Just Me, Reo and 14,000 Tweenagers

Oh yeah, and Taylor Swift.

And I loved every minute of it.

Note to self:  Teach Reo how to take the awkward camera phone self portraits so that HE is the one that looks like a gigantic Amazon person instead of me.

Smarter Than A 5th Grader

So, when I was in the 5th grade, we learned about states/state capitals/state nicknames/etc.  Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I learned the heck out of those states.  I could give you all sorts of United States trivia in my sleep.  What can I say, I just found it interesting...Some of it could be that I was terrified of my 5th grade teacher and didn't want to draw any negative attention to myself, but mostly I just really liked it.

I am proud to say that Holden is following in my footsteps.  The kid found our old United States puzzle and was fascinated.  Not exactly age appropriate, but as we know, if Holden is entertained by something, ANYTHING, I usually just go with it.  

Now he is obsessed.  He can identify all the states and where they go.  He has no less than three United States puzzles and they all get played with daily.  Multiple times.  So many times that I got bored and decided to start teaching him state capitals while I was at it, and he now knows about 15 of those (mostly the "funny" ones.  We think Little Rock is HILARIOUS around this house).  

Like I said, couldn't be prouder.  Too bad I never excelled at say...mathematical equations.  That might get him a little further in life.  

Anyway, this video is proof of the obsession.  

Disclaimer:  The video is one of those things that only a mother could truly love...Or even fully care about, so if you don't watch I won't be offended.  Just go ahead and leave a comment praising his brilliance and I won't know the difference anyway.  

Survival Mode

Summer officially comes to an end this week.  This usually makes me really really sad.  This year is a little different.  Whenever anyone asked me if I had any fun plans for this summer, I was usually only partly kidding when I answered "survive."   Our whole family spent the summer in what I like to call Survival Mode.

He spent the summer working like crazy at a new job and finishing up a particularly demanding quarter of school filled with daily conference calls and a killer Finance class.  

To show for this he has a brand spanking new diploma.  We are also all carrying about 2 pounds of graduation cake weight (that Costco cake is good stuff!).  

He survived an absentee father and exhausted mother, and way more hours than I would like to admit of Netflix streaming.

To show for it has has an intimate friendship with the cast of Superwhy, and as a result can spell the word spell.

I survived spending a lot of time lounging here, on my BFF, my new couch.

I know, lazy, right??  Probably so, but apparently growing a person once again takes a lot out of me.  And I have now officially grown almost 42 percent of a person.  Come March 1st(ish) 2012 the fruits of my laying on the couch  labors will be fulfilled.

So, while I am always sad to see summer go and will be cursing winter before I know it, I will not miss having an MIA husband, TV zombie child or morning sickness.  I do miss Diet Coke.

Dear Target

As always, thanks for being home to the best 5 dollars I have spent all day.

($2.50 for the super cute bowl and $2.50 for the essential giant bag of candy corn to go in it.)

Love,
Juliana