Verify Me

For awhile now I've suffered in silence, biting my tongue for the sake of my fellow bloggers, telling myself that how people blog is their prerogative, it's not my place to judge. But I'm not sure how much more I can take, how much longer I can handle the irritation, frustration, RAGE!! What, you ask, has me so worked up?

WORD VERIFICATION

It has become the bane of my existence, people. Please forgive me if you are one of the overly paranoid, super-precautious people who have word verification on your blogs. I cannot agonize in silence any more.

I HATE WORD VERIFICATION!!!

Why? Let me count the ways...

1. It's just an extra step. An unnecessary addition to comment-making. What, we don't spend enough time blogging, we have to add five seconds to each comment we make? Some bloggers (you know who you are) read 75 blogs daily. That's 6 mins. 15 seconds (no, I did not do the math. This is where living with a math genius comes in handy) of time spent on the computer that otherwise could be spent, oh, I don't know, reading another blog.

2. What is the point of a code if no one can crack it? I get the idea behind it...make the word in a funky font all wavy and stuff so that mass emailers can't send you spam. Okay, but if you make the word so funky and wavy that no one in their right mind can read it, you may as well put a commenting block on the blog altogether. Is that "m" an "m" or an "r" and an "n"? Is that two "v's" or a freaking "w"? It's madness people!! And the thing is, I swear there's no right answer. I think that whatever you put will be wrong. 9 times out of 10 they will make you type in a new word, just for fun. Somewhere the word verification people are sitting in a little room, talking about all us idiot bloggers trying to guess the letters and laughing obnoxiously. Curse the letters! Curse ALL the letters!!

3. And finally, the main point to my rantings. In my humble blogging opinion, it serves no purpose. I visit many a blog that graciously has forewent the word verification and never, ever gets spam comments. And once (I swear on my computer, this actually happened, it is not an urban legend) I saw a spam comment on (gasp) a word verified blog. So, see? There you have it. No need for word verification. Go ahead, turn 'em off. Oh, what's that? You don't care what I say? You're going to keep your heinous word verification? Fine. Just know I'm sending evil thoughts your way the next time I'm typing in the word frxlm. Followed immediately by the word plgss.

At Least I Can Say "I Told You So"

Sorry in advance for the million pictures. Apparently I blog like I scrapbook. The following catalogs our half a camping trip with my family to Sun Lakes.

I had to blog this. My kids packed their backpacks without me knowing
the day before we left and drug them around all day.

This was what Payson deemed necessary for our 4 day camping trip:

Two Transformers, the pants he wore the day before, and of course,
Giraffe.

This is what the kids did 90% of the time:
(explored the "big mountain", as Payson referred to the hill by our camp site)

Payson all cozy in the tent trailer we borrowed from my
brother, Landon, who was the only sibling not there

Branson (My sis. Amy's baby) and Audrey (in front) on our walk to the play area

Payson jumping to Daddy

Sadie (my sis. Alison's daughter) and Owen being helped by their daddies

Payson

Uncle Ryan helping Macy on the zip line

Payson again. He's just so darn cute.

Ryan climbing between the two towers of the playset.
I tried to get a picture showing how high he was but was too late.

Playing down by the lake

Throwing rocks (Alison's daughter Kaitlin in the background)

Bill being Bill

Sweet Audrey, who sat happily watching everything from
the stroller the entire time.

Macy

So here's what I did not get a picture of:

~ Payson, slamming his SAME thumb in the door of the tent trailer, in the SAME spot.
He got a brand new gash just below the scab. Huge cut, bleeding everywhere. The
poor kid didn't stop crying for an hour and didn't smile for the rest of the night. I'm
fairly certain that if there was a chance the nail was going to grow back, it's gone now.

~ Having one of the most miserable nights of my life due to extreme winds shaking our
trailer and making it sound like it was going to fall apart at any moment.

~ Having all my fears confirmed when Payson woke up yesterday morning and started
throwing up. And throwing up. And throwing up. We instantly packed up and left.
(Everyone else comes home today some time.) My parents graciously offered to
keep Macy who absolutely did NOT want to leave. I spent the next 24 hours
holding a bucket for Payson, who literally threw up every half hour until about
six hours ago. Poor kid. Needless to say, this will not be a trip he will look back on
with fond memories.

Shockingly enough, I will. Apart from the less-than-pleasant, too-early ending, it was the best. We had so much fun and I can't tell you how much I loved being with (almost) all my family for two days, something we haven't done in a long time. I will, however, love to see anyone try to get me to do it again.

Gone Camping...

Have a great remainder of your Spring Break!

Honest to Blog

It's official. I have 30 blogs in my Google Reader. 30!! This may seem pathetic to some of you who reached this number many moons ago, but to me, it's bloggin' insanity. I have never been a "linker"; I don't find blogs through other people's blogs unless I know the person. I don't read cJane's, or the Pioneer Woman's, or any of the other famous blogs that lots of people read. So all of the blogs I subscribe to are people I know in person, like, and find interesting enough to keep reading about. 30!!

This is my new favorite thing about blogging: It's a new venue for making friends, or developing friendships that otherwise would take months to get past the "new acquaintances" stage. There have been several people in the past couple of months that started blogs or whose blogs I started reading that I was excited about because now I could get to know them better and vice versa through the magic that is blogging. I have no idea what it is about blogging that makes it so much easier than in person. Usually I meet someone new and think, "Wow, they're pretty cool. I really like hanging out with them. How can I hang out with them more without seeming desperate or stalker-ish?" And I can never think of anything. So I do nothing, except wait around til the next time we happen to meet at some event or another and talk to them again. Then the cycle starts all over. It's like high school all over again. I admire so much the people who meet someone new and then call them up and say, "Hey, let's go do something." I think I would voluntarily go through P.F. Chang's revolving doors before I had the courage to do that.

But now, thanks to blogging, you meet someone new, discover you both blog, and BAM! Instant communication. Within days you're cracking jokes back and forth, learning what the other does day to day, talking as if you've been friends for months. Well, maybe weeks. But still, it's wonderful! I love it! Wow, look at me being all positive about something. Maybe there's hope for me after all.

So here are some new blogs (some new, some new to me) of awesome people that I'm excited to get to know better, and what I love about them and their blogs. Hope they don't mind. (And these are in no particular order whatsoever.)

Positively Undecided

This girl CRACKS ME UP. Her sarcastic humor is my kind of humor.
And she's just as loud as me. (Maybe louder.) She is way into home
decor and every time I go to her house she has a new picture in a
magazine to show me of what to put on her living room wall.

With A Name Like Smith, It Has To Be Good

She always has hilarious stories to tell of her kids, that never
fail to entertain me. Between her little boy's bedtime rituals
and her daughter's penchant for getting into the food, I can
always count on reading with a smile on my face.

Trailer Made

Okay, her blog title alone is reason to read her blog. She is the
best at finding humor at her own expense and may be my
competition at "who sucks more?" Whether it be about
Sophie the Sumo Baby or Spencer, the boy who calls my
daughter Pee Pee, this blog is always good for a laugh.

Bugs, Beans & Sweet Little Things

I like this girl's blog because she is insightful and blogs
about the things I wish I blogged about. (i.e. happy,
positive things.) I've just recently started reading it,
but what I've read I've loved, and I've especially loved
the chance to learn a little more about her.

If You Give a Blog a Cookie

Again, love the title. Ever since watching Juno, I love
plays on the word "blog." Besides her blog title, her list of
blogs she reads is entitled "Linkin Blogs." Seriously, how
clever can you get? She only has, like, four posts on her
newly created blog but they are all a riot. Check it out.

Heather's World

I love this blog because Heather cracks me up with her
woes of dating and her insights into the world. FAVORITE
THING: She has a quote on her blog that says: Just because
it is in fashion, doesn't mean you look good. So true, and,
so Heather.


So check 'em out, bloggonnit!

Shiny Happy People Holding Hands

My husband has let it be known on several occasions that I need to work on my outlook on life. More specifically, I need to stop being so freaking negative. I HAVE A PROBLEM!! I don't know what it is, I will always see that blasted glass as half empty...and full of bacteria, just waiting to make me sick. I find the negative in everything!! I don't know why. It's a disease, I tell you. I have so much fun doing my This Week in Hollywood, but every time I do I think, "Is this too negative? Basically all I'm doing week after week is bashing these poor people." So I decided that my next post would be all about the positive. I would blog about something I loved, something that made me happy or all the great things that were going on in my life.

It was seriously as if the Dark Side could sense it was losing its death grip on me and said, "Oh no you don't. No way are you finding anything positive to blog about this week." So when it became very apparent that not only was my next post not going to be positive but oh so very, very negative, I decided maybe I could balance things out with pictures of the most feel-good things I could think of.

So hear goes.

Okay, first of all I'd had this cold/cough for over a week. Friday I woke up and realized for the first time my throat didn't hurt, I wasn't coughing, and my head felt its normal size. Wow, I thought, life is good. Oh, not so fast. Saturday morning I woke up with the tonsils from hell taking over my throat. Cold/cough back on, in full force. I was miserable all weekend. Even as I write this I am hacking up a lung and my chest feels like it's going to burst open with each cough.

Well, at least it's Conference Weekend, right? What better way to be sick than to lay on your couch watching inspirational talks, right? I mean, at least no one's throwing up, right? Really the only thing I have a really hard time with is...what's that Macy? Your tummy hurts? GO IN THE BATHROOM, RUN! RUN! RUN! She started Saturday night and didn't stop--literally--til Sunday afternoon. The only thing that could make it better for me (oh, you can't hear the sarcasm through the computer, but it's there) was the knowledge that the last two times she's gotten the flu, I've gotten it from her. So for the next week I will be a complete wreck, just waiting for the bomb to drop, hoping beyond all hope that a cold/cough bug and a flu bug can't occupy one body at the same time. (I totally know they can. Macy's flu came smack dab in the middle of a wretched cough.)


And then Spring Break started. A time that's supposed to be vacation, sunshine, playing outside, enjoying your kids and not having that crazy schedule to stick to. But we're stuck here at home, recuperating, listening to the rain hit the roof and watching the black clouds cover the sky. Two hours into the day and my kids were already screaming at each other, begging to watch movies, asking when lunch was and when I was going to get off the couch.

But it's okay, because in two days we're supposed to be camping with my family at some place that's supposedly going to be freezing and miserable. I most definitely will not be over this cold/cough and will spend the entire trip wondering when exactly I'm going to start throwing up.

Didn't these sweet pictures just add some joy to your day?

*UPDATE....Macy threw up again last night, 36 hours after the last time. Bill is now home sick with my cough/cold. So...who wants to go camping?!

THIS WEEK IN HOLLYWOOD

SPECIAL EDITION

Every week as I peruse the web in search of potential victims for This Week in Hollywood,
there are always a few celebrities who consistently pop up, at least once every week (if not more), seemingly for the sole purpose of irritating me. I see picture after picture of these
poor unfortunate souls and every week think, "It's a shame I'm already using a picture of them." So I decided that I would love to highlight these characters and, obviously, tell you all what I really think about them. Because that's the best part of having this blog.

AMY WINEHOUSE
I apologize to any fans of Amy, but I'm going to go ahead and assume that
your admiration is for her music alone and not her bizzare eccentricities.

I don't even know where to begin. The hair. What is with the hair?
It's like Elvira mated with the B-52's. And the combination of her ginormous hair and big face with her teeny tiny little body makes her look like a human lollypop.

The tattoos. Now, I'm not a huge fan of tattoos period, but nothing is less attractive to me than a woman covered in them. And she insists on bearing them, always, along with her stomach and often much more. And the eyeliner....oi. Who is her stylist and why does he/she still have a job?

Not to mention the train wreck that is her life. The drugs, emotional breakdowns, husband in jail,
public drunkenness and nudity...she makes Britney look like Brooke White. (The friend in the picture...drag queen, or just trying to keep up with Amy's fashion? Your call.)

MARIAH CAREY

I think someone must have told her once "if you got it, flaunt it" and she
took it and ran with it...and ran...and ran...

I think she and Paris should battle it out for the self-proclaimed title of
"God's Gift to the World."

I mean, really, who stands like that?
I'm embarrassed for her, truly.

This picture sums it all up. There are no words.


LAUREN CONRAD

Okay, I'll admit...my only beef with this girl is that she is famous for NOTHING.

Becoming famous for being in a reality show simply because
you're rich and snobbish sums up everything that is wrong with this world.

Giant sunglasses...check.
Tiny dog...check.
I'm one jail stint away from being Paris Hilton!

Okay, I sat here for five minutes trying to figure out something
comical that she could be saying into her phone, and couldn't.
I would love to see if someone else can come up with something.
What do you think?

My head hurts. My throat hurts. My ear hurts. My face hurts. My chest hurts. Being sick SUCKS. It started a week ago with a full blown sore throat that I thought for sure was strep or tonsillitis, but by the next day it had turned into just a mild sore throat and typical cough/cold. But a week later, it seems to be getting worse. All I want to do is go crawl back in bed. Thank heavens things have calmed down and I have nothing I have to be doing today.

In other news, Payson's finger is great. The "cast" came off last Friday and in its place is some petroleum-soaked gauze, a giant band aid, and a metal finger brace. His fingernail (and by that I mean the place where it used to be) is looking much better, actually flesh-toned now instead of bright red. I couldn't believe it though, when, in true boy fashion, my little boy came up to me with this mischievous grin on his face and said, "Mommy, smell my thumb." Um, ew. But the great news is that his pediatrician said in no uncertain terms that his nail will grow back! I didn't even get into the whole trauma-to-the-nail-bed thing that the ER docs said would possibly prevent it from growing back, I just wanted to believe him so badly. Plus, wishful thinking, I hope that maybe he knows more being a regular pediatrician and not an ER doc. (Nothing against ER docs, they're great. I just really want my little boy's fingernail to grow back!) Anyway, I'm clinging to his word with all the hope that is in me.

So here's to hoping that the days will warm up soon, these nasty colds will go away soon, and that underneath the foul stench a thumbnail is making its way into fruition.