From Inmates to Playdates

Posts Tagged ‘Lists’

A random list of things I did not do since the last time we met up for Not Me! Monday.

1. When packing for our marriage enrichment seminar this past weekend, I did not forget to pack my pajamas because I made a list and I checked it twice daggonit.

2. I also did not sleep in a sweater because of the forgotten pajamas.

3. I did not discover that I had packed two bottles of deodorant for our weekend.

If you must go naked at night, then you should make sure you smell good. Right?

4. While playing the Newlywed Game at the marriage enrichment seminar, there is no way I blurted out an answer before McDaddy had a chance to give his answer because I always think before I speak and I never get ahead of myself. Ahem!

5. I did not send an e-mail to the jokers at Kelloggs Poptarts inquiring about why in the name of pete they would do away with their frosted chocolate vanilla cream poptarts because I never whine or complain about anything. Especially something as silly as poptarts.

6.  Ohno! I do not have a new boyfriend.

Shh. Don’t tell McDaddy!

7. I do not watch Olympic Figure Skating and dream about being graceful and beautiful on the ice because I am a klutz by nature and me + shoes = disaster. I can only imagine that me + ice skates would = traction. For that reason, I never slide around on our kitchen floor in my sock feet pretending to be a skater because I am a grown woman and that would be goofy.

8. My sweet four-year-old did not ask me what a “baby daddy” is because that is not a term we throw around here at the McResidence. But for the record, McDaddy is a wonderful Baby Daddy.

9. I never stay up way too late most nights searching for frivolous things on the internet because I am way more responsible than that. Nor do I ever contemplate purchasing a personalized novel the frivolous things for myself.

10. I did not just change my user name on Twitter from Inmates to JulieatInmates because I’ve had several people mistakenly assume that I am an ex-inmate, met an inmate and married him, or just really liked inmates.

For more Not Me! posts, click on over to MckMama’s place.

I’m packed.

The itinerary is printed.

I attempted (unsuccessfully, mind you) to complete the online personality instrument required for our strong-bonds marriage weekend.

Power-cords, laptop bag, and iPhone are packed.

Clothes for the boys are laid out.

Lists are completed for medicines, and breathing treatments.

The boys’ Valentines are packed and ready to take to Sunday School.

I am ready to spend an entire weekend with McDaddy. A glorious weekend.

A weekend free of wiping bottoms. A weekend free of taking someone to potty in the middle of the meal for pete’s sake. A weekend free of the words, stop, no, zip your lips, and yes, you have to eat your vegetables.  A weekend free of Lightning McQueen and his posse.

A weekend of learning more about myself and my sweet McDaddy.

A beautiful Valentine’s Day weekend with my Valentine.

See y’all on Sunday.

Tootles.

For this week’s edition of Works For Me Wednesday, participants are supposed to share a blogging tip.

I am going to offer a few tips that have worked for me!  And a few that work for me as a reader, too!

1. Your title, is um, vital. A few months ago, I wrote a post entitled Wet T-shirt Contest. That post has sent tons of visitors my way thanks to Google.  In addition to the whole Google title tip, I have to say that I am more apt to click on a catchy title than something ordinary. A catchy title is more apt to catch the attention of readers, especially if your post is featured on Blogher. I’ll click on a catchy title every. single. time.

2. Comment frequently – I’ve never met a blogger who didn’t welcome and appreciate comments. In addition to getting comments, it is important to GIVE comments. Commenting is a great way to make URL friends and I’ve found that responding to comments is a great way to engage with your readers.

3. Keep a running list – Sweet mercy, the list has saved me time and time again. I have so much running around in my head, the blog fodder often gets lost in the madness, so I’ve found that making a note of the idea is always a good idea.

4. Turn the music off – I’m not a big fan of a music box on a blog. When I’m reading a blog, the last thing I want to hear is some 80’s mess playing in the background. Or 90’s for that matter. It’s distracting to your readers if you ask me.

5. Post Links – When your daily dose of crazy involves watching an embalming, or your child swallowing a penny, you should link back to it every now and again. Visitors and new readers to your blog will enjoy older posts that perhaps they wouldn’t take the time to scroll through otherwise.

Thanks for stopping by From Inmates To Playdates! I hope you have a lovely Wednesday. Visit THAT familyfor more bloggy tips!

I thought about skipping the What I Learned This Week bloggy carnival because I thought y’all might be getting tired of me sharing my wealth of knowledge.

But then I remembered that Dancing With The Stars was coming on tonight and so I decided that yes, yes indeed, I would again be wowing you with all the stuff I learned this week while I watched the the season premier of one of my favorite shows.

So, here’s what I learned. In no particular order, of course.

1. When shopping the shampoo aisle for a cost-efficient shampoo/conditioner combination, you should probably pay close attention to the bottle that you put into your cart. If not, you might end up smelling like fresh refreshing menthol. Which might be fine if are suffering from some sort of respiratory infection and have lost the ability to smell. On the other hand, if there is nothing wrong with your smeller, you should discard the bottle, chalk the experience up to a lesson learned and find some new shampoo to take care of your hair needs.

And while I’m at it, can I just take this opportunity to say something to the people at Pert. You’ve made a huge mistake here, folks. The words fresh and refreshing and menthol DO NOT belong on a shampoo bottle.

2. Toy Story and Toy Story II is being shown as a double-feature for the next two weeks in 3D. Sounds like a great idea, but I wonder if my short attention span sweet boys might get bored watching two movies at one time?

3. If you order chocolate milk at the O’Charleys in Barboursville, West Virginia, you should know that your children will probably receive a cup of chocolate syrup with a hint of milk in it.

4. Donny Osmond is a better dancer than his sister, Marie.

5. Thankfully, the diesel pump is larger than the normal gas pump.

6. Agreeing to preside over the PTA at your son’s school could result in a big, fat headache if it happens to be the same year the school board decides to close a neighboring elementary school and send the 5th graders at both schools to Middle School the following year.

Seriously. Big. Fat. Headache.

7. When you arrive at a camp-site for a relaxing weekend with your fellers and you notice a railroad tie sitting crooked and cross-eyed and in the way, you should by all means move the stupid thing or else you will probably trip over it in the dark and maybe even shatter your knee cap.

8. Hopefully, my DVR is ready for a jam-packed Fall line-up because it is going to be a great season of TV.

9. Pandora is offering a buy 4 beads, get a free bracelet deal this month. That’s a great deal if you know anything about Pandora.

10. I like nice, round lists.

That’s all for this week! Thanks for stopping by.

Head over to Musings of a Housewife for more “What I Learned This Week” posts.

Some weeks I find myself frantically writing my “What I Learned This Week” post at the last possible minute.

Sort of like what I did in college a time or two.

Oh, Economics I hated you so!!!

Other weeks, (like this one) my entire “What I Learned This Week” unfolds in one day allowing me ample time to think, write, tweak and repeat.

Such was the case on Wednesday of last week.

You can learn a lot from me if you just stick around long enough.

1. Rubbermaid industrial trash-cans are equipped with a lock-the-lid-handle for a reason. Neglecting to use the lock-the-lid-handle could result in having to pick up trash that is turned over and strewn about all over the driveway.

*It’s important to note that if you and I were casually talking about this incident, I would have totally said the trash was ’strung’ out all over the driveway because that’s how I roll. I would never use the word strewn in general conversation. 

Just sayin’

2. Having to pick up trash that has been “strung out all over the friggin’ driveway” is likely to have you contemplating the purchase of a BB gun.

3. When you wait until the middle of the summer to purchase a bathing suit, there is a really good chance they will not  have the one you want in your size. The good news is that IF THEY DO HAVE IT IN YOUR SIZE it will probably be 50% off.

4. All but one Most bathing suits within a 40 mile radius of my house are halter-top style suits. While the halter-top style suit may look fabulous hanging on the rack, the ‘down to the belly button neck line” will most likely not provide ample coverage for ‘the girls’

5. When you arrive home after an hour long love fest at the newly-remodled Mart of Walls shopping for a bathing suit to discover the only key you have is the one to your van, it is imperative that you immediately go into your house through the basement door inside of the garage and unlock the front door ASSOONASYOUGETHOME. If you decide to water flowers and pull weeds first, your three-year-old couldlock the basement door leading into your home which will of course mean that both of you are locked out of the McResidence.

6. When you discover that you are locked out of your home, your first instinct SHOULD be to check all the windows and doors to see if by some chance or some miracle from God you have left one unlocked or open. Your first instinct should NOT be e-mailing your husband who is currently deployed in another country to ask if he has any suggestions.

7. Because when he immediately calls you on your cell phone and suggests that perhaps you should check all the windows and doors because just maybe you left one of them unlocked and then you reply that of course none of the windows or doors are unlocked because you are a responsible adult, you will feel like an idiot when you discover that yes, yes indeed, your sliding glass door is unlocked and probably has been that way the whole time you were on vacation.

8. That whole scenario will likely have you thanking God for his provision of sending you a husband who is not only hot, but a genius as well.

9. Leaving the sun-roof of your grocery getter van open in 85 degree temperatures will seem like a fabulous idea until you return to your vehicle after having lunch and burn your right thigh as your slide into your leather seat.

10. Having a day like this allows your “What I Learned This Week” post to write itself.

Oh, I love a nice, round list.

AND ONE MORE THING BEFORE I GO!

Yesterday, was a record setting day here at Inmates. Apparently being the first person to link to MckMama’s Not Me Monday post MEANS THAT YOUR DAILY VISIT TOTAL WILL SKYROCKET.

TO THE TUNE OF 1,008 visitors in a 16 hour period of time.

YOU CANNOT UNDERSTAND HOW EXCITED I WAS AM.

That’s it for this week, folks!

Be sure to stop by Musings of a Housewife for more lessons learned.

Oh, and my Arbonne give-away ends tomorrow. Go here to enter.

It’s Thursday.

And you know what ‘It’s Thursday” means.

Another lively edition of  “Thursday Thirteen!” This thing is winding down one week at a time – each week bringing usme one week closer to my sweet McDaddy returning home from a L-O-N-G-B-O-R-I-N-G deployment.

In the meantime, I fill my days as full as I can in an attempt to pass the time.

At this very moment, I’m sitting in my big, blue, bloggy chair with my laptop, a bag of gummy bears, DVR remote and my list of “V” words. In my purse, I keep a little notebook with a running list of more things than you would want to know about words for each letter of the week. Some weeks I have only three or four words on my list. This week, I have 15 words on my “V” list so I will need to trim it down as we go.

Enough rambling.

1. VEIL – Eleven years ago, I made a vow to love, honor and cherish McDaddy as long as we both shall live.  Unfortunately, I had no idea that in a few short years, women the world over would be wearing tiaras on their wedding day. Back in the day, this is the closest thing I could find to a tiara. I loved my veil.

2. VAN – My daily driver happens to be a Dodge Caravan. While it may not be the coolest ride in town, you cannot beat its versatility or the room that it affords. This is what my van looks like when someone accidentally leaves the key in the ignition in the engaged position (ahem!)

3. VEGETABLE – I love vegetables. My favorite vegetable would be mashed potatoes, but most of you would argue that mashed potatoes do not qualify as vegetables. I do love a good FRESH green salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, croutons, boiled eggs, shredded cheese, shredded carrots and creamy blue cheese.

4. VISION – I have better than perfect vision thanks to LASEK surgery in 2007. It is the best money I’ve ever spent. Over the past three days, I have threatened to poke my eyeballs out with forks because OHMYGOSHTHEYITCH! I’ll be thrilled when the pollen GETSTHEHECKOUTOFDODGE!

5. VIRGINIA – Back in the day when McDaddy and I were dating, we loved getting in the car and driving aimlessly until we found a great mall some new place to visit. More than once, we ended up in Virginia because it had a great mall we enjoyed the drive.

6. VISA – During our tour through Europe, I was surprised that no matter what country we were visiting or what the language was, there was always one word that knew no borders or language barriers. Visa was understood in every. single. store. we. visited.

7. VALENTINE – I love Valentine’s Day. There’s something about the red and the pink and the hearts and even the sappy cards, too!

8. VIOLIN – I think the violin is one of the worst sounding instruments on the planet EXCEPT when it is used in the country music industry.

9. VOICE – I come from a long line of loud. I talk loud. I laugh loud. I sing loud. Not that I can actually sing, but I enjoy singing. I happen to sing in Open Letter. As in OPEN up and LETTER fly!

10. VOLUNTEER – I spent many hours during high school volunteering for the American Red Cross. In 1991, I was a representative from the WV chapter to American Red Cross Leadership Camp. It was a great week and I met a lot of really cool people. I have stayed in contact with two of my friends from that year. (Hi Sara! – tell Tim I said, “Hi Howdy!”)

11. VACATION – As soon as McDaddy gets himself back to the great state of West Virginia, we will hit the road and spend some time in our Summer Home which happens to be sitting in my granny’s backyard as I type this post.

12. VANILLA - I think the vanilla scent should be outlawed. Vanilla candles, vanilla body spray and vanilla milkshakes. Um, no thank you.

13. VEHICLE – (You knew this was coming!) – My favorite vehicle is the Saturn Sky.

And, just because I like to shake things up a bit, take a look at this tough ride.

Notice, I said tough.

Not sexy.

The Saturn Sky is still the sexiest ride on the road.

———–

And, for those of you who have waited patiently about a question I posed to you last week regarding the name of this utensil.

I call this thing a turner.

McDaddy calls it a spatula.

A spatula looks like this

If you Googlize the word spatula and the word turner, you will undoubtedly find both of these items listed under both names.

Who knew?

———–

Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy your week!

I don’t normally post on Saturdays, but its late, the kids are asleep and I am wide awake. I was visiting some bloggy friends and found this meme over at Heather’s place. It looked like fun, so I thought I’d play along.

I am.. very lonely without my sweet hubby.

I want… this 6-month deployment to be OVER.

I have… 2 very different, but very sweet boys.

I wish… I knew more about html code.

I know… some sign language.

I hate… olives.

I fear… lots of things, but I try to place my trust in God.

I hear… a clock on the wall ticking.

I crave… our family being together again.

I search… for things I misplace. Most recently it was a tracking number from Fed Ex.

I always… wanted to ride in one of them fancy hely-copters  (Sorry, my boys quote from the movie CARS daily!)

I usually…  talk WAY! TOO! MUCH!

I am not… your average gal as was proven recently with this post.

I miss… my friend Jon. (And of course McDaddy!)

I love… God.

I never… can keep the little green bench in our room cleared off.

I rarely… do anything without making a list.

I cry… at the drop of a hat these days.

I lose… my patience daily. (It’s no wonder I take a blood pressure pill)

I should… get to bed earlier every night.

I worry… a lot less than I used to. (Thank you, Jesus!)

I dream… about having a Saturn Sky.

I was… 25 pounds heavier this time last year.

I need… to lose 25 more.

I can… waste ridiculous amounts of time on the computer.

There you have it.

All about me!

Enjoy your weekend.

If you are one of my 8 loyal blog fans, you know that today is an important day here at Inmates. Can you believe this is my 100th post? And what better way to celebrate than to tell you 100 things about me. Because you know, you may want to buy me something sometime.

Here we go!

1. I was born on a Tuesday
2. In December
3. Back in 1973
4. I was the youngest
5. Of three kids that included twin brothers
6. I was a loud child who talked constantly
7. And am still loud to this day according to some  most
8. My favorite year in elementary school was 6th grade and my teacher’s name was Ms. Brick
9. My childhood room was purple with a big canopy bed
10. I met my husband in high school
11. We dated for 4 years
12. We were engaged for 2 years
13. And have been married for 10 years
14. Which means we’ve been together for 16 years
15. If my math is correct, which in unlikely
16. Because I suck at math
17. I rarely use racy words on my blog, but might throw friggin’ and suck around everynowandagain.
18. I probably use way too many commas… what can I say, I like to think before I speak (ahem!)
19. Both McDaddy and I played the saxophone in our high school marching band.
20. We also both play piano
21. I love to travel
22. And have been to 31 states
23. We also took an awesome tour of Europe
24. And have been to Canada, Mexico and the Bahamas
25. We honeymooned in Gatlinburg, Tennessee
26. I was a May Bride
27. And we each had 7 attendants
28. I get bored easily
29. But loved planning my wedding
30. I am a military wife
31. My hubby is currently deployed
32. My hubby is my best friend
33. I have been to the Price Is Right twice but never got to COME ON DOWN!
34. I have touches of ADD and OCD
35. I have hiked the Grand Canyon
36. I am very impatient
37. But am married to the most patient man on the planet.
38. I have very serious opinions about my funeral.
39. Which is proof that I am a control freak.
40. In May, 2008, I started going to the gym 4-5 days per week. I have lost 24 pounds.
41. But would like to lose 26 more.
42. Which is why I had to break off my relationship with Little Debbie.
43. TiVo is the greatest invention of my time.
44. I like fonts.
45. I am not crazy about birds.
46. I am addicted to Facebook and mySpace and check them both several times each day… those darn status things are so interesting.
47. I am the nosiest person I know (which probably explains why I love the status things on facebook and mySpace so much!)
48. I drink way to much Dr. Pepper
49. I love Michael Phelps. In fact, I refer to him often as my boyfriend.
50. I have watched The Young and The Restless for over 20 years.
51. I am a reality TV junkie.
52. I listen to KLOVE all the time. (KLOVE is a Contemporary Christian station)
53. My favorite movie of all time is Dirty Dancing
54. I love Mexican food and always order fajitas.
55. The sight of guacamole makes me gag.
56. The only thing I craved during both pregnancies was water.
57. And now I drink about 4 bottles daily.
58. Both of my babies were born via C-Section and were high risk pregnancies.
59. If I were to hit the lottery today, I would make my way to the Saturn dealership and buy a 2009 Saturn Sky Redline.
60. I eat blue cheese on my salad.
61. I enjoy scrapbooking and have scrapbooked about 84% of my boys’ lives. (I totally pulled the 84% out of the sky.)
62. I don’t like Kathy Griffin
63. Not sure where the random thought about Kathy Griffin came from, but it’s true.
64. I am afraid to drive in inclement weather.
65. I don’t like any kind of berry unless your talking about a strawberry poptart or blueberry muffin.
66. I don’t like vanilla scented candles or vanilla body wash stuff
67. I hate to dust
68. I don’t really like using the word hate unless I’m talking about dust.
69. I desire to be like Christ. However, I fail daily.
70. I have a Psychology Degree
71. I breastfed both of my boys for a year
72. McDaddy and I have lived in 4 homes in 11 years.
73. I would like to save a life one day. If all else fails, I am an organ donor.
74. I should floss more often.
75. I am a big-time klutz
76. I will never use “LOL” -  I think it is silly and unnecessary.
77. So I use these  =)   a lot
78. I have used an iron maybe 3 times in my life and never with much success
79. I have not had an uninterrupted night of sleep in probably three years.
80. I often forget to write transactions in the checkbook.
81. This fact drives McDaddy nuts.
82. I do not like coffee and it always puzzles me when people question my drinking Dr. Pepper or coke for breakfast. It is caffeinated after all.
83. While McDaddy is deployed I plan to strip wallpaper and have carpet installed in our basement.
84. If I spent less time on MySpace and Facebook, I could have it done by now.
85. I can drive a stick shift
86. When I was a senior in high school, I had extensive oral surgery that included breaking my jaws and being wired shut for 6 weeks.
87. On top of that, I had 8 teeth pulled and braces and retainers
88. Needless to say, I have pretty (expensive) teeth
89. I have a sign in my kitchen that says “I kiss better than I cook”
90. And it’s true.
91. But I can make a pretty mean pancake.
92. I don’t like snow
93. But I collect snowmen
94. I have always liked my name
95. I love my inlaws
96. I love the new year because it means I get a brand new calendar to fill in
97. I have had acrylic nails for 13 years but I hate getting them filled
98. I have perfect vision after lasek surgery in August, 2007.
99. I sell and collect Longaberger baskets.
100. And, I love getting a new purse.
101. Which is why I’m having a Longaberger purse give-away today!

To enter, simply leave a comment on this post telling me one random fact about you. A winner will be chosen by the accounting firm of random.org on Monday, February 9th at noon. The contest is only open to US Residents. (Sorry to my international loyal blog fans.)

EDITED TO INCLUDE THE WINNER

The Winner of the Longaberger purse is…..

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

10

Timestamp: 2009-02-09 20:09:53 UTC

 And the #10 Commenter is Darcie @ Such The Spot. 

Congrats! Darcie. Send me your mailing address and I’ll send some Longaberger Lovin’ your way.

My awesome blog designer, Jo-Lynne is hosting a carnival called “What I Learned This Week.” Since I love carnival corndogs and funnel cakes and, since I’m a walking-talking fountain of information, I thought I’d pass along some of what I learned. Because let’s face it, that’s what friends are for.

WHAT I LEARNED THIS WEEK……

1. It is virutally impossible to complete a blog post when McDaddy is replacing the old kitchen faucet with a shiny, fancy, new one and needs assistance.

2. When purchasing a shiny, fancy new faucet, you should opt to purchase it from anywhere other than Lowe’s. One would think that I would have learned my lesson when we purchased this countertop. Instead, I am a very slow learner. The faucet that we purchased at Lowe’s had a sliced squirter hose and not one sentence of instructions on how to install the silly thing.

3. After being out in 20 degree weather for three hours, it is possible to cut your finger with your toe-nail. Weird. Yes, I agree. Still totally possible.

4. Placing a Tom & Jerry “Whiskers Away” DVD in your child’s Christmas stocking will leave you ready to pull your hair out after the 719th time they ask to “Watch-Tom-and-Jerry-because-it-is-so-funny.”

5. It is possible for two children ages 6 and 3 to laugh just as hard the 719th they watch said Tom and Jerry DVD as they did the first time.

6. When the weather guy calls for 4-6 inches of snow the night before, it is typically a good idea to check the news for school closings before getting your child dressed in the morning.

7.  Regardless of their claims, generic pull-ups are NOT in the same league as Huggies.

8.  When dealing with the military, ANYTHING, and I do mean ANYTHING is possible.

9.  When your husband is getting ready to deploy for 6 months, all of the little quirks that aggravate the snot out of you on normal days make you appreciate him even more the week before he leaves.

10.  It is impossible for me to have a list and only include 9 things. It’s just not natural. (Oh, OCD I do love you so!)

Now, head on over to Musings of a Housewife to see what everyone else has learned this week.

1.   A brand spakin new bottle of my sweet smelling perfume – Romance – by Ralph Lauren
2.  Nike Shox – My favorite tennis shoes are open-mesh which is not real conducive to the harsh winter we experience here in the mountains of WV, so I needed a pair I could wear during the Winter months.
3.  BLING! -  No Christmas is complete without bling
4.  David Archuleta CD
5.  Blake Lewis CD  (Did I mentioned I love American Idol?)
6.  A new pack of Sharpies (Goofy, I know… but I use them daily for stuff).
7.  A iTunes Gift Card – yee-haw… new songs for my 2009 debut at the Y.
8.  New set of knives (You know you are getting old when you ask for knives for Christmas).
9.  A bigger and better crock pot ( See Number 8 )
10.  Some fabulous Tommy Hilfiger black boots
11.  A cute ‘MOM’ bracelet that my sweet boy picked out on his own at Santa’s workshop.
12.  A surprise visit from my sweet aunt, June from California and her new husband, Dave and his family. We had a marvelous time visiting with them.
13.  Fatter – I ate way more than I should and will be paying for it for months at the Y.