what i did today

It was an overall slow weekend.  Scott worked nights the whole weekend so the girls and I spent a lot of time at home.  The highlight was probably our trip to pick strawberries.  My favorite question from Lexi was “Why does it smell like horse poop?”  Good question and I’m going to try to ignore the fact the girls ate a strawberry whilst picking.

Welcome to the Strawberry Patch!  Notice the sun is still shining

I think this is right after the poop question.  Smile!

A spring shower was rolling in and luckily we hit a great spot to fill up to overflowing before heading out.  Unfortunately I got my shirt dirty in the process of trying to hold it all in.  Lexi continues to pose even in the strawberry field…

Hm, yeah, we better hurry.

You can’t see Emma, but she’s bending down to get a strawberry we spot in our rush out.

You can see my hair blowing hard.  It has started to sprinkle by now.

Lexi gets “stuck”.  “Mommmyyy!”

As soon as we get in the car, the bottom opens up but we got the strawberries!

We stopped at the store on the way home and got some chocolate and then had a little fondue party at home!  We all loved it!

In other news from the weekend, Mom made us cheeseburgers Saturday night.  We put this Cranberry mustard on it that is TO DIE FOR.  The lady that makes it actually goes to my parents’ church so it’s a local thing.  I usually hate mustard but this is very sweet, more like honey mustard.  I keep saying she needs to sell it to a local restaurant and make it a speciality sandwich.  Yummo!  The good news?  They have a site where you can buy it! You’ll soon be thinking of all the different things you can put mustard on like us!

Today was a great Saturday back from out of town.  I didn’t wake up until almost 11 and the hardest thing I did between that and now is Day 1 of Jillian’s 30 Day Shred.  And while I mention it, it wasn’t that hard while I was doing it, but my legs were like jello the entire afternoon.  The girls insisted on staying at MIL’s where they stayed last night so Scott and I took the afternoon to look for a new TV cabinet.  We’ve had sheet thrown over a table for weeks now and we’re both ready for something new.

We finally gave up on local stores and headed for IKEA.  I was not hopeful at all I’d find something there since I’d looked before but I’m never one to turn down a trip there. And plus, I hoped to get Scott to let me buy this beautiful yellow linen cabinet to put in my kitchen.  It’s one of those pieces that just feels like it belongs in your house when you see it.  Like it was set in the store just for you to find it.  Ever have a feeling like that?  I get that with shoes or clothes too.

Anyway, we both spotted a cabinet at the same time but it was way too long for our room.  We were happy to find out that the set was COMPLETELY customizable.  You got to pick the length, whether it had doors or drawers and in what combination and color and what kind of legs.  Plus, you got to pick it all out and take it all home.  No waiting weeks for a custom order! After we left, I realized we didn´t get any outdoor furniture so I decided to get some from Lavita Furniture.

Somehow within about 5 minutes we agreed on exactly what we needed and within the hour we were packing the pieces up of both the yellow cabinet and our new TV cabinet.  Our nephew Kyle and his girlfriend came over for dinner tonight and the guys spent the entire evening putting it all together.

I am so love with both of them.  These pictures will not do them justice but it will give you an idea.

Here is my pretty, pretty yellow cabinet.   I put my IKEA dishes we bought on another trip along with two pictures that have just been sitting on my counter in there for now.  I don’t know what else will end up in there.  I just know I like it.

As for the TV cabinet, we decided to go with sliding, high gloss doors.  We also got drawers in two of the slots.  One drawer has a CD case organizer in it and the other has a DVD organizer.  We had our Wii remotes and games sitting on the floor in the corner of my office.  I can finally put it all in one place!

What I love is that the the components can all be hidden when not in use.  FYI, the subwoofer to the left of the stand will be moved to the corner of the room once Scott can buy a longer cord.  I’m also planning to get a nice plant to replace that to balance out the height of the lamp on the other side.

Pretty cool, huh?

When Erin saw on Twitter I was headed to Indy for the week, she said that was her hometown. I of course suggested a meet-up.  It’s always so fun to put a face to a name.  On my last night, we were able to pull together getting dessert at Steak ‘n Shake in our hotel parking lot.  She brought her baby Alice who was a sweetheart.  She figured out what grilled cheese and fries were and it was so cute to see her dig in!  Erin was just as cute and gorgeous and petite and wonderful as she is on her blog.  We didn’t meet long as she needed to get home and attend to her 2 year old which I totally understood and made me miss my babies!!  So glad we got to meet, Erin!

Last night a coworker and myself went across the hotel parking lot to Steak ‘n Shake to get milkshakes and also for him to act as bodyguard in case my blogger friend I met last night turned out to be an axe murderer.  More on that in another post.

We sit down in a booth and are clear there is going to be another person joining us.  A young, jovial waitress greets us.  She asks what we want and we’re clear we’re just getting milkshakes.  She pulls out her notebook, turns to Chris and says “What would you like?”  Maybe it’s just because we’re Southern but I think not because we’ve experienced all week that the waiter always asks for the ladies’ orders first.  So Chris pauses, looks at me and the waitress finally figures out that I should order first.  We both order and then the waitress is very excited that Chris was being nice and then mumbles about him getting his groove on and walks away.  Whaa?  Chris and I look at each other like did she just say what I think she just said?  I have my rings on but Chris holds his hand up and shows that he took his watch and ring off when we got back from work.  OMG.  Chris!  Chris is married with a boy and a girl on the way and obviously I’m married with two kids.  Suddenly he’s the single guy buying dessert for a married woman in a Steak ‘n Shake in a hotel parking lot.  OMG.

So she comes back and I hope she ignores what just happened.  We’ll never see her again and we’re in another state.  No.  First thing she does is look at me and asks “I don’t mean to be nosy but is he your boyfriend?” After I recovered from the shock of the question, I emphatically explain that no, we’re both married with kids.  She continues though and directs her question at Chris, “How come you let her order first then?”  Chris explains he was being a gentleman and maybe it’s because we’re from the South (but I don’t think so, Indy folks).  She goes on about how lucky Chris’ wife is and how she loves that her husband is a gentleman.  So we got that squared away.  Whew.

So Erin and her daughter Alice show up.  Alice is 8 months old.  The first thing the waitress says?  Aw, “She’s so cute but she’s too old for my son.  Here, look at this picture.”  She pulls out her cell phone and shows us a picture of a little boy probably 4 or 5 months old.  Chris and I look at each other and die laughing.  I say “Did she just try to hook her baby up?  I am so blogging about this.”

So if you need hooked up, there is a waitress in Indy that would be ECSTATIC to help you out.

I thought I would have a ton of time to blog this week but it’s not really turning out that way at all.

5:30 hurt so bad on Monday morning.  It was worse for Scott who had just gotten in from work at 2am and who ended up staying up all day.  The flight was completely fine save 3 Chinese women who held up boarding when they stood in the aisle not knowing what to do when their luggage wouldn’t fit in overhead compartments.  We were in our meeting by 11 and out by 5.  Dinner lasted a few hours until we came home in time for TV and bed!  Lather, rinse, repeat!

Monday was made of data flow diagrams, filet at an old steakhouse and One Tree Hill.

Tuesday was made of software demos, lasagna and tiramisu and American Idol.

Wednesday was made of data mapping, crab legs and American Idol results.

And that my friends is a general shell of my week so far.  We’ve sat in meetings until we can not sit in a meeting anymore and between have eaten until we can not eat anymore.  Full breakfast, snacks, coffee breaks, lunch, dinner, dessert.  Let me tell you how bad it is.  I actually ORDERED A FRUIT CUP at BOB EVAN’S this morning.  And I ATE IT.  I know my friends and family are probably shocked right now.  I don’t usually turn down a good carb-filled (and free) breakfast like biscuits and gravy or french toast.

OK, let me get past the food.  I’m traveling with 6 other people and we’ve had great conversation together.  The guy in charge of this all, while probably 30 years my senior, has been great fun to talk to as he is a huge American Idol fan.  We both put a time limit on our dinner to make it back in time for the show and complained at how bad the show was last night.  I’m interested to know what he thought about tonight.

Let me go ahead and say I was SHOCKED that Allison went home.  I really thought it was Kris and was terrified it might be Danny.  Really didn’t think Allison was in trouble after her duet with Adam.  Maybe he’s not really as big as people think and he’s still in the bottom.  Ryan was clear it was in random order this week.

The girls are doing well at home from what I can tell.  I’m getting anxious to see them and hope they aren’t missing me too bad(ly?) much.  I guess I shoud call it a night.  It’s late and I need to get up early and we’ll find out what Thursday is made of.

Today at lunch I sat my iPhone in front of me and my coworker laughed and said, “What would you do if something happened to that phone?”  I’ve heard that question more than once because, yes, it seems like I’m staring at it a lot.  What could I possibly be doing?  Well, I’m here to show you the Top 12 things (and only because I’m tired of taking screenshots) I’m doing.

A peek into Amy’s iPhone!

Tweetie I probably spend most of my time on Tweetie, the app for Twitter.  I check it first and last thing.  I love that Tweetie is fast and I can check all my accounts.  And of course I Twitter my own Tweets!

Mail. Closely following Tweetie, I spend most of my time checking my mail in the built-in Mail app. And only second to Tweetie in that I don’t get much mail.

Text. Self explanatory but I spend time on my phone texting. I love how it’s conversation style. I don’t like that you can’t send pictures through text.

iPod. Another built-in app. Unless you live under a rock, you’re probably very familiar with the iPod. Looks a little different on the iPhone but it’s just the same.

Kindle. One of my newest apps. This one is worthy of a little explanation. Amazon.com put out a book reader named the Kindle. It’s basically another electronic device. It’s about the size of a book and you buy and download books onto the device for reading. Save the trees! The Kindle iPhone app is basically just an app on the iPhone where you can download and read books. So far I’ve only downloaded one book but it does take up screentime.

Daily Mugshot. Once a day I spend a few minutes using DailyMugshot.com’s app to take a daily picture of myself. This is simply an extension of Twitter. A tweet is sent out with a link to the picture. It sounds a bit vain but it’s actually cool to see other people’s hair, outfit and environment every day.

mSecure. As one of my latest purchases, it’s quickly becoming my favorite. mSecure stores all your site, user ids and passwords. I have a lot of them and I’m beginning to lose track. It’s so easy to pull this app up and find my password!

Weather. Another built-in app. I check it at least once a day to figure out what I need to dress the girls (and myself) in for the day. You can add several other cities and I use it when planning for trips. No more weather.com for me!

Notes. It seems simple but I use the Notes section all the time. I’ve written a whole chapter of my book there, made notes when Lexi says funny stuff, take notes in meetings where I forgot my notebook or even write down a song I hear that I like.

American Idol Exclusive Videos This one is recent and it will be over soon. But weekly, all the contestants post videos. You can’t watch it anywhere else.

DirecTV I love this one! I can actually control my DVR from my iPhone!  I actually find myself using my phone even when I am only a room away from my TV.  It’s just faster!

Bible I’m sure I get bad looks and questioned motives when I’m staring at my phone in church.  And while I admit to playing checkers with Emma in church a time or two, I do use the Bible app to look up verses when I don’t have my Bible.

The thing is, there are even more I could add..Yellow Pages, Showtimes, Shazam, Camera, Safari, PayPal, eBay, Facebook, Recorder, Word Warp.  And not to mention all the game apps the kids play.  So yes, I get every penny out of my iPhone!

Another weekend has flown by.

• Friday afternoon I got off work and the four of us took off to dinner and shopping on our own.  And no, that doesn’t happen too often.  I think we were all hungry and cranky and we needed a pool liner.  The Japanese restaurant was in the same parking lot and I said just go there.  The kids had never been to a Japanese restaurant and they ended up having a fantastic time.  They loved watching the guy cook and he was great, paying special attention to them. The kids loved learning about chopsticks.  I was proud they both tried the salad but neither liked it.  The soup was a hit though. Emma LOVED the noodles and steak while Lexi went for steak and rice. Lexi declared at the end that “it’s the best day ever”.  They were begging to go back for lunch the next day but with our bill, it will be a LONG time before we go back.
• We didn’t order a pool liner on Friday.  But we need to.  It’s already getting into the upper 80s here and we need to get started on it.  You might remember that we got a hole into it at the end of last summer after we had just bought it the summer before.  But I’m not bitter about it.
• Saturday we got up early and went to paintball with our youth group.  I was there just to take pictures.  Unfortunately the workers wouldn’t let me get close to the courses and the girls and I ended up leaving early.  Apparently too early though as I missed the best one and where Scott got this war wound http://twitpic.com/3yyy3.
• MIL ended up coming by and taking the girls for the afternoon.  I ran a few errands and then laid down and ended up taking a 3 hour nap.  Fantabulous.
• Saturday evening we had dinner at Jake and Jill’s for our Sunday School class. I made Paula Deen’s corn casserole that turned out fantabulous as well. http://bit.ly/10Nm0E The girls went with us but were overall well behaved.  They kept Jake and Jill busy as well as a 7 month old who was so cute belly-laughing at their antics.  They ended up falling asleep before we left.
• Sunday was church, CVS and more church.
• I’d also like to point out we finally got our XM radio set up in the car.  I had grabbed the Spanish version of the instructions and may I say that I actually was reading them out loud??  I guess my teach myself Spanish courses actually paid off.  The fact that we still had to call to figure it out is totally unrelated. *ahem*

The girls have their yearly checkup Thursday and I’m hosting another Mary Kay party on Thursday (anyone need anything??) and S has her ice skating recital this weekend but other than that this week should be pretty standard.

This weekend was one of those weekends where we had so much going on that I needed to blog about that I didn’t have time to blog about it and now it’s so much I don’t want to blog about it.  But alas, I do want to share what we did.

• Friday’s visit with tv guy and his wife turned out to be a fun evening. They ended up staying until almost midnight just chatting.  He is a former Marine and wanted to be an officer and he’s also a somewhat techy guy so you can imagine we all had a lot to talk about.
• Saturday was a great Saturday.  The girls got in bed with us and watched cartoons.  We haven’t done that in forever.
• We had to scramble though when I found out the church’s Easter egg hunt/pizza party started at 10.  We’re going to have to work on strategy for next year.  Lexi ran but she followed a crowd and Emma froze and would barely let go of me long enough to pick one up.
• When we got done with that, we stopped at Lowe’s to get some flowers.  It was a gorgeous day and I spent the next two hours planting flower pots.  I have to say, I’m horrible at keeping plants alive but I LOVE to plant them. I get in some weird relaxed zone.  I don’t check the time or worry about what else is going on.
• We got cleaned up and headed to the mall.  I needed to exchange some tennis shoes for Emma and pick up some Easter shoes for them. I ended up finding my white suit for Easter on sale at Penney’s for $50!
• We called my family and had them meet us at Buca di Beppo.  The restaurant has been there forever and everyone I talk to says it’s delicious but we have never made the leap and tried it.  And wow, am I glad we did.   We had Apple gorgonzola salad, fettucine, proschuitto chicken and their quattro dish. Seriously the best Italian we’ve ever had.
• Emma developed a fever and headache during dinner so we stayed in the rest of the night while I ran around gathering up our last minute Easter presents.  I tried to buy myself a cord to go from my Mac to the TV but they were out.
• Sunday was a gorgeous day for Easter.  Emma was really excited to get her bike and Lexi loved her movies.   Since Emma had been sick all night we didn’t go to Sunday School so we spent the morning watching Tale of Despereaux.
• After church was Easter dinner at IL’s.  We took the girls’ bikes and ended up pulling some old bikes out of their building.  Scott and I rode with the girls for a while after lunch.  I hadn’t ridden a bike in years.  It felt really good though and made me miss cycling class.
• We spent the evening over at my parents.  The girls played in their new sand box, we ate dinner and then did some biking over there.  Emma had her first big bike fall.  She started going down the hill pretty fast, started to break and then scared herself and went off the bike near the side of the road.  She skinned her knee and hands and then refused to ride the rest of the day.  She seemed comforted to know how many times I had fallen off my bike learning to ride and says she’ll ride, but not on Grandma’s street anymore!  I have to admit, it’s a pretty big hill for a beginner.
• Lexi was getting homesick by then and I have to admit the homebody in me was ready to crash at home.  We put in Lexi’s other movie, Marley and Me until bedtime.

Whew.  So yeah, busy weekend.  And this week is Spring Break for us.  The girls have been playing really well together this morning, although making a huge mess of the house.