Sandra's Wedding Pics, part two

Getting ready for the big event. Yes, I went super short with my hair this time. I love it!

Definitely starting to look pregnant...

Time to dress the handsome boy!

Jack Everett and "Aunt" Sandra. She looked amazing.

Two very special people in my life.

Looking up at the bride.
(He insisted that he hold the blue dinosaur egg, so you choose your battles.)

The beautiful bride before the ceremony.

(...More wedding pics to come - including pictures of the handsome groom. Sorry Trevor!)

Bathtime at Alli Jean's House!

Miss Julie babysat Jack Everett for me Tuesday morning and, as usual, they had an absolute blast. They have a huge open backyard and playground set with sandbox, not to mention Alli Jean's Mom is much more open to sidewalk chalk than his Mommy is. Admittedly, I am not nearly as laid back as she is about any of the aforementioned mess-makers. Thank Goodness for playdates at HER house!

Jack gets so excited when playing in Alli Jean's back yard that he often has accidents. Well, this time he had TWO - one AT THE TOP of the twisty slide, and one IN the sandbox. When I showed up, Jack is in his second change of clothes, filthy and sticky from head to toenails. Needless to say, I was relieved when Miss Julie offered them baths before we left.

Jack Everett, Alli Jean, and little bro T.J.

Jack and Alli in sandy bathwater.

As Julie calls it, the "afterbath."

"Ribbit, ribbit."

Playdates are great for so many reasons. Well, this one was actually babysitting, but I learned something valuable at this one. When Julie gives her kids a bath, she rinses them with a big ol' 8-cup measuring bowl with a handle. They are completely rinsed off in two dumps of the bowl! We use a tiny blue drinking tumbler, which takes like twenty pours before the soap is out of his hair. Thanks for the tip Jules!

TAGGED!

Okay, Cristina has tagged me from her blog! I don't normally play along with these things either, BUT watching the Spurs' first playoff game go to double Overtime with Jeff was proving to be way too stressful, so I had to get away for a minute.

I have been tagged, or instructed to provide SEVEN random/interesting/unknown things about myself. It's hard for me to think of stories or facts that people don't already know or that they would even care to know, but here goes...

1. I wear a size 13-WIDE shoe. Yes, it's true and it's terrible. I have the hardest time buying shoes. I have not been able to walk into a regular store and buy a pair of shoes since the summer before the sixth grade. No joke. Finding shoes for Sandra's wedding was so stressful - almost as stressful as finding shoes before my senior prom. They took so long to order, that Mom ordered them anyway, just hoping that I would (a) find a dress to match and (b) find a date - thank God for good ol' Garrett. When I go in to get a pedicure, I always feel bad that they charge me the same price as other regular-sized feet. I know when they start talking to one another in Vietnamese that they are likely talking about my big toes. Oh well.

2. I love watching reality TV about tattoo shops... and drug addiction. I am not sure where the fascination comes from, since I have never tried a cigarette, let alone any drug, and I have certainly never had a tattoo. However, I love to record and watch "LA Ink", "Miami Ink", and "Intervention." I am not sure if it is pure voyeurism or what. I don't think it's an inner bad girl or anything, I just get so interested in how different their lives are than mine. Jeff thinks it's crazy how much I love to watch "Intervention." I get so into it. I cry the whole time and truly root for these poor kids. So many of them start off so innocent - captain of the track team, in the choir, active in church. Their parents seem involved and well-intended. It is so sad to see them hurting and turning to drugs. I am hooked on it (no pun intended.) At the end, when they reveal the outcome of the kids' lives after their treatment/recovery program, I am on the edge of my seat. When they relapse, I get all devastated. Jeff cannot understand why I get so into it. When they get clean, I am so genuinely proud for them. I guess it really doesn't help that I am pregnant.

3. I struggle with political correctness. By that, I mean that I struggle sometimes with whether it has gone too far or whether, as Christians, we should try to avoid insulting or offending people whenever we can. Why would I intentionally offend someone when it can be avoided by a simple change in terminology? However, I ofter hear my (non-Human Resources) relatives roll their eyes or comment when they feel I am being overly politically correct. Are we simply being thoughtful of others, or are we selling out to an overly-sensitive society?

4. I hate mushrooms. The texture is gross, and I don't even like the juice they leave on my food (like on my pizza after picking them off.)

5. I wonder why I cannot keep a cleaner house. I am an intelligent person who knows what it takes to keep a straight house. Our friends Darin and Marilyn commented the other day about the fact that they have never seen our bedroom. They have known us for almost 8 years, and are some of our closest friends, but it has most likely never been presentable, even once, to show them when they have been over. I manage other parts of my life okay... sometimes, but I am not sure why I can't keep my room clean. I sometimes claim that I have my priorities in order that I have CHOSEN not to spend valuable time on cleaning... that I am consciously choosing writing, reading to Jack, spending time on more important things... hence I have CHOSEN not to worry about it. The truth is I have simply given up.

6. I think I sing better than I actually do. I belt out songs karaoke-style in the car and think I sound great. I don't think I am the next American Idol or anything, but I am certainly above-average. Then, I can sing the same song with JEFF IN THE CAR, and suddenly I hear myself more accurately, and his face (and laughs) tell a different truth. It's not that he's rude or critical of my singing... it's that when I am alone, my songs come out like studio recordings, and when I am with Jeff, they are like bad live performances. He just laughs, and Jack even says, "Mommy, can you please stop singing that?"

7. I am quite scared of life with two children. I get anxiety about the first 1-2 weeks after bringing the baby home. I am not huge on visitors, especially when my house isn't clean (refer to Fact #5) and I am very easily stressed out with too much activity going on. I worry about being able to spend enough time with Jack Everett, and I already know how much I want this baby to be on a schedule and I know that is not easy with so many outside influences. I wonder how I will find all the energy to do it all. Unlike when I was pregnant with Jack, when I could not WAIT for him to come home, I am much more patient this time. I know what I am getting into, and I know how precious these long nights of uninterrupted sleep really are.
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Okay, so there are seven random things about myself. The game is that I now have to tag seven friends... so here goes!

1. Julie
2. Duane
3. Elisa
4. Tracey
5. Renee

... so I only have FIVE friends who have a blog. TAG, you are it!

If you choose to participate, here are the rules:
1. Include a link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share seven facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their latest blog.

I look forward to learning new things about you all - like whether you have the time to play BLOG TAG! (Tracey, I don't really expect you to play along... since your last blog was from before Christmas, but I didn't want to leave you out. Heehee.)

Pre-wedding Picture

Sandra's wedding was perfect! There were a few snafoos on my end, which is to be expected whenever I am involved, but everything else came off without a hitch!

The main snafoo is that our camera broke during the rehearsal. I have NO IDEA what happened, but it was working fine before I sat on it in the car. So, I did not take one single picture of my Best Friend's Wedding!!

Anyway, enough about me - The service was beautiful, the reception was a blast, and everything in between was fun and memorable. Here is the first picture I will post, but I plan to post several more soon... as soon as people share them with me, and I find a way to download them, etc.

Sandra's wedding party at the Bridesmaids' Luncheon.

Left to right: Becca (college friend), Karolyn (friend/boss), Angie (sis-in-law), Samantha (niece/flowergirl), Sandra (bride), Ann (Sister), Me (and baby boy), and Dana (Cousin)
The only one missing was Jackie, Trevor's sis-in-law, who must have been taking this photo!

W.O.W. Event - May 1st

Grace Point Church Women of the Word (W.O.W.) invites you:

"Things Your Mother Never Told You: The Seasons of a Woman's Life."

Lynda Harris takes a sometimes humorous, always real, look at the seasons of a woman's life - everything from training bras to menopause. Lynda Harris and her husband, Dr. George Harris, have been in ministry for over 51 years. She is a pastor's wife, a teacher, a mentor and a frequent speaker for women's retreats and seminars.

Let me know if you would like to join us for this FREE Girls' Night Out!

Also, I am in charge of Registration for the event and am looking for volunteers! If you would like to come, or would like to help out, please e-mail me. You can pre-register for this FREE event by clicking HERE!

"He is Risen Indeed!"

Here are just a few pics of our family celebrating Easter 2008:

Before the service at Grace Point Church; Mom and Jeffry joined us for Easter service, which always means a lot to us.

Family pic in the foyer after service.

Jack and good friend Alli Jean share an Easter hug. They are SO cute!

Off to Mamaw's house to color eggs. Even though he can't eat them, he sure loves decorating them!

Now, that's a good egg: "JESUS loves JACK!"

Off for the Easter Egg hunt! Pops did a great job hiding eggs!

Special Delivery!

He was so excited to see candy inside of a few of them. He had "Spree" for the first time... and the last time, for a while at least. He just holds them in his hand until most of the color comes off onto his palm. Then, he sucks the rest of the color off and spits them out because he doesn't like the texture. They mysteriously disappeared the next morning...

... but that's okay! The rest of the eggs were filled with little dinos - his favorite!

After that, it was off to Nana's for a nice afternoon nap (for all of us), yummy Taco dinner, and another fun Easter Egg hunt.

He loved counting the hand-painted eggs over and over. I loved these beautiful wooden eggs Nana bought this year. There is no need to fill them, and all the fun is about the hunt... not the "what's in it for me?"

Jack Everett had a really great Easter.

Green, green grass.

Some of my bloodwork has come back with some slight concern, and rest is a remedy, so I have returned to part-time. I enjoyed being able to help the HR team at work full-time while the company underwent an acquisition, but being back to part-time feels great.

My respect level for Moms of preschoolers who do it day in and day out has once again skyrocketed. The house was a mess, I was exhausted, and Jack was starting to act out at school, begging for attention. He was very clingy on the weekends and in the evenings wanted our undivided attention.

Anyway, the grass is ALWAYS greener, so it is important to remember what it feels like. As stay-at-home Moms, we often envy the "excitement" of working, the money, the adult conversation, etc... but in the thick of it, I would often sit at the office wishing I was at storytime with Jack.

So, Tuesday was my first day off and we went to Story Time at our new library. In true Melissa style, I had the time wrong, so we got there for baby lap-sit story time, not Toddler Story Time. We met Julie there with her two kiddos, who also got the time wrong. Julie stayed in there with T.J. while I accompanied Jack and Alli Jean to find new books for the week.

Jack picks "Veronica the Hippopotamus." This library is around the corner from our house, less than one mile away! We love it.

Jack and Alli Jean each pick out a story. They feel so big.

Look who's back! It's T.J.!

It's not long (about 25 minutes) before Jack is being a bad influence climbing on the couch and little T.J. is not far behind. We left right after I took this picture.

The day was really great, and I got so much accomplished. Not once was I wishing I was in a Staff Meeting. I was happy not to be wearing make-up. Best of all, I didn't have to engage in any "adult conversation."

The grass really is pretty green over here.

Forget the Click Counter.

I took it off because, who cares, really?

Update on the dad-gum "Click Counter"

Okay, thanks Joanne for the recommendation.
www.easycounter.com works great.
It tracks everything, and is totally FREE. It's easy to install using an HTML code that is available instantly. It will count each visitor (from a particular computer) only once per 24-hour day.

I reset the Counter to ZERO this morning.

Thanks again! We really do learn something new every day.

This shouldn't be so hard.

Well, tonight technology gets the better of me again.

Does anyone know how to get a counter onto their website to track visitors? I added the "click counter" to the left column (as though blogging wasn't narcissistic enough...) to see how many people had visited the blog. Not WHO visits, just how many - out of curiosity.

Well, when I added the HTML coding into my layout, the little counter went from ZERO to ONE. I hit SAVE, and the count went to TWO. I still didn't like where it was on the screen, so I moved it down a little. The count went to THREE. So, I finally got the counter to look like I like, and where I like, the size I like and the count shows EIGHT. I have a feeling when I post this, it will go to NINE.

Can anyone tell me how to add a "hit counter" to my site that will only track UNIQUE hits, or that will NOT track hits created by me, the composer/owner of the site?

All I know, is that what I installed tonight is simply a tool to mock me... counting how many clicks it takes me to complete a simple task on my website.

TEN, apparently.