Getting Things Done Report Out

Last year I detailed what I hoped to accomplish during the Winter 2009. It turned into my list of aspirations for the whole year. As they say on "Go Diego Go," "Let's review."

1. Finish loading all of my CDs into iTunes.

Did not happen. I never even attempted it.

2. Hang pictures on our walls in our home.

This sorta happened. My husband and handy-man hung some but not all of the pictures I wanted to get up. This will move to the 2010 list.

3. Create a website for my business.

Yee-haw! This was accomplished. Now I just need to blog more on my biz blog.

4. Sell some stuff on eBay.

This sorta happened. I took some items to a e-bay consign shop. I still need to settle up with them and collect my money.

5. Make a pie.

This was one of my biggest accomplishments for the year. Check out my work.

2010 To Do List

1. Run a 5K.

2. Blog more about Miss Viv and my Biz.

3. Finish hanging pictures in our house.

4. Finish loading all of my CDs into iTunes.

5. Stop. Look. Listen. In other words, live in the moment.

Number five is of a more a spiritual thing but over the past year, I have woken up to the fact that today is all we have, all that we know and we should make the most of it.

Best of luck to everyone with their personal to-do lists for the year. I hope that we all have a happy and productive 2010.

Ten Funny New Things about Vivi

Oh my, have I been a bad blogging mother. We have had an extremely busy summer so here is a quick hit list of a funny new things Vivi has done.




1. Vivi loves to dress up like a flapper. These pictures were taken during a recent trip to an amusement park. I was amazed that she stood still while getting dressed and posed for several pictures.



Click here for video.

2. Vivi loves inflatables. She took to them like a fish to water. She had no fear and even went into the big kid's one and held her own. This is video from the toddler inflatable.



Click here to watch video.

3. "Eveie, Eveie, Eveie." Vivi talks about her friend Eveie non stop but who could blame her. Even is AWESOME! They have a ton of fun together along with Even's brother George.



Click here to watch video.

4. Viv's digs African drumming, as do I.



Click here to watch video.

5. She also likes a good merry-go-round ride.

6. Vivi is going through a naked stage. She refuse to wear pajamas and whips off her diaper any chance she gets.

7. She cries if we walk past the ice cream shop near our house. Her favorite ice cream treats are chocolate soft serve, chocolate sodas and watermelon gelato.

8. Vivien loves to pretend she is Foofa from Yo Gabba Gabba while watering flowers

9. Danger Vivi is addicted to her new swing set. Every night when she comes home she demands to go down the slide and swing before entering the house.

10. Viv lives for Peter Pan and watches it at least once a day. "Mama. Dada.Peter Pan. I watch. Watch Peter Pan. I watch. Peter Pan." is one of the first things we hear every morning.

Mother of the Year Award

Besides being one of the most generous people I know, I love my mother for her sense of humor. Growing up her and her friends would swap parenting stories and often would talk sarcastically about their latest "Mother of the Year" moments. I learned from these stories that nobody is perfect and that you have to laugh at yourself, including yourself as parent.

My favorite "Mother of Year" story happened one night when I was probably 11 years old. My mother and father attended a party with their friends Rick and Mary. I and Rick and Mary's daughter, Jenny, were allowed to stay home, order pizza and baby-sit ourselves. Shortly after our parents left, tornado sirens started going off. Our mom's called us and told us to go down to the basement and stay there no matter what. Then a flash flood warning was issued so our mother's called us to tell us to get out of the basement but we were not there to answer the call.
After about fifteen minutes in the basement, Jenny and I had decided to see if her neighbors with the finished basement were home so we could watch TV and be safe at the same time. Meanwhile at the party, our mother's thought we were not answering the phone because they had told us to stay in the basement. I can't remember how our mother's found out that we were at the neighbors, I just know that they were happy that we thought to go there and I was happy that we were not in trouble for not following their instructions and that we got to watch Miami Vice.

Now that I'm a mother, I am now giving Mary and my mother a run for their money. I humbly submit this video snipet into this year's competition for "Mother of the Year." Not sure if I will win since Vivi stopped crying after less than a minute but I bet I'll be nominated.




Click here to view video.

First Freckle

A first freckle is not a normal "first" that anyone marks down in their baby book but I guess I don't always fit the normal mold. I've been keeping a close eye and tons of sunscreen on my daughter's skin to protect her from developing freckles but after a year and half, Vivi has her first freckle.

It was bound to happen. To quote an old dermatologist of mine, I'm a "very moley girl" and Viv's papa has quite a collection of freckles and moles too. While I will continue to slather her with sunscreen every chance I get, I have to say that her freckle is pretty cute.

Take a look . . .

Can you see it on her leg by the yellow ribbon? Here look closer . . .

Pre-Vivi Weight Achieved

Yee-haw! Pre-Vivi weight was achieved at 7 am this morning! Still have bigger feet and ring fingers but I will take it since most of my old clothes fit again. Yee-Haw, again!

Stop! Garden Time!

Today, I accomplished the first gardening task of the season, uncovering the flowerbeds. Yeah, me! Last fall, I decided not to cover the flowerbeds with leaves; however, this naturally happened. The leaves obviously were not as deep as when I purposely raked leaves on the beds instead of inserting them in compost bags to save time in the fall.

Since that first task didn't take as long, I went after the front lawn with a rake. This left several large grass less patches. Not so nice but I kinda expected this outcome based off of the large patches of dead grass with zero green blades.

In my neighborhood you don't talk to your neighbors unless it is nice outside and you're working on your lawn or you are walking on the sidewalk. Which is just the way I like it. Friendly but nobody gets up in your business. So it was above 60 degrees today, so I talked with one of my neighbors that I noticed aerating. Typically, aerating is done in the fall but he assured me that you could do it in the spring. Add new task to the list.

I mentioned to him that we are going to take care of our own lawn this year instead of hiring a service. He said that he has been forgoing paid lawn care for three years and that we will struggle but the struggle is worth the savings. Saving money I like but I don't like the struggle part. I'm going to try it for at least a year. OK, at least until the dandelions bloom.

Toddler War Paint

As a mother, I know that I am my daughter's first teacher but time and time again I find myself regretting teaching her some things. One example is teaching her how to play baby computer games on fisher-price.com. Now, Vivi loves to bang on keyboards and mouses thanks to my little lesson.

The most recent, "D-oh! Shouldn't have done that." moment came after putting chap stick on her lips. A few days later, this happened.

Click here to watch if video doesn't appear.