Roses Are Red...

...Maine 2010-2011 inspection stickers are blue.
I have one on my car, yeehaw!
And it only cost a hundred dollars, or two.



The yearly inspection angst got ampliphoned for having to repair the e-brake for the second year in a row (we don't even use it???) but we're good until 2011, hurrah! Vehicle O'Safety week perseveres!

Happy St. Patty's Day O'Safety

My stupid $10 Jonas Brothers camera effed with most of the photos I took of our wonderful day, but I managed to sort of salvage a shot of Jimmy's new carseat.



It's the Graco Nautilus and I've already received a little heat for getting another "babyish" seat rather than a big-boy booster seat---but! I didn't go all willy nilly, I spent months thinking and researching before I decided. I knew I liked the 5-point harness of the Britax Roundabout that he was outgrowing, and I honestly thought I was going to stick with Britax (the Volvo of car$eats) which meant with the size of my car I'd have to get the Marathon which only goes to 65 lbs, which I feared was a short way's to go for $200+. I wasn't interested in shortchanging Jimmy's safety but I needed to be practical. More reading and recommendations led me to the Nautilus and I'm very happy. It's highly rated (carseat nerds love it!), it harnesses 5-pointedly up to 65 lbs and then converts into booster mode for up to 100 lbs, it's comfortable, it fits in my tiny car, and was only $144 from Amazon. Oh, and Jimmy's upholstery is called "Matrix" but the pink version is named "Rachel," what are the odds! So, bring it on, Baby Seatists, I feel that Jimmy and my wallet and my mind are all safe and sound with the Graco Nautilus.

And then we came home to my good homemade Irish pizza and I made a green pie, with Jimmy's help of course.



Hope you had a great St. Patty's Day!!!

Have Insomnia?

If you're having trouble sleeping, consider taking a peek at Jimmy's favorite Youtube series.

Trains Across America



Hasn't failed me once! Zzzzzzz....

Wow, Facebook WORKS!

I've never been to a Trader Joe's, but I've heard great things about them so I was happy to join the Bring Trader Joe's to Portland, Maine!!! page when I first started getting active on Facebook.

It seems as though the good people of the second best rated grocery chain (and the FTC) are watching the chatter of the people:

Local Fans of Trader Joe's May Finally Get Their Wish

Wheeeee! As much as we all love Whole Foods, it sorta was a littttle weird when they gutted out the Wild Oats around the corner just 2 months after opening. But the *best* part is that even though the two buildings are only 1/3 mile apart, the new Trader Joe's location will be so much easier to walk to from my house. I simply can't wait to be a cult follower of TJ Culture. Thanks, Facebook!

News Muse

I've recently picked up PBS reception and had one of those "holy crap" moments when I watched their 6 o'clock news, in 5 minutes I felt like there was a giant mass of noise and junk in my head, and that I put it there by watching network news for so long. Like, if I closed my eyes and thought about what I had learned from 5 solid years of ABC World News, all that came to mind were pharmaceutical commercials.

A few days later, last night I walked away from the tv altogether, I turned it off and turned on the radio--Coast to Coast (without Art Bell) was on and within moments I was filling Jimmy's magnadoodle with tips I didn't want to forget. I looked at the magnadoodle this morning, it said "Beans, Bullets, + Bandaids," that these were the items we needed to stock up on in preparation for 2012.

Oh kaaaaaay, maybe that was a little more extreme, which is probably why I cloud my mind with so much network junk. I guess I'm looking forward to maybe getting smahtah with BBC World News.

And many thanks to Andrea for this funny:


The formula of every news story, gotta love The Onion!

The Topsy Turvy World of the Perfect Schedule

Obviously I'd rather not have to work, but I love that I can provide the fam with bennies and only have to work weekends and that Wally can exercise some good father/son time to avoid any future Cats in the Cradle and the Silver Spoon forlornery, I love it.

One downside though is that I get no PTO (paid time off), or holiday time, which makes me a little sad as Easter approaches, cuz, well, I have to work it. This year I also get to work the hubby's family's favorite annual holiday get-together: the 4th of July, and as my sister-in-law recently called to my attention: CHRISTMAS! 7am to 6pm! My boss who is leaving for another department tells me not to worry, that being told that I'm on the bottom of a very long list of requests for time off doesn't mean a thing. That even though it's a Saturday that doesn't offer the special Christmas-Triple-Time-And-A-Half-And-One-Day-Off-In-The-Following-Year incentive for others to work the holiday, that Jimmy will wake up to a smiling Santa Mommy who will spend the entire day with him, setting up an annual family feast. Ta-not ta-worry! I don't know...I hope she's right!

In the meantime I found some cute Easter Basket deals. A $10 coupon for The Princess and the Frog, I can't wait to see it, and a fun Toy Story/Toy Story 2/Toy Story 3 at the Movies deal from Amazon, can't wait to celebrate the release of Toy Story 2 on my birrrrrthdayyyyy (which I *don't* have to work, hurrah!)

Big Red