Mariannes Motifs

Thursday Update

The weather is beautiful.  I want to get a Park Bench for my yard so I can sit out there and read while the kids run around and play.  Check out this site selling teak furniture.  They offer free shipping when you pay the price of the furniture and its all solid teak.  I love the way teak weathers to a beautiful silvery grey and it lasts forever even outdoors.

Its time to register Ben for Kindergarden.  His Preschool graduation is next week.  :::shakes head::: Preschool graduation???  Man, these kids have it crazy these days.

Adam is doing really well on his potty training, but he does not like doing the dreaded #2 on the potty.  He stays dry all night, but still stressing about that one aspect.  Paging Dr. Freud.   I know its just a matter of time and lots of great rewards and prizes and he will get it down.  Parenting by bribery is one of my favorite methods.  I mean "positive reinforcement."  Yeah, that's what I call it.

I was sick on Tuesday with a very bad migraine and crohn's flare up.  I am still flaring up and not feeling well but I am hanging in there.  We have some very large projects going on at work so my presence is mandatory right now.  I am taking my medicine and trying to get alot of rest at night.  Jin has been very supportive and helpful and the kids are such sweeties.  They kissed me on the forehead to make it feel better and gosh if it didn't work a little bit.

Happy Passover

Happy Passover!  My family are all together in Rochester having a seder.  Down here in GA, we are having a mini-seder. 

I found an interesting blog called The Jew and the Carrot, which is kind of a Jewish Eco Blog.  They have a post about Sustainable Passover Resources.  Cool, eh?  My mom has been growing her own horseradish for years, as a matter of fact once you plant it its pretty hard to get rid of.

Ugh Saturday Morning

I feel like I have been used as a trampoline.  First I have the dreaded migraine hangover from yesterday.  I had to cut up oranges for the soccer 1/2 time snack, find the soccer uniform, get everyone ready, and then drag everyone to where the team pictures were being taken.  Jin was super helpful by  hitting the boys on the head with the soccer ball.  He had worse behavior than the boys did.

Then Ben pushed some kid randomly and the "team mom" came over and chewed me out about it.  Thanks.  Really.  They chewed Ben out too, and after that he wandered around the field aimlessly, not really into it anymore.  I don't blame him.

They never called half time so I didn't get to hand out the oranges I slaved over cutting.  The assistant coach ran backwards into me and stepped on my foot.  Ouch.

Now I have to take Ben and the rest of the crabby family to a play date.  I hope we can muster up some social graces.  Cause I am TIRED.  It's Passover tonight and all I have the energy for is a roasted chicken with matzohs  on the side. 

I need a nap.

Birthday Hints

With the big 4-0 coming up in June, I would certainly consider diamonds to be an appropriate gift.  Remember, I like yellow gold.  Wink wink.

But really, I want a new telephoto lens for my Nikon camera for my birthday, so that's just a bunch of dreaming.  I also am saving up for an Adjust-A-Loom from DA Looms.  (Its a fancy knitting loom.)

I really find that if you scrimp and save for something you treasure it so much more.  So if you save save save for some very special things, they has alot more meaning for you than if you just impulse buy lots of stuff all the time.  These two items are my goal for the money I make on the blog and on ebay.

PayU2Blog is having a "Treasure Hunt" promotion in conjunction with Jewel Elegance, an online Jeweler. I blogged earlier about the Medical Alert bracelets they sell, but this contest is all about their diamond jewelry.  Yummy! 

What to do for Mother's Day

Every year I go through this process of trying to think of a unique and cool gift for my Mom and Mother in Law for Mother's Day.  I don't want to repeat what I have done before and want  to "top myself."  On the other hand I know that if I spend too much money my Mom will look askance at me as she is on a campaign for me to eradicate all debt and build savings for retirement.

I ran into this interesting site called Lightinthebox.com that sells wholesale priced merchandise from China.  I saw they had a Chi hair straighener for $19.61 - wow that is a cheap price.  I paid LOTS more for mine than that.  I won't even tell you for fear my Mom will read this post and yell at me for paying too much!

Here is a the resellerratings review of the site.  Its always a good idea to check these out before you buy online if you haven't heard of the store before.  They don't have alot of reviews yet so please caveat emptor.

Here is a pic of some pretty pearls they have for sale.

Georgia Renaissance Festival

Dare I try to take the kids to the Georgia Renaissance Festival? What a blast, to see the jousting, eat a Turkey leg, see the shows, shop.  This year they have a new horse riding show called the Royal Lipizzan Stallion show.  Sounds cool.

With all this Atlanta Pollen Count (today its a super super massive whopping 3243.)  So no, not today.  Today I will hide in the house and hope my air filter works.

Yes I said the pollen count is 3243!

Golfers are a whole other breed of crazy people and I see them out there on the links as I drive by River Pines, our closest public gold course where Jin likes to golf.  Since father's day is coming up I might am checking out some Cobra golf equipment.  You will not catch me golfing for love or money.  Jin is totally welcome to his "Guy time" out on there in the heat, running around after a tiny ball.  My idea of a good time does not include sweating, or whacking a ball with a stick.  But neither is Jin knitting or scrapbooking, so there you go.  There is really no explaining hobbies.  Everyone does something different and that is what makes the world an interesting place.

NYC Memory - Lunch on a Park Bench with Beverly Sills

Believe it or not, I have not been back to New York City in more than 10 years.  The last time I went was for a work trip when I worked for MetLife.  I actually worked in the landmark Metife building for one day - that was pretty cool.

When I was a kid we spent tons of time in NYC every year.  Spring vacations, summer vacations, Thanksgiving, all were times  to pile into the car and make the 8 hour drive from Rochester to Long Island where my grandparents lived.   Every trip to Long Island had to include a trip into "the City" to get some culture.  We loved the Museum of Natural History, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, MOMA (the Museum of Modern Art) no matter how many times we went. 

One of the other wonderful experiences I remember is seeing the City Opera in the Park in Central Park.  I was about 8 years old, eating lunch on a park bench nearby to where my grandparents and Cousin Gloria had their blanket laid out, and a lady sat down next to me.   She asked me if I had ever seen an Opera before, and some other questions, and said she worked with the Opera.  A little bit later my grandparents excitedly told me that I had just eaten lunch on a park bench with Beverly Sills.  (The famous Opera singer, and director of the City Opera!)

If you are looking for things to do in New York  or sightseeing tours, consider signing up for the Trusted Tours and Attractions newsletter.  (They also have lots of other cities, like Things to do in Boston)  If you sign up for the newsletter you will be entered into a giveaway they are having - you could win a handheld GPS.

Keeping Cool - A memory

When I was a kid, we didn't have any air conditioning in the house.  I grew up in Upstate New York, so it wasn't common to have A/C unless you lived in an apartment, or were really rich!  My mom had one window A/C unit in her room.  That was her one cool retreat. 

She liked it really dark in the house in the summer to keep things cooler.  She had roller shades on the windows, kept the shades down, curtains drawn, lights off, the whole works.  We tease my mom that she is a vampire because she's such a night person.  She loves to stay up late and sleep all morning.  Its common knowledge that you don't want to call Jeanette during the AM, or you run a serious risk of getting yelled at.

Mom and Dad have air conditioning now.  But now that I live in the South I have adopted some of my mom's cave dwelling style summer living.  It really does keep the house cooler if you shut the shades, and turn off the lights.  I am going to draw the line at sleeping in though, but believe me, if it wasn't for the alarm clock going off for work I might try that too!

We Need a Home Makeover!

I just entered this picture in the Renuzit TriScents Transform Your Home contest.  I seldom post pictures of the inside of my house (because its a total flippin' disaster)   :-)  Jin and I are both a couple of pack rats.  We try, I assure you to keep things under control, but sometimes you get something like this going on.  Well, since the winner of this contest gets a $20,000 home makeover I thought I would swallow my pride and post the worst photo I could find.

We Need a Home Makeover!

Let me explain some things about the picture above.  The reason there is a gas can in the living room is that it is full of water for the fish tanks.  Jin has 2 salt water fish tanks.  That's why the pitcher is there, too.  Jin was doing some fishy maintenance. 

Here's what I wrote for my essay.

Just take a look at these sad kids?  Can't you tell they have a messy living room with ugly furniture?  They need a makeover. The only thing they having going for them is at least it smells nice! I love a nice clean smelling home.  Even if its cluttery - its clean.

And yes, both our computer desks are in the living room.  I figure that way we can be messing around on our computers and still be together in the same room.  The kids toys are all in there too.  It's like a big rec room.  If I won this contest I would transform the room into a beautiful peaceful retreat, instead of a messy rec room.  It would finally look as good as it smells.

I really love air fresheners, so it was easy to enter this contest.  You either have to submit a video, or a photo and essay.  Be sure to follow the official rules since submissions are only eligible you upload video or a photo and essay, Explain and demonstrate why your home needs a makeover, and Explain how Renuzit TriScents can help you.

Spring is Coming

Spring is coming.   But we've been having the weirdest weather.  Friday it was in the 60s.  Saturday it snowed and was in the 30s.  Then today, Sunday, it was warm again.  My sinuses are still freaking out from all these crazy air pressure changes.

My Mom-In-Law made it in from Columbus, Ohio today after a grueling day traveling.  Her first flight was delayed due to weather delays from the storms yesterday, so she missed her connecting flight.  She is so happy to be here and the kids are just tickled pink to have their grandma here to stay for 2 weeks.  (Although Ben was kind of upset because he though Grandma Jeanette was coming and got a bit of a surprise when Grandma Lee showed up.  Oops!)

Here are some pictures I took today walking around the neigborhood with the boys.  As you can see, there are definate sings that spring is coming.

What? More Pictures?

Ok, I have to balance out the cheesy advertising with some good content that my mom and cousin Helene will approve of.  So here are 2 more pictures of the cute kids from last Saturday.  I am so glad I finally found my camera battery charger because I got some really cute pictures.  And I need to do a bunch of digital scrapping to catch up so I needed new pictures to get me motivated.

More Rive Park Pictures

Here are some more pictures from the river park last weekend.  It was so nice seeing the early signs of spring.  The trees are starting to bud, the river was a sort of green color (I hope that's good) and the birds were flying around.

The weather here has been so variable cold/ warm/ high pressure/ low pressure/ clear/ rain that my sinuses are popping like bubble wrap.  My poor head!

Cute Kids at the River Park

This is  a pretty typical picture of my two cute kids.  Mind you, I actually had to bribe them with the promise of ice cream to get this high quality "smiling and looking at the camera" shot.  Oh yes.  This here is some fine art portraiture if I ever saw it.

Cute kids post of the day

My cousin Helene has requested "more pictures of the kids" and I simply must comply with family requests.  Especially since I've gone all advertising crazy with the tacky ads.  Its time to get back to my roots and just let you enjoy my cute cute boys playing around with their Cadoo basketball game.

Curled negative frame freebie by Gunhild

Happy Birthday Ben

Three years ago I was having my first baby!  Happy Birthday Benjamin. 

Today Ben is having a little party at school (daycare) and we made goody bags for his friends.  On Saturday we will have cake and some friends over and give out presents.

Scrapbook graphic  Shabby Princess In the Groove / font ActionIs

Back from the Bat Mitzvah

We're back from our whirlwind trip ty my neice's Bat Mitzvah.  I am so proud of her!  Melanie did a wonderful job with her Torah portion and her commentary was wonderful!  What a brave, honest, and sweet youg woman she is.

Here are a few pictures I took during the weekend.  We have more on the 0ther camera that Jin was carrying, that I haven't even looked at yet.

Link to Photo Album with more pictures.