Randoms Nibs

I love Chewy Runts! I thought they stopped making them because I hadn't seen them in a super long time, but last fall I came across some at Toys 'R Us! Which is the only place I've seen them at.

It's been Shamrock shake season! Oh yum, they always come in February but leave again in March-ish. Seasonal shakes are yummy but it sucks that they are seasonal (like egg nog shakes, yum).

I bought 1 miniature Reese cup in pastel foil at Wesco a couple weeks ago & lost it in the few blocks home. Not sure where it went, never found it in my car or on the ground. I know I grabbed it & remember specifically where I set it in my car, a place that would have made sense if it were under my seat & it's now. It remains missing to this day.

On the 12th, I remembered I needed to go to the Secretary of State. At 4:35pm. They close at 5. Luckily made it over there & there wasn't anyone else not being helped when I got there. I got 3 stickers: the tag for my plate, my change of address, & a heart sticker to go on my license for being a donor. That night I got pulled over. Because my brake lights don't work properly when my headlights are on. When I touch my brakes, the one in the back windshield comes on, & the taillight ones actually go out apparently.

This year on my birthday, I turned 2 times my favorite number.

Richie is going to school again. He is in a preschool program, he goes for 3 hours Monday-Thursday afternoons. He's been going for a week & he likes it (as do I).

Random fact I recently read: "Having blue eyes is actually a mutation. Before the mutation occurred, all humans had brown eyes. Biology nerds know that these mutations often occur in the womb. In this case, the OCA2 gene, which is also involved in the production of melanin, is disrupted to make the eyes blue rather than brown." "People with blue eyes have a single, common ancestor, according to new research. A team of scientists has tracked down a genetic mutation that leads to blue eyes. The mutation occurred between 6,000 and 10,000 years ago, so before then, there were no blue eyes." I'm not a mutant! (Brown-eyed girl, sha la la la la la la la la la la te da)

I'd like to take a road trip. Where to, I do not know. It's been almost a year since I went on one. But they are fun & exploratory.

I'd also like to ride in a plane. I've never done that at all.

The crown of the Statue of Liberty is open until sometime next year. I want to go hike up the 354 stairs. It would be awesome! When I visited NYC in March 2004, the Statue of Liberty was still closed after 9/11. You could go there, but not inside. The closest I got was looking through binoculars at Battery Park. I didn't have time to go out there. (I also want to go to the top of the Empire State Building.)

Spring is here! Calendar says so. Mother Nature seems to keep forgetting she read that memo, since she gave us beautiful weather beforehand & then it was cold & crappy & snowy on the first day. Oh Michigan, you are so cruel sometimes!

Old 25tag

This is an old note from Facebook, dated January 29, 2009.

Rules: Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. (I'm not tagging anyone. So many have already done it & tagging you won't make ya do it, lol. If ya get bored like I was, do it!)

1) My favorite person in the whole world is a toddler, Richie D.! (My 3 year old cutie man smarty, sometimes naughty)
2) I have an Associates in Psychology.
3) I am a Psych major at GV, hoping to gradate (Bachelors) this semester.
4) Ben & Jerry's One Sweet Whirled is my favorite ice cream but they retired it.
5) My minor is looking to be Sociology, mostly out of convenience.
6) What do I want to be when I "grow up"? I have no idea what I want to do after college, career wise. Grad school at some point though.
7) As much as I like my long hair, I am always considering chopping a considerable amount off.
8) I have every season of Friends and Sex & the City on dvd.
9) I so far have every season of How I Met Your Mother and Grey's Anatomy on dvd.
10) I have a couple seasons of The Office on dvd. I want to catch those up, as well as start collecting House.
11) I hate that almost all my friends & family live at least 2 hours away. I wish I got to see them more.
12) I lived in Florida (just north of Orlando) for 14 months in 2000-2001. I would consider living there again. Michigan is the only other state I've lived in. I can't tell you how many times I have moved though... it's a lot!
13) I love Tinkerbell! She's cute & sassy.
14) I wore skirts/dresses every day except gym days in elementary until 5th grade.
15) I am a picky eater. There are a ton of things I don't like.
16) Morphine is great. It was the only drug I had when Richie was born & it was during contractions. I opted out of anything during the actual pushing & it wasn't as bad as I thought. If I have more children, I would go the same route.
17) Becoming a mommy has been the most wonderful thing in the world! Sometimes its scary & confusing & frustrating & hard, but oh so worth it!
18) I have insomnia issues. The symptoms, occurrence, & degree vary. Hard time falling asleep, staying asleep, sleeping long enough, etc.
19) I love the learning part of school. It's the homework & studying I dislike. I often procrastinate it & should care about my grades more. Luckily I still do decently, my lowest grade in any college course is a B-. I got academic awards in high school & when I graduated MMCC & made the Dean's List once at GV last year.
20) I've never been west of the Mississippi. The only other country I've been to is Canada.
21) I didn't bother getting my drivers license until I was 19.5 & didn't get a car until I was 23.
22) I am the oldest child in my family, by long shots. My mom has 2 sons (one will be 20 in May & the other will be 9 in Sept). My dad has no other children.
23) One of my favorite candies is Hershey's Cookies n Creme nuggets which are now unfindable. I recently came across a giant size bar which is close to them though. The regular size & Kisses are so not the same.
24) I don't have any tattoos. I have 5 holes from piercing, all in my ears.
25) In high school, I was heavy on extracurricular activities. Cheerleading, track, marching band, pep band, concert band, homecoming float, jr/sr play, NHS for a few months, color guard.

Factoids

Since it's my birthday, I thought I would post some known/random facts.

I was born at 1:02pm on March 14th. (<-ages 1 & 2)

I have 2 brothers; 7 & 18 years younger than me.

My favorite ice cream is Ben & Jerry’s One Sweet Whirled & it was retired. I think I discovered it a while after it came out, as I tried it in summer & it was gone sometime in the fall.

When I was quite young, I liked to dip my McD’s French fries in honey & I ate jelly and bologna sandwiches.

When I was little, I changed my mind many times about what I wanted to be when I ‘grew up’, including: nurse, mother, teacher, professional cheerleader, & lawyer.

In kindergarten I missed a few days of school because I had little red bumps all over me (I forget what it was called) that had been determined to be an allergic reaction to fresh hay. I had perfect attendance until 6th grade, when I missed 2 days because of chicken pox. I missed 2½ days in 8th grade & many mornings in 10th when I was tired. My final semester of high school, I missed lots of classes. My most attended class was my first block of the day, my cadet (teacher’s aide) block at the middle school for my track coach. I received many letters warning me I was about to be put on attendance probation (which can lead to suspension) but nothing ever came of them.

I technically could have graduated a semester early. I had all my required classes & credits. But I waited until spring. This played a big part in why I skipped so much, lol. I knew I didn’t have to get any credits or complete any classes & I got bored there, which added to my ‘senioritis’. (<- Jessica (my skipping partner, Christina & me at the Senior Banquet)

I went to Girl Scout camp, VFW camp (which was a weeklong overnight place for kids related to VFW members), cheerleading camp, & band camp (we didn’t go away, it was just a week of all day practice in the summer).

I have a slight heart murmur. In 8th grade at my annual physical for sports, the doctor heard it & I had to go to a specialist in GR. She said it was only a slight one & nothing to worry about. It was noticed again only a few months ago.

My high school activities included: included: cheerleading,, track, National Honor Society (for a few months before I quit because it met too early), homecoming float committee, jr./sr. play, marching/concert/pep band, color guard.
(<- Freshman yr. basketball cheer & track)

I am always a little paranoid when I leave the house. I have to check that everything is turned off (especially hot styling tools) & that the door is locked a few times. Sometimes I can specifically remember turning something off or locking the door but I second myself & have to come back, even if I have already left.

I chose psychology as my major because it was the only subject I had taken in high school that I especially liked. Sociology was my minor because I was close to having enough classes to do so anyways. I have Associate & Bachelor degrees; I would like to eventually get at least a Master’s, if not more.

I have a wonderfully fantastic son who is 4. (<-Richie D.)

2009 in Review

2009 is about to end & 2010 is about to begin. I am hoping to do some sort of new year blog too, sometime in January hopefully. Here is a short list of some of the things that happened in 2009.

• I had another birthday. (March).
• Graduated w/ a Bachelors of Science in Psychology. (April)
• Job searching. (April-current)
• Went on Tseunik's Pony Farm field trip with Richie. (May)
• High school friend, Stephanie, got married & I was lucky to be chosen as her maid of honor (July).
• Richie completed a year of head start. (August)
• Richie went canoeing for the first time. (August)
• Richie continued head start. (August-December)
• My nephew Zander was born, as well as my cousin's baby & my friend from high school, Jessica. (September)
• Richie got his school picture taken. (September)
• Took Richie to Lewis' Farm to ride an elephant & go through a corn maze. (October)
• Richie chose to be a bumblebee for Halloween. (October)
• Richie turned 4. (November)
• Richie got his 4 Year pictures taken. (November)
• We moved. (December)

• Lots of time at the beach.
• Walks on the pier, along the river, & around the neighborhood, as well as exploring some other county/state parks.
• Various conferences for Richie, all good!
• Visits to the library.

Surely there is plenty of other stuff that happened, but this is just a small list of some of the things that happened in 2009. Also, I am posting a video of pictures from throughout 2009.

Favorite Things

These are a few of my (current) favorite things… similar to the in & out blogs, but basically only ins, no outs.

1. Christmas music. It’s so pretty & the lyrics (for the most part) are so wonderful. Some of my favorite Christmas songs are The Christmas Song by Nat King Cole, White Christmas by Bing Crosby, Santa Baby by Eartha Kitt, All I Want for Christmas is You by Mariah Carey, Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer, Greensleeves, Last Christmas by WHAM, & Christmas Eve by Tran-Siberian Orchestra… I could go on & on, I’m sure.
2. Christmas decorations. All the pretty lights at night, the Christmas trees, the other stuff.
3. Christmas food. Eggnog, Little Debbie’s Christmas tree cakes, Hershey’s candy cane kisses, Brach’s Christmas peppermint nougats.
4. Snow. I am not much for the cold weather. In the winter, my issue is not with snow so much as it is with the cold temps & icky roads. But we got a ton of snow Thursday night & it looked so pretty (& a little weird, lol). Unfortunately we’ve had some melt since, & then got a little, then some melted, but we also got more so everything is covered again. I could have done without the rain & mix part though. I like having a white Christmas; maybe because I am just so used to them it seems weird to not have one.
5. Fixed toilets. Pretty much the whole time I’ve lived here, the toilet had an issue with continuing to run until you went back in to jiggle the handle. Last week the part inside the tank that connects the handle to the chain rusted off. But it got fixed at the end of last week & now it works like a normal toilet!
6. Pictures. Richie’s 4 year pictures came in last week & his school pictures came in Monday (finally). Of course, they are all super cute, just like him!
7. S’mores. I can’t remember the last time I actually had one, but I’ve seen them recently in a tv show or 2 & I want some.
8. Thanksgiving. Lots of yummy food, visiting with family. Enough said.
9. Barney on How I Met Your Mother. I would love to “suit up” & hang out with him for a “legen, wait for it… dary” night.
10. Orange juice. Good for you & yummy. I could drink it every day!