Oh my.

I know.

It has been awhile.

In fact, it has been so long it is almost INTIMIDATING to write on my own blog.

I am so out of practice, that it just seems daunting.

So, I am jumping into it with a little potluck.*

*potlucks are great for writers block and blog neglect

What in the heck has Holly been doing?

Ahhhh…well for 7 glorious days I avoided ALL email and skied, and skied and skied.

Did I mention the days were glorious?

My Texas boys LOVE the snow.

All three of them are good skiers and this was the first year that we could really ski almost anything {that I was willing to go down} with the WHOLE family.  They also were willing to ski most the day with me.

Having three boys SHOULD carry the advantage of constant ski companionship.

My niece and nephew also learned to ski.  My niece was keeping up with the boys in just a few days.  My 3 year old nephew inherited our smallest set of skis and my mad 3 year old ski teaching skillz.

There isn’t anything cuter than a 3 year old on skis.

The week was great and I literally would have just stayed and skied the rest of the season if that was an option.

Next year Reid(8) and I are plotting snowboard lessons.  He was born to snowboard and I am hoping that learning won’t cause the re-emergence of What is Up With Holly’s Coccyx?

Did I mention that I avoided all email for a week?

That part I am trying to block out.  It was awful.  My sincere apologies to anyone trying to get a hold of me during that time…or in the email aftermath.

Stuff Holly Writes Elsewhere:

Over on Quirky Momma, I posted one of our favorite science experiments of all time.  It is a chemical reaction called Frankenstein’s Hand.

Also, today Reid did some easy cartoon drawing that is super simple to do successfully at home.

It is an art activity that is appropriate for a variety of ages and skill levels…really, I promise!

I have continued with my Pinterest obsession, but haven’t completed anything that I can report on today.

If you are interested in adding to my collective All Things Parenting Board where I am looking for parenting resources, encouragement and stories, please leave your Pinterest URL in the comments below and I will add you.

Yep, it is time to find out What is in Holly’s Fruit bowl!

• A frightening lack of fruit

Happy Monday everyone!  May you avoid your email without consequences…

OK, that might not be the BEST title to entice readers…

…but I am too tired to care.

{OMG!  She is cranky just a mere two weeks into this weekly Monday potluck revival.}

I am just hoping YOU are bringing the energy.

And leaving left-overs.

I am blaming this trio for my fatigue…

I know they look innocent enough, but they have seriously made me believe in naps {for me} over the holidays.

Last week on Wednesday {finally}, they returned to school.

Whew.

Getting back into a routine is good for everyone…especially me.

Many of the hottest pins over the last week have had to do with organization.  I have started collecting a whole bunch of fun ones {I am on Pinterest HERE}.  It has inspired me to do something about my linen/medicine cabinet in the master bedroom.

It isn’t AWFUL, but it isn’t INSPIRING.

Wouldn’t it be awesome to open up a closet and feel inspired?

One of the ideas I really liked was instead of worrying about how perfectly you fold your sheets, you use one of the pillow cases as an envelope to hold the entire set of sheets.

That tip was from Martha Stewart.

And then I went to my linen closet and found that, unlike Martha, I don’t have ENTIRE sets of sheets…I have a mismatched, hodge-podge, hand-me-down, and whatever has survived the years very UNMATCHED un-sets.

In fact, it seems that pillow cases are at a premium in my house.  Most of the available ones are in active rotation.

So, I have come up with something that works better for me.  I hope to post the AFTER a bit later this week.  After I post the quinoa recipe I promised LAST week…

promises, promises.

The other thing I suspect that was a bit different than when Martha re-organized her linen closet is that I threw away many expired medications.

One dated back to 1988.

I am not kidding.

Really.

1988, people.

And that was when it EXPIRED.

No wonder my medicine cabinet wasn’t inspiring…it was expiring.

Weird Creatures at Holly’s House

I have caught two VERY peculiar creatures in my house this week:

This was Reid in the play area of where we get our oil changed.

Yep, I live a glamorous life.

Actually, this Kwik Kar is one of my boys favorite errands because they have a secluded playroom with a bunch of old toys...you know the kind that WE played with as kids.

Reid stuck this on his head and thought he was hysterical.

And a space man.

And this was Rhett.

With MY blanket over his head.

Raiding the fridge.

Pretty scary stuff…

and I am just talking about the fridge contents.

Let’s see what Holly has been up to other places!

This week was all about organization over at Quirky Momma.

I decided awhile back that I needed to get the kids treasures organized.  They were plentiful.  They were things the boys claimed to not be able to live without.

So, we held a treasure auction and then organized the won prized items.  Overall, it has worked really well and given them a place to save new treasures…as long as they have the room.

Alrighty…

This week’s fruit bowl contents are reminiscent to last weeks:

• a 1/4th of bag of Cuties
• one VERY overripe banana
• 3 red apples
• 5 green apples
• an upholstery tack that fell off one of the dining room chairs {STILL not identified}

Happy Monday!  May your day be energized…

It is officially 2012 and I am throwing a Monday potluck.

It is kinda a resolution.

{It will likely fall to wayside about the third week in January.}

But while I am still enthusiastic about it…

LET’S HAVE A POTLUCK!

We are going to start with a brand, spankin’ new feature for 2012…

Holly is living better through Pinterest?

{The new banners are fancy, eh?}

OK, so against my better judgement a month or so ago, in a weak moment, I joined Pinterest.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the internet’s latest TIME waster, Pinterest is a place where you can share pictures and articles that you like with your friends.  Oh, I know it sounds just like Facebook and Twitter and StumbleUpon and Blog Frog and Instagram {all places I am already sharing pictures and articles that I like with my friends}, but it is HYPER-sharing of creative ideas.

I just FEEL creative and productive while wiling away the hours at Pinterest…

…which is part of the problem.

If I am COLLECTING ideas, but never ACTING on them.  It qualifies as WASTED TIME.

{BUT}

If I am COLLECTING ideas to ACT on them.  Pinterest qualifies as RESEARCH!

So, to justify my new addiction, I am trying out some of the projects I pin and will be reporting back during Monday’s potluck.

Which is a LOVELY way to move into the next question…

Is Quinoa the new black?

It seems like EVERYWHERE I look there is some sort of Quinoa recipe or something that looks yummy that contains Quinoa.

I don’t even know how to pronounce it.

OK, in case anyone ever asks me to read this aloud {very unlikely}, this is how you pronounce quinoa:

I know!

Usually you come by here and don’t learn a thing!  But we are starting out 2012 different around here!

Anyhoo, I found some fun Quinoa recipes and will be posting a vegetarian slider recipe later this week that was ABSOLUTELY delightful.

And then there is this…

Yes.  That is my lunch today.  All cute and packaged in a Mason jar.

See how much better my life is with Pinterest?

I came across Fat Girl Trapped in a Skinny Body Salad in a Jar post.

It is genius.  You layer the salad dressing on the bottom with dressing-tolerant ingredients and then can store it up to 4 days in the fridge.

And as if ONE new potluck feature wasn’t enough, here is YET another…

Stuff Holly Writes Elsewhere

One of my very favorite projects of all time published last week over at Quirky Momma, How to Build a Lego Table.

Blog-Stedman and I helped Santa out a bit by putting together this IKEA hack to create a Lego table for older kids.  All the tables we found were sized for toddlers…which is weird since toddlers don’t really PLAY with Legos, they EAT them.

The entire process took an afternoon and around $200.  All the plans, supplies and measurements are over at QM.

The boys have spent DAYS playing on it and you wouldn’t even recognize it now because there seems to be an overwhelming amount of traffic in Lego Table Land.

And no matter WHAT the year might be, inquiring minds want to know…

What is in Holly’s Fruit Bowl?

It is a new year.

I just went to the grocery store.

I have aspirations for a healthier 2012 and have a very bountiful fruit bowl today:

• a bag of Cuties
• a bunch of bananas
• red apples
• green apples
• an upholstery tack that fell off one of the dining room chairs {yet unidentified}

Happy Monday!  Go forth and pin with justification.

Yo, Monday.

Let’s get your potluck on.

Today’s potluck is all about nothing.

Really, that is kinda the point.

That it doesn’t have one.

Texas Rangers Report

I am headed to World Series Game 5 tonight.  If you watch, just listen for me.  I will be the one screaming for the Rangers.  Our tickets are VERY high.  Not only in price, but in altitude.  Not sure how closely we will be observing the game, but just to be there is going to be grand.

Here is a little taste of Ranger fever.  It is the last play of the game in the ALCS where our seats were a bit better:

What ridiculous Mac question did Holly google this week?

About 2 months ago I made the switch.  You know the switch…from PC to Mac. Let’s be honest here.  I am not the most technically savvy person I know.  Not even close.  Which is one of the reasons why the Mac was attractive to me.

So I switched.

And it has been painful.  There are things that I really LIKE about the Mac, but many of them I can’t actually DO.  The problem is that the small amount of technical knowledge I do hold does not seem to translate to my new shiny world.

Ugh.

So, I find myself googling things like “where are my pictures on the mac?” or “where the heck is my printer on the mac?” or “why is my downloaded version of Modern Family showing a security error?”

Last week I decided I could take it no longer and I went to my first education class at the Apple Store.  Mac 101.  It was good.  I learned a few things while sitting next to 2 college students and 2 retirees.  I was there to be both the median and average age.  After the class, I mentioned to my teacher {poor unsuspecting teacher} that I would not be leaving until I had a question answered.  She was super sweet as I grilled her as to why I couldn’t watch my iTune purchased, downloaded to my laptop Modern Family episodes.  She went and got reinforcements.  The reinforcements went and got reinforcements.  More and more geniuses gathered to solve my issue {it may have just been they were hoping to someday close the store}.  Finally, THE genius came out of the back.  The one that only comes out in extreme Apple emergencies.  He spent 30 minutes on my laptop and declared that I would need to return to have the operating system reloaded.

Oh my.

The good news is that I felt justified in my Apple angst.  The bad news is that I think I need to go back and have my operating system reloaded and that sounds painful.

While there I signed up for the year long training.  I pity the store as for the next 12 months it will be my office.

Who made Comment of the Week?

In response to my post about soap:

“Pants legs seem to be a suitable substitution for water, soap AND towel among my boys. *gag*  And no, you will not be seeing the bathroom that is between the boys’ bedrooms if you come to me house. The lack of aiming ability alone makes that room a bio-hazard.” – Buffi

Congratulations Buffi!  You have full and unfettered access to Comment Nirvana for the next 7 days.

What is in Holly’s Fruit Bowl?

A small dehydrated pumpkin and 4 Texas Ranger rally towels that shed lint with blizzard efficiency.

May your Monday be sunny, your questions answered by geniuses and my Texas Rangers win.

Whoo hoo!

It is Monday.  Which means an ACTUAL post here at the Nirvana.

Yep.  I know it seems unlikely, but you are reading something written LATELY.

Monday potluck commitment is rock solid here…until I forget or something else comes up.

So, put on your potluck shoes and let’s get potluckin’.

Potluck Mashup Time!

{Back by popular demand…OK, so one person might have mentioned it.}

It’s been a long time since I came around
Been a long time but I’m back in town
This time I’m not potlucking without you
You taste like potluck when you kiss me all
I’ll give anything to be your potluck pal
This time I’m not leaving with you.

You say sit back down where you belong
In the corner of the potluck with your high heels on
Sit back down on the couch
Where we potlucked for the first time
And you mentioned this.

Something something about this place
Something ’bout potluck
And potluck on your face
Something something about
My pooooootluck
Heard something about
Baby you and I.

It’s been two years since I’ve let you go
And could’ve listened to a joke
Or rock and roll
Potluck drove a truck right through my heart.

On my birthday you sent me a potluck invite
With the good times going into over-load
This time I’m not leaving without you
Woah woah.

What is up with Holly’s Coccyx?

Whew.  It has been a very long time since the last coccyx update which in Coccyx Land is a good thing.

Overall, the Coccyx is much better.  There are times when a hint of coccyx issues surface, but they are few and far between.

Holly’s coccyx has been requesting to go back to Yoga regularly, but her schedule has been fighting that.

Once the coccyx wins that battle and Holly stops typing in third person, things should be even better.

Who made the Comment of the Week?

My years and years of blogging experience has lead me to this knowledge {you might want to get a pen and jot this down}:

You have to WRITE something to RECEIVE comments.

{it was brilliant, wasn’t it?}

{and I am just giving this away for free…unbelievable}

There was one post last week and there were some VERY appreciated commenters who are ALL receiving Peeps of the Week status:

Nicole

Misty

Shauna

Buffi

Heidi

Jack

Jan

Bobbi Janay

The potluck peep party may go deep into the night…

What is Holly doing over at Quirky Momma?

Last week Reid and I made a Viking Ship for a school project.

It turned out to be a ton of fun.  I did some cardboard cutting and stapling and Reid did a lot of directing, painting and Viking Longship interior design.

The best part was it “recycled” a cardboard box that we didn’t need…well, actually 4 boxes since the Viking Longship spurred on Rhett to get involved and an entire fleet of ships were constructed along with a cardboard fire engine.

And now for a little story…

Last Thursday I was invited to participate in the kick off for Team Escalade Texas due to the involvement of my site, She is Dallas.

It was a great day where 6 other bloggers and myself were able to each represent an amazing charitable cause while hanging out with a bunch of celebrities.

I had the honor of meeting and riding off the GM plant line in a brand new Escalade with Todd Storch of Taylor’s Gift {pleeeease click through that link and VOTE for Taylor’s Gift}.  If you are unfamiliar with this charity, please look into it.  It takes making a difference in a stranger’s life to a level that makes my parental heart skip a beat.

I took over 150 pictures during the day and was uploading them to flickr that evening so the other bloggers could use the photos they needed in their Team Escalade Texas posts when I noticed something…

I had an obscene number of photos of Mike Modano.

Like an embaressingly large number.

A number I will not admit to in public.

My husband and I are huge hockey fans so I am blaming it on that, but I felt terrible that I had literally been stalking the poor man the whole day.  He was entirely gracious and even allowed me {his stalker} to get this picture of us together.

Mike Modano retired from hockey the next day in a completely unrelated event.

What is in Holly’s fruit bowl?

I was a little disappointed to look in the fruit bowl this morning, because what is in it is just plain sad…

A few faux bananas, a scary looking thumb tack from some sort of household furniture and a Lego minifigure head.

Happy Monday!

May your celebrity stalking be more fruitful than my fruit bowl.

It is Monday and that can only mean one thing.

Well, it actually could mean two…

• It is potluck.
• I was too lazy to put potluck together.

Well, potluckers, you are in luck because today it is the former.

Let the potluckin’ frenzy ensue.

{Get your crazy potluck on}

Let’s find out who left comment of the week!

This week was pretty much an obvious choice.  It was the person who called me out {in my very own comments} demanding last week’s Peep of the Week and then self-nominated.

Here at the Nirvana, we reward that type of initiative:

“No peep of the week? So I nominate me.” – Three Under Two from Lit & Laundry

Thanks so much for getting potluck back on track and you will reign for an additional week as the official Peep.

{It is too good to be true…I know}

Over at Quirky Momma this week:

Rhett and I discovered how number words are just hard…don’t get me started.

Over at She is Dallas this week:

I found day passes for Great Wolf Lodge – Grapevine – for $20 a piece.  We try and participate in this fund raiser for Big Brothers Big Sisters each year because it is fun for us and it goes to a great cause.

One of the reasons I love driving the kids around in the car is that they often will talk in the car when they wouldn’t otherwise.

It is almost like they think there is a cone of silence between the front and back seats.

This is what I overheard last Friday on the way home from school where Reid(8) learned a VERY important lesson in drama class.

Reid:  Rhett, I need to tell you something in case you take drama next year.

Rhett(5):  OK.

In some of the plays, you have to choose a part.

{nodding}

They have girl parts and boys parts and you will have to choose.

I want a boy part.

Yes.  You definitely want a boy part, but you have to be careful because it is a trick.

Really?  Will I have to be a girl?

No.  Not like that.  You just don’t EVER want to be the prince.

What is wrong with being the prince?  That is a boy.

I know!  I almost chose to be the prince, but was so glad I was the Castle Keeper instead.

Why?

The prince HAS to ask the princess to marry him.

It was silent for a moment after that.  The boys had to examine the gravity of it all and realize how lucky Reid was today for such a narrow escape.

And now for a BONUS story.

Seriously.  No additional charge.

I met a couple of blogging friends this weekend to have our pictures taken for our website.  We did some group shots and some single shots and generally had a really good time laughing and posing ridiculously.

It was all done outside and our original time to meet had been noon.

When I heard it was noon, I shuddered a bit.

Turns out the time was backed up to 8:30 am due to soccer games and other sporting events that 3 moms would need to schedule around.  I gave a little sigh of relief.

During the photos, I mentioned I was thankful that we had moved back the time due to lighting.  I haven’t ever thought much about lighting until I took up photography a year or two ago…which coincided with turning 40.

It is just my 41 year old opinion that each year from here on out will mark a further distance from noon that I am willing to be photographed.

Let’s do a little fruit bowl investigation…

I gotta go look.

{OK, back now}

3 wrinkly potatoes and 5 Sonic Prehistoric Tot stuffed toys still in the plastic bag*

*I never expected to see the day when my boys weren’t eating fast food kids’ meals for the toys, but it appears we have reached that stage.

Happy Monday!

May your day be filled with flattering lighting.

Oh ya.

We are down to counting our fingers on one hand until Christmas.

The excitement is building.

The boys have been out of school for almost a week.

*hold me*

It is time to take a little break for two reasons…

• It is Monday.
• It is Potluck.

And now for a little story…

We went roller skating on Friday at the local roller rink.  I have been there several times this year and am completely amazed each time how 1981 has stood still at that place.

The casino carpet.

The 197o-style, poorly situated restroom stalls with painted plywood (that wasn’t sanded) doors that are nearly impossible to access with skates on.

The hourly replaying of “put your right foot in, put your left foot in…”

It is freakishly de ja vue back in time to 11 year old Holly.

*snap out of it*

The boys love to go.  Rhett still prefers the old-style skates and I rent one of those rolling walkers for him to avoid his persistent need for scooping him off the dusty wooden floor underneath the dulled disco ball.

All was well until he climbed down from something with his skates on and sliced open the back of his knee.  Hi blood and the need for a first aid kit!

The skating rink’s first aid kit hadn’t been updated since 1981 and only 2 band-aids could be salvaged from the outdated supplies.  I cleaned the area and applied the bandages, but Rhett was out of the mood for anymore Hokey Pokey.

That evening when he was bathing I tried to remove one of the band-aids only to find that its adhesive quality rivaled super glue…

*and now for one of my smoothest segues EVER*

Holly will now give advice to companies who say Who is Holly?

…why is it so difficult to remove band-aids?

As a natural net-worker and wanna-be match maker, I have a really, really, really good solution for this problem:

The Post-It Note Guy needs to meet the Band-Aid Guy.

What is Holly sayin’ at Mom It Forward?

This week I was talking about child play.

Or how adults completely co-opted child play.

Check out Building Blocks:  Not Child’s Play.

Let’s Find out Who Made the Comment of the Week!

Y’all know my propensity for random, so this week was easy for me.  This comment was in response to Naked Lego Santa, but really could have accompanied most anything I have written in the last few years:

“Thought of you reading a book on longevity. Per Egyptian legend (I think it is) the coccyx is the last bone left as the body decays. How is that for random facts?” – Ron Davison

Genius, Ron.  Not only do you receive worldwide bragging rights to Comment of the Week for the next 7 days (which includes Christmas), but this next segment is dedicated to you…

What is Up with Holly’s Coccyx?

Holly’s coccyx is doing much better.  The only donuts she has interacted with over the last year are the kind you eat, not sit on.

Every once in awhile when she takes a really long car trip or sits at her computer a little too long, she needs to go back and visit her friendly chiropractor, but overall…

SO MUCH BETTER.

What is Happening in The Mom Loop?

Leave your Twitter of FB link to be followed here.

We are chatting about family birthday traditions here.

Do you write personal notes in your Christmas cards? discussion here.

And now for a Random holiday photo…

And now for a random holiday video…

What is in Holly’s Fruit Bowl?

-visions of sugar plums*

*Not the actual sugar plums, but their visions.  It is kinda conceptual…work with me here.

Happy Monday everyone!

May your week be merry and your Four Square Check-ins include a stable next Saturday.

Everywhere I go!

Take a look in the five and ten glistening once again

With candy canes and silver lanes aglow.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Potluck

Toys in every store

But the prettiest sight to see is the HOLLY that will be

On your own front door.

That kinda sounds like I am stalking you.  Sorry about that.  You don’t have to open the front door.

What did Holly say last week on Mom It Forward?

Thanks for asking!

I was chatting about keeping kids out of trouble during holiday family functions.

Not that it is an issue at YOUR house…

Let’s find out who made the Comment of the Week!

In response to the boys obsession with spelling:

–iCup — I wonder if Steve Jobs will try to copyright that joke.  Then there’s that wonder moment in Science as they study the solar system. Uranus- sure to crack up every boy on our own blue planet. – Jersey Diva Mom

Jersey Diva Mom has won world wide bragging rights for the next 7 days.

And now for a little story…

Ryan had a class presentation a few weeks ago.  Each of the kids in his class was given one of the Colonies and he was assigned New Jersey.  We researched, mapped and came up with a suitable poster for the event.  His 3 minute speech went well and he got a good grade so I hadn’t thought much about it until we were in the car a few days ago with the radio on.  After hearing a radio commercial that mentioned something about New Jersey, Ryan asked, “Mom.  Why is it that now I know about New Jersey, I hear it everywhere?  New Jersey here and New Jersey there.  Is it because when you don’t know about something you just can’t hear it?”

Yes.  And I had never thought of it that way.  Genius.

What is happening in Mom Loop (on BlogFrog)?

If you are a blogger, you might want to check out the Social Media Follow Wish List and put yourself down for something nice.

If you are a post-potty-training mom, you might want to go over and encourage Shannon in her potty training quest.

If you have an opinion, you might want to jump into the middle of public, private or home-school?

And now for the answer to the world’s most probing question…

What is in Holly’s Fruit Bowl?

–One lone broken Christmas ornament.

It is actually kinda sad.

May your Monday bring a holiday song to your heart, but not too many holiday songs because carol overdose is a serious situation.

This is the best Monday.

Ever.

Hence, this will be a potluck befitting it.

OK, I really don’t know whether either is true, but I am feeling all half-full today.

It is Monday.  It is Potluck.  It might as well be grand.

I am really excited that I will be appearing
regularly (as in every Thursday) over at Mom It Forward.

Please do not miss my last post:  Skiing with a Four Year Old

“Skiing with a 4 year old is the winter equivalent to stopping and smelling the roses.”  I can’t wait to get back to the slopes and see what this year has in store.

I was at the park this week with my home-school group and found out about the site, Damn You Autocorrect.

I went home that evening, put the kids to bed and laughed until I was crying.  Not just ha-ha laughing, but seriously ROFL and I thought that was just a fancy set of initials that tended to exaggerate.

Nope.  It is THAT funny.

If you haven’t been over there, start with the best of November.  The first one was my favorite.  See how helpful home-school groups can be?

Let’s find out who won Comment of the Week!

In response to my dad’s tree house and my poor video shooting skillz:

Yep, even got vertigo and motion sickness and Extreme Narcissistic Jealousy during that video, so I KNOW it’s awesome. High fives to your dad, and let me just say that now you’ll be needing a maid, and I can help out there, you know. — Foolery

Congratulations Foolery…let the trash talkin’ in Foolery Land commence for the next 7 days.

What is Happening in the Mom Loop?

A favorite holiday recipe link-up (old or new) where I have linked my favorite Easy Potato Soup.

Why bloggers blog discussion

and a discussion on the use of Candy Canes.

As you may know, I am not the most technically-savvy person.  (I also would like to say that it makes more sense if savvy was spelled with two A’s instead of two V’s…sound it out! You will agree.  If course, I have the same issue with vacuum which makes more sense with two A’s vs. the out-the-blue double U, not to be confused with the W.)  CRAP!  Back to the subject at hand…

I usually need assistance for most off-line computer tasks.  Each year when I run off my Christmas Card labels is no exception.  I used to write out the names from my printed list because printing labels is hard.  My husband thought I was being overly dramatic about describing the degree of difficulty so he has helped the last few years.

My list is in my Outlook address book neatly categorized as “Christmas Card List”…smart, eh?

Except, Outlook doesn’t PRINT labels.  You have to send it to WORD to do that.  Oh, and if you have a computer with a touch screen, the label printing function is NULL AND VOID.  Turns out that touch screens are categorized as Notepad computers and it IS possible to print labels, but it requires a Ph.D and 3 hours of tedious step following to accomplish.  No problem, last year blog-Stedman used his doctorate and full afternoon to good use and got me my labels.  Hoooray!

This year I asked him to repeat his miracle and he did.  ONLY we have upgraded my Outlook and in order to print labels I would have to upgrade my WORD as well.  And to make things even more confusing, my nifty little category didn’t transfer to the new Outlook.   Oh, and it is impossible so I am hand-addressing them.  REALLY Microsoft?

My advice to Microsoft: Please make this easier.  I suggest a “print list” and “print labels” function INSIDE Outlook where my addresses actually ARE.

Whew…glad that is over.

What is in Holly’s Fruit Bowl?

- against all odds…it is fruit.  8 Cuties and 7 Granny Smith Apples.

Alrighty, potluck is concluding, Monday may now begin.

May your Monday be full of rant interrupting flowers.

Monday again has reared it’s ugly head.

But around here we are celebrating!

Yes, the kids are home…

screaming and climbing the walls.

Family is what the holidays are all about.

Grab your earplugs and any repelling equipment needed to join in.

As I have mentioned before, we have weapons.

Lots and lots of weapons.

I started out thinking that if I didn’t provide guns for the boys then it wouldn’t occur to them that they needed guns.

Oh how silly I was.

I can testify to the male genetic need for weapons despite their mommy’s peace loving ways.

And then blog-Stedman came home with new Nerf swords.

Three Nerf swords – one for each boy!

Ok, technically two Nerf swords and one battle axe – because every 4 year old needs a battle axe!

Lord have mercy on me.

Last week I went up to check on the boys after bedtime and found this…

Lord have mercy, maybe every 4 year old DOES need a battle axe.

Thanks to everyone who left comments this week.  I love me some comments.

Two really made me laugh this week in response to my need to look up the Latin meaning for sed:

“How long before they start calling each other sed-head?” – Heidi

“Hey, does my sed look big in these jeans???” - Amy

Congrats to Heidi and Amy who have the world wide bragging rights to Nirvana Commenter of the Week…for the next seven days.

This week’s confession is something that I have mentioned on Facebook (please be sure you are a liker for this AND other golden moments):

I like iCarly.

I turn it on for the boys to watch because I enjoy it.

The other night after the boys went to bed blog-Stedman walked through the living room and said, “Aren’t the boys asleep?  Why are you still watching this?”

ummmm…ya.

And now for the moment that no self-respecting Monday would be without…

What is in Holly’s Fruit Bowl?

- those metal art thingys are still there, but now a little squished under a bunch of faux bananas (if they were real, they would be rotten by now) and the gun that belongs to a Boba Fett costume.

May your Monday be sed-a-licious.