Correction

I actually have THREE readers and not two, as previously stated. Thank you to my dear friend in Seattle, who was feeling left out and need to be shown some blog love!

Just a thought though..... leave a comment cause I need be shown some love. Ya'll know what a praise whore I am!

Dating at 34 1/2 Part 2

Pick up line via dating website:

"you look like a teddy bear, you smile so pretty"

REALLY?!?!? No wonder you're single buddy!

Now, what I wanna know is do I look like a teddy bear BECAUSE I smile so pretty? Or I look like a teddy bear cause I'm round and squishy and in addition, I have a great smile.

Either way, you don't tell a girl she looks like a teddy bear. It's call curvy! I'm not all that squishy either. Call me a teddy bear again and I'll jab you with my bony elbow!

ImPossible

To steal a quote from my new favorite blog ImPossible Stories....

Nothing is impossible, the word itself says "I'm possible"! - Audrey Hepburn

The blog is filled with stories that embrace that quote.

Inspired

Okay!
That's it!
Time for action!
My friends are inspiring me!

(Just so you know how enthused I am, I am using lots of !!!!!!!!)

A girlfriend posted a picture of herself on Facebook today. She has been working her tush off, literally! Another girlfriend just finished her 1st half marathon. A girl I went to college with (the 1st time) looks amazing after working her tush off too!

I need will power, discipline, and incentive to come to my house.

I moved the treadmill into the living room. It gets dusted. I used to use the one in the workout room in the apartment complex quite often. Why can't I do something with mine other than clean it?

No more soda. Drink water. Treadmill one hour twice a week (to start).

Now, most of the people that read this (both of you) are friends with me in real life so would you please support me by cell phone text "1 hour walk today?"

Thank you :)

Maybe if I get brave I'll put a before picture of me up on my blog..... or not!

Dating at 34 1/2

I've jumped back into dating after an 11 year and four kid hiatus.

Don't that just make it sound all fun and excitin'!?

I thought about turning this blog into a chronicled version of my dating life. You could laugh with me, cry with me, cringe with me. Lots of laughing though because you just have to, sometimes, at situations. I, also, say REALLY?!?!? a lot during this whole 'process'. Boy, did that ever sound all reality show-ish!

I can see it now~ you guys (my sister-in-law and my girlfriend in Kansas because those are really the only two reading this thing these days) cheering me and my two dates in one day day or cringing at the thought of kissing the guy who physically reminds me of my dad. Both good looking but just too uncomfortable for me to think of! Eventually, by word of mouth, I'd get another three readers. Then that would escalate into my blog becoming a national phenomenon. In the world of Cattigan, things like going from five readers to a phenomenon really do happen just like that. I'd be something similar to what Bridget Jones was for the single woman. The Today Show, Oprah, People Magazine! Once again, World o' Cattigan.

Let's get back to reality here, so I write about my dating life and then for some reason one of the guys I wrote about finds it and reads it. It so would not turn out pretty and Matthew McConaughey like How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days ended. You know the scene at the end when he chases her on his motorcycle onto the bridge and asks her where she's going? (Insert sigh here)

Reality: It would be Lloyd from Dumb and Dumber chasing and stalking me. And that would just suck!

Not So Domestic Diva!

The name of my blog seems so funny now. Domestic Diva, hardly! My “single” life revolves around kids and school. Something else new this year is that I send everyone off on the big yellow bus at 8:36 am and don’t see them again until 3:49 pm. I spend my days doing school work and lots of it, curling up with a trashy novel, or napping- just because I can!

The days of sparkling, shiny, Clorox-ed appliances are over. The toilet bowl has become a science experiment and the kitchen floor needs to be swept badly, not to mention washed, that questionable sticky spot that everyone has been walking around is really starting to bother me. I clean in spurts now rather than “Tra-la-la everyday is cleaning day because that’s my job as a stay at home wife and mother and the house will sparkle when my man gets home- la-la”. Can you hear and see me singing as a twirl around the living room in full make-up, hair, and dress a la 1950’s?

The only things twirling around in my mind now are Cameron’s family project is due next week and I still have to track down a shoe box for it…. Ooooh, new shoes! Or the breakfast dishes are in the dishwasher, the floor was vacuumed day before yesterday, all the kids’ toys and accoutrements are in their room, and the toilet can be done tomorrow because I have five chapters in my Cultural Anthropology text book to read before Thursday. Life doesn’t get much better!

Have I mentioned we are moving into a house so I need to pack AND I’m trying the whole dating thing?!?!? So, basically I sit around doin’ nothing.... wait, where was I going with this? I know I had a point somewhere...... Damn!

Goals

1. Graduate with my Bachelor's before Natalie graduates high school.
2. Buy myself a car born sometime during the 2000's.
3. Walk on my treadmill four days a week for one hour (baby steps!).
4. Blog at least once a month.

Belly Button

The shortened version of what a belly button is:

A scar

Or at least that's what I read on the web and told Grace.


Thanks, Leah for the extended version!

Kid question

What's on the other side of a belly button?

(It even stumped Grandma the nurse!)

A year

What a difference a year makes! So much has happened, so much has changed, so much I have wanted to say and write, so much I have missed out on, so many friends' blogs I haven't read. Where to begin?!?!?

I wrote to my cousin's daughter something wonderful....

XXXOOO's! Life ain't so bad, my darling! If your mama and I survived, so can you and sister. It's in the genes. You come from a long line of strong, powerful, kick ass, gorgeous women and don't you forget it!

Now only to have it tattooed on my forehead so I can remember it for myself.

Rawr!

You are probably tired of my constant comments about how hot I think my husband is..... Guess what?!?! Don't care! I love that his tattoo peeks out of his dress shirt. Super YUMMY!

Cam-isms

Cam asked me to play "old lady" with him this morning.

A.K.A. Old Maid

Kid Questions

Why is America referred to as a "her"?

HSM

As an avid reader of my blog, you know that my kids are very creative and have wonderful imaginations. They will be busy for hours playing with everyday items that are made into one thing or another.

I very rarely hear "Mom, I'm bored" by the two youngest because they are always constructing and creating.



The kid gets kudos for making his own basketball court while he is in his sister's production of "High School Musical". Gracie said that he was Troy and she was Gabriella. Apparently, Cam wouldn't take off his shirt during the basketball game.

Google

Natalie asked me a question the other day and I was honest to tell her that I didn't know the answer to it.

Her response was to ask Google "because Google knows everything, Mom".

Birthday

Today is one of my favorite holidays, MY BIRTHDAY! It's all about me, baby!

I wanted to share a favorite memory from a birthday past.

Back story: Besides G.H, my favorite city is Portland, OR. The weekend of my 30th birthday, I planned a sleepover for a few of my girlfriends and I. Each girlfriend there was from a different part of my life. I was happy to have them all together in one spot. We were all working women with husbands, responsibilities, a few kids and plants.

I had thoughts of drinking, dancing, dinner, and laughing until all hours of the night. Things didn't turn out exactly like I had envisioned.

After drinks and dinner, we ended up back at the hotel room. Deciding we needed ice, all of us went for a walk. The picture is taken as we are heading back up to our room. I was laughing so hard I peed (the benefits of having some babies!) my pants because we were all SO SOBER (Really!) no one realized Alicia had put on two DIFFERENT pairs of shoes for the walk.



Shoes seemed to be the theme. Leann, in her jammies, got out of bed, put on her heels and headed into the bathroom. She said in no way were her feet touching the hotel carpet! More laughing!

We were all in bed by midnight watching Trading Spaces and took A LOT of alcohol home that was brought for the "wild" party!

It was a perfect sleepover and birthday!

And earlier

My wood nymph not yet 2

Started young

I was going through some old pictures and came across this one.... apparently she started her style very early.

AP and UT

AP= Aunt Penny
UT= Uncle Tom

I have a lot of wonderful memories with them as a child. Life and miles got in the way and I hadn't seen them in almost 20 years. Over the past few years, we have gotten reacquainted with my mom's sister and her husband. My aunt had to have her hip replaced and stayed with my mom for convenience and nursing and that was the start of it. We get packages every so often with goodies and postcards from my Aunt. The kids not-so-patiently wait for the mail to see if there are any "Penny Postcards".

The two of them have become a favorite of my children's, especially Gracie. I know my uncle has a huge soft spot for the wood nymph. A friend of mine took a gorgeous picture of Grace last year and we framed it and gave it to UT. Of course, it had some art work to go with it~ that's when Grace used "UT" for the first time and it stuck.

Gracie and I had a sleepover at AP and UT's house last year. Gracie still talks about it.... the mashed potato picnic, doing work out in the yard, their driveway of rocks. This picture was taken of Gracie and UT during one of our mashed potato picnics. It's one of my all time favorite pictures.

When we left their house after our sleepover, my aunt packed some food for our long drive home. She threw in a spoon for... I think, it was yogurt. Gracie was so thrilled to have a Penny Spoon that she used it for just about every meal. The battle over the spoon started shortly afterward. My mom came to the rescue and produced two more spoons that were given to her in a snack bag for the ride home via AP. So, now there are enough Penny Spoons to go around. Who knew that my aunt trying to get rid of mismatched silverware would turn into precious treasures for my kids.

As children, each of the grandchildren received a bench with our names carved into them, made by UT. I still have mine. Have I mentioned he is an extremely gifted wood worker.... cabinet maker just doesn't do his talents justice. They were each natural wood and gorgeous. Gracie got one........

When word spread that hers was pink, it's didn't go over well. What made her so special that she got to pick the color of hers!? ;)

My aunt and uncle are two very special people. I find them extremely genuine and am at a peace and calm when I am around them. My uncle can come across sometimes very serious. That's why I love this picture of the two of them together. It shows their silliness and love, not only for life but also for each other.

Hereditary

I think it's kinda sexy when Jim does this...

(He is so dreamy!)

I think it's hysterical that Natalie can do it too.


It's only the one eyebrow they can lift like that!

I find these things terribly interesting. I need to get out more, I know!

All the kids, Jim, and his mom have ,what I call, the "Sun Sneezes". When they get the sun in their eyes, they sneeze repeatedly~ it's usually at least four times!

Cameron and I can touch our tongues to our noses.

My mom and Grace can't roll their tongues.

I don't have a point to this blog... just wanted to post a really cute picture of my husband!