Weekend Wrap-up

Woot!  Look at me!  It’s almost 9am as I sit here typing.  Getting a jump start on my NaBloPoMo, day 3!  This is going to be a real test of whether I can get a post done quickly or not though because I have to get ready for the day in about 30 min.  *let’s do this!*

I’m also multi-tasking and may or may not be (okay, I am) eating leftover chili for breakfast. I was hungry and I didn’t want to eat a sugary breakfast, but I didn’t feel like making eggs…soooo chili was the only obvious choice of course! I love chili. I can eat it at 8am, I can eat it at midnight, I can eat it in a box with a fox, I can eat it anytime, anywhere!  Which is a good thing since I’m the only one in the house that loves it enough to eat it multiple days in a row. So when I do happen to make chili, I’m eating it for lunch and dinner and apparently sometimes breakfast!

I remember when I first started living with my husband and I thought I could cook so well, but it ended up that I could really only cook the few meals that I cooked for my mom at home and my two staples, spaghetti and chili, my new partner HATED!  #wifefail  I would get so mad at him because these were my two favorite meals and he wouldn’t eat them.  Who hates chili and spaghetti?! Good thing I didn’t know that when we first started dating or it might have been a deal breaker! 😛 Nowadays, I just make it whenever I want and he just has to deal with it.

Anywho, back on task.

So, over the weekend if you didn’t hear, Brittany Maynard, the terminally ill woman who was going to end her life in Oregon, actually passed away.  It was so sad to me because I watched her latest video update and she seemed like she was still getting joy out of life so she was going to postpone it.  But, either she got worse right after that or she just implied she was postponing in hopes of getting a little privacy. It’s times like this that I’m really disappointed in the character of a large majority of the population. People can be so cruel. This woman opened up to the world in a very scary way and while there were a lot of people who were supportive, there were a lot of people who were judgmental and downright mean. It’s okay to voice your opinion if you don’t agree, but why must people be so rude and hurtful? I read comments after her recent video came out and people were saying idiotic things like, she did this for publicity, she “doesn’t look sick”, she just wanted her “15 min of fame”.  Really people?  She didn’t *want* to die.  She chose that date because she wanted to be there for her husbands birthday and she thought that her quality of life would be dwindling so she just chose a date that she liked. If she decided not to go through with it, why would that for one, be any of our business, but for two, why does it matter?!  She was allowed to change her mind. We all know that our bodies don’t always do what we want them to. I eventually had to stop reading the comments because it makes me sad and angry that people can be so dispassionate and cruel. I think the internet has given people the courage and anonymity to say whatever is on their minds when they should really just keep it to themselves. Didn’t their momma’s teach them, “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all”? If not, they should have! What good comes out of attacking her character or her motives? She’s dying people!! Have some compassion!

*sigh* rant over.

In happier news, my Baublebar package came on Saturday while I was gone to an all day school event for the teen!  I was so exhausted from the day, but I was thrilled to see my pretties had arrived in the mail while I was gone.

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When the double sided earring trend started last year (I think Dior was the one that everyone started making knockoffs of), I was definitely intrigued…exhibit A, B and C. But about that time that I was really tempted, I was starting down the road of reassessing what I liked/didn’t like and cutting back on spending, and deciding not to buy things just because they were “trendy”.  Then last month was my SIL’s bday and she wanted some of these earrings, so I went browsing at all the options.  And again, started jonesing for a pair…but decided against it.  THEN, stinking Baublebar sends me an email with the $10 deal of the day and I couldn’t control myself any longer.  I mean, they were sparkly, plus colorful, plus trendy, and they were only TEN dollars!  It was seriously a no brainer. I’m glad I waited until the right pair came along though because I really do love this color/style combo.

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Have you jumped on the double sided earring trend?  What’s your favorite pair?  Any trend that you waited on and then finally caved?

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Say it with me…mod-er-a-tion!

This photo has been making it’s rounds on social media

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and every time it pops up, it annoys the hell out of me!

First off, IMHO, moderation is the key to success. If you can’t eat one small piece of candy without feeling like you need to “work” it off, you may have a problem. If you eat one fun size snickers, it is not the end of the world. You will have enjoyed a piece of candy, realizing that you can have treats here and there and not pay any consequences. You will NOT gain a pound, you will not have fallen off the wagon, you will not have ruined all your hard work!  Remember, you would have to eat a surplus of 3500 calories to gain ONE pound. 3500 calories! To put that into perspective, one fun size snickers is 2.5% of a pound (in layman’s terms, that would be 2 1/2 cents out of a dollar).  Tell me again why I should care about 2.5% of a pound.  Oh right, I shouldn’t.

Secondly, exercise is not a punishment for unhealthy eating! I repeat…NOT a punishment! If you workout to punish yourself, working out will always be just that, a punishment. You should workout because you love yourself and you want to take care of your body as best you can.

Thirdly, if I were trying to work off candy I ate, I would wear my heart rate monitor to decipher how much work needed to be done because depending on your size/weight/age/muscle mass, everyone’s burn rate is different. I could also just take the dog for a walk and probably work off my candy.

This is my take on Halloween candy (or any candy/goodies for that matter). Mindfully have treats. Don’t go overboard, but don’t beat yourself up if you do. Being aware of what you’re putting in your mouth is half of the battle.

And instead of doing these ridiculous exercises, maybe suggest that the whole family do something active together. Go on a hike, a family bike ride, play a game of tennis/basketball, go rock climbing, walk the dog, play hide and seek, etc.

FWIW, according to this stupid chart, I am supposed to do 15 min on Jacob’s ladder and 100 burpee’s.  NOT gonna happen!  I’m going to go into the gym on Monday thinking, “let’s do this!” and get my regular workout in. No punishments. Just taking care of myself! 🙂

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Kicking off this challenge with an easy post

My kids are 14 and 11.  Any year now they could decide not to dress up and *gasp* not want to go trick or treating. Ever since my youngest was born, we’ve been trick or treating with cousins.  My nephew and son were born 3 days apart (pretty cool since their dads’ are twins ;)) and since my nephew was the first child, it just seemed natural that we’d trick or treat together.  My BIL & SIL have added two more kids since then and it’s been a tradition of sorts to always trick or treat together.

But, we broke tradition this year. 🙁

As the kids get older and have more extracurricular activities, it was bound to happen, but it doesn’t make it any easier.

My husband said to me yesterday, “I don’t like not trick or treating with the other Higgy’s”.  I know, hubs, I know.  I don’t like it either.

It was weird to only walk with 2 kids instead of 5…to walk door to door with a pre-teen and a teenager…to miss the giggles and “wait for me’s” of my adorable nieces as they run to try to keep up with the older kids (something that’s gotten a lot easier through the years!).

*sigh*  There’s always next year!

And, while the kids were bummed to not be with their cousins, it didn’t keep them from getting a buttload of candy.

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My little teenage Princess Leia and Boba Fett.  *thank you daddy for the Star Wars phase*

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Do you know how hard it is to find Star Wars costumes?  Boba Fett was only available online and all the Princess Leia costumes were not only also available only online, but the options sucked.  We ended up just putting one together ourselves.  We scoured the mall one afternoon searching for a white dress that would work (thank you Forever 21!), bought gogo boots at the Halloween store, leia buns on Etsy and made the belt from scratch.

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Hayden was so stoked when people knew who he was.  Everyone recognized Princess Leia, but only a handful of people knew he was Boba Fett.

How was everyone’s night?!  What did you or your kids dress up as?  My kids refuse to let me help with costume ideas so I’m living vicariously through you all with your awesomely creative costumes!

NaBloPoMo November 2014

Because I’m so good at challenges

I have heard of NaNoWriMo, but NaBloPoMo?  Brandy, over at Fresh Sugar Photography, posted about NaBloPoMo today and it was impeccable timing.  I was just thinking that I hadn’t posted in awhile and I was annoyed with myself.

Annoyed because I like blogging, but don’t seem to make the time for it.

Annoyed because when I do make the time for it, I sit staring at my laptop, with my fingers on the keys waiting for inspiration to strike…but it rarely does.  Maybe it’s because I don’t post often enough that I feel whenever I do post, it should be something worth reading or something really interesting.  Sadly, my life is not that interesting.  In my busy time, I’m running errands or cleaning, in my down time (most of the time) I’m surfing the internet, reading about essential oils, making lists of things I need to get done, making lists of things I want to get done, binge watching SOA, catching up on my weekly shows.  In a nutshell, I’m really good at wasting time and planning to do things.  😛

Anywho, back on topic! (I’m also really good at getting distracted!)

NaBloPoMo {National Blog Post Month} – Blog every day in November!!

I’m so good at challenges…um, not really…but, challenge accepted anyways!!  😛

Forewarning, my posts may not be super exciting and they will quite possibly be just a photo or a quote some days, but I’m going to really try to write more.  Even if it’s just what I did that day.

Over the course of the month I hope to get better at…

  • scheduling posts instead of flying by the seat of my pants
  • more real writing…talking TO you, instead of sometimes talking at you
  • writing posts faster
  • posting more often…duh

K.  Now, don’t be a party pooper and join in on the fun with me!  You can go to BlogHer to get your nifty NaBloPoMo badge and add your name to the blogroll.

If you decide to participate, please leave a comment so I can make sure I’m following you!

NaBloPoMo November 2014

Monday Morning Randomness

Happy Monday party peeples!  How about some randomness to start the week?!

My morning started off bright and early.  The teenager needed to get to school early to re-take a test and while I’m glad they get the opportunity to try again when they get a crappy grade, geez oh man is it inconvenient.  We all had to get out of the house 30 min earlier!  I know it doesn’t sound like much, but this girl likes her sleep.  😛

I made the most of it though.  I drank my iced latte and had a nice little chat with the 6th grader while we waited for school to start, got two loads of laundry done and made myself a yummy hot breakfast all before 10am!  Woot!  I’ll take that for a Monday!

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Over the weekend we spent several hours working on a poster board for the 11yo’s health class. He did all the planning and artwork, I just helped with the execution.  He’s so proud of his work. He kept saying how awesome it was.  My kid is super humble obviously.  lol.

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Speaking of my youngest, it’s only 11 days until Halloween (holy crap, 11 days!!) and while his costume came in the mail on Thursday, he just tried it on last night and…it’s too small!  Wahhhhh!  Thankfully they had the larger size in stock so I ordered it and it should arrive on Friday.  I’m crossing my fingers that it fits okay.  The teen though…ugh…she wants to be Princess Leia.  I’m not sure if you’ve looked for that costume before, but the options SUCK so even though I haven’t sewn since HS, we’re going to try and make it.  *start stressing in 3..2..1* Wish us luck!

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On Friday I posted about my evening wedding attire shopping and promised the finished look. Even though we were rushed, I had the teen snapped a few shots.

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I went simple with my accessories.  Just a blinged out bracelet, drop earrings and an envelope clutch.  In a perfect world, I would have worn sleek pumps instead of the wedges, but I am not spending any more than necessary right now so I had to work with what I had in my closet already.  My black Louboutins were my first choice, but I thought the nude color looked better.

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And, because it’s Monday and you might need a little pick me up.  Check out Gwen Stefani’s new song!  She never disappoints!

I have (had) nothing to wear!

Yes, I know, a post about fashion when I just blogged about my waning interest in fashion? Trust me, the irony is not lost on me.  lol.  I’m just blogging what I’m thinking and this happens to be it. Apparently I’m a walking contradiction. 😛

Nevertheless…on with the post…

I always complain I have nothing to wear, but I’m not kidding this time.  I’m going to a wedding tonight and I literally had NOTHING to wear.

Between gaining a few pounds over the last year, not having a ton of dressy clothes in the first place and the fact that it’s an evening wedding, I had nothing in my closet that was appropriate.

So, I had to go shopping (#sorrynotsorry)!  I needed to find something that, 1. FIT and 2. worked for an evening wedding.  Bonus points if I got a good deal!

After spending 3+ hours these were the best I got and of this 6, there were only about half that were truly wearable.

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1. This dress was at Loft.  It was okay.  Basic and black.  It would work in a pinch, but I personally I like a little more pizazz than that.  Not to mention, I needed a smaller size so I would have had to order it.

2. This jumpsuit was nice (similar here), but I would have to get the top altered (too big) and there was just something about it that didn’t work for me.

3. I had to pour myself into this Antonio Melani dress, but it was my favorite by far.  I loved the colors and shape of the dress.  Downside was that it showed even the slightest belly bulge so I wouldn’t have been able to eat that night and the wedding was going to be outside in 80 degree weather and I wasn’t too keen on being a sweaty mess.

4. This dress (similar) was nice and it fit.  Did I love it?  No, but it was good enough and met my top 2 requirements and was on sale f$56, so it was a strong contender.

5. After my hubs told me he preferred me not to wear a jumpsuit, he changed his mind and said maybe, if it was dressy enough. Well, THIS one (similar) fit the bill and I was instantly in love with it. It doesn’t look super amazing in this pic, but trust me, it looks great in person.  Plus, it fit all 3 requirements, it was super comfy and I loved it!

6. I was in total lust with this jumpsuit at Loft and would have died for it, but unfortunately it didn’t fit right.  :'(

I think you can guess which one was the winner for me, but I’ll make sure to get a pic with my outfit all put together and post it later!  🙂

Maybe it’s me

In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve been blogging less frequently and of those blog posts, few of them have been about fashion.

Last year I was spending hours (hours and hours!) perusing fashion blogs, making wish lists, lusting after fashion I’ll never wear.  It was almost like keeping up with the Jones’.  I wanted everything and was obsessed with getting it.

I bought a lot.  More than I should have.  Some things were great purchases that I most certainly do not regret (like this and this…apparently I’m a shoe and purse girl!), but most of it, was stuff that I wore once or not at all.

The tides, they are a-changing.

My focus is shifting and like most of my obsessions, I get hyper focused for a little while, but then lose interest.

I’m not saying I’m not going to post fashion anymore.  Just commenting that it’s not keeping me as entertained as it once was.

I’m not sure if it’s that all the fashion blogs I follow have gotten so commercial-y or if fashion blogs are on their way out or if it’s just me.

A lot of the fashion blogs I used to read are becoming a bore.  They’re filled with clothes I’ll never wear and post after post is a sponsored post or a photo shoot of a fictional life.  They’re jet setting somewhere or showing off items that they were gifted. I don’t fault them for wanting to get paid for this blogging gig, I’m just not interested in reading it anymore.

My bloglovin’ activity goes a little something like this…

“Floral skirt? Not for me.”  *mark as read*

40 Reasons to Love Fall…”eh, another list post. Moving on.” *mark as read*

“Oh look, this chick is in Paris…coolio.” *mark as read*

“Oh…ooooh…um…no…I’d never be caught dead in that. Next!” *mark as read*

“5 coats every girl should have in her closet…I live in FL. I wear a coat about 6 days out of the year. Next!” *mark as read*

And what kind of water have these fashion bloggers been drinking to all get knocked up?!  It seems like every other blogger I click on is preggers!  I think it’s sweet and I’m happy for them, but for the most part, I’m past that stage in my life and I don’t care to reminisce much.  There are a few “real” bloggers that are pregnant and I can totally reminisce and enjoy it.  Maybe it’s because they’re real about it and not just showing their beautifully dressed, perfect bellies and talking about how wonderful it is.

I’ve been gravitating more towards the blogs with real people, just talking about real life.  No fancy photos, no designer clothes, no perfect little lives.

I definitely need to do some cleaning house of the blogs I follow.  The problem is I have such FOMO (fear of missing out) about it that I can’t go all wild west and delete all of them.

*sigh*

I guess in addition to my closet purging, I’ll be doing a bloglovin’ purge as well!

But not today! No, today, I had a bit of a girls day!  As much as I talked about not really being focused as much on fashion lately, it doesn’t mean that I don’t still get excited about a Nordstrom opening up in town!  It opened up a few days ago, but I avoided the craziness and decided to go bright and early with my SIL today to check it out.  The store was beautiful and laid out really nicely.  The whole second floor was women’s clothing, with a small section for kids.  The kids area was adorable!  Let’s just say I’m glad I don’t have a little one anymore or my wallet would be seriously hurting.  There were shoes, purses and accessories galore on the first floor and I could have easily browsed all day long in just those 3 sections.  It was a bit disappointing that I didn’t see a ton of everyday clothing (admittedly I was distracted with chatting and looking at all the pretties so I could have easily missed it!) and there were some designers missing that I was looking forward to perusing…Tory Burch, Louboutin and Jimmy Choo are the ones that immediately come to mind.  Again though, I didn’t look hard core so I know I missed a few things.  Tory Burch was definitely not there though because we talked to an associate about that one.  However, I was stoked to see that DVF and Ted Baker were on display and we were told that they would be getting more designers in the store in the coming months!  There was a long sleeve black DVF jumpsuit that I didn’t dare try on for fear that I may have had to pry it off my cold dead body rather than leave the store without it.  After browsing the store, for a few, it was only 11:15, but we were starving so we headed over to  Nordstrom’s in house restaurant, Bazille.  I had a chicken and goat cheese panini that was delicious, but my SIL didn’t love her roasted chicken.  The fries with aioli sauce were super yum though!  Overall I’d say it was definitely worth the visit.  There was a goat cheese and fig salad that was calling my name so I’ll definitely have to eat there again.

So, I got a little sidetracked with my Nordstrom story, but tell me, what are some real blogs that you love to follow? What draws you to certain blogs…The people? The fashion? The pretty pictures?

Speaking of pictures.  I loathe posting without a photo, but I have nothing to put here and it’s either publish this post without a photo or scrap the whole post.  Obviously I chose to publish it.  😛

 

 

It’s a brand new day!

Yesterday we had some amazing fall temps!  I wasn’t able to enjoy them really because I spent the day prepping for the upcoming week, but nevertheless, we had fall temps!

I’m starting my week off volunteering at the kids school, but I am determined to get back on top of my nutrition.  Today was a bust since I stayed late volunteering at the school and coming home to cook a meal was just NOT gonna happen (seriously, how do you working moms do it!) and then Tuesday will be iffy since I’m meeting up with a friend around lunch time for the grand opening of NORDSTROM (SO excited!) and I have a meeting at school that night.  Grrr.  How am I supposed to eat a good dinner when we’re out of the house half of the week?!

On a side note, have y’all seen Starbucks new bottled iced coffee?!

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I have been experimenting with making my own cold brew, but got off track when I bought this.  I’m one who likes a little milk and sugar with my coffee so I alter it a bit (1/2 of bottle, 1-2 tbsp of half & half, pinch of stevia, dash of vanilla extract), but…

Oh.My.Heavens.

Seriously yummy!

It’s way too much sugar for as much as I’ve been drinking it though.  I can literally down a glass in two minutes flat, that is how yummy it is!  If you have better self control than me or you like more coffee than sugar and cream, you really should try it.  I have tried lots of bottled iced coffee and I hated all of them…until now.  😛

 

Fall is in the air!

• cozy sweaters •

• crisp breeze •

• tall (and short) boots •

• hot lattes •

• warm scarves •

• crackling fires •

Today feels completely like fall and I love it!

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Fall is pretty much my favorite time of the year.  Unfortunately, aside from a couple of days a year, Florida royally effs it up.

We’ve had a glorious cool breeze in the AM & PM and it’s been rainy/overcast the past few days, but our 90 degree weather will be back, I’m sure of it.

‘Tis the life of a Floridian!

 

.Can’t.focus.

I’ve had “write blog post” on my to-do list for over a week now, but every time I sit to write…nothing comes out.  I seriously do not know how all you 3-5 blog posts per week bloggers do it!  It takes me forever to write a post.

I feel like I have stuff I want to chat about, but my brain keeps jumping around from one thing to another, without forming a cohesive thought.

I’m gonna try to get through this post and hopefully it will make some kind of sense when I’m done.  Well, hopefully it will make some kind of sense once I edit it for the millionth time.  😛

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It’s Monday! Yay!!

I know…who likes Mondays?!  Technically, I don’t love them, but since I don’t work outside the house, the weekdays are when I get schtuff done and the weekends are spent hanging with the kids (and the hubs of course).  I am fond of the weekends (hello no alarm clocks and no schedule!), but the weekdays (aside from getting up early and making lunches) are my JAM!  Yeah, I just said “jam”.  Does it read as awkward as it sounds when I say it?  lol.

Anywho, like I was saying… yay for Monday!

This week I’m starting week 3 of a new workout program.  Woot woot!!  Look who’s back on the workout wagon!!  I’m excited to have a streak going.  I didn’t want to mention it sooner because I suck at following through on things, but I’m feeling good about this one.  The workouts are challenging, but other than some burpees here and there, I like all the exercises.  It’s only been 2 weeks and I haven’t been nearly good enough with my nutrition, but I can already feel and see my body responding to the workouts.

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P.S. Normally I look like a total schlub at the gym, but I had been out to breakfast that morning so I actually looked decent at the gym.  Until I started sweating.

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Remember when I mentioned that I wanted to purge my closet and try to do a capsule wardrobe?  Well, I started planning and got off to a great start, but then I got kinda stuck.  I realized that 80-90% of the time, I’m wearing some kind of combination of jeans/tee/shoes.  Here’s what a weeks worth of clothes would look like if I wasn’t going anywhere special (i.e. lunch with friend, date night, etc)

Monday: workout clothes + jeans/tee/tennies (visited family member in hospital)

Tuesday: workout clothes

Wednesday: jeans, t-shirt, flip flops or TOMS (house chores + errands)

Thursday: workout clothes

Friday: workout clothes

Saturday: jeans, t-shirt, Sperry’s

Sunday: jeans, t-shirt, flops

Ugh.  Seriously?  How am I supposed to plan a capsule wardrobe around THAT?!  That’s why I’m concentrating on honing my “style” and recognizing what I feel most comfortable in while purging my closet of items that don’t fit into that style.

Speaking of style, can I just have one of everything from Madewell?

No?

Okay, what about just these 4 items?

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 // 2 // 3 // 4

Unfortunately, along with my new workout program, not only did I cut my added sugar intake, but I also put myself on a bit of a spending freeze.  Yes, I’ve gone completely and utterly…MAD!!  It’s for a good cause though.  The teen and I have the opportunity to go to Italy with her vocal class in March so I’m doing my part by curbing the excess spending.  I have stayed away from the mall and the non-grocery side of Target for a few weeks now so that I’m not tempted, but over the weekend I took the kids to the mall so the teen could spend some of her birthday money.  Surprisingly I didn’t find a ton that I would have bought, but if I was buying, this purse might have come home with me!  You know, because I neeeeeed another purse.  😛

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Seriously though, how cute is this Jessica Simpson purse?!  Plus, it was on sale for $73ish and then 40% off on top of that.  And look at the leopard print insert that it came with!  Ahhhh!  It was difficult, but I did actually refrain from purchasing.

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K, I think that might be all I have to babble about today.  Sorry about the rambling Monday post.  Hopefully my brain will get it together soon and I can actually write a non-rambling post.

Hope everyone has a great week!