Growing up...on a Tuesday

Growth

: to become larger : to increase in size, amount, etc.

: to become better or improved in some way : to become more developed, mature, etc.

: to become larger and change from being a child to being an adult as time passes

Not a Griswold Family Vacation

It's Turks time!  Finally! At the end of March, my parents rented a beautiful home on Chalk Sound on the island of Providenciales in Turks and Caicos, and invited my band-of-wildlings sisters, our husbands, our Gracie, and a Schuette cousin to join them in paradise. I'm so excited to share these glorious photos and wonderful memories with you, my loyal readership. Before we get there, you should know that this post will function as a giant thank you to my parents for their generosity and accommodation.  We have all contributed some thoughts and a few favorite memories that wouldn't have been possible without the benevolence of Tami and Hanser, aka Mimi and Papa.  

This is what 17.5 months looks like

Ladies and gentlemen, I have an almost one and a half year old in my house!

Love Bunny.  That's what her shirt says.  Thanks Mimi.

Guest Post - Not To Them, Not That Way

I can't even.  I hate Duke.  HATE them.  I grew up rooting for Carolina (my parents became sports fans because of me - I taught them - so they didn't teach me to root for the home team, I figured that out later).  Hurley.  Laettner. Langdon. RedDICK. Wojo.  Jesus, those asshats were dicks.  Coach Kzeshekcovkdiacbbi.  Or whatever the heck his name is.  No one.  NO ONE likes that team unless your first name is Douche and your last name is Bag.  So this.  This abomination of a game really, really pisses me off.

I'm not here to talk about how we outplayed these private school poops (that IS what a dook is, right?).  I'm not going to break it down.  If you didn't see it, then you don't know basketball.  I'm not going to go on and on about how hard it is to play 5 on 8.  How those Stevie Wonders couldn't even get a replay right.  How I now know what it felt like to be a Seahawks fan when they lost that Super Bowl to the Steelers.  Or a Kings fan when the Lakers shot 134 free throws in the 4th quarter of that 2002 Conference Finals game.  Or a Bucks fan during the 2001 Eastern Conference Finals.  Wait, I do know what that's like!

No, I'm here to talk about Jim Nantz, Bill Raferty, and Grant Hill.  What. The. Hell.  To paraphrase the headphone mogul, Dr. Dre: CBS can eat a big fat D.  I'm never watching your channel again (unless, of course, I have a team playing on it, and there is no other option).  The LEAST biased announcer on that crew was Grant Hill.  And he won 2 NCAA Championships PLAYING AT DUKE FOR COACH K!  I mean, if I never hear Raferty's voice again it'll be too soon.  All I can hear is his "AND THE FRESHMAN HAS STONES OF STEEL" when Duke hit something, only to be immediately followed with: "well, they needed that" when Frank the Tank hit a three to counter.  I actually wanted to punch him more during that game than Duke's #3.  And that's saying something, because that kid need a good fist to the face.  Hard.  But I digress.

The Final Four allowed viewers to get local announcing crews by switching the channel to another affiliate.  You could watch TruTV (1 - that's a REAL channel... I looked it up and everything; 2 - I feel like we got TruTV because that's the crap channel, and that's how CBS thought of us) and have real, live Wisconsin voices on your telecast.  That was great!  I didn't have to listen to some national guy beg for Kentucky to go 40-0.  But for the Final?  No.  I get Grant effing Hill.  And Raferty.  I need a shower.  Go Big Red.  And this.

-the hubby

Chopped

Its spring!  At least that's what the calendar says.  These flurries might say otherwise, but I'm soo ready to do some spring cleaning.  You feel me?  Time to air out the old and bring in the fresh spring air and energy. This time of year, I'm constantly cleaning out drawers, donating old clothing, shifting and reorganizing to make my life more streamlined.

In addition to organization, I like to give my life a little face lift every now and again.  I tend to decorate my house seasonally, shifting and moving furniture and other odds and ends to match my mood and the time of year.  Georgia shared with you my new wood floors, and I'm in the process of planning an overhaul for my living room.  On a budget.  Like, all I can afford is paint and lampshades.  But it's going to be cool!  It's a part of who I am, I think, to want to change up and make beautiful my surroundings.

And sometimes, I look in the mirror and think, girlfriend, let's switch it up.

What do you mean, switch it up? You look great....(that's sarcasm, in case the sarcasm font doesn't show up.)

Confessions of a Leap Year Baby

Birthdays are fun, right? Remember back in elementary school when you would bring in a special treat for your birthday and everyone would sing to you and your teacher would say really nice things about you?  I got to do that twice.  When I was eight and twelve.

In kindergarten, when I was turning 1 1/2,  my very sweet teacher pulled me in front of the class on my "birthday" (February 28th) and gave everyone a lengthy explanation about leap year, which involved a beach ball sun, a globe, and me demonstrating the earth's orbit.  I did my best to nod, smile and add in a few tidbits of information -- and generally just tried to appear way less confused than I actually was. Am.

This is what 15 months looks like

Right now, Grace is napping and I am struck by how much she's changed the past few weeks.  I've gotta write some of this stuff down so I don't forget.  This kid is amazing.  So smart, so sweet, so fun...so much personality.