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Wednesday, September 29, 2010

I am taking the day off tomorrow because drum roll....PAUL AND I ARE GOING TO LOOK AT ENGAGEMENT RINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Duckies....

Welcome Home Duckies!
MALLARDS!  
 

Toe Update

Breaking news....I think my little toe is finally on the mend and ready to go wee wee wee all the way home. LOL No seriously though, next Monday Taller and I are running! Yes dear readers RUNNING at lunch. This sweat box called Florida has finally cooled off a bit and we're readying to kick it into high gear. I'm not gonna lie I'm a little nervous of how bad day 1 is going to be but Taller is a great coach and I know that we will be zipping along in no time.

In case....

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

it wasn't clear from the heading...this blog is about MY LIFE! So that would be things going on in MY LIFE, impacting MY LIFE, etc. Not what is going on in the lives of others so yes I can write about MY LIFE...if you don't like it...DON'T READ IT! because it shows that you don't care about MY LIFE!

Okay sorry to blog yell I just had to clear that up!

Too Cute!!!


Marissa and Leah napping...look how Leah is holding on to Marissa's arm...awe!
Nicole sent me this picture from her phone...
I thought I would share...it's just too cute!

Weekend Highs and Lows...

Monday, September 27, 2010

So, I'm becoming a biking machine. I made it about 4 miles before I felt like I was going to die on Saturday....YAY progress! (8 miles round-trip...I did the math for you Taller). Sunday Paul was off which rarely happens and I know you're thinking awe spending time with Shia....nope...he took it off for football...yep he drives me crazy with football. So, I decided to take advantage of the fact that I could drive his car on Sunday and went and did a little grocery shopping...I know too exciting for words that this is a highlight of my life...so I could miss out on some of the screaming at the tv which takes place when he is watching football. So, I go to Publix and I'm excited because I'm shopping for Ginger Pumpkin Bread ingredients.  So, it sounds like I'm having a fabulous time at Publix....yeah until I killed my little toe. I was wearing flip flops and I stubbed it on the wheel of the cart. It hurt like hell and there was some blood. I literally thought I was going to die...I thought I surely had ripped my poor little toe off. =( No just wounded. So anywho, I got home and made Ginger Pumpkin Bread and Paul's response was....this bread ROCKS. =) I'm sure I will get home today and he's eaten it all....lol. 

So today I am hobbling around work with my wounded toe...hopefully it will heal soon...Taller and I are running at lunch starting Oct 1! 

Thanks Mom!

Thursday, September 23, 2010

So last night I was talking to my Mom, she told me that she misses the time we spent when we went to Weight Watchers because we used to meet up, go to the meeting and then walk around and chat. I thought that was really sweet of her to say. Thanks to my Mom, I went to Weight Watchers and she was the best support I could have ever asked for. Of course, the weight crept back on but the foundation for losing it was set and I know what to do to take it off and keep it off. Maintaining is just the hardest part and I feel like I’m now focused on that and soon I will finally kick this hindrance in my life FOR GOOD. 

Also, my Mom joined Weight Watchers and stuck to the program as support. She didn’t need to lose the weight but she did it to help me. I’ve always appreciated her for that. I really wouldn’t be the person I am today without that initial step that my Mom helped me to take and stood by me and helped me through. 

She really is my biggest cheerleader! Thanks again Mom, that time we spent means a lot to me even now. 

Just imagine…without that initial step what would I EVER talk about on my blog. LOL!

Happy Birthday Nicole!

Wednesday, September 22, 2010


Happy Birthday to my 1st little sister!

Christmas Gift Idea

Saturday, September 18, 2010


So here is what I suggest...Mom, Debra and Nicole...pool your money and buy me this ceramic white fossil watch for Christmas!

My style?

So, while recuperating from my mini bike adventure I decided to watch Season 1 of Bored to Death. It’s a pretty good series on HBO. It’s about a writer who decides to be an unlicensed private detective on the side. Anyways, I digress. So of course while watching this NYC based show I look at the female characters and see that they have style and I’ve thought…what’s my style and do I have style? 

Okay honestly I’m thinking…no I have no style. I just buy what fits or is on sale. Does that make style? I see these characters and I see that they have planned out outfits down to accessories, etc. I’ve just never been that type of girl who is going to pay $29.99 or MORE for some plastic jewelry to accessorize my outfit. I mean to me jewelry is important not something plastic. 

For our first Christmas Paul bought me a three stone diamond pendant necklace. I wear this EVERYDAY because it means something to me. There’s no way that I’m going to trade off wearing my diamond necklace from Paul to wear some plastic matchy crap from the accessory rack. 

Might I also mention that I no longer have pierced ears. Sure I went through that whole phase in my early 20s but I feel like I outgrew it. I feel like buying all those cheap earrings were totally not worth the infections, redness, soreness, swelling, etc. I just felt like what is the point and shouldn’t I be too old to wear earrings from Clarie’s or whatever. 

So putting the accessories aside since I obviously have some deep rooted aggression against them…what about the rest of the outfit? The dress with the perfect sweater and the perfect shoe….do I do this? Maybe…once in a while. I just feel like style should come naturally. You should just wake up go to your closet and the magic happen and some days the magic just isn’t there so you just make the best of it. Right? Or am I wrong?  

Maybe I’m just not cut out to be one of those girly girls with the style and accessories. There was a time in my early 20s that I thought I wasn’t girly enough. I wore little to no makeup and maintain my white girl fro to the best of my abilities. Well I got sick of feeling that way…bought Benefit cosmetics and got a straighter, had my hair chemically straightened (TWICE), highlights, hair color changes, the works. I then felt like I was teeter tottering on high maintenance. 

At this point, I feel like I just don’t care enough. I feel like wearing what I wear when I wear it. Granted it’s not like I can’t put together a cute outfit sometimes I’d just rather slap something on and go to work. Last fall/winter, I would wear trouser jeans to work. In order to keep wearing them I would jazzy them up with a nice top and a sweater and a cute shoe. It was like I was camouflaging the jeans with accessories. Honestly, it worked. I made it the WHOLE time without anyone saying ANYTHING about me wearing jeans. So see sometimes I can pull together some style. 

Also, Paul is a very down to earth individual. He loves me for me. I don’t have to straighten my hair daily…he actually complains when I do. He hated the make up I wore, i.e Benefit, and now likes my more natural look I’m getting with Bareminerals. It’s nice to know that I don’t have to be dressed to the nine for the man I love 24/7. He’s gotta love you at your worst anyways because it’s not going to last if he didn’t. 

Also, I just feel like having a style is just like eating healthy. It’s expensive! Just think about all the crap you have to buy to make an outfit! Since, homegirl here is working on the Jew Fund…I find it hard to invest in new clothes for work. Who cares..it’s work! I don’t work at a fashion forward law firm in NYC. I work in Jacksonville, FL. Home of the cracker…lol. My lack of style is still better than a lot of what is walking around that place. 

I guess to sum it up…my style lacks motivation. I just don’t care enough on a daily basis to make an outfit. I just get dressed and head out the door. So what you see is what you get. Granted…it fits and it matches. I’m not one of those sad befores from What not to Wear. So I guess it’s not too bad…or wait isn’t that what those people are thinking when they are wearing those hideous outfits?

Again, I’m so happy to get my laptop working again without it this blog would have ceased to exist. It was soooo refreshing to just type away on my random thoughts. This is why my blog became so one topic. The random thoughts were never making it to the blog because I forgot them before I got to my work computer.

Chicken Shi(a)t


So, as I've said, I'm on cutting back on my car usage. In an effort, to leave my house so I can remain sane and not feel trapped at home on the weekends, I got a bike. Well on Friday, I announced that I was going to bike it the 7.5 miles to Starbucks on Sunday. Well I thought, why put off until tomorrow what can be done today...so here's Shia's first attempt.

So you know that saying...once you learn to ride a bike you NEVER forget? Well I don't think it's a 100% true. The beginning of my journey was a little wobbly. Literally! I thought at one point I was going to fall over. Don't even get me started on stopping. Apparently most of the time I forgot that I had actual brakes and just decided to throw my feet down and stop Fred Flintstone style and if you don't know who Fred Flintstone is...you're too young to be reading this blog...LOL. 

Okay now I am realizing that I should have taken some pictures...but believe me I was just concentrating on staying on the bike. 

So, I start off....I immediately realize how much we take for granted how far things are away because we are spoiled by our cars. Every time a car passed me I got a little angry....well aren't you SPECIAL....you'll be at your destination in NO time!

THANK GOODNESS I'M RIDING ON THE SIDEWALK! Apparently, I didn't think about certain things when I planned this trip. Like um....stopping at intersections, crossing streets, etc. Luckily there wasn't much going on and most of the road is a divided road so I only had to worry about one side of traffic. By the time I got to the two lane road I was doing A LOT better and at this point in the road the sidewalk was FAR from the road.  A lot of grass for my buffer.

Well I started off at 12:45 and.....got home at 1:30! No, I didn't make it to Starbucks. I made it 2.5 miles before I had to stop. I stopped....realized my bottle water was hot, the backpack containing my laptop was killing my back and the bike seat was hurting my bum. Also, at this point I was feeling like I was about to throw up. Also, my arms were killing me...apparently I had the Vulcan Death Grip on those handle bars. 

This is where Shia chickened out. I knew I could rest and keep going but fear set in. How much further could I go and what would happen if I couldn't make it home? Believe me I was too proud to give up but I was even more "too proud" to have to call someone to come and get me. 

So all in all my first attempt was successful because it was a learning experience. Things that I will do different next time....

1) COLDER WATER
2) When there is shade....which isn't much...stop (with brakes) and drink some water.
3) Make more realistic attempts. First time on a bike in like forever isn't going to yield a 7.5 mile one way trip. Next time I will attempt to go to the end of the main road of my neighborhood (I made it half way down this road before stopping) and that will be 3.25 miles. (TOTAL 6.5)
4) If I make it to the end of this main road and feel like I can keep going. I will stop at a few roads up which will be 3.8 miles. (TOTAL 7.6)

So, to sum up....7.5 and 15.0 miles total is TOO FAR! I have to build up to this. I'm gonna do it every weekend so hopefully within a month or so I'll be sipping on some Green Tea writing a blog about how I finally made it.


Soooooooooooooooo

Friday, September 17, 2010

I feel like every time I go to write a blog that I want to start of with …..

So, ……

So (lol), I looked it up to see if I could find another word because I felt like I was overusing the whole “so”. Too funny….so’s definition is…..

Main Entry: so
Part of Speech: adverb 
Definition:Accordingly

ACCORDINGLY!!!! HELLO….World According to Shia! So “so” fits! SO THERE!

I'm gonna use so sooooooooooooooooo much!

DOH!

I like to think of myself as an intelligent person so when I have a complete moment of stupidity I find it hilarious. Here’s what happened: All last week I was having trouble sleeping and felt quiet ill. Paul asked if I was drinking too much caffeine at work. I said no…Green Tea NO Sweet and Low or an Iced Cinnamon Dolce Latte with Soy. Okay well here is the problem, since I stopped drinking Sweet and Low I’ve switched from Iced Coffee with Soy to an Iced Latte which has more “milk” and since the Soy is sweetened and has a vanilla flavoring I’ve chose more “milk” to offset needing to add sweetener. Also, I started drinking the Cinnamon Dolce Latte because of well the cinnamon and vanilla from the soy was magical. So anyways, I was under the impression that I was actually drinking LESS caffeine with the whole more “milk” in a latte. Um no, today I find out that a Venti Cinnamon Dolce Latte has THREE shots of espresso….THREE! I was drinking like maybe a Venti and a Grande a day…FIVE TO SIX shots of espresso! No wonder I felt like I was dying and didn’t get any sleep …. I’m an IDIOT!

Thank you Thank you THANK YOU!!!!

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Here's a shout out to the best IT guy around he fixed my laptop that hasnt worked in probably over a year for $10!!!!!  All I needed was a new powercord!  HOLLA!

Woe is me!

There is/was this contest in Glamour magazine about writing about a real life event. I really want/wanted to write something and see what type of feedback I get. The only problem is....the past winners have had tragic stories. One girl had Hodgkin's and died before her story was published. Another winner wrote about how she overcame sexual abuse. Life is hard for everyone but I just don't think I stand a chance. Topics I thought about writing about were:

  • Being the child of a teenage mother...look how I've turned out (shut it Bill). Basically this would have been about how I am the person I am today because of my mom and that even if your mom is/was young it doesn't mean that she can't raise you right. 
  • My niece Marissa....my sisters are my half-sisters in a sense and it wasn't until like 4th grade when a schoolmate pointed that fact out to me that I ever even thought that. They have a different dad than me but we were all raised together. My sisters are the exact opposite of me. Skinny, blonde, blue eyes...do I need to go on.... and I've always just felt like the odd man out. I mean there are two of them and one of me. They look alike. People can just look at them and know that they are sisters. Anytime I would meet their friends for the first time they were like...she's your sister. So it wasn't until Marissa came around that I truly felt like me and my sisters do have similarities. Face it folks, Marissa is mini-me and I felt this bond with her the minute she was born. Also, I'm never going to have children. Honestly, there are some moments when I do think....will I regret that choice one day to not have a little girl like me. The fact that Marissa is that ideal little girl to me...the one I've thought about what if....it just amazes me. Also, Marissa is going through a lot of the same things that I went through at her age. Her parents are divorced and she's got a new little sister which is her half-sister! I hope no one ever tells her! I just know how I felt when I was young when my dad constantly disappointed me or didn't keep his promises. I never want Marissa to feel that way and I want to be at least one grown-up that she can always count on. Anyways, this is the leading topic. I just feel like this is the most heartfelt story I can think of other than talking about my mom. I just don't know if it is enough to win and I just feel like I really need to figure out how to make a smooth transition between the layers of this story. So I have about a day and a half to make this happen....I've wrote 20 page papers for UF in less time but who knows.... 
I just feel like I've hit a brick wall because I'm so intimidated by the past winners thinking that my story isn't going to cut it. I'll keep you posted.

Too much of a good thing?

So I’ve been thinking about my blog. Is it really random? Yes….well kinda. Sometimes I do talk about the same sorts of things over and over again, could it be getting old? I’ve tried to shake this fear with reassuring myself that I do break up the monotony with my random rants so all is good…right?

Well, I will have to say that Eminem being back on the scene has totally helped me embrace…if it’s working keep doing it. I mean seriously he is STILL complaining about the same old stuff. I can understand back when you hit it big and you were straight out of the trailer park from Detroit…sure complain and rant about your life. But now? Shouldn’t you have moved past this? I guess not. So thank you Eminem for the life lesson! Shia will go shelling out what works cuz if it aint broke don’t fix it!

Are you ready for this?

Shia’s got a brand new magazine subscription. I’m now getting Shape magazine for 3 years! YAY!

Return of TMI Tuesday

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

On the last TMI Tuesday (click here if you missed it), I shared my Victoria Secret collection. Well I think it’s time for me to try some of those bad boys back on and see if they fit because today my regular plain -black boyshorts were falling off…literally! I was afraid they would wind up around my ankles because I’m wearing a dress. So, I had to take them off and wear my workout shorts (with built in undies) under my dress. Hello, can’t do it up Brittney Spears style at work!

Restricted!?!?!

Monday, September 13, 2010

Right now I feel like I am restricted from everything. As you know from my last blog entries, work has tightened up on internet use. Currently, our IT tech guy is working on getting my laptop running. He thinks I just need a new powercord. That would be soooo awesome because if not I am going to have to buy a new laptop or risk my job every time I post something. Because, hello…I can’t NOT post on my blog. 

I’m going to get a new car in April 2011. To insure that I receive the maximum amount for my trade-in Paul wants my Jetta to be under 50,000 miles so it will still be under VW warranty when we trade it in and since I live like a million miles from work I’ve now been put on mileage restriction so no long drives to Gainesville anytime soon and hey I think I deserve people to come see me. I obviously have made my fair share of trips over given the amount of miles I’ve put on my car minus my daily commute. So also to keep mileage down I’m limiting going anywhere on the weekend. Well on one hand it will totally help Shia stay on a budget because I won’t be doing any weekend shopping. 

In order to not go insane, Paul and I went to Wally World on Sunday and bought me a bike. So when my neighbors are driving me crazy (no pun intended) or I’m about to go mad from sitting at home with nothing to do, I can now ride my bike around the neighborhood. I can’t wait to post about my first adventure. Hopefully, it will be this upcoming weekend. We had to buy the bike in the box to fit in Paul’s car so hopefully he will be putting it together before Saturday and if not Shia will put her own dang bike together!

Well as I’ve posted about numerous times, I’m on a healthy kick of limiting “bad” food items and I’ve given up Diet Coke, Coke Zero, etc. and Sweet and Low. See more restrictions. I’m going pretty strong on this whole thing. I’ve kinda felt like I was doing it all for nothing. I mean don’t get me wrong Taller tells me EVERYDAY how well I am doing but it’s like my mom telling me I look like I lost weight…at a point I just think she’s just saying it. However, TODAY a lady I work with told me that she can tell I’ve lost weight. AND HOLLA I have!!! I’ve lost 17 pounds. So see restricting does pay off!

Money restriction is the other kick I am on. I’m doing pretty well with this as well. No frivolous spending anymore, especially now with the whole no driving kick. For a bad economy, I’m doing awesome! I think more Americans should just cut out some of their money wasting and more of us would be doing just fine.

Honestly when the whole mileage restriction came up I was literally like can Shia not do ANYTHING. I have soooo much restricted at the moment, but I’ve taken a few days and thought it over. It’s the best thing to do in every situation. I’m eating/drinking the best. I’m saving the most money that I can, etc. Every restriction is really a positive step. Okay not the no internet at work. That one really sucks especially since I don’t have a working computer at the moment but regardless that one will end up working out I’ll just have to use some of that money I’m not spending on a new computer.

What kind of restrictions are you making? Or am I the only one?

Quick Update

Friday, September 10, 2010

Our firm has implemented a new...NO INTERNET policy and since I don't have a computer at home this is cramping my blog style. Have no fear...Shia is right now risking her job to tell you this...LOL....I'm working on getting SOME computer to do my blog on. Our IT guy is looking at my laptop please OH PLEASE let him fix it...Shia's problems would then be solved. Anywho, it's killing me because I have like a million blogs to post. But I'll get them up...don't worry!

Blog-tastic

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Hold onto your seats folks there is a lot in store today!  I was telling Taller that I have sooo much to post that I wish I just had a USB port to transfer the info from my brain directly onto the blog to cut out all the blog preparation.  


Work is cutting down on our internet...stay tuned...greatness to come...just not today..womp womp wommmmmp!

BOOO-ise State

Tuesday, September 7, 2010


Boise State #3? I just saw on USA Today this statement "Florida fell three spots to No. 6 after a mistake-filled win against Miami (Ohio)." Really? How about Miami of Ohio isn't our hardest game this year...unlike Boise State. You wanna get ranked? PLAY SOME REAL TEAMS! Also, sure Florida didn't go out and steal the show on Saturday but how about the fact that Florida is a new team. No Tebow to carry Florida to #1 unlike Boise State that has nothing but returning Seniors. I saw a lot of mistakes by those Seniors of Boise State last night. Also, reality check they won by the SKIN of their teeth. If it wasn't for that penalty at the end (half the distance to the goal) they wouldn't have gotten that last touchdown and then boo hoo Boise State would have LOST! Yes, I know I should be happy because a little dog school has made it to the rankings but REALLY? Should we now just let everyone in for hype? Notre Dame has a legacy of greatness...should they just be #1 every year starting out? I'm not one to really care about or focus on more than UF, FSU, Notre Dame, Ohio State and a few other SEC teams, but you better believe that every week I'll be checking up on #3 Boise State. They play nobodies and they better beat them 72-0 every game to keep that #3 spot or even HOPE to go to the National Championship! 

It's not fair that little schools don't get ranked? Well it's not fair when they are #3 and this is their schedule:


Mon, Sep 06
 Virginia Tech  
  Sat, Sep 18
 Wyoming
  Sat, Sep 25
 Oregon State
  Sat, Oct 02
 New Mexico State *
  Sat, Oct 09
 Toledo
  Sat, Oct 16
 San Jose State *
  Tue, Oct 26
 Louisiana Tech *
  Sat, Nov 06
 Hawai'i *
  Fri, Nov 12
 Idaho *
  Fri, Nov 19
 Fresno State *
  Fri, Nov 26
 Nevada *
  Sat, Dec 04
 Utah State *

PUH-LEASE!

Weekend Craze

As you can see from my Friday post, I had a lot in store for the weekend.  I'm proud to announce that MOST of it got done.  

Saturday

Saturday I made the long drive over to Gainesville to see my sisters and nieces.  I'll I can say is Thank G*D for books on CD.  It totally makes the drive bearable.  Some of the drive I don't mind. For example, Switzerland (yes that's the name of the town) to Green Cove Springs is a pretty drive.  It's pretty much a wooded strip with mansions on the river.  Green Cove to Penney Farms is pretty.  I love LOVE LOVE how the trees make a canopy over the road in Penney Farms.  However, Green Cove to Starke...not so much.  It can seem like a never ending strip of nothingness since you basically drive through a military base.  I guess Starke is a fitting name ... barren and desolate!  Sorry I forgot, they have a Super Walmart now...YEE HAW!  

So I made a stop at Debra's house first.  She was having a Gator party.  Not really my cup of tea.  I mean yes...I am an alumni of the University of Florida and sure I want the Gators to win...but I don't need or want to hang out with a bunch of Debra's high school friends who didn't go to UF and sit around talking about "we".  Um no, not "we" just because you live near Gainesville doesn't make you a "we".  "We" requires student loan debt.  

Kaelyn was sleeping when I got there but I decided to wait around for a bit for Kaelyn to wake up.  She woke up about 20 mins after I got there.  We played outside for awhile.  She went in her playhouse and I pulled her around in her wagon.  

I then made my way over to Nicole's house where I spent pretty much the remainder of my day.  Let me just start off by saying that when Marissa was like a minute old I thought about what she would be like when she was 4 or 5 and believe me it's way better than I ever imagined.  This kid should have her own show on Disney or Nickelodeon.  She is absolutely hilarious.  On my way over, I stopped at the gas station to get a drink and buy Marissa her fave....Reese Cups.  I put it in my purse and when I went inside she apparently had seen them and said....Circle is that mine or yours?  I said, who's do you think it is?  She said, MINE!  She then proceeded to show me how she has learned her entire dance recital video.  The entire 2 hour plus video.  She can do all the dances.  And she has props.  The funniest part was when one of the older groups were dancing with these masquerade masks and she ran down the hall to her room and came back with these sunglasses.  I was cracking up.  She was holding them to her face and doing the dance moves.  Nicole later informed me that they were 3D glasses from the movies.  After the dance recital was over.  We just goofed around.  Let me just say that there is no greater sound to me than Marissa laughing.  She cracks up and cracks me up in the process.  I helped her clean her room.  (Really...I cleaned it while she watched.)  We watched Wall-E.  At one point, when I was cleaning her room she said....Circle you are beautiful.  Awe!  Also, she told me before I left that she had to tell me a secret and she whispered in my ear...Circle you're my best friend!  It was too sweet!  I of course whispered in her ear...you're my best friend, too.  Believe me when I left that girl really knows how to lay on the guilt trip.  She wanted to come home with me, which believe me I wanted her to come but the reality is...she will become a little too much for Auntie Circle to handle at bed time.  She of coursed promised that she would be good and said....but I want to see Uncle Paul.  She then wouldn't give me a hug because she said that she was mad at me.  In the end, we worked it out.  I really try to just talk to her and explain why sometimes you're told no.  (Believe me there was once this whole fiasco when Paul screeched NOOOOOOO as she almost wiped her jacket across our tv....and she cried and cried.  I just explained to her that Uncle Paul isn't mad that she just scared him and that the jacket might scratch the tv...he shouldn't have screamed but sometimes no is just no.  Thanks Paul...lol)  So anyways, after I felt the guilt of leaving subside...I left.  Okay okay, giving her some money helped win her back over.  I know it's wrong, but I NEVER want to be that grown-up that disappoints her in saying that they will do something and not doing it.  

Leah was awake while I was there unlike last time when she slept the entire time.  She's gotten pretty big.  Nicole made jokes ... like hopefully she's the opposite of Marissa and that she would be okay if Leah never talked.  She is a pretty calm baby but I really think she'll run around just like Marissa...besides Marissa won't let her not have fun.  Believe me, there's no resting in Marissa's day she wants to play play play!  NOW NOW NOW!  LOL

So on the way home, I stopped back over at Debra's house.  Kaelyn has a bunch of teeth now and I guess they play this game with her where she goes to bite their nose I guess I missed where Debra pulled away because when Kaelyn did it to me...she bit my nose.  HARD!  Debra starts cracking up...you let her do it?  I guess I didn't understand the rules of that game.  Kaelyn played with my car key.  Something about the whole key popping out on the VW key just amuses kids.  After a little while, I had to make that long drive home to make it home in time to make dinner for Paul and I before he got home from work.  
All in all...Saturday was great.  I loved hanging out with Marissa!  I would have liked to see Kaelyn more but there was just so much action going on over a Marissa's house.  She just keep going and going!  I was EXHAUSTED when I got home.

Sunday

Lazy day...slept in and watched some movies.  Took a nap.  Watched some more movies.  Yep unproductive, but great!

Monday

Out of sure fear that I would get nothing done and have nothing to report on my weekend progress.  I got a TON done yesterday.  First, my day started out kinda slow.  Did some grocery shopping and then geared up to tackle the downstairs closet.  

Okay just when you thought my walk-in upstairs was horrible...feast your eyes on this chaos....
YIKES!
Okay what you can barely see peeking out is a purple container holding stuff and behind it is a red and green container holding Christmas stuff...so it's just a bunch of crap thrown on top of these containers.

MESSY! Under the AC unit!
The sad part...this is like only HALF of my shoes.  
The other half used to reside in my closet upstairs.

This downstairs closet is where we're basically just shoved everything as you can see that didn't really have a home and where most of our kitchen stuff resides while Paul takes his sweet time remodeling our kitchen.  So behind all that mess is books that Paul needs to study for his medical boards so two reasons to clean...1) the mess just needed to GO and 2) he needs to get to those books.  

So Friday, I had this brilliant idea at work.  I would take some boxes home to make a book shelf for the books so I wouldn't have to buy something and put it together.
I found the books...YAY!!!  
They were literally stacked just like this in the back of the closet.  
Okay so this is what I envisioned the books would be like...however, that purple container was the exact length of the back of the closet and I didn't want to pile these books on top because that would make the purple container impossible to get into. So I had to make some compromises. 1) This closet is truly for storage and therefore doesn't need to be cute like my walk-in upstairs 2) As soon as I make stuff impossible to get into I will need it. i.e. last year with the Christmas container...buried in the back so Shia did no decorating last year...lol. 3) There is a lot residing in this closet from the kitchen so it has to go back. 
Okay so this is how it wound up. Looks can be deceiving....first in the back purple container which now holds things that we do not need and will not need at the present moment. Some small appliances from the kitchen...blender, food processor, etc. So it is in the back of the closet on the bottom. The Christmas container is on top of the purple container which I went through and eliminated some junk so all Christmas stuff fits in that container now. Next to it, on top of the purple container are two boxes holding stuff that used to be in the purple container, glasses, extra kitchen stuff that we need but not at the present moment but "might"...(both boxes neatly labeled). In between the wall and the purple container yielded enough space for all my wrapping paper and a few pictures Paul and I intend on hanging ... one day. So the books are in the front easily obtainable but wait what is that on top? An obstacle? Blocking all that great back organization...making it impossible to reach that stuff in the back. Nah! It's our AC air filters. That box is big but it is as light a feather so if I gotta get something it can be moved easily. That was the whole point of the stacking. Put stuff I need where I can get it but maximize that space for all the stuff.
Drum roll!  This is ALL of my shoes.  

I went through the mess that was here and the stuff I had upstairs and got rid of all the old worn out shoes and organized them all.  Oh yeah and that shoe in the middle of the tennis shoes...if I don't find the mate upstairs (I'm thinking it just didn't make it in the bin to come downstairs) it's getting tossed!

I forgot to take pics of under the AC unit.  Basically I just stacked all the home improvement stuff under there and put our old computer under there.  Paul wants to recycle it but hasn't so that is it home for the meantime and it is out of the way. 
YAY THERE IS FLOOR!!!  

Which I might add that I vacuumed before putting all this stuff back in.  There was some cat nip spillage going on and don't even get me started as to why I owned (threw it all away) catnip...LOL

After tackling the closet, which really didn't take that long, maybe an hour and a half to two hours, I did some laundry and organized my drawer in the upstairs bathroom.  Cleaned all my makeup brushes and wiped down my makeup.  Bareminerals can get pretty messy since it's all a powder so all my makeup containers were covered with a makeup film.  So it's all neat and clean.  While I was cleaning this stuff I thought....soon I will be out of stuff to organize and I actually got kinda disappointed...lol. 

In the works this Labor Day Weekend....

Friday, September 3, 2010

(not necessarily in this order but it all will be done) 

Blog related:
  • Refresh running list of blogs to do 
  • Organize blog topics 
  • Before and After pics of downstairs closet 
  • Pics of my walk-in closet to show how it's looking now 
Recreational:
  • Going to Gainesville to see Marissa, Leah & Nicole and Kaelyn & Debra 
  • Walking at the beach 
Organization:
  • Downstairs closet - wait until you see this transformation --- you will all be wanting to hire me to organize your lives 
  • shoes---throwing away worn out and organizing what I got (part of the downstairs closet makeover)

    Funny Story


    This is the Bareminerals color spectrum which I found online when I started writing this post and now hence the funny story. So last night I had to swing by Bareminerals on the way home to buy foundation. Well since Taller and I have been walking at lunch I've gotten pretty tan compared to my normal whiteness. I decided that I was going to do a color match and buy whatever color I need now. Sounds logical right. Well I was Fairly Light which you can see from the color spectrum above is the second lightest color, until I found this I thought it was the lightest. There is hope for Nicole! If you think I'm pale she is transparent! So the counter girl at Bareminerals told me that I was probably now Medium Beige. I was just flabbergasted to think that I, Shia, am even Beige let alone MEDIUM BEIGE! I was unconvinced until she put it on me and I saw...I am MEDIUM BEIGE! I was so proud that I had to call Taller and tell her...SHIA IS MEDIUM BEIGE! So I had decided that I was going to post on here this marvelous news. So I searched for the fairly light and medium beige foundations to put up on here to show the difference. Well as you can see from the color spectrum above...Fairly Light is only two up from Medium Beige...so womp womp wommmmmp! Not that big of a deal I guess....I suppose I was thinking that Medium Beige would be on the darker side of the spectrum...but as you can see not so much. This realization did take some of the excitement away from getting darker. The funny part is (in case I'm not stating it clearly) I thought I was finally TAN...and I'm sooooo far from it hence I'm still pretty pale according to the color wheel! It might not seem like a big change but believe me I'm dark in comparison to what I was. 


     
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