Valentine's Day Came Early

We don't typically do much for Valentine's Day. Hubby is not the card-buying, mushy-gushy type, so I just sort of followed suit and agreed not to make much of the holiday.

This year I wanted to do something special because I'm getting all sorts of fun things, and he was pretty good at spoiling me this Christmas. I'm looking forward to a NKOTB concert and Meet & Greet, as well as the BlogHer conference this summer. So, it was only fair that I do something nice to show my gratitude.

Except I wasn't sure what to do. And while I'm sure my gift would not be a big deal for some, I felt it was something special and from my heart.

Hubby's favorite cookies are Oreos. And just about anything cookies n cream. So I made him up a basket full of goodies....



Take a closer look .... regular oreos, and then hand-dipped oreos in milk & white chocolate, decorated with festive pink, red and white sprinkles. I also included dipped marshmallows, and homemade cookies & cream bark.



There was one non-edible, purchased item that I included. A personalized pillowcase (obviously personalized with our names), that also helps set the tone for the remainder of his Valentine gift....



After I gave him everything, he says to me "If I had known you were going to do all this, I would have gotten you something." And the stinker - hid a box of turtles along with a Valentine card for me under my pillow. :) What a happy Valentine's Day.

Giving Back

One of the items on my 52 Things list is to give to a charity/cause.

I have been thinking about where I would like to help. In the past I have supported several different causes; Susan G. Komen foundation, March of Dimes, and the American Cancer Society to name a few.

I am debating on if I'd like to make several, smaller donations, or just one to a specific organization. At this particular time the front runners are the American Cancer Society as well as St. Jude.

For those of you who donate - which organizations do you help? And are smaller donations just as beneficial as larger ones? If I decide to help a few with smaller monetary amounts, will it still make a difference? Tell me your thoughts....

S~U~R~P~R~I~S~E

I haven't been able to talk about this prior, since I am still not 100% sure if my mom reads here or not (and honestly, I'm not gonna ask, I'd just rather not know if she is, I think).

So, anyway....there were a couple things on my 52 Things that I was able to cross off this past weekend.

This past Monday was mom's 60th birthday. My brother, my dad and myself hosted a surprise party in her honor. It was Saturday, and she had no idea. She was surprised and the one that bet the waterworks would start immediately was the winner.

She enjoyed herself, and it made us happy to make her so happy.

My brother and I went in on joint gift that would also be something special for dad as well. We treated her with a 2-night stay at a bed & breakfast in Galena, Illinois. They'll get full breakfast each morning, and also get dinner one night at Fried Green Tomatoes, not to mention the tour/purchase voucher for the winery, too.

They'll be packing soon and can't wait!

And even with all of that, one of mom's favorite things about the party? Her cake.



A total hit, and I cannot say enough good about the Super Target bakery!

2-minute Check-in

I've only got a minute. I feel like I'm coming back from the dark place I was for a bit. Or at least, I can see some light.

Anyway - big day today! I plan on crossing a couple things off my 52 Things list, and I'll tell you all about them later.

Tired. Sad. Mad.

I wish I had something funny to say. But I don't.

I wish my kids listened to me. But they don't.

I wish I wasn't so tired. But I am.

Life is busy right now.

My son got sent to the principal's office for the first time ever this week. He's in first grade. This is not something I wanted to be dealing with already. My daughter is an angel in school. I wish I could say the same for at home. This makes me mad.

Normally I feel like laughing and rejoicing and celebrating and loving. But right now I feel like sleeping, crying, and banging my head against the wall.

A 10-year old boy in a nearby suburb was found dead in the bathroom. He had been hung. They are ruling it a suicide. This makes my heart ache.

There may be big changes coming at work. And that makes me disappointed.

Tomorrow is a monumental day for my best friend and her husband. I am worried and hopeful.

I am overwhelmed. I am tired. I am cold. I am confused.

So, I hope to snap myself out of this. And I hope to have a truly witty post soon.

Something that makes me laugh. Something that makes me smile. Something that makes me feel better than I do right now.

Even after 10 years, I'm worth remembering

My recent Google Stalking was not something premeditated. Out of the blue, I just had this urge to see if I could find my ex.

It isn't a surprise that my mad google skillz presented a phone number for said ex. I didn't write it down or save the page in my bookmarks. Yet in the back of mind, I knew this information was readily available.

I thought a lot about this information, as well as that hole in the pit of my stomach. There was a bit of an inner conflict, but in the end, I decided to jot that number down from the net, and give him a call.

Not before I frantically worried that his wife would answer, and fire questions at me about who I was and what my intentions were. Or, worse yet, what if he didn't even remember me?

My fears were confirmed when his wife did answer, but quickly subsided when she didn't even pause, and simply asked me to hold and gave him the phone. At this point, I was half expecting me to have the wrong person, but it was like a punch in the gut when I heard his voice.

When he paused after I said who I was, I thought I had been forgotten. I muttered something along the lines of "...do you even remember me?" and the sincerity in his voice was obvious, as he somewhat chuckled and said "Of course I remember you!"

He was just completely shell shocked, as he told me he had just been thinking about me, because he had a dream about me and my family just the other night.

We caught up a little bit on family members; he asked how long I've been married, we discussed our kids (he's got 3!), and he took down my email address. When he asked about family members, by name ..... well, it made my heart feel funny. Not in the lovey-dovey, he-makes-my-heart-skip-a-beat kind of way, but the I-really-was-an-important-part-of-his-life-worth-remembering sort of way.

We are both leading different lives, miles & states apart, with our spouses and children; yet in the same week, we both think of each other and reconnect for the first time in nearly 10 years.

To say I'm feeling about 752 different emotions would be an understatement. I love my husband and mean no ill harm with any of this (I told my husband I spoke with him today), but I'd be lying if I said there wasn't a tiny bit of my heart that still bared the name Jeff.

What do you mean, the World doesn't revolve around me?

Back when the old general manager at work was still here, she'd often ask something, and I'd have the answer within seconds. Even with songs .... something would come on the radio, and we'd question the name & artist and viola! I had the answer from just a few lyrics.

She started calling me the Google Queen.

I am highly addicted to Google and they are my #1 search engine. At this point I don't think I could even name another. It's not necessary to know anything beyond Google.

I've even used Google for work purposes; gaining information on potential new customers that left me with a bad feeling (remind me of that story later, I'll tell it).

No doubt, I have Mad Google Skillz.

So, the other night I Google the name of my ex serious boyfriend and find that he's married, with 2 children; a boy and a girl. And then the strangest thing happened....there was this empty hole and a gnawing in my gut.

I mean, of course he got married & had a family! Afterall, *I* did, why shouldn't he? It was a reaction I was not expecting to have. What did I think? That he was still waiting for me?! Totally irrational. I know better.

This leads me to a couple questions....have you Googled an ex and found something shocking? But more importantly, does this label us as Google Stalkers?

The Things Kids Say

The other day my son picked the hot lunch meal of a hamburger. When he came home from school, he was sporting a very large yellow stain on his pants.

So I asked him about it.

"What happened to your pants?"

"Oh, the mustard .... it like, dropped down."

"How'd you clean it up?"

"Well first, I wiped it, and it got bigger.......and then one of the lunch room ladies came over, and she washed it off for me. And you know what I told the lunch room lady?"

"What?"

"I told her that the school should buy a ShamWow!"

I think he watches too much TV.