Looks like the dead can still bring the funk.

Haven't heard of "Here Come the Mummies"? Allow me to jam this ear worm into your head.



Your welcome.

Missing my Fam

It's a little cold and a lot rainy here in Indianapolis tonight. My soup is warming me up a little, but boy I miss my family. RIght about now, I'm sure that Swanny is wrangling Swanny Jr. into jammies. Peanut has probably gotten her nightgown on (only because Swanny bet her she couldn't get changed before Swanny Jr. donned his pajamas). They'll be cuddling up in Swanny Jr.'s room with a book and then laying the little man down for bed. Swanny and Peanut may adjourn to the couch for some movie time or a game of some kind. Ahhhh, I miss them. The doggies are probably sticking close by too keeping watch and company.
I wish I was there with them to enjoy the oridinary little minutes that add up to make a day. The ones that you find, when you're out of your routine, that you miss so much.

For our blog followers, allow me to explain why I'm out of town and in doing so also give my excuse for being so absent from the blog in recent weeks. I have decided that I am not busy enough and to fill my "free" time, I would like to persue my master's degree. I've enrolled in a GREAT program at the University of Indianapolis that I think will meet all the needs that I have regarding graduate school--the ones that kept me from enrolling in it prior to now. I am this weekend spending the requisite time on campus for my first class. Each class requires one long weekend on campus along with pre and post coursework. It's quite an undertaking to complete the work for a master's level class in about 2 months with only 2 1/2 days of face time with an instructor, but I think it will work out just fine. I've enjoyed my first class so far--despite the fact that it is Research Methodology. Yikes.

Enjoy Halloween tomorrow everyone. I'll be relying on Swanny and Grammy to post lots of pictures of our little spooks! (Thanks by the way Grammy for coming up for Halloween!!).

See everyone on Sunday night!

(Nearly) Wordless Wednesday

Preschool Pumpkin Patch field trip 2008. Peanut and her best friend HP.





And yesterday...

For the last time, Wal-Mart is NOT a book store.

An actual conversation I had with a customer on the phone while at work today.

Me: How can I help you?

Customer: Yeah, I'm wondering if you guys have the new Stuart Woods book? I checked at Target and Wal-Mart first, but they didn't have it. I figured I might as well try you guys.

Really?! You figured you'd "try" us? Last? You'd "try" to see if your local BOOK STORE carries the new release by an author whose a big name, but not necessarily popular enough in our area to be schlepped in the local box stores (aka NOT book stores)?

Me (with little to no sarcasm): Yep, we've got it. It's $xx, and we've got it discounted xx%.

Customer (who still doesn't realized her insult): Wow. Well, it's good to know you guys have it. I wonder why Target and Wal-Mart don't have it. Why would they not have it?

What. The. Fuck. Did you really just ask a book store employee why the local non-book stores aren't carrying it?

Me (narrowly avoiding scathing remarks about this person's intelligence): All I can tell you is that they are not book stores, and I don't why they do or don't carry certain things. On the other hand, we ARE a book store and almost always have the latest releases by most authors.

Customer (who, again, doesn't get it): Hmm, yeah I just thought it was weird. Well I may stop by and pick it up.

Me: Great! We'll have a copy here for you. Translated: Drop dead twice!

Tied up in knots

Is my little girl is really old enough to be doing this?

She tied her shoes by herself today more times than I can count. She'd tie them then untie them just so she could tie them again.

Wow. I'm so proud of you Peanut!

Holiday fun and poor table manners

It was a busy but fun holiday weekend for the Swanny clan.

We started on Saturday with the drive to my dad's house. The kids (and both of our dogs) played with Grandpa, Grandma Jodi and Jodi's neice and had a ball. Swanny and I celebrated the wedding of a friend of mine from my Rock Island school days. It was a beautiful day and ceremony and the reception was fun--for me. Swanny didn't really know anybody there, but was a good sport while I caught up with some friends. He did enjoy live-tweeting the dance action at the ceremony and the food was delicious, so don't feel too bad for him.

Yesterday, we made a long over-due visit to Peanut's (& Swanny Jr's) GGPA who used to be a loyal reader and commenter on this blog. I think he still lurks every now and then but we don't see or talk to him nearly enough. We had a nice time chatting and catching up. I was able to snap a good shot of GGPA, Swanny and the kids.


We attempted some shopping and a visit to Grammy Pam, but Peanut had reached her breaking point of fatigue and the 4-year-old beast that sleeps somewhere just below the surface emerged in a big way. Thanks Peanut for that tantrum-to-beat-all-tantrums that ruined anyone's shot of getting Whitey's while we were there. My favorite line during her diatribes, "You're not my mom. I don't love you!"

Peanut survived (barely) and we rounded out the weekend with a campfire and s'mores last night and breakfast this morning, once we found a place that was open. (By the way, I have no idea why I didn't take any pictures after the visit to GGPA's house...sorry.)

Needless to say, tonight when Swanny headed off for a few hours of work, I had 2 very tired children on my hands. (The dogs by the way are so tired from running around on my dad's 2 acres and playing with their Golden Retriever, that neither one of them woke up to eat dinner tonight). Early dinner and baths for the kids were top of my agenda this evening.

Apparently, no one told me that Swanny Jr. is on protest from broccoli.

My normally good-mannered little boy who will eat with spoon or hands anything I put before him proceeded to dump the broccoli from his bowl, toss the bowl to the floor and then--no joke, finger paint with his veggies instead.

Big Sis Peanut was eager to show off how a big kid eats broccoli.

Notice the majority of her veggies are gone and NOT on the table or floor surrounding her eating location. She was quite proud to be the role-model on this one. A nice change as I have asked her no fewer than 3 times this weekend either in build up to fit or in the midst of one, to remind me who the baby in our house is and then to think about who at the time was acting like one...

Eventually Swanny Jr. caught the hint and ate most of his veggies. (With generous amounts still landing on the floor).

Hopefully a good night's sleep and a back-to-normal routine tomorrow will help bring our good table manners back!

Finding myself on the road.

This weekend I read "Ultramarathon Man" by Dean Karnazes. For those of you who aren't familiar with Dean, he's a Super Endurance athlete. That's a fancy way of saying he runs incredible distances (100+ miles), just because. The book chronicles his life and how he found and embraced his passion for running. I thought it was a fascinating book and something in Dean's words struck a chord with me. He writes of being "just an average guy" whose passion, for many different reasons, is running.

When I was in Jr. High, my mom started running. I'm not sure, even to this day, what her motivations were for taking it up; I just know that I got drafted in the running thing as well. I was decent at it. I ran several road races (5k and 10k), a half-marathon, the Bix 7, a few 24-hour runs, and even messed around with a year of Cross Country in high school. Too be perfectly honest, I may have wanted to run with her at one point, but I distinctly remember feeling as though it was expected that I would continue running just because Mom was. The proof of this lies in the fact that I quit running around the time that I moved out of the house.

Whether real or imagined, the pressure to run because my Mom enjoyed it, had soured me on running. I found that I would rather put my efforts into golf, basketball, neighborhood football, and the like. I enjoyed these activities but never was able to excel in them. Running was something that I would come back to off and on for several years, but usually as a means to an end. I needed to drop some weight, I needed to get faster for whatever rec league I played in, or a girl that I was dating or liked was giving running a try.

Reading Dean's book, was kind of eye-opening for me. I've started running a little bit the past month, but again, as a way to supplement gym work for weight loss. Tonight, pumped up from reading "Ultramarathon Man", I went for a run and it clicked. I wasn't just putting in the work, I was running with my heart. I realized that at heart I may be a runner. Basketball, golf, etc, are all fun, but none of them offer the chance for introspection that happened for me tonight. I went 2.2 miles and ran all but about a tenth of a mile. I felt great. There's something soothing about knowing that just putting one foot in front of the other can get you through.

I think that the runner buried somewhere within me is clamoring to get out. I never thought I would say this, but I'm glad that part of me hadn't left for good.