Cutest 9 month old on the planet!!!

That's Madeline in case you were wondering. :)

I went to see Bianka and Maddie last night after work for a tour of their new house - which now has a washer, dryer and dishwasher, still no fridge or kitchen sink though! I'm not sure where John was...hmmm... But I digress...

We were sitting outside and Maddie was crawling around on the patio (it's very smooth concrete, I promise) when Bianka asked if I wanted to see Maddie play on the grass. The pictures below are not of her walking or crawling, but rather the way she poses to avoid touching the grass (or to touch it as little as possible).

She resists putting her feet down unless she is forced to. When she does, she only puts one foot down and does everything in her power to keep the other foot off of the grass.
When put down on the grass on all fours, she teetors on opposing knee and hand, frozen.

How cute is she?! I don't think she was pleased that we made her do this experiment twice since Mr. Pearl was having issues and needed his battery removed.

That WAS Easy!!!

As was previously mentioned, changing your profile on Blogger used to be the most difficult thing.

I say used to be, because now it's not. You literally just upload the new photo and you are done. Oh, happy day!

It's Raining...

On Friday - after getting off work a few hours early, YAY! - Pickle and I headed to Ikea. Between the two of us, we didn't do too much damage - although I did find a cabinet that I've added to my wish list of furniture for the house...

We loaded up our findings...
For me:
Storage boxes
Picture frame
Under cabinet wine glass racks

For Pickle:
Really big mirror
Pillow
Random Bowl
Spatula/Flipper thing
Multiple picture frames

And headed for the door, only to discover that it was raining...

As the driver of the Ikea approved vehicle, I walked briskly through the rain in my flip flops and short sleeved shirt to find that the idiot parked next to me on the driver's side was WAY too close, so in a hurry I climbed through the passenger side.

Then I made the relatively short drive to the pick up area and was almost involved in 3 separate car accidents because people in CA are worse drivers that usual when it's raining, especially if it's raining hard enough to require windshield wipers to be constantly on. None of the near accidents were my fault, I swear!

Alas, there are not photos of my frolic in the rain because I don't believe that Mr. Pearl is waterproof.

At least the rainy day ended on a good note - Pickle and I had a tasty dinner at Claim Jumper...yes, I had my bread bowl! :)

Virtual Friends

As I mentioned on Tuesday, my Chiari Twin Tammy had a repeat brain surgery yesterday.

This morning I received a BBM (that's BlackBerry Message for those of you without CrackBerries) from her boyfriend letting me know that she did well and was sleeping (which is pretty much all that you do for the first few days after brain surgery). He thanked me for talking to her about the condition and helping her feel normal (which is something that all Chiarians so desperately need!) and mentioned that she talks about me all the time. That got me thinking...

The majority of the people that I "talk" to on a daily/regular basis are what I would classify as Virtual Friends. Several live out of state, one I've never met in person, others I've only met in person for a few hours total. Yet, these are some of my closest friends and people that I tell just about everything to. I love technology! :)

Stump the Bloggers

I'm going to borrow this idea from KFuj...

What is the significance of this car?

Happy Birthday Pickle!

Enjoy a glass (or two) of your Cupcake Cabernet while looking into your new mirror!

Oh Alright...

Happy Birthday Queen B!!!



In honor of your birthday, here's a list of 22 reasons that you're cool:

1) Your birthday falls in a great month!
2) You regularly blog Monday through Friday early in the morning so that I have something to look forward to when I get to work.
3) You assist me in being "productive" at work.
4) Regardless of whether you're in CA or TX, you're just a text message away.
5) You are also addicted to reality TV.
6) You consider crossing one thing off your to-do list each day to be an accomplishment.
7) You believe pets are like children.
8) You have fun with post-its.
9) You also want to be like KT/The Champ when you grow up.
10) You make up catchy new words/names like mobiley and Kim1Bump.
11) You have a strange affinity for staples.
12) You teach us cool stuff like how to make hearts.
13) You also have a friend named Margo.
14) Your love of Chuck Norris is rivaled only by my hubby's love for him.
15) You understand that the world quite possibly revolves around TiVo...after blogging of course. (Let's not forget this one.)
16) When TiVo fails to properly record AI, we find a work around.
17) You understand OCD and sometimes take it to a whole new level.
18) Your middle name is not Ann.
19) Something only you will understand :)
20) Gobble, gobble
21) We're possibly long lost twins
22) We both dedicated our 322nd posts to each other on our respective birthdays :)

To everyone that tolerated my somewhat excessive and random/pointless posts over the last week or so...please know that it was all done in an effort to make Queen B's birthday post my 322nd post! Thank you for your support!

The Pickle Returns

The Pickle is back in blogging action tomorrow!!!

Please try to contain your excitement :)

Chuck Norris Approved

I've had this in queue for a few weeks since I bought this shirt for the hubby. Today's post at Queen B made me do this:

Birthday Extravaganza - (last) Saturday

Please note: This will be long as I need to catch up - sorry Kim :)

On the agenda:
Wine Tasting

I went wine tasting in Temecula with my mom, aunt, mother-in-law, sister, Rachel, Pickle, KFuj, and a previously unmentioned co-worker we'll call not-Jan (only Rach and Pickle will truly understand the humor in naming not-Jan - sorry). We visited South Coast Winery and Ponte Winery. Ponte was my favorite and I'd highly recommend it!

It was my first time wine tasting and Pickle did a TREMENDOUS job coordinating and selecting the two wineries that we went to. Thanks Pickle!

We had a picnic snack of cheese and crackers, sandwiches, and grapes in between wineries and one of the Ritz crackers ended up on the ground in the middle of the parking lot. My mom didn't want the little birdie that would surely claim it to risk becoming road kill, so she placed it safely in the branch of a nearby tree.

Poker chips? Nope! Each chip represents a taste of wine...somehow my chips kept multiplying!

We couldn't remember the name of this wine and could barely pronounce it, but we all generally liked it. We began calling it Gewurzt-Janiner or Janiner for short.

It was Rachel's first time wine tasting too...she was less of a fan than I was, but she gave it a valiant effort!

When Pickle couldn't decide, she opted for a glass for each hand!

KFuj and Pickle with a bottle of the Janiner. I should have kept track of the number of bottles purchased...I'm estimating somewhere around 10?


All of the really good group pictures are on my sister's or Kfuj's camera (you think I was going to put my precious camera in jeopardy with tipsy Jenn?) and I have yet to receive them. I'll cut Kfuj some slack as she was buying a house and packing for a cruise since then, but my sister? Not so much. I'll steal them today when I see her and hopefully post them tonight.

Survey time!

In the spirit of Jinjer's Questionnaire, I stole this from Bianka:

1. Who was your last text from?
Pickle...she was working on a Sunday too...ssssh don't tell.

2. Where was your profile picture taken?
One of the restaurants at Disneyland

3. Whats your middle name?
Ann...please see Queen B's post coming soon to Queen B is Me

4. Whats on your mind?
Debating how I can best both catch up on my TiVo and get the two things I need to finish done for work tomorrow (more realistically, how I can catch up on my TiVo and procrastinate on work)

5. Does your crush/GIRLfriend/BOYfriend like you back?
He's my husband...I'd hope so.

6. What is your current mood?
Tired, anxiously looking forward to Friday (I'm taking the day off)

7. What is your mom's name?
Barbara

8. What color shirt are you wearing?
black

9. Are you close with your dad?
Not so much...there was a time when I was Daddy's girl, but I was 5

10. If you could go back in TIME and change something, would you?
Nah, even though I'd do some things differently, I wouldn't be where I am today without doing things exactly the way I did them, and I love my life today!

11. Have a crazy side?
Crazy? That depends on your definition of crazy. I prefer "fun"...

12. Ever had a near death experience?
I suppose my ruptured, gangrenous appendicitis counts...

13. Something you do a lot?
Work. Blog. Love the hubby and furries.

14. Angry at anyone?
Nope.

15. Favorite month?
December. March isn't bad either.

16. Name someone with the same birthday as you?
Lisa Nelson...I wonder if she's still in Ohio...and if her last name is still Nelson...

17. When was the last time you cried?
I don't cry very often...

18. If you could have one super power what would it be?
The ability to teleport so I didn't have to drive/fly anywhere.

19. What’s the first thing you notice about the opposite sex?
Eyes, then sense of humor/personality/intelligence

20. What do you usually order from Starbucks?
Grande Nonfat Chai Latte (when it's cold); Venti Iced Green Tea (when it's warm)

21. Favorite TV show(s)?
Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, House, Cashmere Mafia and most Discovery Health Channel shows. And TLC and HGTV shows. :)

22. Do you still watch kiddy movies?
Yes usually with Pickle.

23. What are you eating or drinking at the moment?
Water

24. Do you speak any other language?
Spanglish...I'd like to learn German

25. Whats your favorite smell?
Fresh baked chocolate chip cookies and/or flowers - don't make me choose.

26. Describe your life in one word:
Happy

27. Have you ever kissed in the rain?
No...

28. Ever kissed on the beach?
Of course.

29. What are you thinking about right now?
How blogging and watching The Moment of Truth is far more appealing than working.

30. What should you be doing?
Working even though it's Sunday

31. Who was the last person that made you upset/angry?
The hubby...but I'm difficult to live with too.

32. What are you listening to?
The Moment of Truth and Oskar snoring.

33. Do you like working in the yard?
Not so much. That's why I only have a patio with bricks and artificial grass.

34. Do you ever want to get married? kids?
Married - check, kids - absolutely want them, working on it

35. Do you act differently around the person you like?
Yes, I'm a slob and I occasionally yell at him.

36. What is your natural hair color?
Brown.

37. Who was the last person to make you smile?
Person - The hubby, creature - Oskar - he's laying on his back next to the hubby

38. What is your favorite meal at your favorite fast food restaurant?
Crunch Wrap Supremes from Taco Bell and a Double Double with Animal Style Fries at In N Out

39. Do you cut out coupons?
Not regularly...I'm too lazy

40. What’s the weirdest thing under your bed?
Dust...surprisingly nothing has moved under there since we moved here in June.

New Blogger Alert!!! KFuj

Please welcome longtime commenter Kat aka KFuj!!! Leave her lots of comments so she'll keep blogging. Kat, that means you have to post regularly :)

Thanksgiving Fun for Today...Gobble Gobble

It could be that this is one of those things where you had to be there, but I think that if you try it, you'll find that it's fun too!...gobble gobble!

QB: HAPPY THANKSGIVING, gobble gobble
JA: lol
QB: everything is better with a gobble gobble after it
JA: totally
JA: in fact everything should end in gobble gobble today - gobble gobble
QB: lol gobble gobble
JA: see gobble gobble
QB: it's fun! gobble gobble
JA: yep! gobble gobble
QB: hmm, wonder if punctuation should go before or after the gobble gobble? gobble gobble
JA: lol gobble gobble
JA: maybe it should have it's own? gobble gobble?
QB: good plan! gobble gobble!
JA: we should annoy everyone soon! gobble gobble!
QB: wonder if i should throw this into my meeting coming up... gobble gobble...
JA: now that i'd love to see...gobble gobble...
QB: i'm thinking of not adding it into customer emails? gobble gobble?
JA: probably a good idea gobble gobble
JA: I wonder...gobble gobble...
QB: hmmmm gobble gobble
JA: ok greatest thing ever: :) (on AIM it looks like a turkey) gobble gobble
QB: ha! gobble gobble!
JA: Will this be your blog for today or mine? gobble gobble?
QB: i've already done mine :-)
QB: i'm committed to getting my final driving story out! gobble gobble
JA: excellent gobble gobble
QB: omg, i forgot to gobble gobble! gobble gobble!
JA: lol gobble gobble


Please end all of your comments in "gobble gobble" - Thank you! Gobble Gobble!

That Was NOT Easy!

I'm probably NEVER going to change my profile photo again!!!!! Why is doing this so difficult? Everything else on Blogger is fairly user friendly, but changing your profile pic requires an IT degree!

I will summarize the steps should anyone else be daring enough to try this:
1) Post the picture you desire to have as your default picture in a blog post. (You can keep it as a draft).

2) Go to the HTML tab in the part where you can edit the post.

3) Copy the SECOND http: link that's in there into the field on Edit Profile - why it is different is beyond me.

The key here is step # 3. I hope you like the new photo!

Madeline Kate is on her way!!!

Bianka is in labor!!! And she's still blogging and on AIM :) Read the latest updates here.

Tips for New Bloggers

Since so there are so many new bloggers this week, I thought it might be helpful to offer them a few tips (with a little help from the HCBC):

1) Make sure to post often on your blog and post comments on other blogs (in particular the hot chicks blog). If you do this, they may make you a lucky part of their group
-Rachel
As seen on This Pickle has something to say

2) Photos and links liven up each post. A little required reading goes a long way. News stories are great fillers on a slow day!

3) Everyone loves a poll!

4) Funny mom stories are great!

5) Discreet photos can make even the simplest things entertaining!

I'm sure there are more...Ladies?

It's Rainin' Bloggers!

Meet Toe Jam aka Stephanie aka Pickle's Noodle. She has the cutest pug son in the world!

New Blogger Alert!!! (Again)

Apparently all of my badgering has finally paid off and once one new blogger caved, the rest followed. Ah the power of peer pressure and bandwagon jumping!

I introduce to you Striker aka the hubby!!!

Peer Pressure!!

ANOTHER NEW BLOGGER!!!

Please welcome Pickle!

Pickle is a she and is quite entertaining in real life...I'm sure her blogs will not disappoint!

Welcome Leaky!!!

New Blogger Alert!!!!! Welcome Leaky aka MSN at his new blog currently titled TBD.

Leave a comment and show him a big warm welcome by suggesting a name for his blog...you might even win a prize! Yes that's right, a poll AND a prize - he's off to a great start!!!