Photostacker Wannabe

I love the look that you can achieve with the Photostacker screensaver on Macs.  There's also a free shareware program you can download that will replicate the effect on your PC.  I'm a PC girl - for now. Always have been since most of corporate America uses them.  And I've always worked with and in corporate America.  Now that I've been fully freelance for five and a half years - and it looks as though that status is going to stick, even after the boys are in school, I'm thinking it might be time to switch to my first choice - a Mac.  I've been eyeing one for several months, and a little birdie told me that I might be getting one for Christmas.  We'll have to see if I can be a good girl the rest of the year and maybe Santa will bring me something wonderful.

Meanwhile, in switching the look of my blog, I wanted to duplicate the effect of Photostacker in my new header.  Whadd'ya think?  A summer full of fun photos and a half-hour in Photoshop, and voila - a new header that makes me happy everytime I look at it.  I've been playing with some animation, too.  So those photos might rotate in a few weeks.  For now, the static Polaroids make me smile.

I'm Back...and "This, too, deserves its own post!"

It seems like I've been away forever.  I wish I could say that I had some grand excuse, but I just needed a break.  Two blogs, a full-time mom job, a part-time writer/marketer job, a husband, and a dog who is pushing the geriatric envelope have taken up much of my time and energy.

Thought I'd share some of the things that have been on my mind and inspiring me over the past several months:

1.  It would be easy to say that my break from blogging was a technology hiatus.  Although this wasn't a conscious decision, maybe that's truly what it was.  Coincidently, I heard this story on NPR this weekend.  It seemed to explain (or at least provide a convenient excuse) for my lack of blogging, tweeting, etc.

Digital Overload: Your Brain On Gadgets

2.  Speaking of NPR, a friend of mine from college just published his first book and it's receiving great reviews.  He just finished an interview on NPR about the book, titled Interstate 69: the Unfinished History of the Last Great American Highway. You can listen to the interview here. I'm so proud to say that I know Matt. I could write amazing stories about all of the talented people I know from my college days.

3.  I've started running.  If you know me, you know that I'm a self-professed "running hater."  I ran in Junior High because my older brother ran, and I just assumed that's what everyone did.  I have literally tried running a total of 10 times since I was 14.  So the subject of running definitely deserves its own post - which will come soon.  For now, just know that I'm been putting one foot in front of the other and running!  Feels good, too.

4. Both of my kiddos started school.  I have a brand-new Kindergartener.  This, too, deserves its own post.  I have watched a confident, polite, caring "big boy" blossom before my eyes.  Anyone who says kids shouldn't go to preschool needs to meet my kid.  Before two years of preschool, Alex was shy, unsure of himself, easily overwhelmed by sensory stimulus.  Now, he's a completely different boy.  Yes, some of it is maturation and good parenting (tee-hee), but I have repeatedly thanked his preschool teachers in the last two weeks for the safe, caring atmosphere they created for him during those key developmental years.

5.  Ben started preschool.  Same school and teachers that I was singing the praises of above.  He is loving every minute of it (which I knew he would), and it warms my heart to hear him talking about "his new friends."  Although he did tell me that he didn't want to invite any of his new girl friends over for a playdate because girls "go potty too much."  Amazing how the 3-year-old brain works.

6.  We've entered the wonderful world of karate/tae-kwon-do.  The boys were begging me to take lessons.  Ben is too little, but Alex LOVES, LOVES it.  This, too, deserves its own post.  I never thought I would want my kids taking martial arts, but the discipline and respect woven into the forms have won me over.  More on this in a later post.

7.  I've been inspired by several bucket lists recently.  In particular, this one.  I love the idea of 101 things in 1001 days.  Although, as I'm doing the math, I'll need to accomplish one of these major life things every 10 days for the next 2.75 years.  I might have to rethink the timeframe or the number of items on my list.  "This, too, deserves its own post" seems to be the theme of this entry.  So, you guessed it - I'm working on this life list.

8.  That's it for now - except to say that the other day "Dude Looks Like a Lady" by Aerosmith popped up on the iPod shuffle. You remember: "Do me, do me, do me, sue me. What a funky lady. She like it like it like it like that."  Alex (our oldest) got very quiet for a minute, looked at Kevin and said, "Mommy is definitely not that 'Funky Lady.'"  I love it!

Top 10 Most Popular Posts at Lunacy

The infamous Ben who was born in the car on I-70!

The infamous Alex who thankfully slept through the whole thing (at home)!

It's been a busy week here on Lunacy.  Ever since Gabrielle's link (over at Design Mom) to my "birth in the car story," thousands of people have been reading about Ben's untimely and hilarious birth.  I've also had lots of questions about my blogging, my writing and my life in general. One of the most common questions is: Where can I read more posts like this one?  To better your reading enjoyment at Lunacy, I've compiled a list of the Top Ten Posts from throughout the four years I've been blogging.  Enjoy!

1. Is That My Uterus in That Taurus? - The story of my second son's birth on I-70, America's busiest highway.
2. Chocolate Chip Cookie Wars - A glimpse into my neurotic life and in which I clearly determine the definition of fair and equitable sharing of chocolate.
3. Is That a VW on My Uterus? - The story of my first son's birth.  Not nearly as exciting as Ben's birth, but for those of you who love birth stories (like me), you'll love reading about the Potty Parade here.
4. Cover Your Ears - The story of my two children (age 4 and 2) who are destined to embarrass me at the grocery store by inadvertently turning Bob the Builder and Saltine crackers into dirty words.
5. Lie To Me. I Promise, I'll Believe You - The day that I discovered that becoming a mother has turned me into a pathological liar.  Who knew? Does that happen to all of us?
6. Shopping for Fish-Fishing for Compliments - Did you know that you can define your place in life by which checker you choose at the grocery store? At least I can.
7. As I Lay Dying - A recap of some of those little, but truly amazing moments in life that make you lose your breath for just a second.
8. I'd Like To Thank the Academy - My first foray into community theater.  Ever feel like the dorky girl with the braces and the poodle skirt on her sweater from Sixteen Candles? You're not alone.
9. All About Me - A 100 item list? Cliche, I know. But sometimes you have to bow to the peer pressure that those dang memes create and write the list.  Read mine and you'll get to hear about lightening strikes, close calls with trains, high school cheerleaders and foods that make you gag.
10. I Think God Is In the Kitchen... - My restaurant recommendations from across the globe.  Not sure why people care where someone else has eaten, but I get lots of comments on this one, as well.  I think that people love to rally around a really amazing restaurant.

Speaking of food, here's one bonus entry.  With all of the crazy stories I've had in my life, more people want to know about my Cheddar and Ale Soup recipe than my near-death experiences in Bolivia.  Go figure.  Enjoy!

NaNoWriMo Countdown Begins

25 days to NaNoWriMo.

Work by the numbers between today and November 1:

• 5 interviews for columns
• 4 weekly columns
• 2 web design completions
• 2 conference calls
• 1 blog template redesign
• 1 business card design process
• 1 business papers design (letterhead, b-cards, etc.)
• 1 board meeting
• 1 newsletter design
• 1 newsletter edit/design
• 1 scientific article with 4 interviews
• 1 PowerPoint template design

Think that's it! Not even going to make a list of all of the personal things I need to accomplish - since that's supposed to be my full-time job.  Stay-at-home mom has a whole new definition in the 21st century!

It's been awhile...

We've been on the road for most of the summer - thus, the silence on the blog. Had a great trip back to the Midwest to visit family and friends. My kids got to go strawberry picking and run through a sprinkler (two things that they don't get to do with all the watering restrictions in Colorado.) Behold the joy that is fresh picked, red-all-the-way-through strawberries:

Pure bliss!
Then, we spent a week in Maine on the ocean. Our friends Mark and Kristen are expecting, so I was great to catch up with them before Baby Girl makes her appearance.
Here is the amazing lobster dinner that we created one night:


Here are the kiddos enjoying the very relaxing porch at our rented cottage. Harmony Cottage in Northport, ME. Check it out for your next rental. Peaceful, cozy and just what we needed to spend time with old friends.

And the beautiful flowers that were growing like crazy in front of the cottage:

Must have been all that rain in Maine - the was falling mainly on our heads, not on the plain!

Since we returned home, the summer has been filled with swimming lessons and playdates with the boys' favorites friends. We tackled the woodchip pile which took on a life of its own that has been in our driveway for almost 9 months. It is finally gone. We have lots of trails that run the length of our property. The boys love exploring all the nooks and crannies of their climbing rocks - which can now be accessed by trails.

And...of course, I've been mulling over lots of new projects. I'll post pictures as time goes on. The project of the week is coverting our guest to 1/8-part guest room and 7/8-parts craft room/office for me. It's all still in the measuring, organizing, planning stages, but I'm hoping it will be drool worthy.

Glad to be back!

Oh How Long It's Been!

I don't know why I was suddenly feeling the urge to blog after all of this time. It's always a good indication to me that my head and my heart are feeling on top of life again. I can tell that I'm in a good place when, in spite of the fact that I'm literally juggling 28 million different things right now, I still want to blog. So, more on this later...I've got several posts going in my head right now which I promise to spit out in cyberspace very soon.