Living with one’s parents can be a bit of a minefield as far as territory (who’s cooking, who’s buying groceries), schedule, address, etc.  Since we’ve been hanging onto the hope of moving into our house ”any day now”,  I’ve been putting so many things on hold to avoid the stress.  However, living life “on hold” brings about it’s own kind of stress.  So, here are some things that I’m going to do:

1. Make my OB check up appointment (five months overdue)
2. Make my six-month dental checkup (four months overdue)
3. Unpack (This does not make me happy in the least, but I think the not looking at all the boxes shoved into each corner of my parents’ upstairs will give me a little peace.)
4. Buy organic milk
5. Join Grow Alabama
6. Take a {little} trip (I just won four passes to the Tennessee Aquarium, Children’s Museum, and IMAX– thankyouverymuchBirminghamMommy– and I’m thinking we’ll make a few days out of it.  Chatty is one of our favorite places!)
7. Work on my marriage (No, we are not having problems, but I know I am not being very intentional with my relationship with HH.  Our life is in a period of upheaval and we’ve been putting off  things like a couple’s Bible study and date night, but I cannot think of a more crucial time to work at it!)
8. Snatch up some bargains (Our goal has been not to acquire any more “stuff” while all of ours is in storage, so I’ve avoided a lot of sales and markdown aisles.  Since I’m still kicking myself for not buying this when I saw if marked down to under $6, I think I might need to loosen up on this rule a little.)
9. Getting a family membership to McWane Science Center
10. Lose 15 pounds (This is going to be the toughest.  Not only do my parents keep a ton of junk food in stock, my mom is an amazing cook.  My goal when I moved in was to lose about eight pounds, it’s grown– as I have– to about fifteen.  But the longer I wait the higher that number is going to get and the harder I’ll have to work.  And I’m all about not working hard!)

For some more Top Ten Tuesday lists, check out Oh Amanda!

Can you believe we still haven’t closed on our house yet?  Yeah, me neither.  I’m beyond tired of it all.  I’m trying hard to keep a good attitude.  After all,  owning a home is a tremendous blessing, and one that we have dreamt about for so long.  But, it’s pretty much sucking the life out of us.  And it has been for MONTHS.  To say that I’m ready to unload on someone is an understatement.  I almost posted a Top Ten Things I Need To Get Off My Chest, but it got ugly.  Fast.  So how ’bout some randomness.

1.  I have eaten enough mini PayDay candy bars to fill the trick or treat bags of all the children in a third world country.  No, I’m not proud of this, but surely confession lessens the body’s absorption of fat.  Right?
2.  I have ants in my purse.  So not sure of the hows or whys of it all, but they’re here.  And there.  And everywhere.  (And, if you’re married to me & reading, no this is not just some ploy to get a new handbag.  But ants is ants, and well…)
3.  I’m heading to LPL in Memphis this weekend.  With people I’ve never met in real life before.  I’m NERVOUS. BEYOND. BELIEF.
4.  I did a massive closet purge a la Tim Gunn’s Guide to Style.  It really deserves it’s own blog post.  Unfortunately, there are no pictures, since  it was done in conjunction with packing and it involved throwing most of the contents of my closet into a giant cardboard box, putting it in the trunk, and driving it to the nearest donation center.   Too boring to photograph.  Plus, I wasn’t wearing concealor.
5.  Massive closet purge a la Tim Gunn’s Guide to Style = so not a good idea when the temperature drops twenty degrees the very next day.
6.  Oh, and massive closet purge a la Tim Gunn’s Guide to Style = also not a good idea when you’re about to go on a weekend trip with a lot of cute girls who will no doubt be fabulously dressed.  I, it seems, will be naked.
7.   My parents have cable AND DVR.  I actually watched Dancing With The Stars on the same night that it aired.  Wheee!!!

8.  And, since we’re on the subject… Maksim Chmerkovskiy = DEEE-LISH.
9.  Oh, and my new favorite show– Drop Dead Diva.  Too bad the very first (and only) episode I’ve seen happens to be the second to the last one of the season. 
10. Finally, and in case I haven’t alluded to it before, I have NOTHING to wear, people. NOTHING.

For more (well put together) Top Ten Tuesday, head over to Oh Amanda!

The title is wildly awkward, isn’t it?  I’ve reworded it about fifteen times and it is still taunting me.  I think I must move on…

A couple of months ago, HH gave me the greatest gift:  thirty minutes of alone.  Every. Day.  He pretty much pushes me out the door as I’m chewing my last bite of dinner and insists that I stay gone for thirty minutes.  I’m not sure if he’s spoiling me or protecting himself & the kids from my less than kind personality of late. 

Regardless, it’s a beautiful thing.

I take the opportunity to get some exercise and walk around the neighborhood.  Despite the obvious health benefits, probably my most favorite thing is that I’m getting reacquainted with my iPod. 

Can I just tell you how much I like music? !  I’m in no way musically inclined.  I cannot sing.  I cannot play an instrument.  But I love songs.  My favorite songs are songs I already know, which is why I LURVE a cover!  So, allow me to share my favorite song covers cover songs songs sang by someone other than the original singer…

oh heck, you know what I mean…

10.  Lady Marmalade covered by Christina Aguilera, Maya, Pink, L’il Kim, Missy Elliott.  While I’m sure this makes no real music critics top anything, I always crank it up!
9.  Darlin’ Nikki covered by Foo Fighters.  Yes, this song is disgusting and dirty.  And, yes, my love for Dave Grohl makes me listen to bad things sometimes.  Sue me.
8.  Smooth Criminal covered by Alien Ant Farm.  Seriously, try to not get all funky when this one comes on the radio.
7.  Killing Me Softly covered by The Fugees.  This cover almost made me grow an afro. 
6.  The Man Who Sold the World covered by Nirvana.  I’m the weirdo who doesn’t love Nirvana.  Something about this song, though, is hauntingly beautiful.
5.  Faith covered by Limp Bizkit.  This one may have thrown any credibility I had right out the window, but I think it’s awesome. 
4.  Hello covered by David Cook.  Yeah, I think I kind of broke my own rule here by including an American Idol artist.  To me, though, it’s deserving of a little rule breakage.
3.  Amazing Grace covered by Chris Tomlin.  Don’t let this one get lost in this list.  Maybe it’s degrading to call it a cover?  I don’t know.  I do know that I can’t contain the waterworks everytime I hear this version.  What an amazing  job updating and maintaining, Mr. Tomlin.  I might just cry while typing this.
2.  Landslide covered by Smashing Pumpkins and also covered by Dixie Chicks.  Yeah, it’s a two-fer.  Loved the original.  Love the covers.  It just doesn’t get old to me.
1.  Stop in the Name of Love covered by Jonell Mosser (on the Hope Floats Motion Picture Soundtrack).  I loved the music more that I loved the movie and this song got lost in the film.  While I love the original, I think you miss the gut-wrenching-ness of the song.  I could listen to it over and over.  And I do.  More than you care to know.

So, there’s my list.  For now, I guess I should say.  Who knows, Scissor Sisters could cover Stayin’ Alive and my list would get turned over right on it’s ear.

So what about you, what’s your favorite cover?

For more Top Ten Tuesday, head over to Oh Amanda!

Because I love Oh Amanda and because What Mommies Need is giving away a Vado, I’d like to show off my mulitasking skills and share a completely selfish Top Ten.

Hey, I’m only human.

So, here are the Top Ten Reasons I Need to Win a Vado, People:
1.  It comes in pink.
2.  It would fit in my small diaper bag (and since Wog is progressing quite nicely in the potty-training, I’ll be sporting my small diaper bag soon enough). 
3.  Heck, it’d fit in my pocket & I’m ALWAYS sporting those.
4.  When Bug took her first series of steps, HH had the video camera at work with him — that would never happen if I won a Vado (see #1).
5.  I might post a VLOG or two or eleven.  (Not that I’m that interesting but my Southern accent is QUITE entertaining.  Seriously, when I go to Montgomery, I get “say that again” quite a lot.  If you’re not familiar with Alabama, Montgomery is our capital.  It’s a place where they say “MONT-gum-ry” and “th’ guv-nah”  — and they ask *me* to repeat myself.)
6.  My my life is $100,000 waiting to happen.  (I’m pretty clumsy.)
7. 

8.

9.  We’re working HARD to get into a house of our own, with a yard, neighbors,  and a good school system (see #7 and #8), so we sure as heck can’t BUY one.
10.  Did I mention I could win it in PINK?

Thank you for indulging me in pimpin’ out my blog for personal gain.  Let us never speak of it again.  Unless I win.  Then, I’m afraid you’ll grow nauseous with all the speaking of it that will be done.

For more Top Ten Tuesday fun… visit Oh Amanda.

If you’re fairly new around here, you should know that when I worked full-time, I worked for a department store group.  My job was to keep the cosmetics counters of each store properly assorted and fully stocked.  And while the discount was sweet, the vendors were even sweeter.  They kept me swimming in the fanciest of eye cream, lip gloss, and fragrance.  They pretty much turned me into a cosmetic junkie. 

Of course, when you lose the discount and 50% of the family income, the COSMETICS line item of the budget is the first to go.  I dreaded the day that all my freebies ran out and I would have to , *gasp*, shop at the drugstore.  Slowly, but surely, I have started running out of my necessities.  And slowly, but surely, I am loving the drugstore. 

Yes,  L-O-V-I-N-G  it! 

So, I thought I’d share my Top Ten Drugstore Finds (so far anyway):
1.  Caress Exotic Oil Infusions Cream Oil Bodywash - Keeps my skin SOFT even in the dead of winter with gas heat blaring!  

2.  L’oreal Sublime Glow in Fair  This has a very subtle color for pasty folks like me and very minimal self-tanning smell.  It’s there, mind you, but very minimal.

3.  L’oreal EverPure Moisture Shampoo  Sulfate-free, 100% vegan, preserves your hair color better…yay!  The best thing about it, though, is the smell.  Just like Aveda without the price tag! 

4.  Clean & Clear Soft In-Shower Facial   OHMYGOSH!  My skin feels amazing after using this.  But it’s pretty scrubby and menthol-y, so if you don’t like that sort of thing, move along.  

5.  Burt’s Bees Lip Shimmer – Fig  This is moisturizing, smells like peppermint and the fig color is a wonderful natural color!

6. AcneFree Purifying Cleanser  I found this by Googling “Proactiv knock off”– seriously.  My skin was getting out of hand, but after two days of using this it was clear.  I kid you not.  It’s pretty strong and can be drying, so I use it for a week to 10 days and then switch back to a gentle cleanser for a few weeks.  What’s also great is that you don’t have to buy the whole system.  I found it at Ulta for $5.99 (plus I used a 20% coupon from the paper), but CVS and Walmart both carry the cleanser as a stand-alone purchase, too.

7.  L’oreal Bare Naturale Concealer  This covers so much better than I was expecting it to.  After about a month or so I thought it started settling into the creases under my eyes a little, but I LOVE it for covering blemishes since it’s not at all cakey.

8.  Maybelline Define-A-Brow Eyebrow Pencil  I credit Moriah (via Chic Critique) with this find.  It’s awesome… even if you’re not an artist!

9.  Curel Life’s Stages Comfort Moisture Cream – Pregnancy & Motherhood  To be honest, I think Curel has discontinued this product.  I saw it at Wag’s seriously marked down (and bought every last cotton-pickin’ bottle they had).  So, if you see this, buy it.  You don’t have to be pregnant.  Or a mother.  You just need skin that wants to be soft.

10.   Vaseline Petroleum Jelly Cream  Don’t bother with fancy foot creams, just slather this on and throw on a pair of socks before bed.  The creamy formula is much less messy than the regular Vaseline.  It’s a must for elbows too! 

 For more fun Top Tens, head over to Oh Amanda!

What a great time to start this blog back… just in time to tell my sweet husband Happy Anniversary!  Since my first WBFS 2.0 post, though written with love, was a little passive agressive, I thought I might make a list of things I love about him.  Since we’ve shared eight years of, ahem, wedded bliss, I thought I would post eight reasons I love him.  Then I remembered it was Tuesday and since my exit from Bloggydom, Oh Amanda has championed the Top Ten Tuesday (which I’ve been dying to get in on).  So why not rack my brain for two more things to love about HH and spread the love all around the land.  So here goes…

The Ten Reasons to Love My Husband:
1.  He’s 6′ 4″.  For a self-conscious, 5′ 11″ gal who lurves a high heel, this is heaven.
2.  He works his butt off to provide for us.  He never even flinched when my maternity leave was up and I told him I could not go back to work full-time.
3.  The minute he gets home from work, he scoops up Woggie, detaches Bug from my hip and takes them to Wog’s room to play… giving me some much-needed peace while I finish up dinner.
4.  He lets me be in charge when I need to be.  I have the propensity to be a dictator at times and he rolls with it.
5.  He takes the lead when I need him to.  When I’m not so sure about something or afraid to make an important decision, he swoops in and does it for me.
6.  He loves shoes too.  (In the most rugged, manly way of course.)
7.  His kids turn him to mush.  And, ladies, is that not THE. SEXIEST.THING.
8.  He shaved his beloved beard as my anniversary gift.  Not sure many other men would.
9.  He will hate the fact that I’m posting about him, but he’ll deal with it.
10.  He loves me.  Snippy, sarcastic, sometimes smelly…me.

You can check out other Top Ten Tuesday posts here.