.50 for Barbie Girl. I now have it set as my message alert.

* I've tried twice since to log back in to get a real free ring tone and I keep getting logged out! I smell a conspiracy...

* Wait, that's not conspiracy. It's the result of brussels sprouts and pork chop for dinner.

* I waited up for Scott tonight. He gets off work at 1:30. He's still in the parking lot at work trying to help a co-worker with a flat tire. And of course, I will inevitably drift off to sleep 5 minutes before he walks in the door!

And some other odds & ends:

* I have an appointment next Friday to go in and take my typing/grammar test again. I did this before and pretty much aced both, but the results are only valid for 6 months. Why? Because the company likes to make us jump through hoops! The tests are prerequisites for applying for any sort of secretarial role.

* Why the sudden decision to move forward? Two different hotels are hiring the position I'm most interested in: assistant to the Food & Beverage Operations Manager. Unfortunately, those postings close at midnight tonight and I obviously won't have my testing done by then. But the next time the position opens up I'll be ready for it.

* I also told The Boss about my plans, and he's a little panicked. He's talking about filling my job as if I'm already gone or something. More on this when it's not 2 am.

* The Boss told Number Two and the Chef. I managed to tell Girl Chef before the "breaking news" got to her desk.

* Truth be told, it's unlikely that another position will post within the next month. I doubt I'll be out of there before the summer. My goal is to be out by October. If that doesn't happen, I'll probably stick around there through the holidays... that would be cruel and unusual punishment to my replacement and my bosses.

It feels good to actually have a little forward momentum. Right now, there are a lot of outside factors influencing my future plans as well as my day-to-day existence. Maybe that's why I'm taking this particular bull by the horns: I just want to feel like I can control something.

Shh...don't tell me control is an illusion... not just yet...

It's Milo

Here's a picture of Milo on my lap:

Strangely enough, when I asked Scott for the camera, Milo was sleeping peacefully on my lap looking cuter than normal. And of course, he woke up in the handing over of the camera. To my advantage, he closed his eyes whenever the green focus light came on, so I did get a few decent pictures of him.

And then his tail woke up. And then he saw his tail and decided that it needed to die. So even though this looks like a picture of Milo sleeping peacefully, he's actually in the process of killing his tail...pausing just long enough to close his eyes for the picture.

This picture was taken last night after Scott and I got home from babysitting all four of Mike & Reyna's kids. It was easier than we expected it to be. Hunter played on the computer the whole time we were there, except when I called them to dinner. Conner alternated between watching Hunter and watching TV. Autumn entertained us with some song & dance routines. And Cadence has finally stopped crying. She's in a walker now, and zooms around the whole house over the hardwood floors, laughing the whole time.

Cute baby quality time is exactly what Scott and I needed yesterday afternoon. And then quiet Milo time last night was perfect to recover from that!

Foot Fetish?

This picture of my fat white foot should cure anyone with any special love for feet! And if that doesn't, then maybe the picture of my lopsided big toe with its perfectly painted blue nail will do it.
Yes, I chose blue. In the bottle, the color definitely looked more of a cobalt - darker and a little purplish. Upon the end of my pedicure (which was the best $25 pedicure EVER... you should see the under side of my lopsided big toe where there was once a callous and is now silky smooth), I decided that I should go car shopping just to have the joy of walking up to a salesperson and saying, "I'd like something this color."

...but then I realized that this color is more of a Puerto Rican street racer color than a normal color. Of course, Frances is closer to one than the other too... but at least that was a factory-direct color!

Honestly though, I highly recommend this place. It's on 27 in Clermont in the shopping center in front of Kohl's. They have normal colors, too. But what fun is that?