Just fragments

That's what I've got left after this week. Just fragments. A brain download, if you will. And I can do that, thanks to Mrs. 4444s.

Putting out an ABB: Hello officer, I'd like to report an ABB. Yes, that's right. An "assault with a binding brassiere." I purchased a new bra this week. I wanted a new dress, but what I ended up with was a new bra. Anyway, the lady at the pricey store measured me and said I'm "a 41 on the dot, so let's go with a 40."  I'm always up for smaller numbers. But now, after two days of wearing this torture device, I'm pretty sure the durn thing has bruised my sternum.

Play it again, Skeeter: I saw "The Help" on Wednesday night. Great movie! There aren't many I'd pay to see in the theater twice, but this one I would. It was fairly true to the book. Oh, and go easy on the Diet Coke because it's a LONG movie and you don't want to miss anything.

Mason City, Iowa, anyone? Do you live within driving distance of Mason City, Iowa? It's 1/2-way between St. Paul, MN and Des Moines, IA. Anyway, I'll be there in late September speaking at the Upper Midwest Social Media Conference. My topic: Privacy in Blogging and Social Media: How Much Is Too Much? If you've never been to a social media conference, this might be a good one to start with. Admission is only $50.

Home improvement (dis)harmony: Well, we've arrived at no real decision on the paint colors for the first floor. I did convince Mike to postpone the painting there. We're having the master bed and bath painted, but we haven't quite agreed on which room will be which color. I think a Serious Gray in the bedroom and Expressive Plum in the bathroom. Mike wants the opposite. Also, he apparently thinks little fairies are going to come in the night and prep the house for the work to be done. Although the first floor walls won't be painted, they will be painting the ceilings this weekend. Do I have to take down the curtains for them to paint the ceiling? This little fairy is going to need a lot of Diet Coke to pull this all-nighter.

Back to school: Most kids around here started school this week. That's way too early. Annie starts high school on Tuesday. The boys don't start until a week later. Tonight was parent orientation night at the high school. It was a little weird looking around the room, wondering who would be the parents we'll get to know well over the next 4 years. As we listened to the head of school and several of the teachers, I felt like we'd definitely made the right decision about where to send Annie for high school. That felt good.

Time to get a move on in getting this house ready for phase 1 of its renovation. Hope you have a great weekend!

Frazzled Friday Frags

"Thank God it's Friday" doesn't even begin to cover how I feel about the end of this week. Frazzled is a good way to describe it. But I'm happy to distract myself with a foray into Mrs. 4444's Friday Fragments.

And lucky us, Mrs. 4444s is having a playdate with Danifred of Sippy Cups are Not for Starbucks (is that the best blog name ever or what?!), who serves up her own fun with Friday Night Leftovers.

With all the great frags and leftovers to click and read, who needs to rent a movie on Friday night?

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I made the most delicious discovery the other day. Chocolate-covered Peeps! Can you stand it? They come in dark and milk chocolate and are really yummy. They don't have that wonderful gritty sugar that regular Peeps do, but I'll forgive them. Also, the inside marshmallow yumminess is neon yellow, which I could have done without. But of course that didn't stop me from eating the dark chocolate version. I gave the milk chocolate to Mike. Wasn't that nice of me?

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I used to spend hours watching the TLC channel. It started when I was pregnant with Annie and I got sucked into "A Baby Story." Then came "Trading Spaces." Then "What Not to Wear" and "Say Yes to the Dress."

Now, I'm convinced that TLC stands for "The Little Channel." Seriously, how many shows about little people can one nation watch? "Little People, Big World." "The Little Couple." "Little Chocolatiers." And now "Our Little Family." Big overkill, if you ask me.

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Cilantro lime fish. Sounds yummy, doesn't it? It did to me, too, until I saw it was being offered at Burger King. Thanks, I'll just have a Whopper Jr., no cheese, no mayo, please.

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Being more organized and having a neater, less messy existence is always on my to do list. But there are times that erring on the side of slobbiness is beneficial. Yesterday, for example. I was on the treadmill at the gym when I realized that when I packed my clothes to change into for work (after a shower, thankyouverymuch), I forgot to include a bra. So it was either wear my sweaty sports bra to work -- utter a collective "ewwwww" here -- or stop at the store to buy a new bra to wear.

A few minutes later, still running and still sweating, I remembered...I had a bra in the back seat of my car! For all you gutter-minds out there, it had been in another bag that I'd had to quickly repurpose for one of the kids so I just tossed the bra into the back seat. For once, not adhering to my mother's "Everything Out of the Car" song had paid off!

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Today I'm wearing the one piece of really gaudy costume jewelry that I own:

I bought it for $4 at Global Gifts. I saw it and wanted it, but decided to pass. A few months later, I saw it again and still wanted it so I bought it. Best $4 I've spent in a long while. It's obnoxiously large, but it makes me happy!

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For those of you following Mike's elephant leg saga (here and here), we're at the orthopod's office right now getting an MRI. I sure hope it's nothing, but if it is, it will be a very expensive nothing.

Update: Just got a call from the doc about Mike's leg. Assuming my best Arnold voice: "It's naht a toomur." It is, however, a big bag a fluid that is pushing all the muscles out and down, causing swelling and pain. I said, "Now you know what it feels like to be pregnant!"

On Monday, the doc is going to attempt to drain it. If that doesn't work or if the fluid looks to be infected, they'll take him straight to surgery.

That's all I've got. Hope you have a fraggin' awesome weekend!