An RSVP Allergy

I've heard of dairy allergies. I know people allergic to peanuts. My whole freaking family is allergic to Penicillin. Until recently, though, I never knew there exists an allergy to replying. Are people all over the world suffering from this or just people on my guest list?

I recently planned an event and used an online invitation service. It allows people to respond quickly and easily whenever they have a free moment. It provides a link with all the information on the event in the very same place where one can click to confirm or refuse.

I found myself in a mild panic when, just days before the event, the majority of people hadn't even opened the invitation yet and of those who did, very few had replied. I've e-mailed. I've sent reminders. I've sent reminders using social networking sites. I've tried calling. Still, people refuse to RSVP.

I had two people call/message me to say they were coming. Well, thanks, but I really wanted you to reply through the site because it keeps a running tally of kids and adults so I have an exact number. It took more effort to call and send me a message than clicking the link would have taken.

Another person told me face-to-face that she couldn't come, but the site sent a reminder to everyone who hadn't responded. This person than replied to that message and E-MAILED ME to remind me about her conflict. The message she replied to had the link RIGHT THERE where she could have clicked to just mark, "No." It took her longer to reply than to click the link.

I was shocked to find that a number of people who didn't RSVP actually plan on coming. I had assumed they simply couldn't come, so they weren't bothering to reply. Then again, most of them NEVER EVEN LOOKED AT THE INVITATION.

This has made planning the event very difficult. I didn't know who to expect or how many.

Is this common? Are other people experiencing this as well? Have we just forgotten how to RSVP? Are the expectations different in different parts of the country/world?

courtesy of the Custom Receipt Maker

5 for 5

In search of blog inspiration, I found my way here where I found this prompt: List 5 people you know. Then describe each of them in 5 words.

• Dh
• 1. Quiet
• 2. Thoughtful
• 3 & 4 Easily over-whelmed
• 5. Misunderstood

• Girl1
• 1. Quirky
• 2 & 3 Free spirit
• 4. Twin
• 5. Outgoing

• Girl2
• 1. Stubborn
• 2 & 3 Loves reading
• 4. Twin
• 5. Talkative

• TheBoy
• 1 & 2. Loves attention
• 3. Sweet
• 4. Loving
• 5. Unique

• TheBaby
• 1. Chubby
• 2. Smiley
• 3 & 4 Gorgeous eyes
• 5. Determined

IMG_4419
Originally uploaded by Genna B

Under pressure.

I'm tense. I have no idea why. It came out of nowhere. I was tired, but in a decent mood.

Then dh came home and he was distracted. I really just wanted him to take TheBaby, change her into jammies, and give me 10 minutes to rest, but he had to run back out again. So while he changed her diaper, he gave her right back. No rest for me. I nursed her and put her to bed and then did some other things around the house. At that point, I was in a pretty good mood.

Then dh came back and was snippy. When I asked him not to be snippy, he then got annoyed that I thought he was. Oh boy!

Dinner sucked. I'm exhausted. Husband's snippy (even if he is annoyed that I think so).

Not a good combination at all.


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In my non-existant spare time,

I created this little rendition of my family:

Make your Stick Figure Family at FreeFlashToys.com

Sharing a link: The Day After He Left for Iraq

I had to share this link. The Day After He Left for Iraq

I particularly like this line:
"There is no graceful, easy, painless, romantic way to send your husband off to war. The emptiness left behind the fading sound of his boots is deafening."

The very last portion reminds me quite a bit of the portion of Hello Jupiter that I quoted here.

I really like this as well:
"With my belly swollen, again, I stood in a parking lot, holding our second newborn and searching for a way to say goodbye. Again. This time, Iraq beckoned. I had no way of knowing what would become of us. Of him. Of our marriage. I only knew one simplified version of our life, our struggle: I loved him."

Great read. I want to add the book to my wishlist.

Flight Tracker FAIL

Through This is True, I found this horrifying gem:
@AcmePhoto: FlightAware flight tracker FAIL on US Airways #flight1549

Oh my stars and garters! Arrived? Where? WTF? That's awful.

Killing time.

For those of us who don't celebrate, Xmas is boring. Since pretty much everything shuts up shop on December 25, we're forced to find things to do to entertain ourselves

This is one of those things.

96 words

Typing Test

Fun with misspellings.

We arranged to have some items picked up today for a local charity. Those items included one futon, one microwave cart, one computer monitor, one vase, and one random tchotchke.

The receipt listed, among other things, a "Photon."

How in the world did we manage to donate one single photon? How am I supposed to deduct THAT when it comes time for taxes?

Say what?

I just heard these words come out of my mouth:

"Dog, you can stop barking now. The Mormons are gone."

Blast from the past: the gift edition

I found a giveaway on another blog where the question posed was, "What was your favorite gift as a child?"

The gift that came to mind was a Strawberry Shortcake kitchen set I got around 1982. It was really just heavy cardboard, but it lasted forever and oh boy did I use it.

I didn't ask for that kitchen. I didn't even know it existed. But oh boy did I love that thing.

So, I went on a quest. Google directed me here where there is a picture of a portion of the exact set. Look at the difference between that and the annoying plastic sets today that include all sorts of sounds and lights and which will never decompose in the landfills. I loved my basic boring kitchen. I didn't need beeping or blinking. And you know what? I'm sure my set has broken down by now.

With the holidays approaching and my desire to resist overdoing it, I've been on a quest for some ideas for making gifts. I did that last year and loved it. The kids did too. So we'll do the same thing this year. My schlep through my childhood and my fond memories for such a simple toy just cemented that.

Thursday Thirteen: Halloween Candy

Thirteen Things to do with Halloween Candy 1.... Eat all the chocolate when the kids aren't looking. 2....Save the maltballs 'cause you don't really like them, but when all the other chocolate is gone, eat them too. 3....Let the kids have a few lollipops (suckers to some of you) and Starbursts. 4....Search through the bags again in an attempt to find any hidden chocolate. If you find some, see #1. If not, move along. 5....Pick up the Almond Joy, consider it, then put it back down and decide it's not worth it. 6....Repeat #5 at least two more times. 7....Use the bag of candy as a threat when the kids don't clean up. 8....Let them have some runts and that Hannah Montana candy bracelet. 9....Stash a few lollipops in your purse/diaper bag for a rainy day (or a cranky child). 10...Repeat #4. 11...Open every single pack of Starburst in an attempt to find pink (or your particular favorite). 12...Wind up with only 2 pinks (which you eat) and a huge pile of red and yellow Starbursts (which you hate). Build a wall with them. Stack them up to form various farm animals. Then give up and put them back in the bag for the kids. 13...Donate everything else to care packages for our troops overseas and stay far away from the scale for a few days.

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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Has modern technology left you completely useless?

It all started back in high school when we were required to use graphing calculators for higher level math. I was one who struggled with my multiplication tables in the 3rd grade, but by the start of high school, I impressed even myself with the speed at which I could do math, almost without effort. Then we had to rely on those horrid technological crutches in order to do math that we never saw in the real world. In the process, we all lost our ability to do quick calculations in our heads. I noticed it among all my friends in all different level math classes. To this day, I have not regained that ability nor can I calculate a curve or do anything remotely resembling the calculus I was forced to endure in high school.

Now, our phones have memory options. My home phone lets me use the caller ID to contact a friend who called previously. On my cell phone, all my frequent numbers are assigned a single digit.

Last week, we were out without my phone, so dh took a picture on his phone that I wanted to send to my sister's cell. He asked, "What's her number?" To which, I could only reply, "6." I don't believe I have ever actually dialed her cell phone number other than when I initially entered it in my phone book on my cell.

I have no idea what some of my friends' e-mail addresses are. I type in their name or nickname (and in some cases, I don't even have to type the full name and it will auto fill) and the rest is automatically filled in.

Just now, I grabbed the home phone and sat down to call a friend. Only NOW can I dial her number (which is very simple). She's had it for at least a year. In the past, I just left her on the caller ID and scrolled through to find her.

I have a fabulous memory for random things. I can remember my first grade best friend's phone number (which I just googled and found has been assigned to someone completely different). I can remember birth dates for people I haven't seen in 10 or even 20 years. I can quote statistics off the top of my head. Yet, thanks to the modern marvel of technology, I can't even remember current phone numbers.

Please tell me I'm not alone here.

Fabulous pumpkin carving

Due to over-scheduling, we never got to go to the pumpkin patch this year. We did try to grab some at the grocery store, but they were a mess. So, for the first time in years, we went sans pumpkin this season.

I've been longing for carved pumpkins, so I decided to wander over to google to see what I missed.

This face is absolutely astounding.

AHHHHH. There's a Yoda pattern. I would have used that had I known (or had a pumpkin).

The 2008 entries here are amazing.

These are all neat, but the pumkin Pi and the Packman collection are my favorites.

The Cannibal pumpkin appeals to my dark sense of humor (and it's well-down to boot).

The hamburger bun is a clever idea you don't see every day.

Coffin update

I went past the same pawn shop on Friday. The coffin is still there. I tried to get a picture, but the light changed before I could.

Random baby stuff

This is completely random. Forgive me.

Recently, I noticed some odd coincidences. I specifically remember the date of the first time I felt TheBoy move during that pregnancy. On that date this year, I finally got pregnant.

That got me thinking about the first time I felt movement during my first pregnancy. I don't remember when it was, but I remember I was home alone (dh worked nights) watching CSI. With TheBoy, my water broke and I went into labor during CSI.

Hmmm...odd.

FTR, no consistent movement yet from the newbie. I may have felt movement during high holy day services, but I haven't felt anything since. I'm not one of those people who feels kicks early, so I'm not expecting anything until next month. I've been to the midwives and everything looks great. Heart rate was 134 this last time.

My blog in pictures

While schleping through my archives, I came across a few pictures that I felt were particularly pertinent to my blog.

I started my little section of the blogosphere while dh was deployed to the Middle East. The date on my first batch of posts is May 9, 2006. Dh left early in the morning the day before. Since then, I've captured lots of bits and pieces of my life in here.

Among those pieces, are a scattered bunch of photographs.

Heartbreak isn't a particularly moving photo in general, but the circumstances surrounding it were. That's also my very first entry.

We have photos that randomly capture the beauty and oddity that is my everday life. A coffin at a pawn shop? WTF?

The absurdity is unending, especially when you have children. And it's always my first instinct to grab for the camera.

I have an odd sense of humor and a camera phone. Good combination or bad? You be the judge.

I also have good friends, a screwy family and photoshop.

In this blog, there is exactly one photo posted wherein you can see my face.

When life hands you lemons, throw them back and demand chocolate. And when life gives you ice, grab a camera and take pictures.

I haven't done any Thursday Thirteens in a while, but this was one I wanted to write about (and photograph) for a long time. Glad I got the chance.

Here's another TT that's just completely frivilous, but contains my very favorite cats in all the world (not counting the ones that live in our home).

Speaking of our cats, I've posted photos of them which still crack me up.

Sometimes, the pictures are proof that I really do care about my audience and am constantly thinking of them. There's a local bank with a sign that I simply must photograph for you. I haven't yet (I'm always the one driving when I pass it), but the sign reads, "For personal service, see Chastity Den." Every time I drive by, I think, "I need to get a picture of that for the blog." It cracks me up.


And thus concludes our quick trip through the blog in pictures. Hope you enjoyed it. If not, I'll be back with more in the not-too-distant future. When you refuse to post pictures of yourself or your immediate family, it makes it kind of tricky, but thus far, I've managed. I'll make more of an effort in the future, though.

Completely Random Video

I don't really have much of a reason for posting this. It was featured over at Fist of Blog and watching it again reminded me of how much I love this song.

Like the fine folks over at Fist of Blog, I often long for the 90s music scene. Oh how I miss the summer nights when I stayed up all night and watched the good videos on Mtv. I miss Alternative Nation. Alas, poor Kennedy, I knew her, Horatio.

This pretty much sums up my mornings.

more animals

This sums up the rest of my day:


more animals

This one is in no way related to sleep. It just makes me laugh.


more animals

If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention.

CPSC Says Company Refuses To Recall Bassinets That Strangled Two Infants

WTF is wrong with this world?

I hope they lose more business over their heartless incompetence than they ever would have over a recall.