One

Today is Cooper's first birthday! 

But first, let's show everyone what he looked like at 10 weeks old. There is no other word for this photo except 'adorable', obviously:

Here is what the strapping young man looks like today, although his head looks freakishly Gigantor in proportion to the rest of his body in this photo:

We had a party...with doggie ice cream, naturally. Also, notice the excellent socks that Girldoll wore for the occasion: 

Exhibit A: Cooper tries his first lick of Frosty Paws:

Exhibit B: Taste tested...and approved. 'The Browns' love it! And no, you're not seeing double. The top brown dog is Riley:

Notice Cooper's dilated pupils, intense stare and how his whiskers seems to stand on end? Let this be a PSA to dogs everywhere: we've determined Frosty Paws is actually crack for dogs. Just say no, right? 

"Crack is whack, yo!"

Happy birthday, Cooper. We love you, baby chocodile!

Contrary Action

It's taken me over 6 months, but I managed to lose 25 lbs since July by eating tons of veggies, avoiding sugar and all processed foods and staying accountable for my food choices by emailing my food journal daily to a friend. I looked good and felt great. 

Awesome sauce, right? Right. Except that I've fallen back into some bad habits (not drinking enough water or eating enough vegetables, eating sweets, and frequently getting take-out food). I stopped emailing my food journal to my friend, because 1) it was a hassle, and 2) I felt like I couldn't email her forever. 

I have gained back 5 pounds over the last month. Not only are my clothes tighter, all I want to do is eat the house down. It was so hard to lose weight the first time. And trying to give up sugar again totally sucks it.  

I want to eat what I want to eat. WHICH IS ALL THE THINGS. Right, Scooby?

A lot of the weight gain also has to do with my erratic exercise schedule. In my last race, my training consisted of running only a handful of times over three months. I do not recommend this. It doesn't make for an ideal half marathon experience.



I decided to get out of my comfort zone and I joined my first running club this week with the goal of training and running a half marathon* in May. Although I've run two full marathons and 15 half marathons (I think? I'll have to go back and tally those up), I have never worked with a coach. We will run each Saturday as a group, gradually adding more mileage each week - and then run on our own for 30-45 minutes twice during the week.

And then, I decided that I would register for a shit ton of races:

April 5 - Warrior Dash (San Dimas, CA)

May 18 - Bay to Breakers 10k (San Francisco, CA)

May 25 - Mountains 2 Beach* half marathon (Ojai/Ventura, CA)

July 3-7 - hiking the Grand Canyon (down and out, approx 26 miles round-trip)

August 31 - Disney Half Marathon (Anaheim, CA)

What was I just saying about getting out of my comfort zone? Jebus.

My trip to the Grand Canyon (which will be a whole other post of it's own) is not a race. Regardless, I am going to have to train for that like nobody's business.  

The first and last races on my schedule will be with Girldoll. I am so excited to run these events with her, especially the half marathon in August! It will be her first half marathon...and I know it will be the highlight of all of mine.

ETA: Is it obvious that I am suddenly obsessed with GIFs? I would like to acknowledge Danielle at The T-Rex Runner for all of her help with the nifty GIFs you see in this post. I can't thank her enough for her kindness or support! 

Space Case

This morning I was about to add lunch money to my kids' accounts online...yeah, it's all wild up in here...when I realized my credit card wasn't in my wallet. I wracked my brain trying to retrace my steps from the day before and recall the last place I had used it.

The post office? No. I didn't actually get a chance to use my credit card there. After waiting for 15 minutes, I was still the fifth person in line. I mean, seriously - who even uses parcel post anymore? *sigh*

The beauty supply? No. I didn't leave my credit card there, either. But, to answer your question: Yes, I was picking up hair color. Again.

Then it had to be at the grocery store, right? After looking all over my car, I managed to find the receipt that included the time I was at the store, and the name of the clerk who helped me. I called the store, but no dice. They didn't have my card either. Hopefully I didn't drop it in the parking lot on the way back to my car.

It's more than just an inconvenience; we use the one credit card for almost all of our purchases. I rarely write checks and seldom handle cash anymore. Since we pay off the balance each month, it's more of a glorified debit card. Plus, it's a mileage credit card and I am obsessed with earning travel points. Just when I was getting ready to take the dreaded next step and call our credit card company to cancel the card, a small nagging thought stopped me. 

I looked next to the computer...and there was my credit card, quietly waiting for me to make my purchase next to the mouse pad. I had taken the card out of my wallet and got distracted, and then forgot I had taken it out of my wallet only ten minutes earlier. What the heck?! There went 25 minutes of my life that I will never get back again. I mean, I'm stoked I found it - but, jeez. What a space case!

The good news is that there was a time in my life that I would have totally lost my nut behind something like that. Even though it was annoying, I remained calm and retraced my steps, instead of frantically tearing the whole house apart and getting myself all bunged up.

Creeper

Last month, I went into Lululemon to find a small Christmas gift for my niece. She is crazy for their clothes, and I thought maybe I could find something modestly priced for her. You know, like a little top or cute sports bra.

Um, NO. I had few choices if I was going to spend less than $25, and I didn't really want to buy her a headband. 

A young saleswoman approached me and after hearing my dilemma, she gently caught my arm (?!) and excitedly pulled me toward the center of the store, "Does your niece wear our underwear? Seriously. It's ALL I wear. It's like wearing nothing!!" She went on raving about 'no visible panty lines' and how her favorite was the lightweight thong.

*cough*

HAWKWARD. I'm hardly a prude, but holy hell. When did I get so old?? I made every effort to train my eyes on her face and tried not to involuntarily look down at her crotch. 

That underwear might have felt like wearing nothing, but at $18 apiece they were worth their weight in gold. Despite my budget, I found myself grabbing four pair almost reflexively. I was thinking I could buy two for my niece, and give the other two pair (or is that pairs?) to my daughter. 

Seriously? I can't even believe that I am
actually blogging about underwear.

Once home and out from under the mind control of Perky Underwear Clerk, I reviewed my purchases. As wonderful as my niece is, I could not bring myself to send her $40 worth of panties. I still had my two nephews to shop for, plus mail their gifts across the country. Since the panties were nonreturnable, I decided the only thing to do was to keep the second pair for myself. Obviously.

After carefully wrapping her thong underwear gift, I included a small card on the package:

Dear Bridey,

I hope you don't think I'm

a creeper for buying you these. 

I hear they are really nice. 

Enjoy! Love, Auntie Babydoll

Apparently she read the card aloud on Christmas morning and my nephew perked up when he heard the "creeper" Minecraft reference. He asked if maybe the gift had been mislabeled and was possibly for him. (No. Nice try, mister.) It turns out that my niece didn't think I was a creeper at all. My daughter loved hers as well. 

And me? All the hype is completely accurate. The underwear is the lightest and most comfortable I have ever worn. In fact, they are so comfortable that I have a small dilemma: Do I wear them first, or do I wait until I've worn my other pairs first and save the Lulus for last? Wearing nice underwear just sets the tone for a good day. I'm sure there is science somewhere that that proves my theory. 

Actually, there is: Jenna Marble's underwear horoscope. With nothing other than her panty clairvoyance, Jenna predicts how your day will be solely based on the underwear you put on that morning. Warning: This link is NSFW (Not Suitable For Work). And truthfully, my underwear drawer is a sad state of affairs. I recently pulled on a pair of cotton panties...except my fingers poked a hole through the fabric, right under the elastic. To quote Jenna, "What did your vagina do to deserve this abuse?!"  

Clearly, the only thing to do is to buy one or two pair (or is that pairs?) a month until I have a little cache of my very own.

Picture Perfect

For my third installment of featuring bloggers from my blog roll, I'd like to introduce my readers to my friend Emry and her blog, Emry At Home. She writes about homesteading with her husband and her life raising their two young girls, Annalee and Alabama.

But first, can we talk just for a minute about Emry's hair? Seriously. She has the thickest, most gorgeous head of auburn hair that I have ever seen. 

See what I mean? ::swoon::

I stumbled across Emry's blog a few years ago, shortly after she'd been featured on a website called BlogHer which spotlights women writers. I was so impressed by Emry's accomplishment, it inspired to submit an article of my own...but I was so overwhelmed by the sheer number of writers and topics that I haven't gone back to the BlogHer website since. 

Even though we haven't met IRL, Emry has been super sweet about answering my ridiculously embarrassing questions, all of which reveal how little I know about formatting a blog.

Although Emry At Home is not a photography blog, her photos are stunning:

This photo makes me feel wistful without knowing why exactly. 

The aesthetic of canning makes me sigh.
In my post Peachy, I used the term 'historical hard-on' to describe
the appeal of canning, because I'm classy like that.

The beseeching fingers. The cat's expression. Just...LOVE.

As a parent, I have a deep understanding about how two children can be completely different in temperament, despite the fact that they are raised in the same household. This premise is one of the themes that I find so relatable about Emry's blog.

Best. Photo. Ever.

This brilliance is Alabama's handiwork.

My kids are much older than Emry's girls...but there is something so satisfying about knowing that I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE THIS SHIT HAPPENS TO.