Just Expressive

I love when ideas appear on other blogs, I can gank, that get me through the week but I am finally getting around to that list of things I can’t do/don’t do well.

-Parallel Park- I have never done this in my 20 years of driving, not once. I even made sure that the DMV I took my test at didn’t require it (there were two in my vicinity, one required it and the other did the Y or 3 point turn, I went there).

-Play Guitar Hero- I have horrible carpal tunnel and it KILLS me to play the stupid toy guitar at rapid speeds. I couldn’t even make it through one song. I tried multiple times to no avail.

-Jump Well On A Platforming Game- Dudes, I totally suck at this. I still play them, but I have horrible timing on the jumps and usually end up dying more than a few times.

-General Grace And Non-Klutziness- Running into walls, doorjams, tables, other inanimate objects that have been in the same place forever? CHECK.

-Not Quoting Movies- It’s like a sickness! There are times when I didn’t even realize I was doing it until after when I realize what I just said made the person look at me funny and then I retrace it and it’s a movie quote, it’s not even my own words getting me the stink eye.

-Strategy Games- Yeah they make my head hurt.

-Drive Between Concrete Berms And Semis- I can’t begin to tell you the amount of stress this gives me. I can do it but it’s white knuckle the whole way.

-Park In Reverse- I have like negative depth perception. I am getting better about pulling into my own driving in reverse but into a parking space with cars on either side? FORGET IT!

-Sticking To The List- I love food. I love ingredients. I am totally distractable in a grocery store. ‘Nuff said.

-Not Overpacking- I am much better about this, now that we only fly standby and don’t check luggage, but I still always have at least 2 extra outfits.

-Not Giving Advice- I am seriously trying to just shut my yap and let people do what they are going to do…but um…yeah…not good at this.

-Being More Confident- I really don’t need to elaborate on this one.

-Saying No To Dessert- YEAH RIGHT.
On that note, check out my post http://www.stylelushblog.com/2010/07/crave-cupcakes-houston-.html about my fave cupcake shop in Houston.

Apparently it’s meme week at Just Expressive, this one is ganked from Sensibly Sassy.

*By my “dad’s” side when we disconnected him from life support and he took his last breaths
*At 14,110 feet, in the snow, with a cup of hot chocolate and a gorgeous view

*Saying wedding vows under live oak trees that are hundreds of years old

*On a train looking 1053ft up in the air, in the Royal Gorge

*Next to a few famous people

*Where people fought for something and lost their lives

*On a path that made me giggle like a 12 year old boy

*With thousands of other people to walk against breast cancer

*Hoisting a sail on Danger Charter in Key West

*Overlooking one of the most gorgeous scenes in Big Sur with my two favorite boys

*Seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time, the same time as my son, even though I had lived there from birth to eighteen

*Before a church full of people, at a funeral, saying the things I wanted to say to my step-father that I didn’t get the chance to while he was alive

*On a bar in a giant foam cowboy hat, dancing on a pole, in New Orleans.

*In the sand with my roommates, at BlogHer 2008

The Baby Bird Necklace from Blue Poppy Jewelry

It’s supposed to be for new moms but I think any mom is good. You have your child’s name engraved like an i.d. bracelet. You know I want SPROG engraved on it, right? <3

First: “I hope I am not too late, I want to see your closet!” from Sensibly Sassy (never too late!)

Okay so there is my closet in all its glory. The notes are probably hard to read at this size so you can head over to my flickr feed to see a larger version. Anyway, straight back is the costume section of the closet, what, you don’t have one? This is where all of our ren-fest garb and accoutrements live. Oh, I should mention our closet measures 6 feet across by 11 feet deep so that should give you a basis of just how much crap we have going on in here. To the left you see our shallow hanging area: top is Willy and bottom is me (mine are arranged by color). To the right is the long hanging area which is all me except for the space where Willy has crammed in his hideous old dresser (the thing is decrepit and seriously needs to go). Tucked into the underneath spaces and wherever else I can find room are shoes. Eventually this room will be painted apple green, the floors will be tile and that whole wire system will be replaced with a much better one from Ikea. My husband and I both dream of a better closet system.

Next: “Shoot! I am so late on this…but I would love to see a Raven hair montage” from thecoconutdiaries

I hope this is what you were going for, I wasn’t quite sure. A collage of my hair through the years, all the way back to JUNIOR HIGH! Oh my god. The center photo is pretty much what it looks like now. Enjoy.

This wasn’t on the list, but I actually left the house yesterday and I dressed. I felt wicked cute and have been a big braggart about it so here is that pic.

Maryann, I think this might qualify for something that made me happy yesterday.

I am struggling with the shoes. I have SO MANY! I haven’t figured out how to get them all in one pic. I think it will be multiples in a collage.

Also, Tuesdays are Style Lush days (regularly scheduled, I might post other times too but I am always on Tuesday) so here is the direct link for today’s post http://www.stylelushblog.com/2010/07/summer-staple-serrano-compound-butter.html
Remember you can always click the Style Lush link up top and be taken directly to the list of all of my posts whenever you feel like it

I still have a few pics to get up (my closet, my shoe collection and what makes me happy in a day are tall orders, ladies ) but here is the other half of the requests. If you didn’t make your request yet and want to add one, feel free, I’ll keep doing them as long as someone is asking.

First up: “I want to see your favorite spot to hang out around your house” from Alyssa

This is my living room couch, it is the most comfortable thing ever! It’s more comfortable than my bed and my husband and I fight over who gets that corner there, the one with the pretty pillows? (He doesn’t care about the pillows, he only cares about the chaise and stretching out his legs) We also fight over the blanket on the edge of the couch (in the picture, I stole it and put it on our bed) which is technically his woobie.

Next: “OK, You have this amazing sense for decorating your home (especially around halloween) and we all know that Sprog is a stellar kid for being a teenager and all. I’m kind of curious as to what his room looks like. Is it a catastrophe of molding dishes and wrinkled clothes? Or is it a miraculous gem in the world of teenager rooms?” from Duchess of Kickball

This is the view from the doorway. Painter’s tape blue, white, silver and black are the colors of his room. Note the range of colors in the closet? He has shoes that match these shirts EXACTLY.

Here is his bed, note the slippers (mine btw) tied to the top? He uses these as remote and phone holders when he’s in bed watching tv. Also note the skateboard, Christmas lights, sword, keyboard and little table with money and fruit loops box? Interesting tableau, no?

This final view is from the closet. Points of note, the perfectly lined up shoes on the bottom of the bookcase, these are HALF of his collection. (Also note the other shoe boxes next to it? MORE SHOES they just don’t fit or have lost favor) He’s the only kid I know with an entry table and he actually puts his money, wallet and camera on it. He still plays with Legos, that blocky looking thing on one of the shelves is inspired by the Lego house he saw built on some show on BBC.

So part catastrophe, part gem, I’d say.

And finally (for today): “I want to see the collection of condiments in your fridge! (I’m sorry - I have a shamefully large condiment army in my fridge and I’m always looking for reassurance that I’m not the only one.)” from Hillary

This is a mere portion of our condiment collection. As hot sauce is shelf stable, this doesn’t represent ANY of the hot sauces my husband has which are sprinkled all over our kitchen and out onto the dining room table. I also have a little set up by the stove of various oils and vinegars that I use while cooking.

When I like something, I like something; I tend to be loyal to that product and am not a big fan of changes or upgrades. I’m the sort of person that isn’t all about hoping on board the first change, the newest upgrade…I’m not what you’d call an early adopter.

This feeling isn’t just reserved for electronics or software, phones or game systems, it extends to food and grooming products.

Take for example my favorite Kashi Waffles

They are high in protein, high in fiber and taste awesome. Unfortunately you can’t get them ANYWHERE because, according to Kashi’s website, they are experiencing “waffle woes”. Apparently this means that there are some sort of production issues and I can expect not to get my hands on my beloved waffles until sometime in 2011.

Next issue? My favorite shave cream

I have horrible razor burn, prior to using this product, any time I’d shave my legs I’d look like I had chicken pox. You can imagine that didn’t feel awesome. I LOVE this stuff, like serious pink puffy heart this stuff and of course I can no longer find it anywhere I shop: Target, Walgreens, Kroger, Costco-I’ve tried them all and NADA. They have all the other Aveeno products but the one thing I use with any regularity? It just up and disappears. *cry*

And finally, my favorite Gluten Free cereal

Chocolate Chex is freaking awesome and there was a time I was regularly buying 3 boxes at a time. My Kroger was offering coupons regularly as well. Then, one day? GONE. No more Chex of any kind expect Rice at all, anywhere in the store. GAH.

Does this happen to y’all?

Owing to a severe case of insomnia, having been gone a couple of days this week, family dramz and a general case of “it’s hot as hell and raining nearly every day I don’t give a rat’s ass-itis”, I don’t have a lot to say at the moment…so I’m going to hope that you want to play a little game with me instead.

Miss Alyssa is doing one of those “ask me what you want to see in my life and I’ll run and take a pic of it for you” things and I don’t know that I ever did one (or had enough readers before) so I’d like to play along. Hit me up about what you want to see around Casa de Expressive or Life of Raven and I’ll get it knocked out over the weekend and up on Monday.

Today I was going to post a list of things I can’t do/don’t do well/do weirdly but instead I am starting the day riled up and ticked off and unfortunately y’all are reaping the benefits of that situation.

He who shall not be named #1 whispering in someone’s ear the moment people walk in the room? Freaking rude. It didn’t go unnoticed. P.S. Doing it again later in someone else’s ear? Just added insult to injury. If you have something to say, man up and effing say it or hold it and say it later when we are gone.

He who shall not be named #2 it is possible to give someone a compliment without insulting someone else at the same time. You need to think about what the hell you are saying, unless of course you intended your dig, in which case, fuck off. I mean that sincerely. If you meant that dig, you are clearly a delusional asshole.

Anyone else rude that I need to add to my shit list today? I’m pissed.

It seems that everyone and their brother is overhauling their blogs lately: new headers, new backgrounds, even entirely new blogging templates. I am not immune to getting iwantitis when I see people doing cool things with their blogs, so Willy and I have been discussing an overhaul for my blog. It’s had the same template for a long time and that really wasn’t ideal from the get go, it was just something I found while scrounging that was good enough.

I’ve also noticed that a lot of old posts and pages have broken picture tags from back when I hosted pictures on allyoucanupload.com, which makes me an unhappy girl, expect those to be fixed soon.

If there is anything you’d like to see me add around here to make it more user friendly for you, now’s your chance, speak up! If there is a section you would like to see featured around here more or a navigation piece you would like, have at it! It’s going to be built to spec by my coder husband (I’m so lucky!) so I can at least run it by him and see if it’s possible.

I really should be in bed, it’s 1:22 am and I’m exhausted. I’m the kind of tired that invades your joints, you know the one I mean? The dogs have kept me up until three the past three nights and then had me up again first thing in the morning with raucous barking and psycho-ness. Of course now, my internal clock is all wonked the eff out and they are sleeping like little lambs; I drugged their butts with Benedryl.

As if my internal clock being all messed up wasn’t enough to cause me some light insomnia, we are experiencing another round of family dramz up in the hizzie and that’s keeping me up too. MAD PASADENA DRAMZ but I can’t really get into all that so onward to my side of the family. My sister and her husband are getting a divorce. We’ve all known that they have had some issues and that things were rocky there for a while…but things seemed to have settled down and sorted out, apparently not. It’s not that it’s ending so much as the how and the when of it all. About 30 minutes before he had to leave for his gig tonight, he let her know. He just came back from a trip to see his dad for his birthday, he just got a new blue-ray player, we just had family b-day and father’s day celebrations. Grandma V. is coming into town with an Aunt and Uncle, they want to see one of his gigs and we have family dinner on Sunday. There’s no fighting, he couldn’t have waited until Monday? *sigh* it’s just…well they say timing is everything, right?

I know that ultimately they will all come out on the other side and that everything will work out but it’s hard, even when it’s amicable. Oddly, her son is the same age as Sprog was my first husband and I divorced.

She called me tonight to get advice about filing papers. She’s the second person I’ve had recently consult me on such matters.

Yes, I have been divorced and yes, I am always going to be here to help anyone that ever needs my help or my advice but good lord, what a thing to be a go to person about: experienced divorcée! Willy and I have been happily married for 5 years. I want my past to be behind me already. I know it never truly will, I have a son with my first husband which means that we are bonded for life, but it’s not as if I am Liz Taylor up in here, one mistake was enough for me.

Whenever we hear about someone we know breaking up, Willy always gets morose and then a bit worried, like we might be doomed to fail too, especially given my less than stellar track record. I have the complete opposite feeling. I know that I married for the right reasons this time. I married someone that accepts me/loves me for me and everything that “me” entails. I wasn’t trying to be someone else, something else, for him. I love him for him, I know him, like truly know him and that’s saying a lot given that we married within 6 months of knowing one another and 1 month of being engaged. I don’t have any wild expectations of marriage seen through rose colored glasses like I might have at 19. *shrug* I know nothing is ever set in stone or certain…but I don’t worry about my marriage. Whatever happens, we are a team, we have the same goals and priorities in life, we can work through whatever comes.