Call me narcissist if you must but this blog is all about ME. I have another blog about my kids, whom I love and adore writing about. But I was Nicole a long time before I was mom and I don't intend to give up being Nicole overnight.

p.s.
You can read all about my kids at Naptime Optional.
Or you can follow along on our Arizona adventure on my 365 project blog.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

WANTED: Good Karma!

I'm not sure what I've done to upset the universe. But it seems to have it out for me. Now I don't really have room to complain. Nothing truly catastrophic has happened to me. But lots and lots of little, annoying things keep happening. And I'm wondering how to change my luck.

Today it was my glasses. I got new glasses just a few months ago. I had to get them because my old ones (that weren't really very old and that I actually really liked) turned up missing. I looked and looked and looked and they were just nowhere to be found. I'm actually suspecting that Harrison threw then away, since he has a propensity for doing that these days. I've pulled the phone and the remote control out of the trash more times that I can count.

Anyway, so I get out of the shower this morning to see that Harrison has my glasses. (Apparently in my glasses case in my drawer on my nightstand isn't secure enough to keep them out of his hands!) And he has already snapped the ear piece off. Yup, clean off.

Well, they are the only pair of glasses I have. So I loaded everybody up in the car and we headed to Costco, hoping that something could be done for my poor glasses.

The gal at the Optical Center just looked at me like I was crazy when I asked if they could be fixed. So then I asked if I could at least reuse the same lenses. Turns out they don't carry my particular frame anymore (at least at that location) so unless I can find another location that still has some left I can't reuse my lenses, either. And will have to buy a whole new pair of glasses.

So, if you have a little extra good karma you're not currently using would you please send a little my way? Thanks! I'd appreciate it.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Name that Movie Monday

Today's edition is going to be delayed. We're headed out the door to run some Halloween errands.

So check back later for today's movie quote and your free movie code.

It's later!!! I had no idea when I set out to run errands this morning that I was going to be gone so long! Sheesh!

So, here is your very delayed edition of Name that movie Monday.

Oh, and in case you didn't check back, the answer to last week's movie quote was A Beautiful Mind. Which, if you haven't seen, I highly HIGHLY recommend! I watched it again last week. It truly is amazing. It is simultaneously hopeful and heartbreaking. It's both depressing and uplifting. Seriously, you should watch it if you haven't. It's a movie, about all, about true love. And I don't mean chick flick movie kind of true love. I mean the real "for better or worse" kind of true love.

But enough about last week. You're here for a new quote. So, are you ready? Here we go! I think this one will be fairly easy.

Snakes. Why'd it have to be snakes?


Do you know it? I'll bet you do!

And, just for stopping by, here is your free Monday Movie code: 93NCA5

Now leave a comment with your best guess...I know you want to.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

When it rains it pours

My title is not symbolic or metaphorical, although if you really knew what kind of week it's been you could mistake it for such. But no, I'm talking about real water pouring down through the ceiling in my office. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

The toilet in the hall bathroom upstairs has had a problem for about 3 weeks or so. Every 30 seconds it will randomly run for 5 seconds or so and then shut off again. It's annoying, and wastes water, but the toilet was still functional and there's been so many other things on our plate as of late that we've just ignored it.

When we got up yesterday morning Mike announced that finally fixing that annoying toilet was on his agenda for the day. But he was going to go out and try to get railing on the deck first.

At some point during the morning Adam uses the hall bathroom and apparently plugged the toilet. But didn't tell anybody. (In all honesty I'm sure he didn't know.) So, the toilet is now not only plugged, but it continues to run every 30 seconds. Which leads to disaster.

I head in to get a comb for Zoey's hair and the entire floor is flooded. Ug!

So we get the shop vac and go to work. Mike vacuumed 13 gallons of water out of the bathroom. 13 gallons of water!!! And it's not a very big bathroom!

Then we went downstairs to find water all over the office, too. Apparently the water had flowed into the duct work and was dripping from the vent and the light fixture in the office. All over paper work on my desk. On the keyboard. On the monitors. And there was enough water in the ceiling that some of the seams in the ceiling were starting to bubble, too. sigh.

So, instead of working on the deck (and it was a beautiful day outside and would've been perfect for working on the deck!) we spent the day cleaning and sanitizing the bathroom and office. (because it was toilet water that had gotten on everything, after all.) Lots of stuff just went straight in the trash, too. Plus I also had to mop the kitchen and front room as the shop vac sloshed water on those floors as we were taking it outside to dump it.

Oh the joys of home ownership.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Angst

I'm having a bad day, but having a hard time finding a playlist on my ipod to match my mood. I need some catharsis and I want something truly angry. Nothing in my music library seems to have enough angst.

And so I ask you, what's your favorite angry music? I need some suggestions!!!!!

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Don't mess with the IRS!



A few months back we got a lovely letter in the mail from the IRS. It appeared we were being audited. Which was stressful. Especially considering that the tax year in question was the first year we went to an accountant. Our taxes at the point were beginning to get a little bit more complex and we wanted a competent professional to help out so that we could avoid things like, um, well-audits.

So we shelled out the dough to have our taxes prepared by an actual CPA. No H&R Block for us! We wanted the real deal.

So when the lovely letter from the IRS arrived in the mail I tried to contact our accountant. And he was apparently only works from January 1st to April 15th because he never returned any of my calls or emails. Meaning I completed my audit on my own.

I copied receipts and wrote up explanations and sent it on it's merry way to the tax man.

And then I tried to forget about it. Tried to will the auditor to accept my documentation and my deductions.

Today I heard back from the IRS.

It wasn't pretty.

Apparently my deductions were not valid. Which raised our income just enough that we no longer qualified for the child tax credit or something crazy like that. Plus, did you know the IRS can charge you penalties and interest on taxes you didn't even know you owed? It doesn't matter that there was no malicious intent on my part with the deductions I claimed. I wasn't trying to find a loophole or pull something over on the IRS. Tax evasion was the furthest thing from my mind! I was simply trusting my accountant, because, after all I was paying him good money to know the tax code.

Turns out that the IRS doesn't care. They just want their money. And the interest. And a little extra just for fun. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200. Just pay the tax man! And then find a different accountant!!!!!!

Monday, October 20, 2008

Name that Movie Monday

That's right ladies and gentlemen. It's that time again! Time to test your movie trivia. You know how the game works. So, are you ready?


There has to be a mathematical explanation for how bad your tie is.


And, just because I'm feeling generous today, and because I like this line from the movie, too, here is an extra clue.

Classes will dull your mind, destroy the potential for authentic creativity.

Okay, I could go on. I actually find this a highly quotable movie... but I'll stop at 2. Don't want to make it TOO easy for you.

Can you guess the movie? Give it your best shot. Or just make something up.

But not before getting your free movie code:PK66H8

Happy Monday!

Sunday, October 19, 2008

100

As promised-my 100th post. And 100 things about me. And no, I don't expect anybody to actually read all 100.

1. I’ve been working out a lot lately so when I see “100” I think of the Pilates 100.

2. I was always a good student, obsessed with getting an A

3.In high school I was a choir/drama geek

4.I graduated from Utah State University with a degree in Communications, with an emphasis in Broadcasting

5.I minored in History

6.I did an internship at a local news station with feature reporter Craig Wirth, who (at the time) was pretty much my idol.

7.I served a full-time mission for the LDS church in Spokane, Washington.

8. 9 of the 18 months I was on a mission were spent in a small town right next to the Canadian border called Oroville, Washington.

9.I worked for International Sports Broadcasting, the host broadcaster for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

10.During the Olympics I worked 10-12 hour days 7 days a week for 2 months.

11.The only famous person I met during the Olympics was Picabo Street (I wasn’t digital back then so I only have a 35 mm snapshot that maybe someday I’ll scan and post here.)

12.I’ve known my husband since we were in Jr. High, but never “dated” (we did go to Homecoming together Sr. year but only because a mutual friend coerced Mike into asking me.)

13.He proposed to me at the Old Point Loma Lighthouse on my dad's birthday.

14.He is only the second guy I’ve ever kissed.

15.We now have 3 kids

16.All 3 of my children were, shall we say, surprises

17.I used to LOVE Harrison Ford. I thought he was so dreamy. Even when people told me he was getting too old I remained a loyal, dedicated fan.

18.Then he really did get too old and hasn’t done any good movies lately.

19.My current Hollywood Heartthrob is Hugh Grant. Those dreamy blue eyes, British accent, subtle sense of humor….what’s not to love?

20.I love Cadbury mini eggs. I horde bags of them at Easter time to last me the rest of the year.

21.I detest spit up. It’s worse than poop. Because at least poop is contained in the diaper (most the time) while spit up can come unexpectedly and it goes EVERYWHERE. And even when you wipe it up the smell is permanently embedded into your clothes. I think I’ll bottle it and sell it as perfume so that at least everybody else smells as bad as I do.

22.I spent 5 minutes deliberating whether to use the word detest or despise in above item.

23.I am obsessed with buying Disney Pixar Cars toys for my kids. I mean it helps that they actually like them and play with them. But they would probably be just as happy with about half as many.

24.I’m a neat freak, although you would never know it by looking at my house. I LOVE things to be clean and picked up and put away. But try as I might the kids just unclean it as fast as I clean it. Although I think the “clean up song” is the one sung most often at our house.

25.I used to clean my bathrooms once a week, religiously. 3 kids and an extra bathroom later (we finished the basement, adding a bathroom) they now get cleaned every other week, most the time...

26.I fed the baby graham crackers for breakfast this morning. When I put him in his highchair for lunch I picked up the big pieces he had dropped on the floor from breakfast and gave them back to him for lunch.

27.I just put my ipod on random shuffle and here are the first 10 songs it played: (honest, I just let it play and typed as it did) Life is a Highway, Rascal Flatts; Here at the Mayflower, Barry Manilow; Who Needs Love Like That, Erasure: Swords Crossed; Pirates of the Caribbean Soundtrack; Aluminum, BNL; Elephant Love Medley, Moulin Rouge Soundtrack; Love will Come to You, Indigo Girls; We didn’t start the fire, Billy Joel; Take a Chance on me, ABBA; Beat of my Heart, Hilary duff

28.Doing the ipod shuffle was really fun and I’ll probably do it again sometime in future posts.

29.Sometimes I listen to Radio Disney even when my kids aren’t in the car with me

30.And I sing along!

31.I’ve been struggling with Postpartum Depression since my 3rd baby was born.

32.Without my George Forman Grill and my crock pot my family would starve.

33.I think cheesecake is the greatest desert ever invented

34.My favorite fruit is strawberries

35.When I make my bed I have to make sure that the opening of the pillowcases all are towards the middle of the bed.

36.My youngest two kids are both behind on their immunizations

37.My favorite color is green

38.I have planters warts on both my feet that I cannot get rid of. I even went to the podiatrist and had one of them cut out which was very painful and it’s back anyway.

39.I haven’t yet decided who I’ll vote for in this election

40.But I WILL vote, because I always vote. ALWAYS.

41.I registered as a Republican this year so I could vote in the last Primary but I don’t consider myself a Republican OR a Democrat and have never voted straight party ticket.

42.I want to write a book but haven’t decided what to write about yet

43.I did 4H for 4 years as a kid and was always in the sewing fashion show at the county fair.

44.But then I realized I actually really hated sewing

45.I love dancing and at various times of my life I have done tap, ballet, ballroom and folk dancing.

46.Now I just do crazy mommy dancing.

47.My kids find it really funny right now but will probably find it terribly embarrassing when they are older.

48.I once tried out for Ballet West’s yearly production of The Nutcracker. I made it to the final cut.

49.I really REALLY wanted to try out for the ballroom team in college but chickened out the day of auditions, convincing myself I was too busy with my obligations to the campus newscast.

50.Whenever the Community Education brochures come in the mail I consider taking the Scottish Highland Dancing class.

51.Someday I will.

52.I started making a quilt of all my mission dresses shortly after coming home from my mission.

53.But then I gave up and sent all the pieces I had cut out to my friend who finished the quilt for me.

54.Now my aunt is really into quilting and is really good at it and it kind of makes me want to try it again.

55.I am a chronic “over-packer” when I go somewhere

56.I have a special place in my heart (and my stomach) for specialty limeades at Sonic and Red Robin

57.I also hold a special place in my heart for Pina Colada Slurpees at 7-11

58. Scotland is my dream vacation.

59.But I really want to go to Egypt someday, too.

60.The ringer on my cell phone right now is Say by John Mayer Partially because I like the song, but mostly because I think it’s funny that my cell phone rings “say what you need to say, say what you need to say….”

61.I once took a blue water goblet from the buffet at the Paris in Las Vegas. Which was really difficult because every time I thought about slipping it into my bag the waitress would re-fill it with water.

62.But what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas so pretend you don’t know.

63.I hate being hot and I believe ceiling fans should be in every room and always be on high.

64.I didn’t go to my Sr. Prom

65.Half the furniture in my house is from Ikea.

66.I hate HATE scary movies!

67.I once stayed mad at my brother-in-law for several months because he dragged us to see Darkness Falls

68.My current camera is the Canon Powershot A80 that I bought almost 5 years ago. It's been a really great camera.

69.My next camera will be a Canon Rebel

70.I've seen The Princess Bride so many times I've lost count. And I don't think I will ever get tired of watching it. I guess you could call it my favorite movie.

71.The book is really good, too.

72.One of my "new favorite" movies is Dan in Real Life.

73.I really like the soundtrack, too.

74.My favorite Christmas song is "God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman"

75.Especially the Barenaked Ladies and Sarah McLachlan version.

76.Always the first thing I do when I walk in the door is take off my shoes.

77.I sometimes secretly let my kids play in the playland at McDonald's without telling my germ-a-phobe husband.

78.I am horrible at remembering people's birthdays. I never send cards or gifts. Just ask Jen (now am I forgiven for not participating in your birthday surprise?)

79.I make up songs. Sometimes it gets me in trouble.

80.My fingers are double-jointed.

81.I'm dying to take my kids to Disneyland, mostly because it's been so long since I've been. I love Disneyland!

82.I was 20 years old the first time I flew on an airplane.

83.I'm forcing myself to finally finish this post today so that I can still do Name that Movie Monday tomorrow.

84.I broke my right arm when I was in the 4th grade while playing on the tumbling mat after dance class one night.

85.I'm not planning on proofreading this before I hit the "publish post" button so if you find typos please just ignore them.

86.I have the uncanny ability when hanging up clean clothes to pull from the closet the exact number of hangers I need without counting clothing items or hangers.

87.I still believe in Santa Clause.

88.I play the piano, sort of.

89.Although I can watch a good movie over and over again I rarely re-read books.

90.Vacuuming is my favorite household chore.

91.I think the Dyson vacuum is the most amazing vacuum ever and now that I have one will probably never own anything else.

92.I refuse to scrapbook.

93.My first live concert was the Indigo Girls when I was in college.

94.I've only gone to the movie by myself once. It was Runaway Bride.

95.I've established a strict "no pets" rule at our house.

96.I started wearing glasses when I was in the 6th grade.

97.My first car was a '94 Mazda 626 with a sunroof.

98.I don't use an alarm clock. I've always had the ability to just tell myself what time I want to wake up in the morning, and I do.

99.Despite years of dance and gymnastics I can no longer do a cart wheel. But I can still stand on my head.

100. And I'm done!!!!

Monday, October 13, 2008

Name That Movie Monday

Are you ready for this week's edition of Name that Movie Monday?

I picked an easy one this week. It will be especially easy if you have kids. So enough chat already, let's get to the quote.

"And I'm packing your angry eyes, just in case."

Okay, ready, set GO!

Oh wait, but not before you get your FREE MOVIE CODE: 7CB23W


On a different note-this marks my 99th post on this little ol' blog of mine. And I've recently discovered that it is customary on your 100th post to tell 100 things about yourself. So, if you don't hear from me in a while it's because I haven't come up with a hundred things yet.....:)

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

A few things

Thing 1: I got my ballot in the mail today. And just so it doesn't come as a shock to you all....the presidential race is not the only thing we're voting on this election day. There are 32 things on my ballot, including a Zoo Proposition and lots of Judges who I have never heard of.

Thing 2: Got on the scales today. (bad idea!) And despite my uncounted weeks of working out (and I mean really hard!!!!) and not eating anything remotely fun I've still only lost 4 lbs. We won't talk about how much the hubby has now lost.

Thing 3: I still haven't called the agent representing the house next door. The sprinklers still come on twice a day for hours at a time....but it's just always at the bottom of my to-do list which is always too long for the hours allotted me each day.

Thing 4: I must be learning to focus my super power. Perhaps it was the tin foil hat. Because, today, out of nowhere, my ipod started working again! And there was much rejoicing.

Thing 5: The deck now has a floor. No stairs or railing yet, but a floor! Maybe it will be done before it snows after all! (although I don't have as much hope for the fence.)

So, to recap:

I have some homework to do about a bunch of judges.
I'm having ice cream tonight because, well, it appears as if NOT having it only results in me being ice cream deprived.
I'm contributing to the drought and will probably have to stop taking showers to make up for it.
Music will once again reign supreme at our home AND I need a cape and a secret identity.
And I can walk out my back door once again.


Now I'm going to go start a new book. Because I made it back to the library AND there is no baby in my bed tonight.

Disappearing trick

I'm a magician! I know how to make 3 hours disappear in the blink of an eye. Want to know how? All you have to do is open up your laptop after all the kids have gone to bed. Seriously. It's like a time machine. You start reading email and writing a blog post or two and suddenly, just like that, it's going on 11:00. 3 hours of your life gone, with nothing to show for it!

You see, apparently my pick for Monday's Name that Movie Monday was a bit harder than I thought it was going to be. Especially since I have watched said movie with some of my readers quite recently. But I guess nobody has seen it as many time as I have.

So, since I think it is a hysterical movie (of course I love British humor) I thought I'd do better than just tell you the name of the movie. I thought I'd share the movie clip with you.

Which turned out to be harder than I thought it was going to be. I thought I'd find it somewhere quickly on Youtube. But, I didn't. So then I thought it wouldn't be too hard to just rip the minute and half of video off my DVD. But I apparently have all the wrong software and nothing I tried was working and I was getting really frustrated. At that point I should've just quit and gone to bed. But then I downloaded some free rip software (which I didn't pay for, hence the "evaluation copy" watermarked across my picture. sorry 'bout that.)

THEN even once I was FINALLY able to rip the stinking minute and half clip I attempted to upload it to Youtube. But even when it said it was uploaded I would try to embed it on my post here and it would say video was no longer available!

After uploading it to Youtube twice with no success I finally gave up and went to bed.

But I of course couldn't let it rest. And I started all over again today, ripping to a different format. And re-uploading to youtube.

And now, too many hours of my life later, here is your movie clip.



Still don't know the movie? It's Sliding Doors.

And my final year of college and think my roommates and I rented it from Hastings at least 20 times! It was the every other weekend movie. (good thing it was one of the 99 cent rentals!) So it brings back a flood of memories for me every time I watch it. Oh, did I mention that none of us were dating? Yea, that probably explains why we had so much time for watching movies. HA!

I had like 3 other posts I was going to write last night, but it took me so stinking long that this post will have to suffice for now, because I hear the baby waking up from his nap and I have Halloween costumes to sew. If you are going through withdrawals from my lack of blogging lately just go watch the movie clip over a few more times. It took me a long time to prepare it for you!

And next week I'll pick an easier movie so I don't have to provide a clip. :)

Monday, October 6, 2008

Name that movie Monday

Today's edition is a tad late. I have been putting off the grocery shopping because, well, I really hate grocery shopping. As a result we woke up this morning with literally nothing to eat. So despite all my kicking and screaming we went shopping.

Which, of course took forever with 3 kids. And then I had to put it all away. And then I had to feed the kids lunch. And I should be changing diapers and getting them down for naps, but here I am, posting instead.

Anyway, I guess the first two were too easy. I'm not sure if today's is going to be harder, but I think it might be. But what do I know? Ready?

Come on! If you don't drink your fatty drinks, you'll never really achieve quality cellulite.


And, for everybody playing (and let's face it, even those who aren't because how can I stop you?) here is your Free Monday Movie Code for Redbox: DGM314

Give it your best shot! And even if you don't play at least come back tomorrow and tell me what movie you rented.

At Costco today I saw Ironman is on DVD now. I think that will be my movie pick of the day.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

VOTE! No seriously, you need to vote!

Okay, I started this post on September 14th. And and I haven't finished it. And that's a BAD thing because it's a really important topic. And my guilt finally got the best of me and I said to myself that if I didn't even go to the effort of finishing this post how did I expect others to go to the effort of voting, which is what this post is all about. 

So, here I am, finally finishing it! And I'm using extra big font so you'll be sure not to miss a single word!

I'm not a political blogger. I read political blogs. I consider myself politically active. I have political opinions. I put signs in my yard. I have long heated political discussions with my husband. But I'm not a political blogger. I guess in some ways I'm just not willing to put myself out on the line like that because when it comes to politics no matter what my opinion somebody else is going to disagree with me. And I just like people to like me. And to read my blog.

So, what I won't be doing in this post is making political statements or telling you who to vote for. What I will do though is tell you that
YOU MUST VOTE!!!!!

No, seriously. I really mean it. There is absolutely no excuse for not voting. None! Because they have made it SO EASY these days. 

Most states and counties now have early voting locations. You don't have to wait for election day, or stand in a long line. Just show up at an early voting location on your lunch break and get it done!

Or, my county even has a vote my mail program. My husband and I registered for it years ago and it's the best thing we ever did. My ballot comes to me in the mail weeks before election day. I fill it out at my leisure and then mail it back or simply drop it off at a polling location on election day. This way I NEVER  miss an election. I never forget. I'm never too sick or too tired or too busy.  I have 3 small kids. And I've stood in line with a stroller and crabby kids before just to vote. No more. All by mail.

But, even if you do have to stand in line with a stroller and crabby kids you still need to do it!

Even if you're in coma you can still vote absentee. I mean really. There just really aren't very many valid excuses left for not voting.

And don't tell me you're not voting because you don't like any of the candidates. Because that's just LAME. Do you really think that by not voting that some unknown candidate that you do like will appear on the scene and magically get elected? At the very least pick one or two issues that are MOST IMPORTANT to you and then vote for the candidate that agrees with you on at least those issues. 

All of you women out there especially ESPECIALLY need to vote! Do you know what brave women endured so you could have the right to vote? To throw that right away would be just selfish.

So vote. Seriously. You're on your computer anyway. Why not hop on over to Google and type in something like, oh, I don't know, Presidential Candidates, and then read what they have to say. And make a decision. And register if you haven't already. And then on Election Day get off your lazy behind and vote!!! (okay, I don't really think any of you have lazy behinds. And I'm not in the habit of ridiculing my readers because I really want you to come back again and again. I was just trying to make a point.)

And, I'm sure many of you have seen these going around. If you've watched them before, watch them again. Because they still make a valid point, and much more eloquently than me. 






NOW GO VOTE!!!!

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Battery Blues

I think I've turned into a superhero. Seems I have this uncanny power this week of sucking batteries dry and then somehow passing on all that battery power to my children. Seriously. All my batteries are dead and my kids have an extreme excess of energy this week!

First my ipod bit the dust.

Next, the rechargeable batteries I use in my camera won't hold a charge. I charge them, put them in my camera, and 3 pictures later they are dead.

And this morning my laptop is having issues. I used to enjoy the truly wireless experience for up to 2 1/2 hours on a fully charged battery. This morning my battery died and my computer shut down (with no warning that I was at the critical battery point) after only a half hour.

Maybe with a little more practice I can hone my super powers so that if I'm going to go around sucking the power from all the batteries in my house that I can at least keep some of that energy for myself. I imagine that if I could it would be like those Comcast commercials where they can clean up the kitchen really fast by rubbing a little "high-speed" on their hands.

So this is a plea to all you super heros out there.....now that I've discovered my super power how do I learn to use it for good? Because otherwise I'm going to end up with a lot of dead electronics and super-hyped up kids.