Wednesday, March 31, 2010

The one where I reinvent myself

I may have mentioned that Friday is my birthday. (I have?? Oh, just saying). After 35 years of life I think that it is time to completely reinvent myself. I'm going to become a sexy brunette ski instructor. Wha? Kids? Husband? Mortgage?? Okay....instead I'm going to completely reinvent my design site.

When I initially started delinquent designs it seemed like a good idea. Domestic designs was already taken, so delinquent design seemed like the next logical choice. In retrospect perhaps a bit short sighted. The name "Delinquent Designs" may not convey the professional attitude I'm trying to develop. After much soul and web searching I'm changing my professional name to Rocky Run Design. I'm also going to extend my free favicon offer. So please stop on by and get a free favicon. If you already have one, stop by anyway. For the next few weeks I'll be hosting fun contests and giveaways to help spiff up your blog! Don't miss out!!
- Posted by Krista from my iPhone

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Goal Number 2

As I mentioned yesterday, my birthday is fast approaching and I'm setting up some long term goals to strive for.  My first goal is to get my act together and spiff myself up.  My second goal was inspired by this photograph:


This my dears is La Meridien Hotel in Bora Bora.  And I WILL be going here for vacation.  Someday.  Three years from now my youngest child we be almost 4.  Old enough for mommy and daddy to leave him and his brothers with the grandparents and have a little vacay.  3 years....I told you these were long term goals.

In that time I should be able to sock away enough cash to pay for this trip...if not, we are going anyway.  I'll mortgage the house if I have to.  (Okay..I wouldn't do that).  I'm figuring about $4000 for the airfare (did you know that it takes 25 hours to fly to Bora Bora and there is no first class service???  WTF??) and another $7000 for a week's stay.  My goal is to save up $13,000 just to be safe .... money well spent to walk directly from my bed into the ocean.

Here are a few more photos, just to get you in the mood


Let the count down begin!!

Monday, March 29, 2010

Birthday and Goal Setting

On Friday I will finally meet all the requirements to become president of the United States of America.  (I'm expecting your vote in November.)  As a newly minted potential presidential candidate I felt that it would be prudent to set some long term goals.  Truth be told I am a very goals oriented person.  I need to have something to strive for or else I feel like I'm just treading water.

I have identified two long term goals.

1.  Get my act together.  I realize that this seems a little vague, but let me explain.  I have never been the kind of person who took care of herself.  I don't put on make-up, I don't wear moisturizer with SPF50, I don't even shave my legs on a regular basis (especially in the winter).  I'm going to change that.  I'm going to endeavor to spiff myself up.  Problem is, I have NO IDEA how to do that.  I don't wear make-up because I don't know how to put it on.  I don't use the SPF stuff because I can't find one that doesn't feel like I'm spreading motor oil on my face.  I don't wear nice cloths because I have no style and don't know what to buy.  Any my hair...let's not even go there...I'm a disaster.  I need help people.  Let me show you what I'm talking about.  This first picture is me on my wedding day:


Look at me, I'm practically translucent.  You'd think someone would have held me down and put a little blush on me or something....eyeliner??  Anyone??  Where WERE my bridesmaids??

Frankly, things have not improved much over the intervening 13 years.  Here is me just a few months ago:


Sad really.  So I'm looking to you blogosphere.  Recommend a moisturizer....tell me how to fix my hair...send me a t-shirt that wasn't produced during the Bush Administration (I'm talking the first Bush here!!)  I will share my discoveries with any fellow ascetically disinclined readers out there.

I realize that this all seems very superficial....but fact is, I have been working on the "inner" me for 35 years now.  I have a Masters Degree in Molecular Biology, I have birthed and (partially) raised 3 kids, I like to think that I am a reasonably kind and giving person.  I'm done developing character....its time to develop a sense of style.

Goal number 2.....oh yeah..you know you want to know.  Check back tomorrow, it'll be worth it!!

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Monday MEME - My favorite part of my house




With Supahmommy and Mommybrain.


Trying to pick out my favorite part of my house is like trying to pick my favorite child....There is really no contest. My favorite part of my house is, without question, the backyard.

It was the backyard that sold us on this house. We live in a very dense area and to have a large backyard is an enormous bonus. Not only that, but our backyard abuts a wooded area with a small stream. I can't tell you how often and for how long my boys have poked around in that stupid little creek.

Finally, our backyard is home to many other outdoor friends. We have a whole herd of deer that live back there as well as foxes, turtles, snakes, skunks, possums, squirrels, frogs, owls and probably a ton of other stuff we have never been lucky enough to see.


The backyard is like a giant extra room on our house and I wouldn't even trade it for a bigger kitchen.




Wednesday, March 24, 2010

The One Tough Cookie Award


It's been a while since anyone has earned the coveted One Tough Cookie award.  This award is handed out only when the need arises.  Recently the need has reared it's ugly head.

A blog is, in essence, an online home. We like to sit back and write about our day.  Maybe have a few friends over for comments. Like visitors to someone's home, blog visitors are expected to be respectful, not spill red wine on the couch, and leave when you have overstayed your welcome.  Sadly, some folks just don't play nice.  There are those out there who will stop by and leave rude comments, call you names and leave muddy footprints all over the place.  So, for keeping cool in the face of  rudeness and bigotry I award the second One Tough Cookie Award to........Meeko Fabulous.  So let us all raise a cold glass of milk in Meeko's honor!

And lest you forget---Like any good cookie, this should be enjoyed with a cold beverage and kept only as a fond memory.  There is no need to keep this hanging around on your blog.  Enjoy it while it's fresh!

The In Crowd


There is some sort of elusive popularity trait which I must admit, I do not posses. I wasn't popular in school. I'm not saying that I was unpopular. I had plenty of friends, and could even be seen carrying on actual conversations with members of the popular crowd. But I was never really a member of that crowd.

I had a very short stint as a probationary member when I was in the 7th grade. Up until 7th grade I went to a Catholic school. (I wasn't popular there either). When I transfered into the enormous local public school it took me about four seconds to determine who the popular group was and to begin


campaigning for admission. Using my newness as the ace in my pocket, I managed to start dating a boy who was firmly entrenched with the cool kids. My catholic school education did nothing to prepare me for what was ahead of me.

There were parties. Prior to my first public school party the only other parties I had been to had been to were birthday and first communion parties. These parties were either girls only or included a priest on the guest list. I was woefully unprepared. I had never heard any of the music they played. (Beastie Boys?? What page of the hymnal were they on?) I didn't know how to do the "dancing". (Those weeks of square dancing practice we had done in gym were clearly useless.) And I was uncomfortable putting my tongue inside someone elses mouth, much less doing it as part of a group.

It didn't take long for me, and everyone else there, to realize that I did not belong.

As junior high school turned into high school I retained my unpopular status, eventually firmly securing it by joining the matching band. I wasn't popular, but I had plenty of friends. I went out on the weekends and I nearly always had a date for important social events.

Eventually I went off to college and Grad school where there either wasn't a popular crowd or I was too busy to notice. I thought that I was done with the popularity contest. Then I went back to elementary school.

Or at least my oldest son did. I was thrown back into the pressure cooker that is the pursuit of the alpha mom. And again I am not popular. At first I tried to get in with the cool moms (and the occasional stay at home dad). I drank red wine, I gossiped about the neighbors and I volunteered to help out the HOA. And then it hot me. I didn't even like these women. They were boring and shallow. So I quit.

I stopped drinking in the late afternoon, I resumed not caring what my neighbors were doing and I called the HOA a bunch of fascists. And guess what. Nothing changed. (except that I got a notice from the HOA indicating that I needed mow my lawn, that was probably just a coincidence.) I was never really going to fit in with those women anyway.

I'm still not a popular mom, but freeing myself from the pursuit of popularity has given me more time for things that I think are worthwhile. Things like hanging out with my kids and husband, hitting the gym a few times a week, and even the occasional nap. I may not be an alpha mom, but my family and my liver, are probably better off for it.



- Posted by Krista from my iPhone

Monday, March 22, 2010

We're all screwing them up!!

I ran into my neighbor the other day. She looked rather frazzled. Since she is the mother if a 6 month old baby this isn't completely unexpected. The following conversation ensued:

Me - hey how's it going?

Her - Oh good.

Me - (peeking into the stroller to see a bissfully sleeping baby). Oh look at her sleeping in there.

Her - well she's got to sleep sometime. Heaven knows she not sleeping at night.

Me - (chuckles good naturedly.)

Her - Seriously...I think I'm doing something wrong.

Me - Yeah probably.

Okay....I realize that on the surface this probably wan't a very helpful statement. But the fact is, that we're all doing something wrong.

Raising a kid isn't a math problem. It's not like putting together Ikea furniture. There is no multilingual instruction pamphlet and there is no "right" solution. We're all screwing our kids up. In my opinion, if whatever you do to mess them up can be corrected with intensive psychotherapy later on in life then you are okay. In fact, if we were all perfect parents we would only be making things worse. I mean who would they blame their issues in later life on if their mothers had been perfect? Themselves?? I hardly think so.

Any while we're at it....let's give each other a little bit of slack. I'm on my third trip around with this kid raising thing and I'm still flying by te seat of my pants. In fact, if I have learned anything, it's that my way isn't the right way. It may be working for me (or maybe not.....) but that doesn't mean that it's going to work for the mom up the street. We need to back off of each other and back off of ourselves and just enjoy the ride. This whole working mom vs stay at home mom, homeschooling mom vs public school mom, mom of one vs mom of many crap is ridiculous. WE'RE ALL SCREWING IT UP!!!

Pour yourself another glass of wine and start saving for therapy. (Unless you're one of those sober moms...you guys are totally f'd up!)

PS Don't forget free pastries tomorrow at Starbucks. It ends at 10:30. How many cups of coffee and free pastries do you think I can get between 9:30 and 10:30??

Friday, March 19, 2010

Cotton Eye Joe

It's Just Dance Your Bloggy Off time again.

Since I was crowned Queen of the Dance last week I felt that it was only right that I attempt to defend the crown this week. I didn't practice as much as I would have liked. This week involved two children with fevers over 104 degrees, one child who broke out in a full body rash because he was allergic to an antibiotic and one child who ran over his own lip with a scooter and needed to get 3 stitches. I only have 3 kids....you do the math.

Anyway - here is the video.

Note to self - get more supportive brassiere.


BTW - Scroll down for a coupon for a FREE Starbucks pastry!!

Free pastry day at Starbucks.

I love Starbucks, and now, Starbucks is loving me back.

Starbucks is giving out free pastries on March 21 with the purchase of a drink. Didn't get the coupon? Drop me a comment with your email and I'll send you one!!












- Posted by Krista from my iPhone

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

SLACKER!!

Okay...I've been a total posting slacker. I'm a bad person, let's move on. I have a good(ish) excuse though. I have been seeing another blog. I know...I know. We have something special her, but frankly I feel like I need something a little more. It's not you it's me.

I launched my new design site this week over at Delinquent Designs. Stop by to get a FREE favicon and while your there look around. You just might decide that your blog needs a little makeover. Nothing drastic...but really...your eyebrows...well, let's just say wax is your friend.

opps...sorry I was channeling my mother there.

Stop by, get a free favicon...no big whoop.



Monday, March 15, 2010

Prom


I had always thought that prom would be a big fat hairy deal. I liked to believe that my life was a John Hughes movie in which I was the witty, but misunderstood high school girl. I just knew that going to prom would clue all the popular folks in on how totally friggin' cool I was.

I was asked to the prom all 3 years of my high school career, but only actually went my senior year. Sophmore year a senior asked me, but he wasn't really my type so I said no. Junior year my date dumped me a week before the dance. In retrospect I can hardly blame him since I kept calling him by the name of another boy I was also dating at the time.

I had a steady boyfriend all of senior year. He was a college guy, which made him cool, but he also brought me flowers every week which made him sweet. As far as a high school boyfried goes, this guy was pretty much the total package. Did I mention that he was handome, had his own car and could buy beer?? Like I said, total package. Can you really blame me for being crazy about him??

Prom turned out to be a bust. My date wasn't into dancing, but didn't want me to dance with anyone else. Turns out he was a bit possesive. In fact, he didn't even want to sit next to another guy. This was problematic because my dress, like every other girl at the table's dress, was covered in sequence and we kept getting tangled together.

We didn't dance, we didn't go to any of the after parties, I wasn't elected prom queen. (Truth be told, I don't think that we had a prom queen).

Prom cane and went and my life was pretty much unchanged.

I glad I went, but i'm also glad that it's over. I'm glad that high school in general is over. I'm also glad that high school WASN'T the best time of my life.  I'm glad that the best was yet to come!

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Yo Tweeps!!




I love twitter. Mostly because I like to say things like

"I'm checking my twitter feed."
or
"Yo, gotta check in with my tweeps!"
or
"This is twitterific!" (I've never actually said that, but I plan to now.)

Pretty much everything sounds more fun with a tw- at the beginning.

so follow me. I promise to say fun stuff like:

my kids are twidiots!!
or
I'm twiping my kids nose now.
or
Hey! I'll tweak your blog layout for you


okay...I'll come up with better material..just for you.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Just Dance Yer Bloggy Off - Round 2




I was unprepared for the high level of competition last week.  Messy mommy sauntered away with the title of Dance Queen Supreme....a well deserved victory I must say since she SMOKED the competition.  This week I put in some serious practice time and I'm hoping that it pays off.


Don't forget, even if I don't get the highest score (Who are we kidding I totally rocked it!!) you can still vote for me as FAN FAVORITE by leaving a comment for either Supahmommy or Shell and telling them how fabulous I am and that you will be devastated if I'm not FAN FAVORITE. 



Social Media

Let me begin by saying that I'm no Luddite. I have all sorts of modern conveniences in my home. Multiple computers, routers, iPhones....you get the idea. Technology is generally great, but sometimes things can go a little awry, especially in the minefield that is social networking. 

Let's start with Facebook.  For a while I was totally into Facebook. I reconnected with several old friends.  I stalked a few old boyfriends and was reminded of why these relationships didn't work out in the first place. Things were good for a few weeks. Then I realized that there are primarily two types of people on Facebook. The type who post every bit of minutiae going on in their lives and the type who only post the fabulousness that is their amazing existence. Frankly I don't care to know about either of these things. While I still check out Facebook occasionally, I no longer maintain the neural up-link that some seem to find indispensable.

Then there is Twitter.  I was a little late to Twitter. I have only been tweeting for about 4 months now. I am still a fan of Twitter, and check it somewhat obsessively. I have, however; recently found some flaws in our relationship. For starters, there is the whole following thing.  As of the writing of this post, I follow 34 people. If I follow your tweets it's because I'm interested in what you have to say, I will actually read what you have written. I will occasionally get follow notices from people I don't know. At first I was somewhat flattered by this. I thought that someone must have found me interesting enough to read what I had to say. Then I checked these strangers accounts. When you discover that your new best friend is already following 12,000 other people it kinda puts a damper on that whole feeling special thing.  Really, once you're following more than, say, 600 tweeters there's no way you can keep up.

Finally, there is blogging. This is not actually my first blog. I started my first blog about 6 years ago because one of my cool friends had one.  No one read it. NO. ONE. It was pretty much my own fault.  I didn't know how to gain any exposure for myself and frankly wasn't really sure that I wanted anyone to read what I had to say anyway. Since then I have either gained some confidence or lost some modesty. Either way, I'm so glad to have you all here reading my thoughts.

Blogs are great because you can be picky about what you read.  If someone is constantly writing about how fabulous their job/kid/hamster or about their botched plastic surgery or their strange potato fetish you can just stop reading.  But you are just as likely to become interested in someone who you would never meet in your real life like a cool struggling artist, or a German Geology student.  And whatever you ARE into chances are there is a blog for you.  like haiku?   Into woodworkingcan't get enough knitting?
Blogs have got you covered.

Blogs can be well written or cn b ritten n txt spk. Blogs can be fascinating, or mundane - though the best are usually both. At any rate, I think/hope that blogging is here to stay 'cause I'm in it for the long haul!!

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Tough Cookie Award

I have made an award.  This will be my first award and I have to tell you that I will only hand it out very judiciously.  It is the One Tough Cookie Award. 

 Blogging can be tough.  You are putting yourself out there.  You are airing out your dirty laundry for all the world to see.  For all those bloggers out there who are putting it on the line and not always reaping the rewards they deserve I present




The first winner is....drum   roll......Supahmommy.  And not just because we were BFFs in high school <---total lie.  Supah blogs from the heart and don't take no guff from anyone, including multinational corporations.  (Ebay is multinational right?)  So Supah, here's to you because you are One Tough Cookie!!

PS  Like any good cookie, this should be enjoyed with a cold beverage and kept only as a fond memory.  There is no need to keep this hanging around on your blog.  Enjoy it while it's fresh!

Monday, March 8, 2010

post-it note Tuesday - wack job neighbor edition



Ugh..I can't believe I'm still awake...but the post-it calls.  These post-it's aren't up to my usual graphical standard, bite me.








Let's hope Scooter Dude doesn't read my blog...cause he knows where I live.

All about ME meme



with MommyBrain and SupahMommy



It's been said that a picture is worth 
a thousand words.

Well, prove it.

Turn the camera on yourself ... post a self-portrait ...
a portrait of yourself created by yourself

or write a thousand words* about yourself
and use Wordle to create a word picture - so cool!
*give or take a few hundred

Your choice. 
____________________________________________________________


I am just loving this wordle thing.  I may publish all of my posts in this manner from now on...though it may have ramification on my readership.  Anyway, here is a Wordle about MOI!!

Friday, March 5, 2010

Dance Yer Bloggy Off



As most of you probably don't know, I am a dancing queen. Don't confuse my royal status with competancy however. In a moment if what I can only assume was drug alcohol sleep deprived dimentia I agreed be a part of Supahmommy and Shell's Just Dance yer bloggy off contest and to film myself dancing and post it here on my blog. Since I an a woman of my word. I'm actually going to do it. Without further ado, here it is.....












My kids and I have been having a BLAST with this game.  The three year old, 7 year old and I can all play together.  We haven't been able to get my hubby to play yet, but I think he plays in secret after everyone is in bed.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Universal Template

I've posted another new template. This one is a bit more involved that Floralia. Please check it out here and let me know what you think.












- Posted by Krista from my iPhone

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

WIMTS Wednesday




When my kid dumped a whole cup of red jello on the carpet and I said "oh...that's okay. Just be more careful." what I meant to say was "HaHa!! Do it again. Well show your daddy why we should get hardwood floors"



When found out that the Macaroni kids for Fairfax publisher mom job had been taken what i said was "oh, darn. I should have jumped on that earlier." what I meant to say was "g--dammit! I am kicking myself for missing out on that. I can't believe that I didn't snatch that up. I should have contacted Supahmommy and signed up as soon as I got the chance."


Tuesday, March 2, 2010

New Blogger Template

I whipped up a new template.  It's a little more subdued than my usual, but stranger things have happened.  Check it out