Random Thoughts

*When I was looking over my Stat Counter this morning, I noticed that someone came to my blog by Googling the phrase, Why can't Jehovah's Witnesses wear deodorant? I found this quite funny. I don't know where that person got their information, but to clear up any confusion, they can wear deodorant. If you know a Witness who doesn't, that is their own personal choice.

*Right now there is a toilet in the middle of my living room.

Jay is laying tile in the bathroom off of our living room. But he's also working the usual 40+ hours this week, so the project is getting done in his free (HA!) time. I'm trying not to be a total bitch about a toilet being in the middle of my living room, but I have to admit it's making me cranky. (In other words, I'm being a total bitch about a toilet being in my living room.) I do appreciate the sign he put on it though...you know, just in case someone mistakenly thought they could use the toilet in the middle of the living room.

*I made new curtains for the bedroom.

Our bedroom window is freakishly sized so the three yards of fabric I bought wasn't enough to make these as full as I wanted. The panels are flatter/straighter. But the colors in the fabric match the room perfectly and it brightens everything up a bit. So even though they ended up not coming out exactly as planned, I still love them.

*Sticking to the No New Clothes Resolution, I went to Goodwill yesterday and bought some new-to-me shirts.Three new shirts = $10. Which wasn't put on a credit card.

*Not sticking to the No New Clothes Resolution, I bought this shirt for JayI broke the rules just this once, because I really wanted Jay to have this shirt.

Did you know that Jehovah's Witness men aren't supposed to have beards? While it isn't expressly written anywhere that it's forbidden, beards just don't fit the Witness idea of clean and neatly groomed. (Gosh, that all seems so silly to me now.) Anyway, Jay has been working on his beard for a while. It's not a creepy ZZ Top beard, more of an Al Gore beard. I originally saw the shirt over at Design is Mine. It was bought from The Bold Banana.

*The kids and I made some homemade Ugly Dolls.Idea and links for this project can be found over on The Crafty Crow.

Beginning to Tell the Past

I mentioned I was reading I'm Perfect, You're Doomed: Tales from a Jehovah's Witness Upbringing. I also mentioned that, having been one of Jehovah's Witnesses, I can relate to a lot of what the author talks about.

I've been wanting for so long to write about that part of my life but every time I sat down to do so, my head would start spinning, my stomach got knotty, and I felt like throwing up. There is so much I want to say, so many stories to tell....but I don't know where to begin. I don't know if I should write the sad things or keep it funny. Honestly though, no matter how funny I try and make it seem now, so much about it was sad. I can only spin it so much.

I'm going to tell this in the best way that I know how, and I'm going to start in a very random way. Today I'm just giving you snippets, but I may eventually go into more detail. I'm not real sure where I'm going with this. I'm going to mix in facts about the organization with my own personal experiences. My personal experiences are just that, personal experiences.

*I was born and raised one of Jehovah's Witnesses. I'm not now and haven't been one in a while. I haven't gone into a Kingdom Hall (church) in about a year. But in my heart, I haven't been a Witness for even longer than that. Before I quit going altogether, I had what I can only describe as mini panic attacks whenever I would get ready to go. I felt like a truck had landed on my chest and I wanted to cry. Eventually, it just became too much and I stopped. I never plan on going back. There are many specific reasons why I left, but simply put, I just no longer believe what they believe.

*My mom is no longer one of Jehovah's Witnesses. My father is. If he were ever to find this blog, he would be forced by the religion and his own conscience, to never speak to me or my family again. Writing my opinions about the religion makes me the most evil of sinners. Essentially, I would be dead to him. I'm taking a risk. But sometimes you just need to say what you need to say and there is no other way around it.

*Jehovah's Witnesses don't celebrate holidays. No Christmas, Thanksgiving, birthdays, etc....I've never celebrated a holiday in my life. This past Valentines Day I sent in candy/cupcakes/valentines for each of the kids' class parties. If I were to believe what I had been taught my whole life, God now hates me.

*I don't know if I'll ever really celebrate holidays. The idea is foreign to me. Within a family, I think that so much about holidays is tradition based. I have no such traditions. Although Jay celebrated holidays as a kid, his childhood wasn't all that great and he doesn't really have any fond memories. Essentially, we would be starting from scratch. The idea is daunting. (Having said that, we love the Thanksgiving/Christmas season. We love cooking and being with our family. It's a beautiful time of year.)

*Jehovah's Witnesses believe they are the one true religion. Yeah, I know all religions believe that, but they really, really believe it. This is why they go knocking on doors and handing out copies of The Watchtower and Awake--they don't want to just convert you, they want to save you.

*As a kid, I had my Jehovah's Witness friends and my "worldly" friends. Time with my "worldly" friends was limited because they were considered "bad associates." Besides, when Jehovah brings an end to the world and destroys the wicked, they'd be gone anyway so why bother making friends? (Ironically, my oldest, dearest friend, was one of the "worldly" girls. She is amazing. I love her to death and am forever thankful that she's always been in my life.)

*Jehovah's Witnesses are only to marry "within the Lord" aka other Jehovah's Witnesses. Also, we were to date only with the sole purpose of getting married. There was no casual dating and (obviously) no sex before marriage. I knew a lot of people who got married very, very young. I know a lot of people who got divorced within a year or two of marriage. I also know a lot of people who stayed unhappily married for decades because they thought that was what God wanted.

*My first real date was with a man from the congregation. I was 19. He was about 25. We went to Perkins with about eight elderly people, our chaperones. When I ordered a Belgian waffle with whipped cream, the old lady next to me told me that my skin would clear up if I cut back on the sweets. I never went out with that man again.

*Although Jay later became one of Jehovah's Witnesses, he wasn't one when I met him and doesn't consider himself one now. When I married Jay, I was only 20. He was the first man I loved, the first man I kissed, the first man I had sex with. To this day, I still like him, I still love him and I don't regret marrying him. There are times I wonder if I've always been a really good judge of character and even at 20 I knew what I wanted---or did I just get really fucking lucky? Possibly a little of both.

I think that's all I want to divulge about this at the moment. I definitely plan on talking about this more, as I feel comfortable, but it is in no way going to be the main theme of my blog. That would just bring me down way too much and it isn't my style to be serious for so long. As always, comments are of course welcome and so are any questions.

Purple

Today is purple day, and also it's the last day of Betts' color week. I've loved doing this project. I find myself noticing color everywhere. I'm definitely going to revisit this idea again because I think it makes me more aware of my surroundings.

Now here are some purple items:

*Purple Calculator This stays on our desk, always within arms reach when I need to pay bills or balance the checkbook. I hate numbers and really suck at math. I'd be lost without a calculator.

*Taggie BlanketThe girl loved her Taggies when she was a baby. She has this big one and then a few smaller ones for carrying around. I used to hook her pacifier holder to them for easy access. I was a little bit sad when she stopped needing her Taggies.

*Buttons and RibbonA few months back I received a Tupperware bowl filled with buttons off of Freecycle. I'm sure I will never use them all but sometimes I just take them out and look at them, sort them, etc. Is that weird?

*Two Things I'm Wearing TodayI love Tom's lavender deodorant, and the tee shirt underneath is one of the few I own without holes, my "fancy" tee shirt. Next time I decide to make a New Years Resolution to not buy any new clothes for a year, remind me to stock up on tee shirts. I wear them often and wear them out quickly. Plus, finding decent used tee shirts at thrift stores is next to impossible. I have to admit though, that there is something gratifying about wearing clothes until they, quite literally, fall apart.

Random Thoughts

*One of my cats has worms. I just spent $14 plus shipping on 3 tiny pills. But what choice did I have? Worms!

*My mom and her husband are separating. As most of you know, they both live with us. Pretty soon, one of them no longer will. Although it's something that has been on the horizon for a while now, it's still upsetting. It has been very, very weird around here lately. I wish I could slip into a coma and have someone wake me when it's all over.

*Right now I'm reading a book called I'm Perfect, You're Doomed: Tales from A Jehovah's Witness Upbringing by Kyria Abrahams. It's very funny and I can totally relate. I used to be one of Jehovah's Witnesses. I've never really talked about that here but I probably will soon. I feel I'm almost ready.

*I waited for the new season of 24 for a really long time, and I'm disappointed because I'm just not that into it this year. I still want a Jack Bauer doll though:

*Last night my husband was reading one of the sports blogs he frequents. The article was about a football player named Marshawn Lynch, who was recently arrested. As he was scrolling through the comments he found this gem, (which was in no way doctored by me):

"what marshawn lynch did was retarded why the hell did he have a gun in his trunk anyway besides the bills are not a bad team and because we have fred jackson as buffalos back up fred taylor would be a good addition to the buffalo offense. besides the patriots are cheaters and they suck monkey balls"

Oh where to begin? I love everything about it! Very little punctuation! No capitalization! Monkey Balls! Plus, I know the person who wrote it probably pronounces "retarded" as re-tah-ded. I laugh every time I read it.

Green

Today is green day. Green is my son's favorite color and as I've gotten older I've grown to like it more. It has an earthy feel that other colors don't have.

Here are a few bits of green around my house:

*Shoes left outside. It appears that she just walked right out of them.
*Sadie's green collar and stuffed toy.
*Green items from the boy's room. *Brobee from Yo Gabba Gabba:The girl loves that psychotic show and has stuffed versions of all the characters. If, for some reason, she can't find them, she runs through the house yelling, "Where are my Yo Gabba Gabba's?!" It's delightful.

*Finally, this picture of my daughter was taken last week when we were doing yard work. Tomorrow's color is purple.

Yellow

Today is yellow day. I thought orange was hard, but yellow was even more difficult. I really had to search, and here's what I found:

*Yellow service for one:(Long time readers may remember me first talking about this groovy set of plates here. )

*Thread and fabric:*Sand dollar earrings:These were given to me by a teacher I had various times throughout middle school. She was earthy and somewhat of an environmentalist. Of all the teachers I had, she is one of the few that made an impression on me and that I remember fondly. These earrings are ridiculously fragile so I never wear them, but I plan on keeping them forever.

*Children on the cover of The Gashlycrumb Tinies:The Gashlycrumb Tinies is a deliciously gruesome ABC book about children meeting their death in slightly humorous ways. If you don't want to spend $9 for a book that takes 30 seconds to read, it can be read in its entirety here.

Tomorrow is green day.

Orange

Today is orange day. I was a little scared about this one at first because off of the top of my head I couldn't think of anything orange in our house. We live in Gainesville-home of the Florida Gators-orange is everywhere in this town. I got sick of it pretty quickly after moving here and don't invite it into my house too often.

I was able to find a few orange(ish) items though:

*Throw pillows on my bed:

*Toys:
*Vintage matchbook:

*Bracelet:

*The cover of the book I'm reading:Every time the girl sees this book she asks me why the man is naked. The boy asked me if I was reading porn. Yeah, like I read porn in the middle of the day.

Tomorrow is yellow day.

Red

Unlike Betts, I don't have a lot of red around my house. The red that does exist around here is usually located in the kitchen where the light is of the poorest, most unnatural quality. And I'm not about to carry my tea kettle around the house looking for proper lighting.

Here are some red items I was able to find:

*Skirt for the girl made from Olivia fabric:I usually stay away from clothing with licensed characters on it, but Olivia's cute and she's been a favorite around here since the boy was little. (Fabric can be bought at this etsy shop)

*Toys:(I really need to sweep the floors in my daughter's room.)

*Delicious heart-shaped candy (now half-off at The Fresh Market):*Yoga Ball:This is my second yoga ball. The first one met an untimely death when it rolled against my bedroom wall, which you may remember, used to be spikey.

Tomorrow is orange day, which should be very, very interesting.

Blue

Betts over at Damn Yankee is feeling inspired by color and for the next week or so is doing some color related posts. I love this sorta thing so of course I invited myself to play along. Fortunately, Betts doesn't mind.

Today's color is blue.

*A Blockbuster envelope containing an uncracked version of the movie I wanted to watch the other night:*Menorah lamp from the boys room. (We aren't Jewish, but he likes Jewish culture):*Gnome sheets:These sheets were truly a great deal. I bought them on clearance at Target two years ago for $6.98 a set. I couldn't believe the price. I guess no one else was motivated to buy flannel sheets in Florida in July.

*Fabric swatch and paint samples for decorating ideas for my mom's room:

*Beauty products on my awful 1980's blue bathroom counter top:

*Finally, the most exciting blue item in my house right now:Blue baseboards waiting to be put in my room. Thanks to the IRS depositing my tax refund in a somewhat timely manner, I didn't have to live too long without baseboards in my bedroom.

Tomorrow's color is red.

Things I'm Into Right Now

*Important Things with Demetri Martin

So random. So funny.

*Azaleas finally blooming:

*Days breezy enough to line dry almost three loads of laundry.

*Pants made for the girl from old clothing. (Inspiration and directions for this project can be found here, here and in this book.)

*Watching Bailey sleep. She takes it to an all new level. She finds a sunny spot and stays there for hours. It makes me wish I had a hammock. And a lot of time.

What Really Grinds My Gears :: Part One

Did you ever see the episode of Family Guy when Peter Griffin has a segment on the local news about stuff that pisses him off and it's entitled What Really Grinds My Gears? You haven't? Well, lucky you for having a life outside of television. As for me, I've seen it at least a dozen times and I've decided to steal Peter's idea and occasionally/semi-regularly post about some stuff that is pissing me off. Instead of focusing on one thing that is bothering me though, my segment will be in list form because lists are easy and picking one idea and expanding on it, well......that would just really grind my gears. (Oh, and I can't take total credit for this idea, Mari helped.)

What Really Grinds My Gears:

*Finding out on Sunday that the one celebrity you have a major crush on hosted Saturday Night Live the previous night. (Thank goodness for video clips on NBC.com.)

*Lipstick being left in a jeans pocket and not being found until you open the dryer and notice everything inside is red.

*Losing a really expensive lipstick by leaving it in your jeans pocket and then washing and drying those jeans. (Okay....technically this one should be on my mom's version of What Really Grinds My Gears. *ahem*)

*Expecting the IRS to direct deposit your refund on a certain day and then calling the bank and not finding it.

*Having a DVD from Blockbuster.com sitting on your desk for almost three weeks waiting to be watched. When you finally get the time to watch it on one dull Saturday night, you open the envelope and the DVD has a giant crack down the middle.

*Realizing that had you watched the above mentioned movie, it would have ended right around 11:30, and you probably would have watched Saturday Night Live.

*Realizing your subscription to Blockbuster.com has not paid for itself at all this month.

A Short Update On Books

As you may remember, I set a goal to read thirty-five books this year, that number being knocked down from last years fifty. Although I reached fifty, I wanted to spend more time enjoying the books I read, and not just plowing through them to meet the goal. At this point, I've read eleven books already and I'm well on my way to reaching my goal.

Admittedly though, my book choices so far have not been brain stretchers. It's been hectic here--Jay's worked weird hours, my mom's had some personal stuff she's been dealing with, the kids have been, well...kids. In general, life has just seemed a bit harder lately. So when I have the time to read I've wanted something mindless. (Foxtrot anthologies anyone?)

In my defense, I intended to read real literature. A few weeks ago my best friend Dawn and I decided that we should read some classics together. (As "together" as two people 300 miles apart can be.) Our first (and probably last) choice was Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. Neither of us has read it and we figured since Bella in Twilight is always going on about it, it must be great. I got about 15 pages in before I gave up. Sadly, I just didn't get it. And I was tired of looking up words in the dictionary. I'm still not sure what a penetralium is. And the words I did know, were used in a context other than what I was used to. For instance, ejaculation. As in, ".....his pious ejaculation had no reference to my unexpected advent." What? When I mentioned this to Dawn she said, "Yeah, there does seem to be an awful lot of ejaculating for such a boring book." So my copy of Wuthering Heights sits on my nightstand waiting to be returned to the library while I deal with the realization that I'm dumber than Bella.

Right now I'm reading Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips, which is about Greek gods living in modern day London. So far I'm enjoying it. Plus, I'm reading Midnight Sun, which is part of the Twilight saga. Specifically, it is Twilight, just from Edward's point of view. But it's only available through Stephenie Meyer's website and I have a hard time reading anything on the internet that is longer than blog length so it's taking me a while to get through.

Next up, I'll be reading Coraline. I'm incredibly anxious to read this since I've never read any of Neil Gaiman's books and I've heard great things about this one. Honestly, I would have started it already but I'm waiting for my son to finish what he's reading so we can read it together. I hope he enjoys it.

So there you have it--a little update on what I've been reading lately. As usual, you can always follow along with what I'm reading this year by clicking over to Goodreads. Just be warned there is nothing very scholarly on my list at the moment.

Cupcakes

Normally when I make cupcakes they turn out a little on the ugly side. I'm sort of a pig so I usually end up filling the pan with so much batter that, once baked, it has exploded out the top of the cupcake wrapper. Also, because I'm an impatient pig, I always frost them too soon and the frosting melts down the sides of the cupcake. In short, they taste good enough, but I'm usually disappointed by how hideous they are.

But today I acted like a grown up and did things properly. Check these beauties out:These are for a certain preschoolers class party and I have 25 of them in my refrigerator waiting to be taken to school on Friday. Every time I walk by the kitchen, I'm struck with the urge to open the refrigerator door and stare at them, marveling at the fact that they aren't malformed.

The cupcake recipe is this one. (minus the walnuts)
The frosting is the usual combination of cream cheese, confectioners sugar, and a splash of lemon juice.

Farm to Family :: February

This past Saturday, my family and I drove out to Alachua for this months Farm to Family Music Concert. There's a show every month around the time of the full moon. This month we planned in advance to go, since we knew our favorite local band, The String Kings would be performing.

The atmosphere at the farm is beyond relaxing. There are plenty of wide open spaces for the kids to run in and be free-range, the vegetarian food is always tasty and organic, and best of all, no one at the farm is worried about their image or how they're dressed. In fact, I usually find that I'm overdressed, you know, because I have footwear.

I didn't take too many pictures this time. Honestly, I didn't do much of anything while I was there other than drink an organic coffee and a few beers. But I do want to share the photos I did snap:

The girl dancing with Cheetos:The girl blowing bubbles:My mom, the girl, and our friend Dave:Dave's gothic wardrobe always makes my tee shirts and chinos look very, very boring.

The moon over the stage:

The girl took this one of Jay eating a bowl of soup and it makes me smile every time I see it:I think that the odd lighting combined with the plaid shirt makes Jay look like some sort of God of the Lumberjacks.

I'm a city girl at heart-the bigger the city, the happier and more at ease I am. Yet, I look forward to our periodic trips to the farm. It's the perfect antidote to the overstimulated feeling I sometimes have.

Breaking Dawn

About two weeks ago, I finished reading Breaking Dawn, the fourth book in the Twilight series. Normally when I complete a book, good or bad, I have to fight the urge to turn on the computer and write about it immediately. That hasn't been the case this time. In fact, I've been avoiding writing about it. I have so many mixed feelings about this book that the thought of putting them down in writing was incredibly overwhelming to me, but here I go........

(Some details about the book will be revealed, so read at your own risk.)

In the beginning of the book Bella and Edward get married and go on their honeymoon. It's on the honeymoon that Bella becomes pregnant with her crazy-weird, half human-half vampire baby. This basically sets the stage for everything that is going to happen in the book and here is where some of my issues with it begin:

*It really bugs me that Bella and Edward didn't bother to use some type of birth control. I know they're married so in Stephenie Meyer's mind they don't have to and I know that they didn't think Bella could get pregnant but the fact that we're dealing with the unknown and Edward being a Vampire and all, I would have made him wrap it up. Call me a prude.

*Edward, Carlisle, and most of the other vampires want to terminate the monster pregnancy, because they think it will end up killing Bella. Bella wants nothing to do with this idea and insists she's keeping her baby. I really feel like this is a thinly veiled anti-abortion message and I think the story would have been fine without it. Especially because the baby does end up killing Bella, and that is when she begins her transformation into a vampire, which we all know is what she wanted all along. It's as if the author is saying, "Look, Bella kept her baby and her life turned out exactly as she wanted it to." I really don't care what someones views on the abortion issue are, I just don't want a morality lesson from a fluff novel.

*They name the baby Renesmee. Um, yuck. Stephenie Meyer has said that she did a lot of research trying to find a name for "the most unique baby in the world" but no "human" name worked for her so she had to make up a name. I really wish she hadn't.

*When werewolf Jacob sees Renesmee, he imprints on her. Barf. Frankly, the whole idea of imprinting has kinda turned my stomach from the beginning but my nausea is exacerbated by the fact that he imprints on an infant. For those unfamiliar with the term, imprinting is something a werewolf does when he finds the love of his life. In the case of someone underage, it starts out with the werewolf just wanting to make sure that the other person is always happy and safe, but it is assumed that eventually the relationship will become romantic. Yeah, barf.

As much as I despised parts of the story, I didn't hate the book as a whole. I thought the last 250 or so pages were really interesting, at times even stressful, and they kept me on the edge of my seat. It's just that the first portion of the book was more about tying up loose ends and explaining things, than it was about building any kind of story. Which, in a way, is nice because I do feel like this book brought a sense of closure to the whole tale, it just didn't offer me the escape from reality I had when I read the first three books. I didn't quite feel like I was part of that world anymore.

A few weeks ago I read a news article where Stephen King said that he didn't think Stephenie Meyer was a very good writer. I would have to partially agree. I don't think Meyer is good at character development at all. I love Edward, yet I don't think I could name ten facts about him or really describe his personality. There just is nothing there. On the other hand, this is also what I loved so much about the other books---everything is so vague that it's easy to step into the world and get lost in the story. Unfortunately, in her effort to try and package everything neatly in Breaking Dawn, she lost sight of her true gift of creating places to lose yourself in and I was left feeling like an outsider.

Interview

There is a project circulating through blog land that encourages us to interview each other. When Kashoan asked if anyone was game, I willingly and eagerly volunteered. I thought I'd feel like a celebrity...what could be more fun? But then I got scared. Obviously I don't mind writing about myself--if I did I wouldn't have a blog in the first place. But I am used to having more control over what I write about. Fortunately, Kash didn't hit me with anything too personal.

1. It took me forever to think of a name for my blog. Where did your blog name Irregular Tammie come from?
I had no idea what to call my blog because at the time I started it I had no clear vision as to what I'd write about and I've never been good at labeling myself. I knew it would be part kid/family, part celebrity silliness, part crafty/homemaker, and of course my occasional complaints about life. Eventually I settled on Irregular because there would be no regular topic of discussion. Honestly, there are times I hate it and think of changing it but I'm too lazy.

2. If you could have an entire day to yourself what would you do?
I would want to be alone for the day. Probably in a hotel room so I wouldn't be tempted to do laundry and housework. I'd read and work on my sewing and watch 30 Rock on dvd. Maybe I'd meet my husband for drinks.

3. I noticed that you follow a lot of blogs. What makes a blog worth following to you?
I read too many blogs. I definitely like to read about what people create. It's so inspirational to me. I also like to read blog posts about books. I love it when I stumble upon a blog that is discussing a book I've read....it can become like an online book club. Oh, and food. I love to read about what people make in the kitchen.

4. In your interests you say that you stay in fancy motels on a roach motel budget. I'm all about saving $$$, so can you give us some pointers please?
I don't think I have any pointers unfortunately. I know we belong to a few travel loyalty programs but I don't know if we use them enough to really get any discounts. For us, hotels aren't just a place to crash at the end of the day, it's a huge part of the vacation, so we budget in the best that we can afford, even if it means only vacationing for two or three days, instead of a week or more. When I'm in a nice hotel room, I honestly don't have a care in the world. My dream is to one day stay at the Ritz-Carlton in NYC.

5. Name your top 3 hobbies. If you could only pick one hobby what would it be?
Yikes, this is a hard one. For most of my adult life, my time has centered around my kids and they were my hobbies. As I've gotten older I've realized how much happier I am when I have interests other than caring for the kiddies. I've been trying new things and seeing what I'm good at. I enjoy sewing and have gotten decent results with that, which thrilled me. I may try knitting again, who knows? The fun I've had sewing has motivated me to try new things. Oh, and I like wine. Can wine be considered a hobby?

So there it is. I hope I didn't reveal how boring I truly am. Thanks again Kashoan for taking the time out from all those Valentines Day corn bag orders to interview me. It was fun and not too frightening.

If anyone wants to play along, here's what you do:

1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. (I get to pick the questions).
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

(I promise not to ask personal questions about your sex life or past/present drug use. Unless that's what you want to talk about.....then this could really get interesting.)

Random Thoughts

I don't like to complain. Well, I don't like to complain here. I kinda enjoy you people and I worry that if I grumble too much in this spot, you won't keep coming back. But I'm feeling unmotivated lately and not quite sure how to pull myself out of the funk. I guess that means it's time for some randomness. I'll try to keep this from being too negative.

*I'm definitely tired of being sick. Most of my family has had head colds for almost a month now. Enough is enough. I'm tired of Halls and Day Quil. I'm tired of the smell of Vicks Vapor Rub. And I know that I'm not supposed to be totally disgusted by my children, but if I see one more green snot glob slide from my daughter's nose and into her mouth, I'm going to barf.

*I'm on day four of the 'no-shampoo' method of washing my hair. (I first heard about this from Peculiar Momma's Frugal Friday post but more info on it is here.) I'm surprised at how well it's working. Normally I feel like a total grease ball if I don't use shampoo. I'll keep you updated.

*I'm barely two months into my no clothes shopping/no credit card usage resolution and I really, really want to shop. I'm not going to though. Sigh.

*I've been trying to take some photos of my bedroom walls, but the natural light in my room isn't the best, not to mention the fact that it's been overcast here lately. I was able to take advantage of some morning sunlight and snap this one:I know this doesn't give you the full picture, but you're able to see the contrast of the yellow and blue that we chose. Plus, no more awful texture. My room is much more pleasant to be in now. I hope to make some new curtains soon. Because of the unmotivated way I've been feeling, right now I have no desire to even turn on the sewing machine or think about fabric. Hopefully soon though.

*Last night Jay ran out to get tea for me. I've been buying the cheap store brand stuff but Jay was kind enough to pick up some fancy tea for me. It's delicious.I'm sipping some from my grumpy face mug as I type this.

*Even though I only watched all of fifteen minutes of the Super Bowl, I was around at the time to see this commercial for Hulu.com.

Turns out, had I not seen it, it wouldn't have mattered too much since it was emailed to me the following morning by a friend. It's almost as if they know how obsessed I am.