Best Birthday Ever, episode I

We'd like to share with you the best moment of H's short little life thus far - the moment we handed him a cupcake to celebrate his first birthday, and the ensuing joy:

What did YOU get?

For mothers day this year, my little sister Karin got a new son.
My older sister Elizabeth got a daughter.
I got flowers, a new downstairs toilet, and heart-shaped pizza with bacon on it. Beat that.

Anniversary the Third

Today is our 3rd wedding anniversary. Yes, that's right, we were married 05-05-05. We chose that date on purpose. Aren't we cute/cheesy? It's also my grandmother's 85th birthday today. Happy birthday, Grandma!
AJ is very swamped with a school project that is due tomorrow and he's been working on like crazy. He still plans on asking his professor for an extension. So we decided to defer any anniversary celebration until probably next weekend. We didn't know we needed to send out that memo to the neighborhood.
When we moved in, a neighborhood cat decided we could own it. I disagreed, but Mr. Fluffers, as I began to call her, insisted. We have never fed this little beast. We do not pet her. But she comes over and meows and gets all friendly like. I was chatting with our next door neighbor once and he mentioned our cat. Whoa, pal, we don't own a cat! Anyway . . .
We pulled into the driveway yesterday afternoon to find that our birdbath had been stolen and replaced with the ugliest, pinkest birdbath you ever did see. I was shocked. And in broad daylight! Why didn't a neighbor stop them! I jumped out of the car to see this monstrosity, only to discover that it was an anniversary gift from Mr. Fluffers, the little rascal. Complete with glitter floating in it. For photos, look here. Innocent Karen had nothing to do with this and hasn't been planning it since January.

I miss HOTS

My hairstylist in Utah is named Courtney. She is not only my stylist, but the Hairstylist Of The Stars (HOTS). That girl is amazing. I walk in in an emotional uproar almost demanding a purple Mohawk, and Courtney is able to help me achieve my desire for drastic change and turn it into a bob with caramel low-lights. I have never gotten a haircut from her that I didn't LOVE. She makes me feel pretty.
Beyond her hair skillz, she is a wonderful friend. She was my older sister's roommate for 4 years. She is an absolute delight to be around. And when our lives got busy, chances are I needed a haircut, so we took the opportunity to catch up.
She came to California and did my wedding hair. It was the most beautiful day of my life.
I tell her my needs, and she makes my hair match those needs. I never needed to show any pictures, she always just knew.

Tuesday I went to get my haircut for the first time in North Carolina. Yes, we've lived here a year and a half. Don't judge. I had my mom trim it at Christmas, at least. Anyway, I found a nice looking salon on the Internet that is close-ish to my work. I made the appointment and went Tuesday afternoon. Her name was Kat, and she had the bluest eye-shadow I have ever seen. Now, she did a fine job on my hair. Exactly what I asked for. I had to do some prodding to get her to tell me the things I needed to hear (versatility, ease of styling, etc.) But it was such a lonely feeling. I wanted to ask her how things were going with Joseph, what crazy antics her mom had done lately, you know, stuff. I am seriously almost in tears as I type this.
Like I said, the haircut was fine. And I love having other people wash my hair and style it. It's just luxurious. But I miss HOTS.

Sorry I don't have a picture for you. I just tried to take a decent one with my phone here in my cube but my work husband called me on it and I'm too embarrassed to keep trying. Got rid of the layers, it's shoulder length with super long bangs. Tuck-behind-the-ear long.

Here's What I've Been Doing

You all get to hear about Emily all the time. That's a lot of fun. But just to stir things up a bit, I thought I'd tell you what I've been up to:

The fun thing around here is that since there is such a close democratic primary, politicians actually care about us this time around in North Carolina. The other fun thing is that since I'm going to such a large state university, they actually send people to see us. I was walking down the hall the other day and to my surprise, there stood Sean Astin campaigning for Hillary Clinton. So of course I had to stop and talk to him. He makes my list of pleasant celebs I've met in person. Not that I've met a whole lot, but so far the list includes Michael Peterson, Deana Carter and Sean Astin

I did not however, chant Ru-dy, Ru-dy, Ru-dy... or make any hobbit jokes. I'm extremely satisfied with my new found self control. I also got Emily his autograph on a Hillary campaign poster. When I brought it home, she announced that she is going to vote for Hillary now. I think she's serious. I also think it's fun that the people she was going to vote for this fall encompass pretty much all of the candidates now. It happened in this order (or close to it, sometimes she was between two candidates): Huckabee (until she learned a little more about him, then she was embarrassed), Romney, Ron Paul, Obama, McCain, and now Hillary Clinton. Maybe we'll have an independent that comes through in a few months, who knows?

This next set of photos makes me wonder about my life. It seems poop is about as important to me as meeting a celebrity. Is there a connection?:

H's best friend Leah visits us about 4 times a week. Recently she had some bowel issues. I got to clean up. Yes, all of the brown on her somehow made it out of the diaper. I say somehow, but I know why - that thing was more full than any other diaper I've ever seen in my life. She's not even on solids yet.

Next, in case you didn't know, the H is the King of Chipotle. He tries to make it every Thursday, but it doesn't always work out:

And finally, Emily and I went roller skating with the church youth a few months back. Emily posed:

I guess now that I've looked back through the post, the real title should have been "I'm glad I have a camera phone now."

I'm My Dad?

For some reason I thought that I married my dad, and that my deepest desires were to become my mom. The second part is still true. And while AJ looks like my dad and is getting degrees like my dad's, deep down, he's more my mom than I am. I will give you the example that really opened my eyes.

I came across the funniest thing I had ever experienced on the Internet. The first time through I used 4 Kleenexes - I was laughing so hard I was sobbing. The second time through I was showing AJ. I still laughed so hard I got a headache. AJ faintly smiled.

It reminded me of when my folks were dating and my mom's family would sit and watch my dad laugh at things. My mom and her side all have senses of humor, but they do not guffaw, particularly at the things that Dad & I do.

For your extreme viewing pleasure, I offer you the posting. Dad, I hope you enjoy it like I do.

7 things. Friday gets pictures

Mzzterry tagged me, but I'm afraid there aren't 7 things about me that anyone who has been following this blog doesn't already know. I'll give what I got.

• Birthdays are a really big deal to me. I don't need a fancy party or expensive gifts (not that I turn my nose up at those things!) But it's a very special day - it's YOUR day, a holiday just for you! So on my birthday I'll do things like wear my favorite pair of socks, take a little extra me-time, whatever. I make it a point to wish people a happy birthday on their special day, and if possible, I like to make cupcakes or something.
• Today is my baby's first birthday. He doesn't seem to care yet. And I think he'll resent birthdays if he connects it to the shots he's getting today. His cupcakes won't happen until Friday, though, because AJ is the Assistant to the Scoutmaster, and mutual is tonight.
• I like to keep pretty things pretty for as long as possible. I noticed this morning as I got a new bar of soap that I purposely used the side that didn't have "Kirkland Signature" imprinted on it, because soap imprintations are pretty. Also, tubs of butter ought to be consumed not from the top to the bottom, but from one side to the other, to preserve the pretty swirls for as long as possible.
• Food = love
• I LOVE making lists.
• I had the same song in my head for nearly 3 years. It's not a good song, and I'm not going to divulge it here. AJ recently put it as my ring tone for when he calls. He's pretty funny.
• Today I purged my bathroom of some really old makeup. Not so much about me, but it makes 7, and keeps with my decluttering goals. Um, I'm goal oriented. Yet flexible. How do I do it?