4/2/08 Pretty in Purple

I decided to try the Wordless Wednesday over at 5 minutes for Mom.

These are some of my bea-u-ti-ful flowers that have decided to grace me with their presence this year! And you know that they had to be blue/purple, because everything in and around my house is that color! Try not to be too horribly jealous of my brilliant blue spring bouquet.

4/1/08 10 *Blogs* on Tuesday

One of my favorite blogs, Big Mama, has changed her address, and for about two weeks now, I've been meaning to go in and correct the address to her new blogsite. (Can we say procrastination anyone?) Then, as I was digging through all the messy HTML here on the sidebar, I realized that I added all these great new blogs to my bloglines after the Ultimate Blog Party but I never told anybody who they were. Very selfish of me, I know. So today's 10 on Tuesday is going to be a bit of a change. Instead of 10 of my random thoughts, I'm giving you 10 of my favorite blogline blogs so that you can read about their random thoughts. So as usual, here they are in no particular order:

Queen of Dirty Laundry

Fully Alive...Ready to Smile

Confessions of an Apron Queen

Adventures of the Reluctant Housewife

Monkey Barrel Musings

Skimbaco the Lifestyle

Fashion Paramedic

Bleeding Espresso

An Island Life

Muckboots N Aprons

I'll warn ya, they're a pretty diverse lot. We have blogs from Finland and Canada and Italy and Costa Rica and Hawaii. We have urban blogs and countryside blogs. We have Mommy blogs and non-mommy blogs. They are funny, serious, happy, sad, silly, wise, and wonderful. Each one brings something a little different to the table, and I would even go as far as to say that they all might just be a little quirky.



*Of course, this is just the tip of the bloggy iceberg, but I could only pick these because its 10 on Tuesday, not 546 on Tuesday. If you aren't on the list, don't worry, I didn't forget about you. I'm just selfishly keeping you all to myself for a little longer.

3/31/08 Five Things Meme

This one has been floating around the blogosphere (most recently from Pink Paper Peppermints), and since I can't say no to a list of lists, I decided to jump on board.

The Rules
1. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
2. At the end of the post, the player then tags five people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves a comment letting them know they've been tagged and to ask them to play along and to read your blog.

What I was doing 10 years ago - 1998

1. At this time 10 years ago, I was getting ready to graduate high school.
2. This would have been about the time of senior prom, so lots of drama there.
3. I would start UT in the fall, so I'd be worried about leaving all of my high school friends and meeting new people. More drama.
4. I would have to pack all my Earthly belongings into a car and head over to my new home, the dorm room.
5. It was a huge time of change (for the better) in my life, but frankly, just remembering all the drama is exhausting.

Five things on my to-do list today -

1. Put presentation together for Thursday's meeting with upper management.
2. Do regression analysis for thesis (I told myself that I was going to do it this weekend, but I'm a horrible procrastinator).
3. Plant the blackberry bush in the back yard.
4. Find out why stupid dental insurance that is supposed to be covering Tony is pretending that they've never heard of him before.
5. Schedule pickup time for Knox Area Rescue Ministries to pick up furniture that I am donating to make room for new hot tub.

Snacks I enjoy-

1. Mozzarella Cheese sticks
2. Brownies (is that a snack or a dessert? I'm going with snack...sounds less fattening that way).
3. Grapes- red seedless
4. Chex Mix (with Cheese-its! and pretzels! and lots of wheat chex because they're my favorite!)
5. Chips and queso (from Chili's!)

Things I would do if I were a billionaire -

1. Buy a summer home in Chicago for Tony so that he could go to all of his beloved Cubs games.
2. Buy a winter home on an island in the Caribbean for me
3. Provide grants for charities in need.
4. Get a maid and a cook and a massage therapist on hand at all times.
5. Restore old houses and warehouses into urban lofts

Five of my bad habits -
(what bad habits? I'm sure I don't know what you mean!)

1. Complete lack of self control when it comes to eating junk food
2. Sporadic exerciser at best (complete non-exerciser at worst!)
3. Procrastination (did you see the thesis paper, or lack thereof, above?)
4. Being a complete cheapskate a tightwad penny-pincher overly thrifty...sometimes, on occasion...if you count that as a bad thing.
5. Rarely bother to wear sunscreen

Five places I have lived -

1. Savannah GA
2. Atlanta GA
3. Suffolk VA
4. Smyrna TN
5. Knoxville TN

Five jobs I've had -

1. Dentist Office Manager/occasional holder of Mr Slurpy the spit sucker
2. UT Resident Assistant
3. Summer Conference Desk Worker
4. Import Agent (yes Seinfeld fans, I've actually worked in import/export...although I would have rather been an architect).
5. Project Manager

Five bloggers I tag -

1. Diverged
2. Rediscovery

3. Adventures of the Reluctant Housewife

4. Fully Alive...Ready to Smile

5. Life is a Marathon

3/29/08 The Race

On your mark...

Baby wave petunias peek through the soil...

The clematis starts its way up the trellis...

Get set...

The Rhodie gets ready to bloom.

Same for the weeping cherry tree

Go!

Daffodils go crazy!

Nothing says spring like tulips!

3/27/08 1000!

We hit 1000 people for the month! Woo hoo! As far as I can tell, the 1000th visitor hails from Fort Worth, Tx and showed up on March 26 at 10:16pm (although not sure if that's my time or Fort Worth time). We've come a long way from the first month, which had exactly 6 visitors (and 4 of them were me).

3/26/08 You Thought You Missed 10 On Tuesday, Didn't You?

I know it's Wednesday. I just thought I'd mix things up a little bit...keep you on your toes. Actually, I just got busy with something else and forgot to post yesterday. Mea Culpa. But better late than never right?

one- My in-laws are coming in this weekend! Actually, that's not a bad thing. I like my in-laws. I just have a lot to do before they get here. I'm kind of in the middle of about 6 projects, so practically every room of the house has half constructed, half painted, half completed parts scattered all over the place. I'd like to get those projects finished before they arrive on Friday, but I'm not sure it's going to happen. There just aren't enough hours in the day.

two- The house may be in disarray, but the garden is in its prime. I did a bulb check yesterday, and I'm pretty sure that all the tulips and the remaining 40 or so daffodils are on schedule to burst open with color right about the time that Tony's parents show. This is really the best time of the year for my flower beds, if I do say so myself. The grape hyacinths, scilla, crocus, and daffodils have been blooming strong all month, and in the last week the regular hyacinths have bloomed too. The moss flox is starting to flower right now, and the tulips should be opening by the end of the week. I'm very excited. Go flowers go!

three- Oh ya'll, I feel gross. Yesterday I ate everything I could get my hands on. I don't know what came over me! It was like I was possessed! Someone brought in chex mix with Cheese nips (soooo yummy!) and I ate that. Another person had a HUGE pile of Easter candy, so I ate that too. Then I got home and had a huge slice of Easter cake, a bag of beef jerky, a can of black eyed peas for dinner, a few handfuls of croutons, and more chex mix (sans Cheese Nips since I didn't have any). I was an eating machine! And no, before you even think it, I'm not pregnant. (Although it is that time of the hormonally unstable month, so maybe that explains it). Either that, or I have a tape worm. After the cramps, bloating, and sudden bouts of weeping though, I think I'd really prefer the worm.

four- A couple of people have asked about the Snore-No-More, and if it provided any snoring relief after I held it under Tony's nose while he slept. The answer is somewhat. I do think that it reduced the amount and intensity of the snoring, although it didn't completely eradicate it. Mom and Dad have had much more success with it that we have though, so I think it varies depending on the kind of snorer you are. I definitely recommend if you're looking for something to try. It can't hurt, and like I said, it did help us a little. Plus, I think it also helped with my sinuses at night. I didn't feel as congested and stuffy as I normally do. And the 100ml (supposed to be a year supply) was only $20, so it won't break the bank to try it out. The lid has a website (www.arraby's.com) and a phone number (1-877-743-3744) if you want to give them a shout.

five- So apparently my brilliantly brilliant Easter basket cake idea was already done in last year's Parenting magazine. Hrmph. Of course, I don't read Parenting magazine, so I'm still claiming it as a personal creative victory.

six- Speaking of cake, the hormones-masquerading-as-tape-worm are clamoring for something else to eat. Shut up hormones!

seven- I got an email not too long ago from the BlogHer ads people (look to your right, see that ad there? That's them)- and it told me that they were doing a ton of new ads in the near future. And I got all excited, because so far I've only seen 3 PSAs and 2 ads for the BlogHer conference on here. Not that I dislike the PSAs and the BlogHer conference, but they've been on there for about a month, and I'm sure if you were going to click on them, you would have done so already. *Subliminal message: Click on the ads! Quirky gets money when you click on ads! So far she's only made about 60 cents for the whole month...click on the ads!* Anyway, I'm told that new ads are coming, so if you're thinking about going to the BlogHer conference, or donating to the Humane Society, or whatever, you better hurry and do it now!

eight- I make it a point not to say anything specific about Ye Ol Company, but they've recently given me a project that uses my newly acquired MBA skills in an area that I'm interested in. I can't really say more than that, but I can say that I'm having a blast with the project, and if it works out, I'm hoping that in a couple more months, it will expand into a full-time position. Fingers crossed!

nine- I was reading an article on Slate yesterday about the slow death of the phone book. And really, I think it's time. At least have an opt out feature, because I never use the actual book for anything anymore...I can look it up a lot faster online. Save a tree- skip my house in the phone book handouts. Or better yet, let the students at Tufts University have it- they seem to have come up for a good use for phone books.

ten- Okay, I don't want to jinx anything, but we're getting reeeeeally close to hitting 1000 visitors for this month! I'm super excited. 1000 visitors may not be a big deal for those super blogs, but it's pretty major for little ol' me. I'd like to have one of those bells ringing and balloons falling from the ceiling and confetti flying everywhere deals for the 1000th visitor, but my html isn't that sophisticated. You'll just have to pretend. If the past few days have been any indication, we should hit 1000 sometime today or tomorrow. It could be you! Right now! Yaaaay!

3/24/08 The Dating Meme

So waaaay back on March 18th, Erin over at Fully Alive Ready to Smile tagged me for a meme, and I tried to do it, I really did, but it wanted five different answers for just about every question under the sun, and I just couldn't handle that kind of pressure. I went completely brain dead. So instead, I'm offering this substitute meme as a gesture of peace and goodwill, and because it only wants one answer per question.

Instead, I give you the Dating Meme.

1) What is one life lesson that you learned while dating?

Don't pity date. I learned this one in 9th grade. I was totally caught off guard one day when one of my guy friends "asked me out" (which at this age is basically like a title promotion with no pay raise...you get a "boyfriend" but you never see each other outside of school). Anyway, I didn't like like him, but I didn't want to hurt his feelings, so I said sure. Only it turns out that he didn't like like me either...he just decided that it would help his coolness rating if he had a girlfriend. He made a list of "acceptable candidates" and worked his way down the list until he found one dumb enough to say okay. So we "dated", except that absolutely nothing changed between us. As a matter of fact, I forgot that we were "going out" completely, until the day that he told me that he was breaking up, and I responded with "with who?" (In hindsight, I don't think he appreciated that. I think he had expected me to be more broken up about it. Oh well). Anyway, I learned absolutely nothing from that "relationship" except that I felt really stupid when I found out that I was just another name on his list and he was just using me to up his cool status, and I went along with it because I didn't want to hurt his feelings. Hence no more pity dating.

2) What was your best date ever?

I guess I better pick one with dear hubby, shouldn't I? :-) I'd say that our best date was after we were married for a few years, and wasn't really a "date" at all. I came home from work one night and Tony had made dinner and set the dining table (we never eat at the table) with our nice wedding china and goblets and everything. He even lit candles (although to be honest it was my Yankee Candles, so everything had a mixed smell of lemon meringue and Ocean Breezes, but still...) It was totally sweet and totally out of the blue, and a very romantic gesture when I didn't expect one at all. My snuggle bear is so good to me.

3) Worst date ever?

I guess it would have to be in college, and it wasn't that the date was all that horrible...it's not like he was a prison escapee or abandoned me at a biker bar or anything...it was just that it was painfully obvious that we didn't click. (Have you ever thought you connected to someone while you were in a group setting, but when you actually went on a date one on one, you realized that you have absolutely nothing in common?) We went to a really bad student-written play at the University playhouse consisting of the main character rolling around in a shallow pool of water and wailing for an hour and a half, followed by an awkward dinner where the only thing he talked about was how cool his friend was. (Like, total friend hero worship here. I think he really wanted to be on a date with his friend instead of me...I know I did). Anyway, we toughed it out for a few hours, he gave me a horrible goodnight kiss that reminded me of kissing a dead fish, and we never went out again. Like I said, not that bad, and yet somehow still manages to trigger my gag reflex.

4) What's the longest time you ever dated someone?

Does marrying them count? Because even though we are married, we still go on dates. If that counts, then we've been dating about 7 years. If marriage doesn't count, then 2 years...I date everybody for two years. Apparently I was a marathon dater. Tony knew we were meant to be when he made it past the two year mark...no one previous to him had done so.

5) Breaking up is hard to do...What was your hardest breakup?

I'd say it was one that I had in college, and it was my fault that it was so hard because I was trying to remain friends with the guy, so we kept going to dinner and watching tv together and stuff. Which seemed like a great idea to me, but to him looked a whole lot like sending mixed signals. The poor guy didn't know what kind of relationship we had, so the uncomfortable stage lasted forever instead of being a clean break. Another lesson learned I guess.

6) Are you still friends with anyone you've ever dated?

No, but it's not like I hate them either. It's just that we are no longer in contact. (Exception: I was included on a mass mailing not too long ago from an ex who had just become an uncle. He had pictures of his new nephew, and I think he sent it out to everyone in his address book). Other than that, I'm not sure where any of the old boyfriends are or what they're doing. After we split, they went their way and I went mine. I think it's better that way really. (See the clean break lesson above). Not that I would mind if they looked me up and sent me a "How's life?" email, but I'm not looking to reconnect with anyone on any level.

There you go. Fascinating stuff I know. I'm tagging Erin back again since she seems to be on a meme theme (it rhymes!) and hasn't done this one yet, and the Seester because she changed boyfriends more often than underwear and has some really good stories, and anyone else who is looking for something to write about and needs an easy topic. Just try to keep it family friendly, and remember that what you put on the Internet stays there forever, so be careful naming names.

3/23/08 Easter Cake!

Happy Easter everybody! I wasn't going to post today because we're off spending Easter with my family, but the cake I made for Easter lunch was just too cute not to share (if I say so myself). It's Pillsbury Funfetti cake because in addition to being my favoritest instant cake mix EVER, I think the multi-colored sprinkles have a certain Easter-ish quality . Originally I was just going to toss it in a regular old 9x13 cake pan, but it turned out ours was dirty, and I was too lazy to wash it thought I could really be more creative anyway. So I put the cake in a bundt pan instead. Then I realized that if you don't flip the bundt cake upside down, then it looks kinda like an Easter basket. Hmmmm. (Well, okay, an Easter basket with a hole in the middle, but we'll get around that). As a matter of fact, if you just skim a little cake off the top with a knife, it gives you a nice flat cake top AND is the perfect amount of cake to cover over above-mentioned hole. Then ice with Funfetti icing, make a wicker basket look by dragging the prongs of a fork through the icing, and top with "grass" and Easter basket goodies. (I used green sprinkles for the grass. Ideally, you could do green food colored coconut shavings for more realistic basket grass, but I don't like coconut and it's my cake so neyh.) For the coup de grace, I finished by using a zip tie for a handle. Instant edible Easter basket cake, and all without having to wash the 9x13 pan!

Okay ya'll, I'm out again. Have a happy and blessed Easter!

3/22/08 Road Trip!

I took a road trip this weekend! Originally Tony and I were going to head over to Nashville to see the Hawks play the Predators, but first all the tickets were sold out, and then Tony got called in to work, so I just ended up heading to Nashville by myself to visit my long time buddy N and her most adorable (and my personal favorite) baby Eli.

I knew he wasn't going to remember me since I hadn't seen him in forever, and I'm pretty sure that his long-term memory isn't that developed yet, so the best I could hope for was anything other than terrified "stranger danger!" screaming. I was in luck. I got a momentary "Who the heck are you?" look, and then he laughed and grinned and we all settled down to play.

Who did you say that you were again?

Eli is a whopping 10 months old now, and is into everything! He can walk if he's holding onto his Mr. Hippo push cart, and he has 6 whole teeth, and he says "ma ma ma ma ma", and he has no less than three million toys, all of which sing to him, and flash blinking lights, and count to him in Spanish. (All the toys are bilingual toys now- Eli knows more Spanish than I do). I'm not sure where Nicole gets the energy to keep up with him day after day either. You have to be constantly vigilant about where he is and what he's doing, because if you blink for even a second (say, for example, the exact second that his mama went to the bathroom and left Aunt Quirky in charge) he's off and running crawling at roughly 95mph. I had to jog to catch him before he made it out of the living room and into the kitchen. N was really good about it though. I got to play with him and carry him around and give him his bedtime bottle and strap him into his car seat and everything, and not once did she act like she was concerned that I was going to break him.

Aunt Quirky (with no makeup and weird hair), playing with Eli and his pink cell phone while Kermit looks on in the background. Is it just me or does Kermit look really concerned about my baby handling abilities?

Not that it was all about Eli though. Nonononono. I swear I talked N's ear off for a full 24 hours. While I can keep up with some of the stuff she's into from her blog, it's just not the same as being able to sit down and really talk to someone. (Well, talk and go to Target and buy some shoes, and watch a movie, and play the Wii, and shop for skirts, and eat cookies for dinner). N is one of those friends that it doesn't matter how long it's been, we can just pick up again right where we left off, and it just rolls from there. Plus I'm now completely in awe of her, because somewhere along the way, she also turned into SuperMom.

N and Eli play on the floor. Notice how she looks fresh and nicely groomed, and I'm the one who looks like I haven't slept in a year! How'd she do that?!?

Anyway, it was a quick 24 hour visit, but it was totally worth it. I really enjoyed seeing N and getting to spend time with Eli. I had a blast with my old friend as well as with my new one.

And the drool wasn't even that bad.

3/19/08 Snore-No-More

So we're trying something new here in the House of Quirk. Remember when Mom and I went to the Home and Garden Show? Well, Mom picked up a jar of Arraby's Snore-No-More, and reported instant results with it. She brought the jar over last Sunday for me to try and see if it works on Tony too. He's not a bad bad snorer, but he has really narrow nasal passages, so if he's in any kind of position where his nose doesn't have 100% air access, things can get a little rumbly. So far I've been combating this by reaching over and pinching his nose closed while he sleeps. (This isn't as bad as it sounds). Eventually, he'll shift in his sleep to try to open up his airways again, and then I let go. That gives me some peace until he shifts back into a snoring position again. I was really looking forward to Snore-No-More so I wouldn't have to spend all night attempting to suffocate my dear hubby by cutting off his air supply.

The idea is that it works like aromatherapy, and the scent opens up the nasal passageways and stops the snoring. It's Marjoram oil with some other stuff thrown in, and it has a very distinct odor. Not a bad odor, but definitely noticeable. Kinda of like floor cleaner smell, with mint and a hint of citronella candle thrown in. It's strong, but then, that's kind of the point. Like I said, once you get over the strength of it, it doesn't smell bad. The instructions say that before going to bed, you should take 4-5 deep breaths of the stuff, and then leave it uncapped at your bedside while you sleep. Then just cap it again in the morning. I figured that it couldn't hurt, so we gave it a try.

I'd like to report that we immediately followed the scientific method and created the ideal environment for a series of experiments to see if Snore-no-more was really effective, but sadly, my lab rat test subject doesn't seem to want to cooperate. Tony, for some reason, seems to be in snoring denial. He's totally immune to the fact that he sounds like he's swallowed a whole fleet of 747 airplanes while he sleeps. He says any snoring I hear is because 1) I'm dreaming, 2) it's the cats, or 3) I must be hearing myself snore. (The fact that I'm awake while all this snoring is going on is completely inconsequential). Anyway, because he's just sure that the doesn't snore, he doesn't think we need Snore-no-more, and seems determined to thwart my experiment at every turn. The first night, Tony claimed objection to the smell and only pretended to breathe it in, all while executing exaggerated facial expressions and crinkling his nose. (The poor thing- I make him do so much...like sniff a jar before going to bed so that I can have a little quiet at night while falling asleep).

Tony: There. I smelled it. Well, Goodnight. (Then he rolled over and not 10 seconds later, was snoring up a storm).
Me (reading in bed when the snoring starts, thus sparking this mental conversation with myself): Uh-oh. More snoring. Why didn't it work? I'll tell you why it didn't work- he didn't really breathe it in. He's so silly. Still, we have snoring going on, just as loud as ever. Wait a minute, didn't he just say goodnight about 10 seconds ago? He falls asleep fast, but that's really really fast, even for him. He must have been really tired. He must-
Tony (suddenly rolling over to glare at me suspiciously): Hey! I'm snoring here! How come you aren't saying anything about it?
Me: How did you know you were snoring if you were asleep?
Tony: Uh...I heard myself.
Me (growing suspicious): You heard yourself snoring while you were asleep?
Tony (looking sheepish): Maybe. The point is Snore-no-more doesn't work!
Me: Hang on. You're FAKE snoring in order to discredit Snore-No-More?
Tony (totally busted): Maybe.

You can see that we don't exactly have an unbiased tester here. Once he REALLY went to sleep, there was still a little snoring, but it was quieter and less annoying. So the results so far are that maybe it works, and maybe it doesn't, or maybe it would work if Tony actually inhaled deep breaths instead of only the shallowest breaths over the jar. (I swear, microscopic organisms take deeper breaths than Tony does). I'll keep you posted on any progress we make...like me beating him in the head with the jar of Snore-No-More until he loses consciousness, and then putting it right under his nose until he breathes deeply. 'Cause we're all about the scientific method here.