Life of Lola

Big Dreamy Rooms

noreply@blogger.com (Atomic Lola) — Wed, 06 Aug 2014 21:53:00 +0000

This house is right down the street from us, not where we want to be, but it's got some dreamy bits to it. Hopefully we'll get a big backyard so I can bump out the back of the house a little to accommodate these upgrades.

Listing Provided Courtesy of: Cathy Anderson, Baird & Warner

Paint to Please

noreply@blogger.com (Atomic Lola) — Tue, 05 Aug 2014 17:53:00 +0000

I seem to be having great luck at collecting images of very pretty home interiors but no luck in finding them in homes that are available or in the right location for our family. My hope is that I can make our home just as pretty when I do find it.

These pictures are of a home interior that just popped up on a nearby town search online. The description of the home says that the paint colors are Restoration Hardware, but a quick search on Pinterest taught me that I can do a color match at Sherwin Williams. Thank you Pinners.

Got some pretty paint colors? Please share!

Listing Provided Courtesy of: Nancy Daumke, 4 Sale Realty, Inc.

Still Searching

noreply@blogger.com (Atomic Lola) — Tue, 05 Aug 2014 15:31:00 +0000

While we're still on track to sell our home, our purchase expectations are a different story. All I will say is that things just were not going to work out between us (our pocketbook, or willingness to open it further, and the house).

As consolation for my lack of decision and poor planning on our collective house hunting team's part, I accepted The Rockstar's proposal to expand our home search to neighboring towns. Or, town, rather, because I am having a hard enough time coming to terms with not living in the town I grew up in. Maybe if nothing comes up I will include even more towns in the search. Time will tell.

We started the expanded search over the weekend and we saw some things that are ok, but not the dream. With a little more research, we eliminated a whole area altogether because of its proximity to schools. Then we took a drive.

I have a thing for cute neighborhoods. I like them. I like them so much that I am not opposed to sitting and waiting for a house in a cute neighborhood to come on the market.

The best part is that the houses in my favorite cute neighborhoods (both hometown and other) are completely within our price range. We could get three or four bedrooms, separate master bath (with separate tub and shower), open layout, basement, nice yard, and all in a cute, cute, cute neighborhood. Win!

Except for this one. It sold already and for more than we would want to spend but I have to share the pictures I found online when researching recent sales. I want to keep these pictures as a reminder of what I can do to a house to make it awesome. Wait until you see the three-season room. Wow!

Enjoy.

Listing Provided Courtesy of: Mary Olson, RE/MAX Associates West

This house sold just a few days ago. We put our house on the market in March and a number of houses in these cute neighborhoods have gone under contract since then. Now, there is nothing left. So we wait. And hope.

And pray that people will get home from their summer vacations and put their houses on the market just before the fall.

Moving Forward

noreply@blogger.com (Atomic Lola) — Mon, 28 Jul 2014 03:57:00 +0000

Over the years, in my sporadic postings, I've mentioned that I want to move out of my townhouse and into a single family home in the town I grew up in.

Well.

That time is coming very, very soon.

If all goes well, we will close on the sale of our townhouse in less than 30 days. Then if all goes really, really well, we'll move into our dream home about a week later.

These events are happening so soon, I can hardly believe it. Am I ready to move forward?

Yes. Yes, I am.

More to come...

Help?

noreply@blogger.com (Atomic Lola) — Thu, 25 Jul 2013 12:59:00 +0000

Maybe this has always been the case and I'm just now noticing, or maybe it's a recent trend, but I find myself making offers to people to make their lives easier and I keep getting turned down. Even if, in making their life easier, I would be making my own life easier.

It makes me wonder why people don't want to accept my help. It can't be that they don't want to owe me one, these aren't those kinds of relationships. Do people have a lack of faith in me and they don't want to get involved with or deal with me?

I like to help- in fact it's my job to help others. Although, I can't call it helping when I'm on the job. I have to say things like, How can we work together on that? Apparently it's degrading to insinuate that someone needs help.

I wish all of my offers to help or work with could be accepted more easily, like this example of a conversation between me and my husband the other day:

Him: I have to go to the city. Going to take the train.

Me: I could drive you to the train station so you don't have to worry about parking.

Him: OK

Did that sound difficult?

I didn't think so. Why can't everyone in my life just be more like my husband?

How often do people accept your offers to do something? Am I the only one with this dilemma? Am I being too sensitive?

Being Green

noreply@blogger.com (Atomic Lola) — Wed, 24 Jul 2013 16:55:00 +0000

I think it was a famous frog that once said , It's not easy being green. Maybe it's not, and I'm sure I could be a lot more green, but sometimes I am just so green that I can't help but feel a little proud of myself.

I don't know if I would have ever cloth diapered if it wasn't for my sister-in-law, because I hadn't realized it was a thing until she had her first son. However, if I had come across it on my own when I myself became pregnant, I'm pretty sure I would still have at least tried it. It's great that I have a cloth diaper mentor who I can go to about washing diapers and such. It's at the point now, though, that I totally rock at cloth diapers. My daughter even wears a cloth swim diaper at the pool, I don't even care if that's against the rules. The truth is, we don't have leaks. We're that. good. I have not bought any kind of disposable diaper since Olivia was one week old.

I won't go into the brands we use or where I buy them because I'm not trying to advertise or win any contests, but I will say that the products out there are amazing and I'm so happy with the lack of waste filled garbage bags coming out of our home. Did you know that it's illegal to dispose of human waste in the trash? How many of you disposable diaper people flush your baby's poop before you toss that diaper in the trash? Sorry, that sounds judgy and I'm not that.

Something I always looked into before I had Olivia is reusable sandwich bags. I know those are starting to show up more, so I figured it was time to make the initial investment. The diaper store I shop at sent me a free one and it's so awesome that I went and bought a bunch more. So here I am... Being green. I'll let you know how this goes.

I'm happy to talk brands in the comments, so let me know if you have questions!

Christmas 2012: Photo Book

noreply@blogger.com (Atomic Lola) — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 05:28:00 +0000

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Stalking My Childhood

noreply@blogger.com (Atomic Lola) — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 04:08:00 +0000

Today I drove through my old neighborhood on my way home from work. I can't believe how much it has changed. I wouldn't have recognized my old house if it weren't for the two houses on either side of it looking pretty much exactly the same as they did when we moved almost twenty years ago. When we moved, we only went about a mile down the street to a newer, bigger house. I loved that house. It was a custom home, so we each got a little say in what went into it. I had a window seat. That was all I wanted. In exchange, I got the world's tiniest closet, but you wouldn't ever hear me complain. I kept all my clothes on my bedroom floor anyway.
As much as I loved that second home in the same town, I never loved the neighborhood like the one I lived in first. I loved it so much because I could walk to school without having to cross any super major streets. I could ride my bike pretty much anywhere. I had lots of friends on the street who were my age or pretty close. A lot of us were girls, so that was cool. I remember playing Statue Maker in our yards and baseball or hockey in the street. We played with Barbies and rocks or marbles, swung on swings, and collected bugs. I remember one time we captured a grasshopper and I made him disappear in my magic kit. I don't think he was harmed in the making of this blog post. When it snowed, we built snowmen and snow forts and took our sleds down the hill at the retention pond at the end of the street. In the summer, we explored the field and the creek. At some point, we got a pool and we swam.
I really miss my old neighborhood, my old town. I know it can't be the same anymore, but it still feels like home when I'm driving through. My daughter goes to daycare in that town, right down the street from my high school. It's impossible to get home from there without driving past one of my old houses.
Ever since I started at the job I currently have, the one in the Heights, I can't help but feel nostalgic pretty much every day. Half the kids that graduate from that middle school will go to the high school I went to. I don't know why I find that so cool. Probably the fact that I've lived away from that area for over five years now and I'm itching to move back.
I want to move back so bad that in my head, I'm already planning a party where I will invite all my friends on facebook who still live there to my house for a BBQ. After I move back there, of course.
It's just a really good place to grow up and I would like to raise my daughter there. My parents don't even live there anymore. I just miss it, and driving through it doesn't discourage that ache I have to move back. Plus I would be so much closer to work and I wouldn't spend two hours of my day in the car. I could spend those two hours playing with my daughter instead of watching her in the rearview mirror.
I know I'm not the only one who stalks those childhood memories with fantasies of the future, am I?

Thanksgiving 2012: Photo Book

noreply@blogger.com (Atomic Lola) — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 06:55:00 +0000

Click here to view this photo book larger

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Merry Christmas 2012!

noreply@blogger.com (Atomic Lola) — Tue, 25 Dec 2012 18:03:00 +0000

Sweet Merry Dots Christmas Card

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View the entire collection of cards.

Mom at Work

noreply@blogger.com (Atomic Lola) — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 23:05:00 +0000

Maternity leave ended for me last week and I had to go back to work. It worked out so that I only had to work for two weeks before getting another two off for winter break. Everyone has been asking me if it was hard to come back to work. Yes, of course, it was hard to come back, but I try not to dwell on it. I can't. I guess I'm just like that. I knew I would have to go back. It was inevitable.

I remember my mom commenting on how I handled my first day of high school. I just got out of the car and went in. There was no talk of being nervous and I probably didn't show any emotion. I just went in and did what I had to do. That's pretty much how I roll when it comes to new experiences.

So now here I am, a working mother.

It blows.

Of course, I would rather spend my days with my little one. However, I would like to be able to provide for her. I mean really provide for her. Like college (if she wants to go) and (since she's a girl and my parents did it for me) a wedding (if she wants one).

Also, pumping. Sucks. Ha, I'm punny.

No really... I travel between two buildings and I have no set schedule at work. So I have a place to pump at each building. Which means lugging my laptop bag, lunch bag (or all day food/snack bag for this nursing mother), purse if I choose to bring one, and pump with supplies back and forth with me all day. I have to actually plan time to pump or it won't happen. Also I have no office. I used to, but they took it away and gave it to a math guy. So to pump I have to sit in rooms that are normally used for other things and hope no one needs it at the time I do. At one building it's the conference room. Thankfully, it locks. At another school it was an empty classroom until someone walked in on me. Apparently they keep a network printer in there. Fortunately, it was a woman, a mom, and a friend, so I wasn't embarrassed but I know she felt awful. She read my Do Not Enter sign but chose to ignore it, not thinking, and caught me with my boob out. Worse things could have happened. Nonetheless, I am now going to be pumping in one of the Assistant Principal's offices. She travels between the same two buildings I do, and had her daughter almost a month after I had mine, so she's pumping too. That room is going to see a lot of expressing in the next few months.

Express yourself. Hey hey hey hey.
--Madonna 1989

The Breast Part of Mommyhood

noreply@blogger.com (Atomic Lola) — Sat, 17 Nov 2012 15:51:00 +0000

I've been meaning to write this post for a little while now, and I think it's especially timely now to write it in light of what is going on with a fellow blogger and her struggle with Facebook and their rules. I'm not going to get overly activisty on here, and I want to make it clear that my views on this matter are just that. Views. Not opinions and not judgments. I am not interested in getting into any debates or mommy wars and I'm not going to respond to any negative feedback about the matter.

That said, lets talk about breastfeeding. If words like boobs, breasts, and nipple offend you, don't read on.

Dude. This shit is hard. Having done it now for two months, I totally get it why some people just can't. There are all kinds of reasons to give up or not to do it in the first place. However, there are lots of rewarding, totally awesome reasons to nourish your child in this most amazing way. My stance is that if you can do it, do it, and if you can't, don't. Here's my story (so far)...

Before Olivia was even born, I knew I was going to have a little bit of a struggle because I happen to have what they call a flat nipple. A doctor once told me both of my nipples were inverted. I don't think it's that bad. One of them seems to be just fine, but the other, while not truly inverted, is just flat. From what I had read prior to breastfeeding, it could be corrected, but not until after baby is born. Nipple stimulation can cause contractions and apparently, that's how you fix it.

If I had had a camera in my hand the first time Olivia latched on and had her first meal, I would totally have taken a picture. I will have that moment captured in my brain (despite all the drugs we were on) forever. But to have my proudest moment captured on "film" would have been amazing too. I was overwhelmed with the awesomeness that I could actually feed my baby with nothing other than what my body was producing for her. It was life changing. Having had a C-section, I consider that first feed at my breast to be the moment I became a mom.

Needless to say, she ate from my "good" side. The non-flat side. By the time we got to the recovery room in the birthing center, I had been provided with a nipple shield. The shield is the best and worst thing to happen to us in the course of our breastfeeding adventures so far. It's this little piece of plastic that I started placing over that flat nipple so she could latch onto it. I continued to nurse on the other side without it. I even, at the advice of the lactation consultants, attempted to nurse the "bad" side without it occasionally, and it did work occasionally. Instinct took over for Olivia and we were getting on great. The lactation consultants were quite proud of our progress.

After we got home, the whole feeding debacle happened and the lactation consultants told me to use it all the time, on both breasts even. Then that was it. We've used it so much now that she has to have it to latch on. I can't say I've given it a good try without it because the screaming. Oh, the screaming. If my boobs had feelings, they would have detached themselves from my body by now and run off together with a big box of chocolate and cried together in a corner somewhere. This kid loved to scream at my boobs. She still does sometimes, but at least by now I know how to fix it for her so she can latch on better.

Back to that nipple shield. At about three weeks, I started letting the Rockstar give her a bottle at night before bedtime. I believe that using the shield made it easier for her to transition between bottle and breast. We now have days that are bottle only (I'll get into that in a minute) and she can still come back to the breast. With the nipple shield of course. Another plus is that I don't get the cracked, bleeding nipples because of the shield. And I have to admit, that when my breasts are full and I've felt that let down (which I didn't feel right away- it took a while), when she latches on, it actually feels darn good-- like a wave of relief. I am still amazed by the awesome that is breastfeeding, and I absolutely love every minute of it, so don't take what I'm about to write the wrong way.

I am now going to address public breastfeeding. I'm not referring to breastfeeding uncovered in the middle of the mall. I am talking about any kind of breastfeeding somewhere outside of my home. This could be the backseat of my car (parked of course), my mother's house, or at a restaurant with a hooter hider around my neck. It doesn't matter. Nursing with a nipple shield is messy. So messy. They say breast milk doesn't stain. It kind of does. Not in a colored stain kind of way, but my advice to any nursing mom is to hit that shit with some Shout before tossing it in the washer. Otherwise you'll tank that investment in nursing tops you thought you were so smart to buy before the baby came. For me it's not that big of a deal because I'm not going to try to wear them out of the house anyway. Not with how messy I am after feeding her. The milk literally drips out the bottom of the shield whenever she takes a break from eating. Or something. I still can't figure out what she's doing that leaves me with wet puddles on my stomach and her with a soaked shoulder. Sometimes I think it dribbles out the side of her mouth. Sometimes I think she's gobbling so quickly that she doesn't want to take the time to burp and spits up on me but keeps on eating. Kids.

So let's be clear. Whether I would breastfeed in public or not is moot because frankly, I don't want to walk around in wet clothes all day and I don't want my baby to have to hang out in wet clothes either. Maybe as she gets older it will get less messy, but for now, it's just easier to pump into a bottle and take that with me if I'm going to be out.

I do consider writing this post to be "putting myself out there." Have I taken a picture of my child breastfeeding? Yes. Because I think it's amazing. Will I be posting it online? No. Because I don't need to open myself up to that kind of exposure. Do I think it's bad to see pictures of women breastfeeding on Facebook? No. But I do know that it's not the mindset of the person in the picture you need to worry about, it's the person looking at the picture. Can perverts look at pictures? Yes. Can they ogle at pictures women post of this beautiful act? Yes. Do I take into consideration the feelings and reputation of my newborn daughter? Yes. How will she feel when she's twelve and her classmates find a picture of her eating from my breast online and bring it to school? I don't know, but I don't want us to find out, either. While I think it's beautiful, and she might too, I'd rather not open that can of worms. Breastfeeding IS normal and it IS beautiful. But I'm not going to use my baby to help anyone realize that. Hopefully the fact that I do it and I've written about it is enough.

Best of luck to anyone who breastfeeds their baby, and if it's just not the best thing for you, that's OK too.

XOXO,

The Weight Loss Woes

noreply@blogger.com (Atomic Lola) — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 20:28:00 +0000

Boy would I love to drop a couple of pounds. That's funny because I have dropped 25 since having my baby six weeks ago. Yay me! But I'd still like to lose a few more. OK, a lot more.

Oops, this post isn't really supposed to be about me anyway. I am telling the tale of my daughter's early weight loss and the effect it had on me. I can't believe I let it get to me. I am so frustrated with myself for letting it.

As I learned in my overpriced birthing class, babies lose weight after they are born. Especially if you've been on fluids and/or Pitocin. I was on both. So of course my baby was born retaining water and with a higher birth weight than what it would have been. But still, when the nurses weighed her and her weight was down, I felt the tsk tsk as though I wasn't feeding her enough. Every staff member who came in the recovery room at the birth center would ask me how the feeding was going. All the lactation consultants would stop in to check on me and it felt like I was doing something wrong. I know they were just doing their job (and then some) and I truly loved them for it.

So when we went to the pediatrician when she was five days old, I was surprised when she told us our daughter had lost more than 10% of her birth weight and we had to go see the lactation consultants right away. She treated it like an emergency, which, to a new mother still on drugs is like saying your baby is going to die if you don't get some milk in her now!!!

We literally spent an hour and a half with the lactation consultant, feeding the baby, switching boobs every ten minutes or so. Then she gave me a chart that said how much I have to feed her in the next 24 hours and how many ounces each session depending on how many sessions I fed her. Then I had to bring her back the next day for a weigh-in.

After an hour and a half of feeding like we did, I got home, got in the shower, and immediately felt the fever chills. I was exhausted, my milk was coming in, and I had a fever. Plus I was terrified my baby was going to starve to death because I couldn't feed her for crying out loud. Oh yeah, and I was still on drugs. Serious ones. Like oxy serious. No wonder my baby wasn't getting enough to eat. I was taking oxy and she was sleeping through her meals.

Regardless, I was letting them get to me. Them with their numbers and averages, percentages, and protocols. I let them get me thinking I wasn't doing something right.

I cut out the oxy, fed and pumped, fed and pumped. It was the most stressful day of my life. My baby screamed at my boob as I tried to force her to eat every other hour like they told me to do. I was in tears the whole day. My head was pounding. Hers probably was too.

At the weigh in the next day, she had gained twice what they wanted her to gain. Twice.

We're all over-achievers over here.

Eventually, she even gained back her weight but it took about four weeks to do it. Probably because it wasn't her true weight to begin with. The doctor won't give me a straight answer on that. Because she can't. She's a doctor and she can't have me running around saying that my baby didn't really weigh what she did so she didn't really lose more than 10% of her birth weight. She has to do it by the book. You never know, I could be the mom that neglects to feed her newborn. But I'm not.

I feed this kid like crazy. And it's not easy. I would say 75% of my thoughts every day have to do with breast milk and wondering if I'm making enough. I think my next post is going to have to be my musings on breastfeeding. So watch for that as baby mode/mommy blog continues...

How It All Went Down

noreply@blogger.com (Atomic Lola) — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 18:20:00 +0000

Way back in January when I found out I was pregnant, I tried not to blog about it because I happen to follow a couple of bloggers who have been trying even longer than I had been, and it felt wrong to write about something that makes me so happy when I know there are others out there suffering. And I know the kind of suffering they feel. Most women who have ever tried to get pregnant know that suffering. It sucks.

Well by the time I got over that feeling of not wanting to share my joy, my joy kind of went downhill. Not that anything was wrong with me or my pregnancy, but someone very close to me started having issues and blogging would have been impossible without bringing that up, but it wouldn't have been right, to blog about that. Because there are some things you can never take back and it was too hard to choose the right words to share what I was feeling without blowing it.

So I really spent the summer playing it safe with the social media. I could have, and should have been documenting my more than amazing pregnancy. More on that later.

I also didn't want this to be a mommy blog, but that's stupid because this blog is mine and hey guess what, I'm a mommy now, so there are bound to be mommy posts in it. Six weeks in and I'm sorry I haven't gotten to the computer earlier to type this post. We're only just getting used to a routine and this baby has to be strapped to me at all times if I want to get anything done. Fortunately, I'm a proud baby wearer, so get ready for the mommy posts. I'm going to start with my "birth story." But it really all starts with my pregnancy.

I don't want to get all in depth about this but the finer points are that I had an awesomely perfect pregnancy. No morning sickness, no heartburn, no cramps, no swelling ankles (except for after flying and at the very, very end), and all my food cravings were... healthy: strawberries, watermelon, and apples. Ok, and nutella, but in moderation.

I had chosen Hypnobirthing as a birth method and we paid a good chunk of change to take a five or six week class. The class was only three couples and was very in depth. The Hypnobirthing method focuses on a positive drug free birth experience, and I was so determined to stay focused, that I absolutely could not imagine the birth going any way other than the way I wanted. Holy bad idea, Batman. I was so unprepared for the birth I had that I could write a whole post about what I never knew about C-sections. In fact, I will. But one post at a time.

The birth went down like this: Bloody show on Tuesday (gross, I hate that name), maybe my water broke on Wednesday, baby on Thursday. I wasn't sure about when my water broke, so I went in. They looked but didn't look closely enough, because in the end, it turned out I was only leaking. But they didn't figure that out until about 25 hours into labor. Ok- back to when I first got there and they looked- saw some water pooling but I was only dilated 1 cm so they decided to have me walk around for a while. Hours later, no progress, not even regular contractions so they hit me with the P word. Pitocin. The next time anyone gives me Pitocin it will be over my dead body. I labored on the Pitocin without any drugs for something like 7 hours before I had enough and asked for the epidural. At this point my birth preferences were out the window and I even started asking for a C-section because I knew it would come to that. And I was right, but of course they waited until I had been in the hospital for 27 hours to get to it. I never got past 4 cm. Maybe that had something to do with my water not actually breaking? I had always predicted a long pregnancy, maybe she wasn't really ready to come out yet. Maybe I should never have gone to the hospital.

Since I was on Pitocin for 20 hours, she was born 9 lbs. 8 oz. Everyone kept commenting on what a "Big Baby" she was. I wanted to slap them. There was nothing big about my tiny little peanut. The poor thing was all swelled up like a pufferfish. I literally watched her shrink over the next three days as she got rid of all the fluid that was building up inside her from those terrible drugs. I hate drugs. Medicines. I hate them. I hate taking them. I hate not giving the body the chance to do what it needs to do on its own. This experience was no exception. Although the epidural felt nice. But it wouldn't have been necessary if it hadn't been for the Pitocin.

Maybe it was the fact that I had that perfect pregnancy that everything about the birth went wrong (except for the beautiful baby at the end). I was a victim of everything I warned myself against. It sucked. And it wouldn't be the last time. Stay tuned for my next post... about the weight loss woes.

Tempo

noreply@blogger.com (Atomic Lola) — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 17:56:00 +0000

Now that it's summer vacation, I can take things more this tempo...

... and I just adore the vibe of this video.

The Elephant

noreply@blogger.com (Atomic Lola) — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 15:34:00 +0000

I don't watch television the way normal people do. I don't even have cable, so I can't watch things when they are on. I have to watch them later... on hulu or Netflix or from the television network website. We have a dedicated computer hooked up to our television and we stream. I actually prefer it this way because I despise having to wait a week to find out who shot so-and-so and if they survived. I'd rather watch it right now and I will determine when I'm tired of watching and am ready to go to bed, thank-you-very-much. It helps me really get into the show.
So that's kind of what we do. We watch episode after episode of whatever show we're into at the moment and right now, it appears to be Justified. I don't know what it is about Raylan Givens, but I want him to be my brother or something. Weird, right? I bet you thought I was going to drool over him and gush about how hot he is. Well, no. He's sexy enough and all that, but there's something so protective about him that I would really rather him be my big bro, ya know?
It's not a Timothy Olyphant thing, it's a Raylan Givens thing. Timothy Olyphant (who we affectionately call Timothy Elephant around here) has always seemed like kind of a (pardon my language) dick to me. It's just the characters he's played. Well- except for in Deadwood. He was pretty cool in that too, but on Justified, well, he's one of my all time favorite characters so far. No matter what he does, you can't help but side with him. You know he'd never do anything underhanded- he's the good guy. But he does what he has to do to get the job done.
I hear Justified will be back for another season. I'm looking forward to it, but of course, I will watch it when I'm ready and most likely, all at once.

Oopsy

noreply@blogger.com (Atomic Lola) — Thu, 31 May 2012 16:01:00 +0000

Rainy Summer Days by Etolane, on Flickr

First of all- it's so cold out. On my first day of summer vacation, I woke up around 9 am because I can and I got ready to go for the walk I promised myself I would do every day this summer. I actually had to put on a sweatshirt. Brrr. Dio loved it, though. I finally figured out how to walk my dogs... and that is one at a time.
When I got back from my chilly trek throughout the neighborhood, I made some breakfast and sat down at my computer. I cleaned out my Google Reader and then headed over to Pinterest. This is where the oops comes in. See- I hate looking at amateur pictures of food. It makes me a little queasy. Ew. Just thinking about it- gross. Needless to say, I usually unfollow the recipe boards of the people I stalk. I love the style boards and the decor boards, and the craft boards. But I hate the recipe boards. And let's face it, just about everyone has them...
Well today I was unfollowing some foodie boards and I don't know what happened, but I think I somehow unfollowed all of people's boards! SO I had to go through and add the boards I want. What a time waster!
Ah... Pinterest. I don't know that I officially understand you yet, but I don't think I have to.
So that was the first two hours of my day... and now it's raining. At least I don't have to water.

Ups and Downs

noreply@blogger.com (Atomic Lola) — Wed, 30 May 2012 18:33:00 +0000

I haven't said much lately because there isn't much I can say. We all have embarrassing stuff we shouldn't blog about right? It's not just me... right?
So I'll make a list:
My Ups and Downs for this week
UPS
1. We were ultimate consumers this holiday weekend. We made some pretty major purchases that include a crib, dresser, changing table, and a new couch.
2. Today was my last day of school. I'm now off for the summer and I'm going to make it count. You know, because it's the last one I'll ever have without a kiddo.
3. I registered for Yoga- it starts on Sunday. I miss Yoga class and I can't wait to go back.

DOWNS
1. I miss my convertible. It's so gorgeous out this week and I keep seeing people driving around in their PT Cruiser convertibles with the top down. Oh well, maybe in 16 years...
2. I may have waited too long to register my AppleCare Protection plan that I bought for my iPad almost a year ago. I'm great at wasting money.
3. I have so so so so so much to do this summer that I hope I don't overburden the people that I can ask for help. Only 11 weeks (minus one for a business trip) from tomorrow left of summer vacation and this baby is "due" only five weeks after that.

Even if you don't mean it, please tell me not to freak out.

The Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Atomic Lola) — Sat, 12 May 2012 20:39:00 +0000

I'm not very excited that it's the weekend right now. What's wrong with me?

I thought I'd go back to bangs while getting my hair cut this morning. When I do bangs, I usually sport a straight across look or a Bettie Page curve-up in the corners. Without asking, my stylist interpreted a toned down Zooey-esque longer on the sides bang on me. I think I'll try it for a couple of weeks. I can always change it at the first bang trim. Or the second.

Did you hear I'm preggo? I said something on facebook and I haven't been shy on Twitter. But if you only read me here... well, now you know. Can you believe I'm 21 weeks and I haven't taken one belly picture yet? That's because my belly is not round. No. I have an indent where my belly button is. Not a cute one, a huge one. So it looks like I have a huge pot belly and muffin top or whatever degrading thing people have come up with to label fat on a woman's mid-section. If my belly ever rounds out, I'll be sure to snap a pic to share.

Only a few more weeks left of school. Well- two weeks and two days. I can't believe summer is almost here. Doesn't feel like it outside. Summer is going to go so fast and then September will be here, and so will the baby.

I wish it was sunny out right now. I want to go outside. It does look dry, so maybe I'll take a walk with the dogs. Or maybe I'll go sit on the couch. It's the weekend, so... I got time.

XOXO

Three Days Downtown

noreply@blogger.com (Atomic Lola) — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 14:02:00 +0000

Today is my third and final day trekking downtown Chicago to attend certification classes for SMART Notebook, software for interactive whiteboards. That's techy stuff, but this post is not about that, so let's move on.
I was absolutely dreading these three days before I came. I was nervous to be taking the train downtown by myself. I haven't had the best experiences in the past. I'm generally scared of people, especially people who really know what they're doing (a.k.a. seasoned travellers/commuters). I'm also afraid of new things, especially when I have to do them alone. I can't say that my three days here have gotten me over that fear, but I can say that I have come to enjoy this experience.
I got to the training office extra early this morning because I didn't get lost today. The last two days I took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up walking around the block or something. Although, I did take a different route. However, I felt I knew what I was doing so it wasn't like I was going on some crazy adventure. I'm glad I took this different route because a couple of interesting things happened on my walk.
First, let me explain what prompted my alternate route. I left Union Station via the Jackson exit. A young man kept bumping into me because he had his face in his phone. Literally bumping into me. One time he actually bumped me off the sidewalk into the street. I couldn't get away from him, so at the last second, I ditched off of Jackson onto Franklin. That was fun because I love walking past the Sears Tower (I know it's renamed, but it will always be the Sears Tower to me).
As I walked down Franklin towards Adams, I passed a young girl with her coat on and hood up (it's been 80 degrees all week). This soprano was practicing some opera as she walked. It was lovely. I decided to turn down Adams, but she continued down Franklin, so we had to part ways.
On Adams, I passed a man with no legs who was shouting at everyone who walked past. He kept telling people how simple their lives are. When I passed, he told me I have a beautiful smile, that I'm all right. Hey, I'll take it!
At Clark and Adams, I stopped in at the Starbucks that I went to yesterday. The barista actually remembered my order. A decaf grande iced skinny vanilla latte. Yay!
Why is it that on my last day here things are going so well... let's hope I find someplace GREAT for lunch today!

This Commercial is Weird... Not Kdding

noreply@blogger.com (Atomic Lola) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:04:00 +0000

Have you seen this commercial? It comes up all the time on Hulu. I think it's supposed to be sexy but I can't help thinking this girl has been kidnapped by a serial killer who forces her to make valentines all day in a dirty abandoned barn that's filled with vintage suitcases and junk. It could happen.

Inconvenient Food

noreply@blogger.com (Atomic Lola) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 16:24:00 +0000

I had a discussion with the Rockstar the other night about the convenience of food and how we are all victims of it. In general, and I'm not saying this applies to all food, but the more convenient the preparation of your food is, the worse it is for you.
What would be the most convenient food? The kind you don't even have to make, right? Of course if it was made quickly, say "fast" even, and you were able to pick it up through a window of your car, I suppose, it would be just awful for you in most cases. Then there's casual dining, and fine dining. Each a little better for you, but still, not a home cooked meal.
Even things you have at home, all those preservatives, salt, fat, and sugar in your freezer and fridge.
What's the least convenient? The Rockstar's example was that if you had to bake your own bread and smash your own peanut butter. That would be pretty inconvenient. But it would probably be better for you than a frozen diet meal.
I read something once about juice. How eating an orange is better than drinking a glass of orange juice. You miss so many good parts of the orange when you drink it. Also, you have to work harder to peel that orange and get it ready to eat, which is better for your body. Finally, that juice is a straight shot of sugar to your system, and you deprive your stomach of the work it has to do to digest the orange.
Although I also read that raw broccoli is better than cooked. You give your stomach a shortcut to digestion by eating cooked vegetables. If you ask me, raw veggies are more convenient than cooked ones. So there goes my whole theory, I guess. But like I said, it was a general thing, and not all food fits in. Think about it.

Connected

noreply@blogger.com (Atomic Lola) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 22:42:00 +0000

I've got a Twitter, a Facebook, a blog. An account on Goodreads, Pintrest, a Ping account, Foursquare...
You get where I'm going?
I should be pretty connected to like, everyone, shouldn't I? I really just feel like I'm connected to my phone.
I wonder how much of my day I spend connecting with people I know? Strangers? People in general?
Oh, and I count Words and Hangin' with Friends.
How connected are you?

Uglies etc.

noreply@blogger.com (Atomic Lola) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 11:20:00 +0000

I recently finished reading the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld. I waited until I was done to form an educated opinion, but the fact that I held on for four books should say a lot. I found the books terribly exciting. Maybe I've found love for a new genre of storytelling?
However, looking back on the series, I feel like there were so many missed opportunities for lessons and morals. So much so that it's pretty irresponsible. So because I am an adult and I'm not super impressionable anymore, I say thumbs up. But as a teacher knows what horrible things kids will do to themselves to fit in, I say boo.
I'm sure there have been many reviews by others who have said what I'm trying to say, only better, so I'll leave it at that.
Although I can't wait to read more by this author.

Visual

noreply@blogger.com (Atomic Lola) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 11:47:00 +0000

I would like to think of myself as a visual person, whatever that means. I love to look at beautiful things and dream of being able to create beautiful things of my own. I also think that I see too many flaws in what I do create and therefore don't always share or pursue things that I could. In other words, I'm a visionary, but also a perfectionist, and I don't think those two things go together very well.
But when it comes to photography, I am trying. I want to be able to take beautiful pictures and share them with anyone who will look.
So last year (as in 2010) for Christmas, the Rockstar and I pooled all our Christmas cash to buy a camera. We only had so much, so we had to do a lot of research before we found the right one for our money. We settled on a Sony Alpha 390. We got the 55mm lens that came with it and the 200mm. This little Justin Bieber look-alike at BestBuy got us a great deal.
I actually wanted a camera so I could start posting pictures on this blog. That never happened. What did happen, is I got to take about a gazillion pictures of my new nephew (now almost one year old) and had so much fun doing so. Some other cool events were the Rockstar's gigs and a zoo trip. Also a trip out to North Carolina, Georgia, and back to Chicago. Then a fun day in the city, and of course lots and lots of puppy shots.
With my 2011 Christmas cash, I surprised the Rockstar by dropping it all on a new lens. A 50mm f1.4 SAM to use for even more amazing shots. Mind-blowing.
So here are my TEN favorite shots (in no particular order) from 2011. Hopefully I'll be sharing a lot more in 2012.

1. My Dio Smoosh Face - No dog smooshes face like my Dio does. See the little fan of hair between his eyes? We work very hard to train his hair to grow that way. Or not.

2. The Rockstar as he shovels his way to freedom in the Blizzard of '11

3. K.K. of FHOD

4. The Rockstar before a show. I was just learning how to use this thing, and it was my very first time using it at one of his gigs. We were testing out the lighting and I ended up with this. I liked it and decided to keep it.

5. Sandwiches? I know, I know. Food. I was just impressed that I took this one with my kit lens.

6. More food... these are cupcakes I made for my nephew's big "Meet the Family" party.

7. In case you aren't fully aware of how much I love my dogs... take a look at this face and you'll know how much I love them. This is my Jett. Probably a bit more grown up than the last time you saw him.

8. Lieutenant Kijé - That's what I decided to name my new Nutcracker. This was taken with the new lens I bought.

9. Another Jett shot - but this time he's midair!

10. I could look at giraffes all day. Hands down my favorite animal to see at the zoo.

*Just so you know, any pictures of my nephew would dominate this top 10 list, but since I have a strict policy about not posting pictures of children without their parents' permission, I won't be sharing them. But you should know that he is photographic gold.