A Total Copy Cat

Okay, I have been studying all day, so I am tired and don't really have anything to say. I have to admit it: I am totally stealing this idea from my friend Lisa's blog Blessed with Grace; she got it from somewhere else. But it is so fun! I put in my own names. Feel free to send me yours. :)

To find your ROCK STAR NAME take your first pet & current car:
Dinky Volvo (not an impressive start, but the Dinky Volvo below is pretty cute!)


To find your GANGSTA NAME take your favorite ice cream flavor and your favorite cookie:
Coffee Chocolate Chip

YOUR DETECTIVE NAME? Your favorite color and favorite animal:
Green Kitty

Everybody wants a SOAP OPERA NAME, so take your middle name and the city where you were born:
Karen Tucson

Want to know your SUPERHERO NAME? Just add the word "The" plus your 2nd favorite color, and your favorite drink:
The Blue Margarita

Your NASCAR NAME. Take the first names of your grandfathers:
Pedro Calvin

If I ever go into WITNESS PROTECTION you can find me with this name. Your mother’s & father’s middle names:
N.M.N. Lee

TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME? Just take your 5th grade teacher’s last name and add a major city that starts with the same letter:
Um, I have no idea. But here's an idea: Sawyer San Diego

Of course, if you find me in witness protection I will assume it was because you were using your SPY NAME. Add your favorite season/holiday to your flower:
Autumn Columbine
This is my absolute favorite. If you every see a book written by that author, it might be me. :)

Tell your kids their CARTOON NAME by taking your favorite fruit, an article of clothing you’re wearing right now, now add "ie" or "y":
Mango Cordsy

And lastly, your ROCKSTAR TOUR is heading across the northeast...it's called ("The” + Your fave hobby/craft, your fave weather element + the word “Tour”):
The Knitting Lighting Tour

Let's Meet as Usually

Every so often, I clean out my e-mail spam box. Google does a really good job for the most part, but when I once actually won something in an online drawing I had entered, the message must have said something like, "Congratulations! You have won an online drawing!" because it went straight into the spam. So, from time to time, I peruse the spam box, just to be sure there's not anything legitimate in there.

To be honest, I really don't know why these people bother... aside from the usual male performance-enhancing nonsense, my spam messages contained subject lines that are so straight from some fantasy land, I'm not sure anyone would click on them. Subjects range from the innocuous "You have been approved for MBA" and "Now you can feel good about yourself no matter your wage" (or is it supposed to be age?), to the unlikely "$10,000 in free money!" (I should have never signed up for those online scholarship searches) to the very unlikely "Even your house is paid off," and the just plain ludicrous "Your watch will obey you like a good child." Really, I'm tempted to click, just to find out which knock-off watch is supposed to obey me like a good child, and to find out what culture the person who wrote the subject line came from. Do people in Hong Kong, for instance, prize obedient watches? Do they prize good children? Do they actually have good obedient children? Was something lost in the translation?

The only thing that keeps me from clicking on the spam is the fear of having to glance through more subject lines like, "I'm in trouble! Where are you?" or worse, "Cheap Offer: 10V!agra+10Cializ=$69.95, Combo Pack for your 1st trial! jco mh."

(note: all actual subject lines from my very own spam.)

White Parenting

I had a moment today. I'd been looking for a good list of microbreweries in the US, and got on Time.com, and found a funny article by an Asian/African-American girl about a satirical blog called Stuff White People Like. Her point was that she liked most of those things, too. She talked about Stuff Mixed People Like, and I could relate a little. So, I went to the blog to see what white people like, and I had my moment. On the first page of this blog, there was a container of sea salt. It appears white people like sea salt. Matt & I have that sea salt in our pantry. Not just any sea salt. THAT EXACT SAME sea salt. I couldn't stop laughing. I understood how the Time author felt. I guess it means I'm white. Or a snob. Or something.

In the same vein, I offer my top 10 list of Stuff White Parents Like:

#10. Bumbo seats
#9. Gymboree
#8. Making homemade baby food; better if it's organic
#7. Baby monitors
#6. Bugaboo strollers
#5. etsy
#4. Anything organic cotton, including breast pads
#3. Wooden toys
#2. Designer nurseries
#1. Cloth diapers

My Instructables

I've been called off at work a couple of days recently, so I had some time at home I wasn't expecting. In addition to undecorating, doing laundry, playing with Ethan, watching my items for sale on e-Bay, buying other items on e-Bay, grocery shopping, and crafting, I wrote some Instructables.

Two of them were featured on the main page at Instructables.com, and I entered two in their Holiday Gifts contest. Feel free to take a look at the projects, and especially, feel free to vote for my holiday gifts. The prize is a Dremel drill set Matt and I would love to have. We might even fight over it. :)

Make Designer-Style Baby Blocks


How to Make a Grandparents' Calendar & Scrapbook (even if you don't know how to scrapbook)

How to Make Maternity Jeans Using Regular Jeans and a T-shirt

Tummy Time Baby Quilt

Upcycled Maternity Jeans

It's difficult to go through life with both a love for shopping and a hatred of spending money. I could chalk up my latest project to a great New Year's resolution to save money, but that's not the case. I'm tight with money anyway, so rather than buy new maternity jeans, I stared at maternity jeans on Gap.com for hours, put them in my shopping cart, took them out of the cart, put them back in, almost checked out, then closed the browser, raided my Goodwill stash (sorry, Goodwill shoppers) and made a pair of maternity jeans from regular jeans and a t-shirt.


Here's a link to my Instructable (Instructables.com is one of my favorite sites) and a picture of my 27-week belly (above). Note the drastic difference between that belly and my little, tiny, itty-bitty 25-week belly during my first pregnancy (below). As I recall, several people hinted that it wasn't really a "belly" at all.

Merry Christmas from the Morrisons

We love to read others’ Christmas letters. We love to hear your updates, your stories, your creative commentary on the year’s events. Writing our own yearly letter is, on the other hand, a bit of a chore. Getting a good picture to go with the letter (since what is a yearly update without the picture?) verges on nearly impossible. Nevertheless, without further ado, we attempt the nearly impossible chore once again:


Matt continues to work for Vann Pumping Systems and with mentally-challenged adults at Breckenridge Village on the occasional weekend, where he demonstrates the kind, patient attitude we’ve admired in him for years. He continues to manage several income-producing websites, as well as our budget. These two tasks afforded him the opportunity to eke out the cash for a big purchase: after stalking his friend Denny at Stereo and Video Center for months, he finally bought yet another large TV. It’s newer and better than the last one. Does that make it worth it? Elisa’s not sure.

Elisa continues to work part-time at Mother Frances Hospital on the Labor & Delivery unit. She has completed nearly all of her Master’s-level family nurse practitioner program and looks forward to graduation in August. Although she’s not in charge of the budget, Matt’s purchase of the TV afforded Elisa some leverage, so her main purchases this year were a new couch and a Queen-sized mattress set. Did we mention that we are not really buying gifts for each other this year? Feel free to give us a call anytime you’re in the area: we now have a guest room complete with a brand new sleeper sofa and large-screen TV.

Ethan, sweetly oblivious to his parents’ materialistic ways, continues to grow, talk, learn, run, finger paint, and pull things out of cabinets. His current obsession is playing in the sink, pouring water from one side to the other, filling containers, dumping them, and generally getting the entire kitchen wet. He repeats nearly everything we say, and loves to sing and dance. Naturally, we think he’s brilliant. Ethan will turn two in January, and will be starting Mother’s Day Out twice a week, giving Mommy a chance to complete her clinical requirements early in the semester.

We all eagerly anticipate the arrival of baby Noah James in March (except maybe Ethan, who really has no idea how drastically his little world is going to change. For that matter, neither do the rest of us). If Noah should turn out to be a little girl despite three very convincing ultrasounds, we’ll be sure to let you know next year.

We pray God’s richest blessings on you this coming year and always, remembering the words of the old Christmas hymn:

All praise to Thee, eternal God,
Who, clothed in garb of flesh and blood,
Dost take a manger for Thy throne,
While worlds on worlds are Thine alone. – Martin Luther

With love, Matt, Elisa & Ethan Morrison

The $3.00 (+One Afternoon) Sock Monkey

I try to make something for Ethan for his birthday and Christmas. If I don't do it then, when will I? I won't. As evidence of this fact, I present the Sock Monkey. I bought this pair of socks about a year ago at Marshall's, full of good intentions. They languished in a drawer, until today, when I pulled them out to make a Christmas present for Ethan. At first, I was afraid he'd be horribly ugly, but after getting one ear on, he turned into a pretty cute little guy, very appropriate for our little monkey. If it were up to me, I'd name him "Awesome" after a character on Chuck (just because I think the name's funny), but given Ethan's current naming trends (or lack thereof), I think the sock monkey will probably be called "Monkey."

The pattern came from ClubhouseB.com.

Clowning Around

 

Laundry

So, I am now at the point in my life where doing laundry is a major accomplishment. As in, "I did three loads of laundry today. So there, all you full-time working moms who shuttle three kids around to ball games after work and do laundry in the middle of the night when your family is asleep."

I have only two things to say about this:
1) How do you do it? and
2) Do you have any tips/pointers for washing car seat covers and high chair straps? because mine are looking grungy and the thought of washing them is a little overwhelming.

Things I Never Really Realized I Would Enjoy

I never imagined I would have a child who called himself "Eee Tee." We think of it as E.T., and I am convinced Matt tried to teach him "phone home," too.

I never thought I would have an echo to all my spoken thoughts. If I say, "Look, it's raining again. My goodness," Ethan walks around saying, "Rainin. Mye goo-noose. Rainin. Mye goo-moose," for ten minutes.

I actually never thought I would start talking out loud, non-stop, referring to myself in the third person, as in, "Hum. Mommy really does need to do something about her hair," while driving BY MYSELF to work.

I never really believed all those parents who insist you never get to go to the bathroom by yourself again. I thought I would just shut the door. Ha. Whatever.

I never really believed I would enjoy all of these things as much as I do.