Monday Meme

Tracy tagged me for the "Four, Four, Four, Four..." meme. I've turned it over to Bittyman (with my remarks):

A) Four places that I go to over and over:

1. McDonald's (Good grief. We don't go THAT often!)
2. Barnes & Noble (A bookstore is educational, right?)
3. Burlington Coat Factory (Throw me a bone, Bitty! How about 'museum' or 'library' or even 'pool'?)
4. The Shrine (Where Mom cantors. See we don't just shop and eat fast food...)

B) Four people who email me regularly:

1. I don't really know... people don't email me.
2.
3.
4.

C) My favorite 4 places to eat:

1. McDonald's (Sigh!)
2. Quizno's
3. Taco Bell
4. Panda Express (OK, I'll plead the 5th here.)

D) Four places I would rather be right now:

1. The arcade.
2. Visiting Miss Wendy and Ryan.
3. Going out for lunch. (Hmmm, let me guess where.)
4. Watching Daddy at work.

F)Four TV shows I watch all the time:

1. Transformers
2. Future Weapons
3. Handy Manny
4. Good Eats

G) Four words that best describe you:

1. Big
2. Tall
3. Strong
4. Builder (He likes building models with Daddy.)

H) Four favorite Hollywood Actors/Actresses:
1. Stormtroopers
2. Indiana Jones and Han Solo (Harrison Ford)
3. Luke Skywalker
4. Optimus Prime and Bumblebee and all the other Transformers!

I) Four favorite television game shows:

1. Deal or No Deal - the Star Wars one!
2. If you go to channel 110 there are a thousand games in the Game Lounge like Bejeweled and it says that you have to use the remote that we have and you can sit down, relax and play the games instead of putting money in the goofy machines and that saves money. (Someone has been watching too many commercials.)
3.
4.

J) Four favorite "old school" television shows:

1. I've never seen one.
2.
3.
4.

K) List four things you liked best about Christmas when you were a child:

1. That we give presents. (Seriously, he said that first.)
2. And get presents. (OK, but he did say GIVE first. Does that make up for all the Happy Meals?)
3. I like Santa coming over. He's always nice.
4. Candy Canes.

L) List four things you liked best about Halloween when you were a child:

1. That we get candy.
2. We say "TRICK OR TREAT!"
3. It's fun.
4. And that's about it!

M) List four things you did not like about growing up:

1. It's more closer to saying goodbye to your life and going up to heaven. (Wow.)
2. When I was a baby I don't like it because if I need something I can't tell you what I want because I just cry and my Mom and Dad don't know what I'm saying. (Again, wow.)
3. Um, nothing else!
4.

N) List four events that impacted your life:

1. When my brother was born!
2. When it was my birthday!
3. That's about it I think. Yep.
4.

Feeling the Monday blahs? Consider yourself tagged for the meme!

What's Up This Weekend

The First Perfect Movie of 2008: WALL-E

SYTYCD Thursday

One of our favorite summer shows is 'So You Think You Can Dance'. Welcome to the first installment of 'SYTYCD Thursday', where I'll post my favorite routine from the previous night's show. In this clip, the performance starts at 2:50 if you'd like to skip to the heart of it.

Brilliant choreography and performance. Just brilliant.

(My guess for who will be leaving tonight: Comfort & Chris)

Sick Cleaning

More thorough than Spring Cleaning is Sick Cleaning.

It's fueled by a Mom's genetic predisposition to disinfect after her home has been invaded by any virus. In this case, the 'Vacation Bible School Stomach Bug' which sadly hit Bittyman while he was having a slumber party at Grandma and Grandpa's last Friday night.

(So, Lord, what's up with that? I send my kid to sing your praises for a week and he ends up praying to the porcelain god all weekend!)

By Monday afternoon Diva Mom was infected and not long after, Ittyboy. (Daddy managed to dodge the invasion.) Nasty little bugger even made it half-way across the country to my friend K's house.

Yesterday every sheet, blanket, towel and throw rug was washed in hot water. Any surface that could have possibly been touched by a germy Hero hand was scoured with Lysol Disinfecting Wipes and/or bleach. (Not sure why I thought the ceiling fan and the decorative items from Pier 1 and my Waterford crystal displayed on top of my kitchen cabinets fell into that category but I was on a roll.) Stuffed animals enjoyed a tumble in the dryer. (Like that kills germs? But they smell cleaner. I don't dare wash loveys after the infamous 'WHITE KITTY WAS DROWNED!' incident of 2006.) Plastic toys all soaked in the sink.

Today everyone is bug-free. (Or just so stir-crazy from 3 days of quarantine that we're faking it so we can hit the pool.) Plus my house is spotless and I've lost 3 pounds - the silver lining to this queasy week.

Today's reflection from Sacred Space:


Children are deprived not because we do not give them things, but because we do not sufficiently value what they give us. We need to be alert to welcome what children have to offer. You remember how Kahlil Gibran wrote about children,

You may give them your love but not your thoughts, for they have their own thoughts. You may house their bodies but not their souls, for their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams. You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday. You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.

Our children are flying forward into areas we have not charted ourselves. What is asked of us is in Kahlil's last phrase, ‘Even as the Archer loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.' We are expected to be calm, reliable, showing a steady love in our own lives, and to offer our children what Jesus offered: time, love, stability, and a readiness to bless.


I admit, I had no clue who Kahlil Gibran was. But this meditation on children really struck a chord with me so I thought I'd share it with my fellow Moms. A quick Google search and now I'm just soaking up his poems and other works.

This American's Got Talent!

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

They Say It's My Birthday!

So let the well-wishes in the Comment Box ensue! And thanks for all the iTunes and coffee gift cards (see, ask and you shall receive), ecards and facebook wall posts! (If you're on facebook let me know so I can 'friend' you - darn, that site is addictive.)

And since it's my day, pictures of ME! My favorite Diva photo (taken during the Broadway show on the Carnival Fantasy cruise ship, where I met Dan):



And my favorite Mom photo:



How old am I today? Well, let's check with Bittyman, shall we?

"Mom, how old are you now?"
"39"
"THIRTY-NINE?!? Wow! That's almost 90! And 90 is... that's almost a GOOGLE!"

Apparently I'm 1 followed by one hundred zeros old.

Gone Country

Hi. My name is Vicki and I'm a country music fan.

That's very hard to admit. Growing up in Northern Virginia (not to be confused with the rest of the state of Virginia) I was indoctrinated to think country was the music for our southern neighbors... NASCAR fans... dare I type it, white trash. (Bring on the Google search term hits.)

So during college when casting was being completed for the summer shows at King's Dominion theme park, my fear wasn't that I wouldn't get hired. I was terrified I'd get cast in their Country Music Live! production. I would have preferred a part in Yabba Dabba Dino - as the Dino costumed character - to clogging and yodeling madness.

After graduation, when I went into rehearsals for my first cruise ship gig, my greatest fear was thrust into the spotlight. Along with a 50's -themed show and jazz show, my repertoire included an hour-long country music show. Performed four times a week.

Costumed in a white spangled dress with beaded fringe, I belted out hits like The Tennessee Waltz, Put Yourself in My Place and God Bless the U.S.A. And something strange happened.

I discovered I was pretty good at singing country music. My southern accent, which usually only slipped off my tongue after I'd had a few too many wine coolers, came quite naturally while singing. The melodies were catchy and the lyrics inspiring - or downright hilarious.

Still, I didn't consider myself a country music fan. Just a talented singer/actor who embraced whatever genre I was getting paid to perform.

I was forced to face the truth a few weeks ago. With my iPod ear buds trying to drown out the sound of the dentist's drill as he reduced two of my molars to crown anchors, I listened to my 'Recently Purchased' iTunes playlist:

Carrie Underwood - Before He Cheats
Carrie Underwood - Last Name
Trace Adkins - You're Gonna Miss This
Brad Paisley - I'm Still A Guy
Martina McBride - Independence Day
Rodney Atkins - Cleaning This Gun (Come On In Boy)
The Charlie Daniels Band - The Devil Went Down to Georgia (Bittyman's current favorite tune.)

And no, I can't claim that these tunes were downloaded as research for an upcoming country music gig.

As a Christian I am called to speak the truth. So I will now publicly proclaim that I'm a country music fan. I covet these and these. One of my radio presets is "Coyote Country'. I love line dancing.

(But please, just don't tell my friends back in NoVA.)

Happy Father's Day

To a wonderful Daddy who every day, by his example,
teaches his sons to love their Mom.

And Happy Father's Day to Grandpa I. and Grandpa E.!

Heaven is...

the sound of Bittyman 'reading' The Very Hungry Caterpillar to Ittyboy in the next room.

(And by 'reading' I mean reciting from memory the entire book.)

Wordless Wednesday

Monday Musings

How the heck did it get to be June? But since June is busting out all over (sorry for the earworm), just a not-so-subtle reminder that my birthday is TWO WEEKS FROM TOMORROW! Please feel free to use the PayPal donation button and contribute to my coffee fund - which is going to be depleted much quicker now that a Dunkin' Donuts with a drive-thru window is opening one mile from our house. Or click on one of my Wish List items from Amazon. iTunes gift cards work too. (Shameless, aren't I?)

For the past two weeks Dan has taught his morning private piano students, performed his regular daytime gig then immediately went to a nighttime lounge gig that got him home around 3am. Which will explain why blogging has been light of late. I've basically been a single parent while Dan went above and beyond to bring home the bacon.

Bittyman has a fun summer ahead of him. Vacation Bible School for a week in June, Space Daycamp for a week in July and swim lessons for 2 weeks in August. Just enough to keep him occupied (and give Mom a few breaks) but not so over-scheduled that we're spending all summer in the car.

Ittyboy is now a champion walker and is sporting two teeth on the bottom and four slivers of white on the top. He has also added the word 'Alleluia' to his vocabulary. Yep. The kid sings along to the Alleluia chorus. If I can ever get it on video he'll have college paid for from the 'America's Funniest Home Video' winnings.

Let me give a HUGE plug for Crossroads - a peaceful, prayerful organization dedicated helping bring about a Culture of Life in our country. These pro-life young men and women are walking across the country, from the West Coast to Washington, DC, over the summer. Several members spoke at the parishes in our diocese this past weekend and I was just amazed at their courage and strength of conviction.

Also, my friend Jen at Cead Mile Failte, entered a photo she took in the 'The Kid in You' photo contest at 5 Minutes for Mom. Do me a favor and surf over and vote for her so she can win a Wii!

The boys are tucked in for the night so it's time to join Dan for the season finale of LOST. (What did we do before Tivo?)