yay!

The craft fair was Saturday and I kicked butt with my new products!

Then I spent all day yesterday and most of today photographing my new line (with the awesome lightbox my husband made for me) and getting it all up on my website. Here's a preview with a link to my shop.

Etsy Buy Handmade goodcleanfun

I am so freaking excited! I have about 25 fragrances I haven't even TRIED yet, but my soap closet is full of Rubbermaid containers of soaps I already have made, so I'm thinking I should try to sell out some of those first? Nah. I'll just use a bigger closet. ;)

So, I am finally getting around to posting some wedding pictures. These aren't in order, I have no idea why, but that's ok. I'm pretty all over the place, myself. (Also, I have tried 5 times and I still can't get my text to line up with my pictures right. It's driving me crazy but I need to let it go because it's late and I need to get to bed.

Mr. Phenom dancing with Thing 2 during the dollar dance.

Mr. Phenom and I dancing our first dance(s)

We had 2 songs.

"cause I love the way you say good morning,

and you take me the way I am"

"Our lives are made in these small hours,

these little wonders,

these twists and turns of fate.."

me dancing with the Girls to "If I Had a Million Dollars".

I look at this picture and can't believe I used to change their diapers.

Well, at least one of them that I can remember.

And now look at them. Unbelievable. It was very special to dance

with them on my wedding day.

The wedding limo. "My pickup truck is her limousine"

kissing.. "Gross, Mom!"

During our family vows.. I thought I would cry, but I didn't.

It was very special to have the kids make vows with Mr. Phenom.

"Mikey, can you help me with my shirt?"
"Why, what's wrong with it?"

"I don't know. I look like a vampire."

me putting on my wedding lipstick. Um.. lip balm. More specifically,

Strawberry Lip Smackers. The only thing I ever wear on my lips.

Thing 2 getting her hair curly.

This was the night before, decorating the hall. I have no idea what this face was about.

My shoes that I am in love with.

More family vows.

Our "fireworks" favors. Married on the 4th of July. Independence Day. :)

I like this picture. My dress looks too short because Mr. Phenom is like, 15 inches taller than me, but I love this picture.

We felt very awkward dancing in front of everyone. It was not only our "First Dance", it was our FIRST DANCE.

The red, white and blue cake that my mother-in-law made. It was YUMMY. We didn't save any for our 1st anniversary though. Gross. Year-old cake. I don't think I could do it. Those who know my food paranoia will understand.

We did save the bottle of wine we got though, from Ben and Jess. It's apple/blueberry wine I believe, from the Winterport Brewery.

Mr. Phenom's sister took this picture. I was off getting pretty across the street. I love this picture. Mr. Phenom doesn't.

This picture is what will be framed and on my nightstand. I don't know why. It speaks to me.

Thing 2's happy feet.

My favorite men.

Looks like an angel, huh? Don't let her fool you.

the back of my head.

my tiny hand and his huge hand. :)

And that's IT. It has been quite the chore the last couple months going through all the pictures, deciding which ones we like, which ones we love, which ones we don't love, fixing red-eye, developing, etc. etc.

My favorite picture which I don't have on the computer is the 4 of us with our backs to the camera, looking over our shoulders at the camera, and the backs of all our tee-shirts read "Just Married".

All right, I've posted twice today. Stick a fork in me; I'm done!

Am I doing something wrong? Or am I possibly doing something very right?

Halloween is coming. Gosh, we love Halloween in this house.

Thing 1 has decided he is going to be Ozzy for Halloween. He discovered Ozzy Osbourne by seeing an impersonator of him on America's Got Talent. Ozzy cracks him up. For good reason.

Thing 2 .. well, she had me worried for a minute there. We were at the store looking at costume stuff (she wasn't divulging at that point what she was going to be for Halloween) and she saw a Hannah Montana wig. She squealed, proclaiming "That will be PERFECT!" I simply looked at her, with THAT look. You guys know the look. I said "Hannah Montana??"

She looked at me like I had just asked if skunks stink and said "No, mom.. JOANNA."

Duh. Joanna. As in "I feeeeel you, Joaaaaana". As in Sweeney Todd's Joanna.

Does that mean I get to be Mrs. Lovett? Because I have a mad girl-crush on her.

MIA

Like Rach, my appearances here in the near future may also be spotty.

I have been a crocheting MANIAC, trying to get ahead for the fall craft fair. Along with my soaps, this year's table will also include crocheted hats with cute little animal ears on them (I seriously am blistering my fingers making these things!) and baby clothes with the coolest punk rock accesories ever. (Picture pink skull patches on socks and onesies, etc. etc.) I will also have my stationary sets, my magnets, books clips, and bookmarks. I may also bring some of my infamous PTA-bake-sale always-requested pumpkin chocolate chip cookies for good measure.

It's going to be a lot of fun.

off to practice my reverse half-double crochet now. Wheee!

Wonderful.

X-Files was awesome.

Sorta sad. We went to get our tickets in the afternoon, worried that it might sell out on opening night.

We got there 45 minutes early to ensure we got good seats, again because with the thought that it might sell out.

We walked in to an empty theater. By the time the previews started, I counted 14 people, myself and Mr. Phenom included.

Wow.

If school had been in session still, it probably would have been crowded. Lots of geeks in college towns.

Everyone there was older (30's and 40's) so it was nice to be in the company of people who are old enough to have watched the show on tv.

When I heard the X-Files song (or the familiar notes of "doo doo doo doo DOO doo" rather) it was like putting on an old comfy sweatshirt. The X-Files, for me, will always be associated with a feeling of "family."

So I will end this blog with a poem I wrote in college.


Inside My Church in Dixfield, Maine

On Sundays, I wander
to this house of love, that tastes as good
as hot cocoa
with extra marshmallows.
This sacred place is filled
with silver laughter, with
the sounds of water splashing
as the littlest miracle among us,
the perfect angel we’d all been quickly waiting for,
for nine heavy months,
plays with her toys
in the bathtub.
We watch The X-files.
And this is as close to God
as I will ever
get.

I want to believe.

We're going to see the X-Files tonight!

Woooohoooo!

Well, it's finally happened.

My son is mad at me. Believe it or not, in his 9.5+ years on this Earth, he has never really been MAD at me. Well, maybe when he was 3. In a 3-year old kind of way. But in the time since he became a reasonable, logical, well-behaved intelligent kid, he has never been slam-the-door mad.

His friend, who is only a year older than him, doesn't really have a whole lot of parental involvement when it comes to movie ratings, music content, and in this case, video games.

Thing 1 got a video game system for Christmas this year, because he really wanted one, and he's a good kid. The amazing thing is, we don't even have to regulate his game-playing. He'd much rather be outside playing (even in the winter) than sitting in front of the tv. So it hasn't posed any trouble for us. Yet.

His friend has been telling him all about this game called Halo. How fun it is, how awesome it is, how Thing 1 absolutely HAS to play it.

So I researched it. It's rated "M for Mature". I don't think so. Sorry. I will admit, he does have a couple "T for Teen" games, but he has also watched several PG-13 movies, so at least I'm consistently lax. But this game? No way.

So I told him, "sorry, no." He pouted, went upstairs, slammed his door and said "This sucks!"

Which is true. It does suck. Not getting what we want sucks.

The good news is, about 3 minutes later he was back downstairs, himself again, shooting the breeze with me about something he saw in the newspaper.

Phew.

I am becoming somewhat quite obsessed

with baking bread.

It is amazing how much fun a woman can have with yeast, when it is being used for good and not evil.

It started with me thinking "How on earth can a woman who loves bread SO much go almost 31 years without baking bread herself?" The answer was "I have no idea! This must be remedied!"

So I made a loaf of bread. Your garden-variety kind (if bread grew in gardens). Flour, milk, sugar, salt, etc.

It came out PERFECT and it was deee-lish! (who just read that and started singing "groove is in the heart.."?)

After a couple loaves, that got boring. So I branched out.

Cinnamon and sugar was also a bit too ... mediocre. So, I decided to just go for it.

I got out some garlic and some Italian herbs, and I mixed everything together and baked it and .. WOW. I can't believe the bread I've been missing. And to think, I made it with my own two hands, from start to finish.

So now all I can think about is bread.. what kinds I can make, different ingredients.. I even dreamt about it last night.

I have to say, I am pretty much a domestic goddess.

I am..

what I am is what I am, are you what you are or what?

When I was in high school, a friend of mine was looking through my cd's and asked me "Who the heck is Eddie Brickle?" That still makes me giggle.

ok, so here is my "I am" because I am in a creative funk and this will be way easier.

I am... someone's wife! As if.

I want....to stop always looking around the next corner and learn to see what's in front of me before I miss it. Ferris Bueller is a wise man. I also want a washing machine, because the laundromat is getting OLD.

I have... a really really hard time with change. Even good change. I hate it.

I wish... I didn't have such a hard time making big decisions. I wish I knew the answers to the hard questions.

I hate... when people brag about material things. I really don't give a crap.

I fear... that I will regret not having a child with Mr. Phenom.

I hear... rain. I love it.

I wonder... is one of my favorite Blind Melon songs. It's from their first album.

"Hey I'd like to daze away to a place no one has known; in a state of mind I could call mine, that only I could own.. where I could hum a tune anytime I choose, and there's no such thing as time.. where I can feel no pain, just calm and sane.. what a place for one to find.."

I regret... allowing people to make me feel "less than" for so long, for so many reasons, on the path I was meant to travel. I can never regain that time. Though I guess it was important because I have learned so much from it/ through it. So I guess it shouldn't be a regret.

I love... being alone. I'm not sure I have ever felt lonely when being alone. I have felt lonely in the presence of others many times, but when I'm alone, I just feel peaceful.

I ache... 24/7. My shoulder (which has had an injured rotator cuff for the last 7 years) is constantly aching and I have become so used to it, that I don't even know what NOT being in pain feels like anymore.

I always... get soaked when doing the dishes. I think it's because I'm so short and I have to lift my arms UP to wash dishes over the sink instead of down. I get less wet when I stand on a stool to do dishes, but that renders me a lot less mobile, which bugs me.

I usually... have panic attacks if I have to spend the night away from home, in a bed that is not my own.

I am not... keen on colors. Most of my clothes are black, gray or brown. Sometimes when I'm feeling colorful, I'll wear navy blue, which matches my star tattoo. Wearing white at my wedding was a struggle, but I think the effect was well worth it. My husband couldn't take his eyes off me, and isn't that the point?

I sing.. guitar solos. Mr. Phenom is always telling me I should open an air-guitar karaoke bar. The funnest guitar solos to sing are Rage Against the Machine's, but Guns 'n Roses will do in a pinch.

I never... sleep well when I don't get a chance to read at night. I don't sleep well anyway, but if I don't get to read SOMETHING for at least a FEW minutes, I have a hard time sleeping.

I rarely... sleep more than 5 hours a night.

I cry.... all the time. Sometimes with no precipitating factor at all.

I am not always... kind to myself. I'm working on it.

I lose... my patience with people who put hurtful bumper stickers on their cars. It's not cool to be on your way to the store to pick up milk and eggs only to find yourself behind a car whose driver thinks they're being clever by sticking something really mean-spirited and hateful on their bumper with no idea whatsoever how much it is affecting people. (or knowing, but doing it anyway).

I'm confused... fairly often. Mostly when trying to figure out why my children are arguing and exactly what they expect me to do about it.

I miss... Emily Quartermaine. They killed her off on General Hospital some months back and I still haven't accepted it.

I need... not a whole lot. I have embraced living simply and am very much enjoying not having a lot of STUFF around. In terms of happiness, my needs would be my family, music and books.

I should... post this and shut the computer off so that I can bum around on the couch with a book and enjoy my quiet evening alone.

:)

You know what I had for breakfast?

S'mores.

I can have s'mores for breakfast.

Cause I'm a grownup.

I feel like the new kid.

I never had to change schools growing up, but I imagine it would be a lot like this.

I used to have a blog on Xanga and I had so many people there who I chatted with, and we checked in with each other almost on a daily basis. I don't think I had one post with less than 8-10 comments. And all from different people, even! lol.

I've been trying to venture out and read other people's blogs and respond to them, but it's hard makin new friends. Especially when you're really busy with real-life stuff. So no promises that I'll keep my blog here. But I'll still check in on my friends here.

And with that being said, I'm off to do laundry. Fun! :)

Settle down, boys!

You think you're playing hockey? Geez Louise!

Baseball players are all kinds of pissed off these days.

Hmm.. If they step it up a notch and start throwing punches more often, I may have to start watching baseball to ease the dry spell until fall when I can go see my boys on the ice again.

(Not that it will be my boys. It will be unknown boys from New York. From Rochester, New York, which incidentally, is where the kids spend Thanksgiving every other year. Ah, the irony.)

And because 3 is the magic number, I feel compelled to bring this conversation full circle (or rather, full triangle) by mentioning that Jason Varitek was born in Rochester, Michigan. There you have it.

Yay - pictures!

My Kodak Easyshare program is soooo sloooow, so Mr. Future Phenom talked me through the upload over the phone so that I don't have to use that program. Yay! So here's some pictures! (I just realized that some of them are cropped funny, because Blogger must make them a certain size automatically. I'm a bit anal about my picture-taking and didn't want you all to think I cut the sides off of pictures on purpose. :)

Dance recital:

Her "Getting to Know You" Asian schoolgirl outfit:




I love this face:


Thing 2 is 4th from the left. I didn't bother blurring the faces of the other kiddos, because they're unrecognizable anyway:


My shed! It looks like I barely have anything in it now, when before I couldn't open the door without it all falling out. Amazing what Rubbermaid can do.



oops; this one is sideways. Sorry.



Mr. Future Phenom preparing for his day of fly-fishing in his new rubber waders:


And our new grill. This was my wedding gift to Mr. Future Phenom:


and the nifty grill cover:


I'm so excited! I love sharing pictures! Though it makes me so sad to think of the camera I lost with all those pictures on it. :(

Sigh.

missing school for vacations - Opinions?

I know that at least 3 of you are teachers, and one of you is co-parenting. Thoughts on this?

My children's father has planned a HUGE family vacation for April, before school break. He called me first to talk to me about the vacation, as it involves taking the kids out of state and them missing a week of school. His reasons for taking this trip at that particular time were matters of convenience - not as many people, cheaper airfare, etc. But I gave my quick approval, knowing that this was something the kids would remember forever. They don't know anything about this yet, so I can't be too specific, but just think about where YOU would love to go most as a child - that's where they're going. Cool, right? Of course!

I wasn't and still am not thrilled about them missing a week of school, but it is what it is.

So here's the dilemma. He gets them for Thanksgiving on alternating years. He and his wife and their child go to New York every year for Thanksgiving to be with her family. He is asking to have them the whole week. Normally, I'd give him those "extra" days - we're pretty flexible around trips, family, etc. But that would mean them missing 3 more days of school.

So now we're up to 8 days missed that are not due to illness, etc. and that's not even counting the days they might end up missing because they ARE sick.

My gut tells me this is not a good idea. I think it sends the kids the message that school is optional when it's not convenient. I understand that this is their tradition, and it's a huge pain to work around so many schedules (his work schedule, his wife's wants, the kids' schedule) but I have a feeling that once their child is in school, they will find a way to maintain their traditions while making sure he doesn't miss school. There is somewhat of a double standard in their stepmother's eyes and he tends to bow to her will.

What are your opinions on this? I want to do what is best for them. My gut is telling me "Don't let their father make this a habit. Don't show the kids through your actions that school isn't important when you're working on other people's schedules." There is a part of me that thinks "If he wants to have the kids on Thanksgiving on his years, he'll have to figure out a way to make it work." End of story. But I want to be sure that I'm not being unreasonable. If they weren't going to be missing a week of school in April, I don't think it would be an issue at all.

Thoughts??

Say what?!?

The Pirates are leaving. Yep. The whole team. Going to Iowa. IOWA. wtf?

My mind can't even wrap itself around this. I had a hard enough time when Gillies left to join the freakin' River Rats. Now the whole team is leaving. Heck, I had a hard time when Rome kept getting called up to Anaheim. At least that's our own team!

I guess they will be "replaced" by some team from Rochester, NY. New team, new management. Nothing of the Pirates will remain, yet they will still be called The Portland Pirates.

Blasphemy.

Of course, when all is said and done, I will find a way to become comfortable with the change, because.. well.. I gotta have my hockey.

You guys... should see.. my shed.

It's gorgeous. It's a work of art. I wish I knew how to upload pics with my new camera. I will try tonight. Everything is in Rubbermaid totes, all labeled with a big Sharpie (off with Superfly, sniffing a Sharpie pen, honey it's Bill and Ben...) and stacked. I have never seen anything so beautiful in my life. Ok, maybe the births of my children usurps the Rubbermaid, but the Rubbermaid runs a close second.

The doctor called back. The cells inside my cervix are just CIN 1, which means mildly abnormal. But because they're inside my cervix, I can't just get regular paps every 6 months to check up on them. I have to have an ECC each time. Which basically means that every 6 months, they will have to inject local anesthesia into my cervix, go up there with a scrapey tool and scrape, scrape, scrape to make sure that the cell changes don't get worse. But this is good, because it means it's not cancerous yet. I'm not getting my hopes up that my body will cure itself on its own, like 80% of women with HPV (within 2 years of having it) but getting an ECC done every 6 months sounds a lot better than chemo or radiation. Let's just keep our fingers crossed that it doesn't progress. (Which I know it will, because it's only getting worse and worse as they years go by, but I really don't want to do the hysterectomy thing until I'm much older).

In other news ... my ring! The jeweler called today and it's in! Woohoo! BUT, Mr. Future Phenom says I'm not allowed to go get it. What?? No fair! He hates the idea of me going to Auburn by myself and getting it by myself and putting it back on my finger by myself. So he is going to go get it tomorrow morning and then on Saturday, we are going out to eat, and he will propose again. Which is so sweet. But damnit, I want my ring! lol. The plan was to do it on Friday night but now he has to work on Friday because there was a fire at the saw mill a couple of weeks ago and they're still behind in their numbers, so they're using Friday to catch up.

So.. in 4 days, I will be Future Mrs. Phenomemom. Again. But hey, I get two proposals. I'm not complaining. :)

The wedding is in 4 weeks, 3 days if I'm doing the math right (and who knows; I may not be). Crap. I guess we gotta get the loose ends tied up, huh?

My job today.. organize the shed. It's filled with misc. bags and boxes, all flowing over, falling onto the floor, beach toys, baby clothes, blah blah blah.

So I went to the store to get some Rubbermaid bins, because really that's the only way to get things organized in their own respective places. With my figuring, I needed 4 BIG ones, 3 medium ones, and 2 small ones. Do you know how much these 9 Rubbermaid bins cost me? $89.76. Yeah, almost $100. To organize my freaking shed! But alas, it needs to be done, in a big way. So that's my plan. I'll let you know how it goes. Maybe I'll take pictures, even.

While I was out, the nurse from my doctor's office called to talk to me about the results of my D&C. I called back but no one was available to talk to me, so they're supposed to call me back. I'm feeling a bit screamish. Hopefully the phone will ring soon.

Wish me luck.

My blessing and my curse.

So, as a tagalong post to my other one..


I was thinking about size today. Not weight/clothes sizes, but just sizes. Like body part sizes.


What brought this on was my great find at the shoe store. I had to go to Portland today to bring Thing 2 to her pediatric gastroenterologist (I am so jealous of parents who are done with poop once pottytraining ends). So we went shopping for Thing 2's wedding shoes. We found the perfect pair, and she is so excited.


Anyway, I wander over to see what they have for size 5's. Usually, not a whole lot. Shoe stores don't really keep a lot of size 5's in stock. So I was looking and not finding much, when I look down and see a pair of black, zippered, knee-high, high-heeled boots. Size 5. On clearance for $10! Score! No, I do not normally go sashaying about dance class and Cub Scouts in slut-boots, I assure you. But I am working on my.. um.. wedding night outfit. I had everything, right down the garters and stockings (yes, I know, I'm working on my courage to don this thing) but nothing for my feet. And when you're 5'0 tall, slutty outfits can make ones legs look a bit stumpy. And Mr. Future Phenom has mentioned liking boots like that a couple of times. So anyway, long story short, my outfit is now complete and now I just have to figure out how I'm going to wear it all with a straight face. My usual night-time ensemble most often consists of yoga pants and a Jon's Tournament tee-shirt.


So that was a blessing. Having tiny feet can get you some great deals! The curse part?


My freakishly small fingers. My ring finger is a size 3.5. I have always had a hard time finding rings that fit me, and usually end up having to buy toe rings, because they're adjustable. And of course, when Mr. Future Phenom went Ring shopping, it was especially difficult for him, because he couldn't really see what the ring would look like because they don't have my size in the store-stock. So he had to come up with a diamond size and the band-width and hope it looked good on my (freakishly small) ring finger.



He did pretty dang good. Until we realized I was allergic to white gold, after what appeared to be chemical burns adorned my finger 3 months into wearing it. (What happens, I guess, is that it takes about 3 months for the rhodium coating - that makes white gold shiny - to wear down, thus exposing your finger to the nickel alloy in the white gold. )


So we brought the ring to the jeweler, they said they would upgrade it to the palladium, but 2 weeks later said that the manufacturer couldn't do a bezel setting in my size, so they tried someone else, blah blah blah. 3 months later here I am, finally getting my ring back tomorrow. I waited so freaking long for that thing - ok, well, just over a year, but still! - and now I'll be able to wear it for a grand total of 1 month before I get married. (Plus the 3 months I wore it from Dec-March.) The good news is, I told Mr. Future Phenom that because it's been so long since I wore it, he has to re-propose. Ha!



what my ring should look like when I get it tomorrow:







So, that's my blessing and my curse. Being teeny. What's yours?





In other news, Thing 2 had her dance recitals this weekend and she did AWESOME. She remembered all her steps and she remembered to SMILE and she looked adorable. I was so proud. I'm one of those weird moms who get choked up and has to sit there trying not to cry when I see my children do well. Unlike the other moms, who were all smiling so cheerfully, I was sitting there thinking "what am I going to do when they're grown and gone?!"





The theme was Soundtracks and Scores, and it was awesome. They did the Daft Punk song Technologic (which wasn't really in a soundtrack or a score, but it was awesome anyway!) It was one of the teenage classes and they all danced like robots. Too cool. They also did the song Breathe by Prodigy. The dancers were wearing freaky double-sided masks (on their face and on the backs of their heads) and it kept switching from regular lights to strobe lights. It was really creepy. I have a video of it. Can I post video on here? I have no idea how to do that. Thing 2's class danced to Getting to Know You from The King and I. They were dressed as little Asian schoolgirls. (Not the anime kind, just the regular ole' adorable kind)



(I just tried to upload some pictures, but my computer is being waaaay too slow. Sad. So here is a picture from my old camera that was already uploaded. It's my 2 favorite men.)









k, back to recital stuff. At intermission, there was a girl dressed like Napoleon Dynamite (complete with Vote for Pedro tee-shirt) doing the dance he did when Pedro had to make his "Why I should be Class President" speech. It was awesome. She was dressed just like him, right down to the moonboots.





I'm glad it's over though. It was a very long weekend (3 recitals over the weekend). I watched practice/rehearsals so often, I think I know all the routines for every single song in the recital. Too bad I have not one ounce of coordination. Thing 2 did NOT get her talent from me. I regularly trip going up the stairs. I keep my dancing confined to the living room with the blinds shut. Believe me, people don't need to see that.

oh, also.. a PTA mom approached me the other day about having some of my soap in the catalogue for the fall fundraiser at my kids' school! (Well, Thing 1 will be in a different school in the fall, but Thing 2 will still be there). How cool is that? The fall fundraiser catalogue consists of products from local businesses/artisans, and she wants to offer up my Rice Krispies Treats soap! :) Of course, that means making God knows how many soaps right before Christmas, but it will mean some extra money, both for me, and for the elementary school, which they so desperately need.

that's the soap.

ok, I am off now to throw this bowl of cherry pits away. Two thoughts: Fresh cherries are WAY too expensive. Eating fresh cherries always makes me think of the crazy women in The Witches of Eastwick puking up cherry pits.

Hope you all had a great weekend!

:)

woo-hooooo! Size 5!

The end.

(I'll be back when kids are sleeping for more real updating. Lots of stuff happening here, but the most exciting is that I reached my goal weight - again - for the wedding. Way too cool. )

edited to add: Actually, the most exciting thing is that my ring will be in tomorrow. I haven't been able to wear it in 3 months because of a nickel allergy from the white gold. They reset the diamond into a platinum-family hypoallergenic band, and I will have it back tomorrow, finally! I'm so excited. It will go GREAT with those new size 5 jeans. ;)

My 6 word summary

I only had a minute, but I wanted to post something so as to (hopefully) make a habit of writing on this thing. But I need to get the kids from school in a couple minutes, so I have to make it quick.



So. My life in 6 words.



Always more than meets the eye.

Power of Ten

So, this is my first blog on this particular website. I never really keep up with them once I start them. I had one on xanga for a while that was a lot of fun, but real life kept rearing its ugly head and I stopped. Now I can't remember my password. So here I am.

So I saw this "Power of Ten" thing on a friend of mine's blog and thought it was neat, then I saw it on someone else's blog and then a couple days later on someone else's blog, and a few minutes after that, on someone else's blog. I figured: It must be a sign. The Power of Ten is beckoning me. The only thing that would have made it more poignant would be if I saw it on ten people's blogs. Alas, I didn't. Who has time to visit ten people's blogs? People without kids, one would presume.

So what better way to start a new blog than to reflect on the past and muse on the future? I'm game.

10 years ago: I was just finishing up my junior year of college, was about 6 weeks pregnant, and wondering what on earth I was going to do. I needed money, so I needed a job. I needed prenatal care, so I needed a doctor. And oh yeah, that pesky thing called "A Place To Live." (Though I did milk the "medical single" offering for all it was worth. Who wanted to share a dorm room with someone who was constantly gagging and having panic attacks?)

10 months ago: Future Mr. Phenom and I were deciding that the next time we watched fireworks together, it would be as husband and wife. Also, planning our trip to Canada. That's a story for another time.

10 weeks ago: I was getting the results of my most recent LEEP procedure and deciding when would be the best time for a D&C. A diagnostic D&C, mind you. Wow. That was fun.

10 days ago:I was still falling in love with my week-old car. Well, it's actually 6 years old, but I had only had it a week at that point. I had been driving a 1989 Oldsmobile Royale (otherwise known as the Delta 88... "it's a Delta 88; spray-painted black.." Bonus points to whoever got that reference. Except mine wasn't black, spray-painted or otherwise. It was burgundy.) since our trip to Canada last August and I was SO ready for a new car. Oh, also I was in tears over losing my camera, which has the last 5 months of pictures on it, undeveloped. Including my daughter's 7th birthday. No, I haven't found it yet. And I cry about it still at least once a day. I'm a baby.

10 minutes ago: I was eating my last 100-calorie snack of the night. I'm on the "I'm getting married in 5.5 weeks diet". Nothing like knowing that 100 or so of your closest friends (and people who haven't seen you since college) will be all simultaneously snapping hundreds of pictures of you to motivate you to lose that last 5 pounds.

10 seconds ago: I was trying to type the word "simultaneously" on this new keyboard quite unsucessfully. There are way too many keys on this thing! And just so you know, it took me a couple tries to get it right the second time around too.

10 seconds from now: I will probably be writing about 10 minutes from now.

10 minutes from now: (I was right!) I will be wrapping this up, shutting down my computer and getting my tired butt to bed. It's been a long day.

I will also be brushing my teeth, and from across the hall I will probably be listening to "There's only one thing that I know how to do well, and I've often been told that you only can do what you know how to do well; and that's be you. Be what you're like. Be like yourself. Etc. Etc. Etc." because Thing 2 stole that cd from me just before bedtime and currently has that song on repeat. I'll shut it off before I go to bed. Though I have to say, I'm liking her They Might Be Giants phase WAY more than her Creedence Clearwater Revival phase. There's only so many times you can listen to "doo-doo-doo, looking out my back door". It loses it's magic quicker than you might think.

10 days from now: I have no plans whatsoever and the kids will be gone, so that probably means reading. And um.. walking around. And maybe.. reading some more. Oh, it may also mean helping my mom with wedding favors. Though I think she likes doing it all on her own. Geez. Can't tell she's my mother.

10 months from now: I will either be pregnant or recovering from a hysterectomy. Or neither. Who knows? Those are just the 2 biggest possibilities as I see them right now. 10 months is a long time away. Anything could happen.

10 years from now: I will be 40. My kids will be 19 and 17. I'd like to think Thing 1 will be finishing his first year of college, but again.. who the heck knows? He may be in Scandinavia fly-fishing. Is there even fishing in Scandinavia? Where the heck is Scandinavia? You get my point. He will be doing what he thinks is best for him. Thing 2 will be finishing up her junior year of high school and... ok, I don't want to think of my daughter as a teenager. I'm ending this now.