Happy Birthday To My Dad!

My Dad & I dancing at my wedding

I've always been pretty close to my dad. He is a geek like I am, and I can trace my entrance into geek-dom to him reading me Lord of the Rings when I was very small.

Today is my dad's birthday. I called him up and he got to talk to Emily, who told him that she colored him a picture for his special day. My dad is is a great Pop-Pop to Emily and wish they could spend more time together.

So Happy Birthday Dad! I hope you have a great one! And I'll be glad when Emily gets to see her Pop-Pop again in April when he and his wife come down to GA for my cousin's wedding.

If you like my blog, please rate it at Top Mommy Blogs!

The Royal Rumble

Originally my husband and I were going to have movie night after Emily went to sleep Sunday. But he asked me if I'd rather watch the Royal Rumble, which I did.

The Royal Rumble is my favorite of all the WWE live PPVs. We got to see the Rumble live in 2010 when it was in Atlanta, and it was an amazing experience.

I live tweeted through most of the Rumble, which was fun seeing the trending topics on Twitter change as the matches went on.

Me and Chris Jericho in December 2007

I was really happy to see one of my favorite wrestlers back. Chris Jericho was one of my first favorite wrestlers when I started watching WWE back when I was in college.

He was also the first wrestler that my husband and I met in person. On December 26, 2007 we got up at the crack of dawn to drive to Nashville just to meet Chris Jericho. He was signing copies of his memoir at a Books-A-Million. It was well worth the 4+ hour drive to meet him.

Watching the Rumble was a great way for Todd and I to spend our Sunday evening. I hope that we can see another Rumble live someday, along with seeing another WrestleMania. Though we are seeing another one of our favorite PPVs live in April.

TNA is the other major wrestling company and one of their biggest PPVs is Lockdown. Lockdown is unique because every match takes place in a steel cage. It's going to be in Nashville this year, so we just had to get tickets. I'm really looking forward to seeing it and it will make three years in a row that we have seen a major wrestling PPV live.

If you like my blog, please rate it at Top Mommy Blogs!

First Day of Sunday School!

Today was a milestone in the life of Miss Emily, since today was the first time that she attended Sunday school.

She could have started back in the fall but we were so busy this fall that we were rarely in town weekends enough to try and go to Sunday school.

There was a break for the Christmas holidays, and the Sunday learning at our church just started up again.

I dropped her off at her classroom and I went to the women's Bible study. It was nice to have a little time for fellowship with other Lutheran women. Emily was waiting for me when I came to get her.

I'm not sure what she did during Sunday school, but she says they sang songs and learned about people. She was really excited and wants to go back again.

So here's to Emily's first step to learning. Next step will be preschool in the Fall!

If you like my blog, please rate it at Top Mommy Blogs!

Spring in January

I think Mother Nature is a bit confused. Because it feels like spring has sprung even though it is still January.

Even though I live in North Carolina, we do still have winter usually. It's just usually a lot shorter of a winter than the ones I had to endure when I still lived in Michigan.

The last few days it has been beautiful, with the temperatures being in the mid 50's to low 60's. I've put our winter coats in the spare room since we just haven't been using them.

The trend looks like it is going to continue, since the 10 day forecast on Weather.com has the lowest temperature being 49 degrees on Sunday. I heard birds singing outside the window this afternoon and it definitely feels more like the end of March.

I'm not complaining though. I love this weather and I hope it continues to stay mild. If the temperatures dip into the freezing range, my eczema starts acting up and it makes me very uncomfortable.

Hopefully I can get Emily to the park while the weather is still mild. It's a good time to get some outdoor play in.

If you like my blog, please rate it at Top Mommy Blogs!

Writing Challenge - And The Skies Went Black

I had felt off all day, but I couldn't put my finger on why. I got up and went to work, the same as I always did. And I went to the cafe across from my office building for lunch, another normal occurrence for me. But it wasn't until I was leaving work that things got strange.

It had been 3 o'clock in the afternoon and I had been headed to my car after getting out of work. I had been fumbling with my keys, when I heard a scream from behind me.

Whirling around, I saw one of my co-workers, Mary, standing by her car. There was no-one around her so I was just about to open my mouth, when my eyes glanced upwards. I strangled back my own scream as I saw the sun go pitch black, with the skies following.

I clutched my keys and flung myself into my car before things went totally black. For a moment, it seemed like all the lights in the world had gone out with the light of the sun. I struggled to get my key into ignition and turned it to start my car.

It roared to life, and I hurriedly turned on my headlights. The stream of light illuminated Mary, who was laying across the hood of her car. I paused for just a moment, as my heart raced and my brain told me to get the hell out of there.

I jumped out of my car, making sure to leave it on and ran across the lot to Mary. It was apparent before I even got to her, that she was dead. There were large tears all over her body and her clothes were becoming red as the blood seeped into them.

I turned and ran as fast as I could back to my car. But I hadn't gone more than a few steps when the lights on my car flickered and died. I was plunged back into total darkness. I continued to make my way back to where I thought my car was, slowing down considerably even though I had the nearly overpowering urge to just run.

Time seemed to stop in the endless darkness and I tried to listen hard for danger. But it seemed like all the sound had been turned off as well because I didn't hear anything. But I felt it when something that felt like razors sliced through my back.

I fell to the ground, writhing in pain. "Help me," I cried, "Help me!" But my words seemed to be swallowed away into the void of the darkness. The attack continued, but the pain seemed to start to ebb away as the overwhelming urge to close my eyes came over me. I finally subcomed, slipping away into the darkness.

*****************************

For the IndieInk Writing Challenge this week, Kelly Garriott Waite challenged me with "The sun winked out and the skies went black. What happens next?" and I challenged Liz Culver with "The toddler and the kitten"

The Terrifying Ascent into the Tubes of Madness

The Tubes of Madness (AKA A McDonald's Play Area)

On Saturday, Todd, Emily & I headed to help my best friend, Dolli and her family get moved into a new house.

Dolli and I were on toddler duty and we ended up at a McDonald's play area. It was all tubes and had no toddler area, but we figured the kids could run around a little and then we could have some dinner.

Well, Dolli's daughter, Kaylee, was feeling adventurous and ended up going into the tubes. She wasn't coming down so Dolli attempted to go up after her. But she didn't last long until she got freaked out and had to come out. I didn't even think about it - just shed my shoes and my sweater and started up the tubes.

While the tubes were big enough for me to fit in, they weren't designed with a full sized person in mind. I got nearly to the top of the tubes when a little boy helped Kaylee out. I hurriedly found my way out of the tubes and was actually a little shaken once I was back out again.

I really hope that I never have to go up in those tubes again.

If you like my blog, please rate it at Top Mommy Blogs!

I Wish I Was An Elf

I'm starting a re-watch of The Lord of the Rings movies, partly because it's been a while since I watched them and partly because of The Hobbit being released in December.

I've been a LOTR fan since I was very small. My dad used to read to me from the LOTR books and once I was old enough to read them myself, I would read them every couple of years. My early introduction to LOTR has inspired a life-long love of epic fantasy and put me on the geeky path.

If there was any race in LOTR that I would want to be, it would be an elf. Elves are willowy and beautiful, but they are also pretty kick ass. And they speak one of the most beautiful languages ever.

But if I'm honest with myself, I'm not an elf. If anything, I'm a hobbit. I'm short and round. I like to eat and take naps. Though I'd like to think if I am a hobbit, I'd be a Baggins. After all, I did pick up and move from Michigan to NC. And I enjoy traveling and going on adventures.

I need to embrace my hobbit-ness, since hobbits are pretty cool. My favorite hobbit has always been Merry, with Sam being a close 2nd. But I think someday I may have to attempt to cosplay as a Tolkien style elf, even if I am a hobbit.

What LOTR race do you identify with, if any?

If you like my blog, please rate it at Top Mommy Blogs!