HuntDog Talk and Hawk Talk

Hunter has learned out to climb out of his crib. He has also learned out to open his bedroom door. This is both adorable and terrifying. Last night we tried to lay him down and he was not happy about it. We kissed him and told him “Night, night” and closed the door. The little booger started screaming and 10 seconds later he was banging on his door to be let out (we had put a safety cover on the knob immediately after he proved himself capable of opening the door). We opened the door and the sweet little drowsy toddler walked out the door, turned right, headed down the hall and straight into our bedroom, hopped up onto our bed and went right to sleep. I was fighting back laughter because it was so stinkin’ cute. Chad was shooting me the “quit laughing, you’re only encouraging him” look that he’s notorious for. In the end, we let him snooze for a while in our bed and finally transported him back to his own bed – which he climbed out of again at 1:30 a.m. and knocked on the door until one of us released him. So, we are trying to decide what our next move should be…
I am not above putting one of these up…

Chad thinks we should go this route (what dad doesn’t?)…
But, we’ll probably just end up ripping the side off of his crib, converting it to a toddler bed and keeping this bad boy on his door to keep him inside. On to more exciting news… (If you don’t care about college basketball, feel free to stop reading here)
KU is back in the Sweet 16 Baby!!! (I’m channeling a little Dicky V for that one!). My sheer excitement over this fact is constantly getting tarnished by Facebook and all the haters out there – particularly some bitter KState fans. KState had a tough loss on Saturday and I really felt bad for them. Jacob Pullen played his little heart out, but unfortunately, it kind of looked like he was the only one that showed up in Purple and you can’t win a game of 5 on 1. Now that the ‘Cats are out of the running all of these bitter KState fans are just HATING on the Hawks. I find it highly annoying that they would magically become Richmond fans just to root against KU. I just don’t get it. I’m a supporter of the team, my state and my conference (with the exception of Missouri – but really, who cares about Mizzou anyway?) If KU was out of the tourney, I would route for the ‘Cats. Honestly, I would route for any Big 12 teams (sans Mizzou) that was in the tourney even if KU was still in it – up to and until the point that team went head to head with KU. That’s just the kind of fan I am, I guess not everyone is like that. I’m just going to have to avoid all the bitter Bonnies’ on Facebook after we take down Richmond on Friday.

There – I’m stepping down off my soapbox. Happy Monday. Have a good week.

Blogger Envy

Last month I saw a report on this article on the Early Show and realized that this was totally an issue that I was dealing with in my day to day life. Not only on Facebook, but even more so on the blogs. I wasn’t just putting my life out there as a fish story – in all its perfect glory, but I was also suffering from the issue of seeing what everyone else has put out there and getting consumed in the fact that their lives were so much better than mine.
Everyday I get online and read so many blogs about people’s wonderful lives. Their adorable families, all the great crafts they do, how amazing their husbands are and then I just become completely enveloped in the fact that while my family is adorable, I’m in no way crafty (and even if I was, I don’t have time for it) and while my husband is a great guy and a great dad – I don’t have “amazingwonderfulhusbandstories” to share with the world. That’s just not our reality. It makes me feel like I don’t belong. I’m only hurting myself. And yet – I continue to do it.
My life is not perfect. My life is messy. Chad and I love each other but sometimes we have to ask if we really like each other that much. We argue. We fight. We say things we (hopefully) don’t mean. We talk about next steps. We make up. We do it all again. Seriously, are we the only ones? That’s what it feels like a lot of the time.
Sometimes, I want time away but I refuse to make it. I feel so guilty asking for any time to myself. I haven’t had my hair done in 10 months (roots = ugh!). I have a gift card for a free pedicure that I got for my birthday 11 months ago that expires next month – I doubt it will get used. I try to make plans to do these things. Guilt takes over. I stay home. I WANT to stay home (sort of). I want to be with my babies, I want to cuddle them and laugh with them. They are what make all of this okay.Here’s the weird part. I’m not saying this because I want people to feel sorry for me. I’m saying it because it’s true. And I’m saying it out of respect for people that are honest on their blogs and on Facebook that do talk about life’s imperfections. They have my respect, and this post is merely my baby step toward becoming an open and honest woman and blogger.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!!!

The time has come. Pencils are sharpened. Brackets are set. Ladies and Gentleman, I (or the NCAA) bring you THE BIG DANCE!!! I love this time of year. There is just a fun vibe in the air and whether you are a KU or KState fan (or any of the other 62 teams’ fans) it’s time to get down to work and devote your time to doing nothing but watching basketball and calculating the perfect bracket.

Here are a few of my thoughts on the Big Dance as it relates to the Big XII.

- #1 Seed, #2 Overall – ROCK CHALK Baby! Though I have to admit that putting them up against a “B” team has me a little anxious – but it’s time to break the curse. There is a great chance that these next few weeks will be the last time that we see the Morris brothers suit up in the crimson and blue so it better be memorable (and let’s keep the ugly fouls to a minimum boys).

- I would like to formerly apologize to all of the KSU fans that I made my NIT jokes to. Congratulations on pulling your heads out of your arse just far enough to make it to the dance. I kid! I kid! Though don’t be offended that in half my brackets you don’t make it past the first round. It’s nothing personal. It’s business.

- I’d like to send a big “What the F?” to the commission for omitting CU from the dance. Shutting out the Cats as well as beating Mizzou and Texas just weren’t enough to qualify? How is that possible? I guess a weak preseason lead to their demise. I’m not a Buffs fan, but I am a fan of the Big XII (of which they are still a part – for now). I Rock Chalk with the best of them, but heaven forbid the Hawks make an early exit, I will continue to cheer for other Big XII teams (the exception, of course, being Mizzou because, frankly, I hate them). But I digress… CU got screwed – Plain & Simple.

- Thank you to the braketeers for making sure that KU plays on Friday, not Thursday. I like to be able to enjoy my St. Patty’s Day for what it is – a great excuse for green beer. I prefer not to worry about KU playing basketball. I still haven’t recovered from the Bradley incident of ’06 where my day of celebration and fun came to a tragic end and I left the bar pouting and pissed off. While I don’t believe under any circumstances that KU will lose this week, I still like to keep my bases covered.

That’s it kids. Now I’m off to fill out yet another bracket… Any guesses who I have in the chip!?!

Because it's Friday.

1. Have you ever forgotten your child in a store or at school?
So far – no – but this is a big time fear of mine. My parents lost me one time at a Kmart in Kansas City. I was probably 5 and think I’m still traumatized by the whole ordeal.

2. Where did you go on your very first date? (Like...first first, not first with your spouse or current significant other!)
Really gonna have to think this one out. I would have to say that it was Freshman year in high school and we went to see Mars Attacks. What a horrible movie and the guy I was with was a douche canoe. We may or may not have wandered around the mall too – because really, what else are you going to do when you’re 14?

3. What's your "silly" fear? (We're not talking water and heights.)
Hmmm… I like to think that I don’t have any “silly” fears, but I’m sure I probably do they just aren’t coming to me right now…

4. Confrontation: do you cause it, deal with is as it comes, or run far far away?
Perhaps I should bucket confrontation as my silly fear. I really REALLY dislike it. If I’m in a confrontation I tend to just shut down and cave. I’m particularly spineless (which is fine because I’m aware of it, right?) and tend to just appease the people confronting me. I rarely RARELY ever confront anyone – other than my husband of course.

5. Wood floors or carpet?
Our house is carpet and tile but I would love to have wood floors as well. I’d also really like to have stained and stamped concrete floors in our basement…assuming that we lived in a house that actually had a basement.