I read of more and more families not doing Santa for the kids, in hopes to keep their Christmas more Christ-centered.  And, you know what?  I SO get it.  But for us, Santa just seems to fit.  You can read more of my thoughts on Santa over at Impress Your Kids.

My girl is something else.  She’s a ham.  She’s a foodie.  She’s an adrenaline-junkie. 

Looks like we can add “skeptic” to the list, too:

In case you missed it on Facebook & Twitter last week, a photographer from the New York Times came to my [parents'] house to take some pics of HH, who’d been interviewed for an article about reading books on his iPhone.

Though my mom and I fluffed and straightened and Febreezed for what seemed like forever, I thought it would be a quick come in, snap a couple poses of HH reading on the couch and then it would be done.  My parents would be gone to Bible study, so I could easily keep the kids entertained with some play-doh and/or coloring books.

Wrong.

The photographer stayed almost two hours.  He was very pleasant and didn’t seem bothered that my 15 month-old stood staring at him the whole time.  (She’s a little intense.  And judgemental.) And he seemed quite interested in Wog’s Halloween candy and guitar playing skills.  He even invited Bug into a couple of shots.

I don’t think  he was prepared for the slingshot.  Or the massive gas-passing from my parent’s geriatric, not-so-miniature dachshund.  But, hey,  he works for the New York Times while living in Alabama.  I’m sure “Rollwithit” is his middle name.

The article turned out really good.  Surprisingly, it didn’t have the whole Look, folks in Alabama CAN read! slant, as I’d jokingly anticipated.

Click on over to see the article and feast your eyes upon the handsomeness that is my hubby.  It appears that Bug has made it to the big time as well.

This morning, I woke up in a pretty good mood.  Wog only woke up once, I crawled into bed with him and then we slept away until after 7:30.  That’s pretty huge!  After he and HH left, I turned on the TV and it kind of hit me like a ton of bricks… it was September 11th.  My good mood quickly faded.

Despite the overcast weather, it was easy to go along with my usual Friday morning activities: dishes, the grocery store, picking Wog up from preschool.  He was especially proud of a sticker that was on his shirt.  He chattered about it all the way to the gas station.  He kept trying to show it to me, but all I could manage was an “Uh huh” and “That’s great” since I really couldn’t very well turn around while I was driving.

After pulling up to the pump, I stepped out into the mist and proceeded to chat with the kids through the rolled-down window while the gas pumped.  It was then that Wog pulled his sticker off of his shirt and held it out for me to see.

It was a flag.  The American flag.  I began to cry.  (Thank goodness for the misty weather.)

Today he’s clueless.  It’s a cool day because he got a sticker.

…or catch up, if you must.  Ketchup just kind of seemed to have a little more zing.  And I like zing.  And something on this blog should have some zing, since the design is about as far from zingy as a blog design could get.  **Cough cough… hint hint…  Mr Blog Designer, do you even read this anymore?!**

Lots of things going on at the Shoe house right now, but I have so very little bloggy mojo.  (Could it be the design bringing me down?  **cough**)  Lack of mojo demands a list, right?!

1.  Wog’s birthday party was a success.  If you count success as paying $50 to rent a park pavillion, then having to share it with another group who didn’t pay and  took up 4 of the 6 tables.  The city did refund our money, but scolded us for not calling security to have them removed.  Wog and his little friends had a blast though.  Unfortunately, I didn’t get a single picture of the birthday boy that didn’t have his friends in it and editing them has proven me completely Photoshop deficient.

2.  I’m about to dip my toe into the world of cloth diapering.  I’m a little nervous.  It could save us a ton of dough (like a ton), but what if it’s hard?  I don’t do hard very well.

3.  Wog is still doing great with the potty.  The only problem is now he’s figured out that he doesn’t have to actually ring the potty.  It’s just gross.  If you’re looking for a stock tip, buy Clorox now!

4.  I’m currently reading In Defense of Food:  An Eater’s Manifesto by Michael Pollan.  It’s totally changing the way I grocery shop.  The premise is Eat Food.  Not Too Much.  Mostly Plants.  I’m not finished with it (non fiction is such slow-going for me), but I would recommend it.  Unfortunately, it’s making it harder for me to plan menus each week.  A lifetime of consuming preservatives and relying on commercials to tell me what’s healthy, well that is a hard habit to break.

5.  I usually rely on the library for all my fiction reading needs, but it’s also a GREAT place to test out a cookbook.  If there’s a cookbook that I think I want, I check it out and take it home for a test drive.  The most recent one I had to peek at was Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.   It did not disappoint!  I’ll be purchasing it in the very near future.  And I hope to be sharing stories of all my homemade bread with all of Bloggyland.

I’m reading back over this post and wondering who is this girl who speaketh of cloth diapers, making her own bread and buying fresh vegetables?!

My mom might have me committed.

That might not be a bad idea.

I have found that my quest for self-improvement is seriously cutting into my internet time.

Yeah, I could should have tweeted that instead.

But then what would I have posted here?

Well, it’s official.  I should’ve delayed the Great Bloggy Revival of 2009 until I had the ok from my technical director (aka. HH).  My comments are still beyond jacked.  And, yet, here I am again posting, knowing full well that old comments are going to show up on this post in the next few days (if not immediately).  But a revival is a revival and I’m going to post, darn it to heck.  So, if you do stop by, don’t be too freaked out by the wierd comments to leave a comment yourself.  I’ll delete the stray comments soon enough!

Now that I got the uncomfortable bloggy business out of the way…

I am still eating my way through leftover pound cake, potato salad, jellybeans of the Starburst variety, and my mama’s Chocolate- Covered Matzah bread (no, we’re not Jewish, but I believe the love of a starch knows no religious boundary).  I do hope that you haven’t eaten through all of your Easter candy yet, but just in case you have, here’s a fix or two of Easter weekend sweetness for you.  Enjoy!