Mrs. CPA

Weirdness

You guys need some bullets don't you.  You know you do.

• Last week, a local newscaster was beaten nearly to death in her home.  Every bone in her face was broken.  She died this past weekend.  The police have no leads or suspects.Everyone here is sort of shell shocked about the whole thing. The newscasters have a haunted look on every broadcast now.
• Last night, at the college Tim and I attended, UCA, there was a fatal shooting.  It doesn't appear that the shooting was random, but wow.  Very wild.
• We went to Boo at the Zoo this weekend. Hudson didn't have a costume because I have waited until the last minute to order him one.  He is going to be an orange jumpsuited Astronaut.  He can use Tim's motorcycle helmet. Maddie is going to be nothing.
• I finally got pictures taken for Maddie's birth announcements. You can find those here.  Or you can wait for one in your mailbox.
• My new computer should be here tomorrow.  Just in time for NABLOPOMO, which I plan on doing again.  I'm sure after the first 4 days you will all be tired of me again.  But after Blissdom08, I'm feeling a blogging resurgence and feel like throwing myself back into it. I hope you'll stick around. And I'll be doing my vlogs at New Baby.com which I'm slowly getting the hang of.
• I won some makeup from Affordable Mineral Make-up through The Good Human.  I got several neat things, but I have not tried them out yet. I did get a foundation brush. I had $30 to spend and I wish I had Amalah looking over my shoulder.
• Look at this sweet picture.  That's Hudson's boppie and his pig and snake waiting on a kitchen chair for him to come home.

• Work starts next week.  I'm not so sure about going back this time.  But I think Imelda would hurt me if I didn't.  Also we would be VERY hungry. 

Who You Callin' Little?

A BIG thank you to Epson, One2One Network and the wonderful ladies at Blissfully Domestic for such a great weekend.

When I would tell people where Maddie and I were going this past weekend, I would say "Oh, we're heading up to Nashville for this little conference.  It's going to be with some people I read on the internet. (aside - I'm not above lying to family members about having a blog) Maddie and I are going to meet some (blog) friends in Memphis and eat dinner and then head on to Nashville and on Saturday we'll be at the conference and then we'll come home." 

I was wrong.  Man, was I wrong.  I didn't go to a "little conference." I went to a BIG, HUGE, FULL OF IDEAS AND WONDERFUL PEOPLE conference.  There was so much great discussion and learning going on. 

Look at those great minds!  Megan of Velveteen Mind, Ali of Mrs. Fussypants, Tsh from Simple Mom and The Nester from The Nesting Place.

The concert during lunch was by Jessie Baylin and Maddie slept through the whole thing.  I have some video that I took for Newbaby.com so I'll have that up later today or tomorrow. 

While I may not want to run ads or make a living at home from my blog, I still got a lot out of the sessions. 

Hotel Preston was really nice.  Maddie and I rolled in around 11:15 and I carried our 6 pieces of luggage and Maddie in her stroller up to the 10th floor because the check in clerk had ambiguous handwriting.  We were really on the 6th floor and after we made it in, scaring a few elevator riders along the way (She was really hungry), I got settled and we sacked out.  I should have known I was going to have a good time, guess who's picture was in my hotel room?

That would be Hank Williams Jr. in his prime right there .

I wasn't even all that worried or anxious the next morning. I did manage to scare off the two people who sat with me for breakfast. Maddie was certainly a good icebreaker, and I had no problem finding baby holders. After the concert and the afternoon sessions, we had drinks and then went out to dinner.  Three very gracious and friendly ladies who made the trek from freakin' OHIO included me in their group and we went to the restaurant early (either that or they just wanted to get their hands on my baby).  I'm glad we did, Maddie had had about all of the holding and bouncing and confinement she could handle, so it was a good idea that we had ordered our food before most of the group got there and left early.

We got up early to make it make for Tim's office picnic, which we ended up not going to anyway, but I'm glad we were home early. 

The swag bag, my first ever, was packed with stuff!  Hudson especially liked the 25th anniversary My Little Pony's:

For my first blogging conference, I would say that this was an unmitigated success.  I can't wait until February for the next one.

 

Worn Out from Blissdom

We have had an Awesome time!

Countdown

I have to start packing today, for Maddie and me, to go to the conference this weekend.  We are going to be leaving tomorrow around four.  I have been preparing by frantically shopping the last two days for some new clothes that do not have a large elastic waistband.  I have procured two pairs of shoes, a skirt, four shirts, a pair of blue jeans, a pair of khakis and two t shirts.  The shoes came from Zappos and I ordered them on Wednesday night at 5:30  and IN LESS THAN 24 HOURS they were on my doorstep and on my feet.  How do they work their magic?  Is it elves? Hobbits?  Child labor?  I do not care because it is awesome. 

(Please ignore the [very, very cute even though she needs a bath] sleeping baby [who is wearing a 3-6 month outfit] [OMG].)

On our way to Nashville we are stopping to see this lovely lady for dinner.  I just hope I don't eat so much that I have to check into the hotel with my pants unbuttoned.  

My business cards are ready, the camera is charged and I'm sleeping late tomorrow.  There are so many people I want to meet and I'm sure there will be a ton more that I'll love. I'm really excited to go to my first conference.  I need a pal to hold Maddie when I need to go to the bathroom who won't try to steal her.  Any volunteers?

Two weeks from tomorrow will be my last Friday at home.  Holy crap that is coming up fast!  We have Tim's office picnic when we get back on Sunday,  and we already have plans to go to Branson right before Thanksgiving with Tim's Dad and my sister in law.  We're going to see Noah's ark, which looks awesome. 

Maddie and I walked in the Race for the cure last weekend.  I think out of the 46,000 people there she was the youngest one. Although we walked the 5K, it was rough, but everyone had a good time and the brunch and drinks we had afterward were extra awesome. 

That's me with the bright green shirt and the pink do rag.  And 40,000 people in front of me going over the bridge.  I frequently teared up during the race thinking about all the people who got up at the crack of dawn to walk in this race in honor or in memory of someone.  46,000 people care enough about boobs to do this.  Little old lady survivors in their pink shirts and decked out in pink wigs and pants and capes and waving flags.  The race course was lined with bands, the governor, the mayors of Little Rock and North Little Rock, motorcycle gangs, firemen throwing beads, belly dancers, a martial arts school banging drums, people doing yoga, a drum line, and three miles of men lining the race course, some of whom made you want to slap your momma they looked so good.  The race course passed by both political party's headquarters.  The Republican party was playing YMCA, a strange choice to be sure, and the"MC" was painfully Republican, he even had a TIE on with the American Flag and an Eagle. This is the biggest race in the country.  How awesome is it that Little Rock is first for a cause as great as this instead of dead last?  Let me tell you, Arkansans love their boobs. 

What Have I Been Doing? I have No Idea.

But in a few weeks, I'm going to be doing this!

And Maddie will be there with me.  If you're close enough to Nashvegas to make it worth your while, you should come too.  The conference is FREE, but there's only 75 spots. 

I ordered my very first Business cards (Tim said, "Why? Do you have a business?" and then I hung up on him.[I wanted to anyway.]) And they look like this:

(And yes, we are using an old Sonic coupon as a mouse pad.)

How awesome are those?  I didn't even misspell anything or put the wrong web address or something on them. 

My MIL and I are going to spend our Gymbucks tomorrow, the cleaning lady came today, Maddie has pooped on 300 articles of clothing, I did a vlog on how to introduce your pets to your new baby, I read my SDBBE book, I've watched TV premiers (Yea Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice), I watched Hudson try and stir up Maddie's first bath,

I went to the dentist, went and waited an waited an hour for a birth certificate and other various day to day things. 

Damn, this staying at home business is BORING.