The Facts of (Stock) Life

FACT: We are not cupcake people.

Lots of people seem to be nowadays. I think there's a new little cupcake shop in every strip mall. If all that was offered for dessert was cupcakes, Mike would just go without (till we got home anyway). Cake is so much easier - and cheaper!

FACT: I was out of the habit of being productive for way too long.

I blame the pregnancy, but I'm pretty sure it was coming on before then. Really, my laziness was embarrassing. I now have a daily checklist to get through each day. Productivity = happiness. And I think Mike likes me better, too.

FACT: All synonyms at dictionary.com for productivity mean "fertility."

Yeah.....um, I think I still hold to the previous equation.

FACT: Doing laundry makes me motion sick.

I had to lay down for a long time after packing up all of Trey's "old clothes." It's usually not that bad.

FACT: Lots of things make me motion sick.

In the picture on my header I was actually really sick. I had wasted a half week in Denmark getting over plane sickness to get on a boat and become even sicker (hence the soup). I wonder what life would be like without it.

FACT: Mike and I are best friends.

He told me so. It's just the greatest thing.

FACT: Mopping angers me because of the mop streaks left in the wake.

Natalie likes to laugh at my mopping routine, but mop lines drive me crazy. PLEASE teach me how to get rid of them.

FACT: Every time a blogger says, "I'm making my blog private," there is a blog somewhere that falls down dead.

For real. Sure, you get a VIP spot in my sidebar so I can access you, but I only remember to get to those once every three weeks or so. And who wants to comment at that point?

FACT: Trey eats. Many things.

Yellow flowers

Pink flowers (these are not as good, apparently)

Toes

Spoons

Plums

Uno Cards

FACT: I love having fresh flowers to decorate with.

Love love love. Still have some of my birthday flowers out.

FACT: The digital library is the best thing.

I download and listen to books all the time. Really works along great with the being productive thing. Oh and with having a momma's boy.

FACT: This picture makes my teeth tingle just wanting to eat up those thighs.

I have long been of the opinion that the most beautiful instrument in the world is the male voice. (human, of course) There are lovely horns and strings and piano melodies. Women can inspire and Kenny G. can play every sexy Christmas tune, but none of that can fill you like a gentle baritone cadence.

My Michaelhusband sings. He sings beautifully. He sings in a way that turns me to butter every time I hear it. He once sang "On the Road Again" at a family reunion and it caused my heart to flutter right out of my chest. It would have had the same effect on the other girls if they hadn't all been blood.

In fact, at that time when I was planning to marry someone else I thought of how it meant that he would never sing to me again, and it ripped my heart (have you ever felt that? I was experiencing a lot of that those days). And then I imagined that he would find another girl and would sing for her, and it ripped my heart again. That is one reason I knew my answer - it brought me to the ground to think of him singing for any one else.

Mike has been invited to sing in the performance of Lamb of God by Rob Gardner that will be presented at Gammage Auditorium on September 9th and 10th. The description from Spire Music:

  
Lamb of God is a sacred musical work for choir, orchestra and soloists focusing on the final days of the life of Jesus Christ, His Atonement and Resurrection. It is written as a dramatic work and presented in concert format. It uses as its basis, and much of its text, the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and especially John, as found in the King James version of the Holy Bible.

 This inspiring piece is something you do not want to miss. Tickets are $10-$20, so totally doable even on a tight budget. Grab some tickets through Spire Music.

Autumn Inspiration

All holidays are great (we'll take any holiday we can get), but the most anticipated holiday in our house is Halloween. Is this funny in a religious household? There's nothing really special or meaningful to Halloween, yet still, aside from sports, it, and all the festivities that come along, is one of the most discussed topics in the Stock home.

I have costumes that I have brainstormed since this time last year - that's right, I begin planning next year's Halloween before current year's is even passed. Party ideas and motifs run through my head year-round, and then daily as we get closer to the big day. Oh what? You didn't know about our Halloween party??

It's true. This October 2011 will mark the Stock's 2nd Annual Halloween Bash (one of these years we'll think of a cool name for it). We went all out - or, as far as we could with the budget we had - for the first, and it was loads of fun. We had pirates and superheroes and princesses and M&Ms and psychos and Russians and old people and bandits and bugs, and even a blind referee and his trusty robot friend:

(Blind Referee is actually Connie's boy)

And please take a moment of silence for the time, blood, and sweat (not to mention lost pins) put into this amazing mummy costume (minus the head piece that makes him slightly scary):

Sadly, Mike didn't let me tea die it for a more authentic look, but I'm pretty proud of how awesome it looks for having been made on short notice.

At this point, we're pretty amateur Halloween party throwers, but the idea is to get better and better with each year, and we've definitely got a lot planned for this one. And though our budget doesn't allow for every idea to come to fruition, we put them back into the pot for future years. (I totally plan to pull off the bathroom this year, so watch out. And Mike hopes to really make a scare with his carport haunted house again - but for real this time.)

But speaking of limited party budgets, wouldn't it be awesome to have some help in that area? And not just help there, but with the decor as well? Have any of you heard of Autumn with Matthew Mead? A GREAT magazine - definitely getting an issue for inspiration. Bloggers from around the sphere have given their best input, and you'll probably recognize some of your favorites. 

Autumn with Matthew Mead is hosting a giveaway for $250 gift cards for autumn decorating right now (holy how far that would go for us!) to get the word out about their genius "book-azine." Follow my links to go check them out and order your own issue!

(Oh yeah and come to our Halloween party!)

Where I Been At

What have I been up to so far this week?

1. Finishing out some work stuff. It really shouldn't be so hard for me to get it all done with just one kid, but for some reason it is. It's like trying to work with kryptonite in my pocket.

2. Cleaning up lots of baby vomit. Yay vomit!

3. Being sufficiently nauseous myself.

4. Eating a holy number of ice cream snickers bars (after the nausea passed, of course). Why oh why did I buy those?

5. Getting really sad about the violence across the pond. Yay violence! (not really yay, but every time I hear any "v" word I'm reminded of a Fairly Odd Parents episode and automatically "Yay v-word" goes through my head.)

6. Pining after running trails.

7. Talking to lots of inspectors and insurance people.

8. Getting to know my cool new phone.

9. Catching up on Glee Project. Quite honestly, I am not a huge fan of Glee. It is a zero percent accurate portrayal of high school and pretty much just promotes teen sex. Plus, 3/4 of the show is, "I'm gay so no one likes me." Really, we get it; you don't have to say it again every week. But anyway, Esther friend mentioned The Glee Project one day and, truth, it's so much more entertaining than the series. Yes, the kids are so dramatic and some extremely annoying, but at least I can get through an entire episode. Also, this line:

"The back of my neck says 'Jesus Christ.' Seriously."

10. While on the topic of shows, not watching Prison Break. We are not on speaking terms. Really, why would you kill off the love interest?? Kill the boy! But then you think up some retarded reason that she really didn't die later because you realized your mistake in killing her off in the first place? I hate you. Plus, I was getting too attached to Scoffield. I don't believe in that.

11. This:

Speaking of which, I've gotta get back to that.

Crappy Housewife

Has everyone met Rebecca Black's hot, blonde, Norwegian older step-sister?

Catchy.

Oh the Joys

I've heard it said that every seven years or so our bodies go through a chemical change. Over the years I have used this idea to excuse away things I can't explain. "Oh I must be going through a chemical change."

It works.

Now pregnancy actually is a chemical change, and one that, for me, entailed going through puberty...again. SO MUCH FUN, right?

I'm not being completely straight with you. My first time through puberty consisted of: getting boobs.

That's it. I kept my perfect skin (I don't consider freckles flaws), colorless leg hair, and ability to go days without washing my hair or even sweating or smelling at all.

This was all just dessert, though, for having lived for YEARS as the most awkward and creepy little girl to ever ungrace the earth, and - get this - without even knowing it.

Proof:

The horrible

hideous

proof

Just desserts, I tell you. And be glad I spared you all The Bob Cut of Seventh Grade.

Unfortunately, with pregnancy all of that changed. It's like fate looked over my records and gasped, "Whuuuuht?!" And then proceeded to bless me with all I had missed out on initially. On came the acne. On came the nasty hair. On came having to remember deodorant (it's hard). The injustice!

I feel like awkward, preteen Shirley all over again. Everything looks and feels funny on me. I'm sitting inside strange skin. Is this just how post-pregnancy feels? Bleh.

I have noticed many women that hit that 25-35 range and just blossom, becoming more vibrant and beautiful each year. I'm hoping to bypass this second puberty quickly and turn out like them.

Let's play a little "I Spy" with those pictures. 5 points for finding each on the list:

hideous braided belt

what in the flower on the hat?

winnie the pooh garb

3 pairs of overalls

checkered shorts

6 unfortunate sets of bangs

little katie guest appearing in each one