snoring....no more!!

Jon snores.
He actually sounds like he's cutting down an entire forest.
EVERY.
SINGLE.
NIGHT.

It just started to get bad...but it was so bad that I really couldn't sleep in our room on some nights. It would wake me up in the middle of the night like a freight train.

Poor guy.
He knew it was bad and did a little research.

Enter the zQuiet.
I thought it was a sham...and expensive sham.

But it came in the mail a few weeks ago-
AND IT CHANGED MY LIFE!!

I LOVE THE THING.
Jon loved the thing!

We were once again able to sleep peacefully.

Unfortunately there was another member of the family who also loved the zQuiet.



Gypsy.
I swear, I'm giving her away.
I almost cried when I walked into our room and saw it in gnawed up little pieces on the floor.

And Jon....when I told him he went ballistic.
To say that we are huge fans of the zQUiet is an understatement.

So Jon called them today...I thought he was out of his mind.
What are they going to do honey? The dog ATE it. There isn't a warranty for that.

But guess what?
Those super kind folks are sending him a new one- at no cost!

How awesome is that???

So, if you've got a snoring problem (or sleep with someone who does..) check out the zQuiet.

I'm pretty sure you'll thank me, you'll thank them and you'll sleep in peace!!!
(just make sure that you hide it from your dog)

Tongue and Cheek

Yesterday we stopped at the drugstore to pick up a few things...
Cooper needed a new toothbrush and took great care in choosing one himself.

The one he picked had a tongue and cheek cleaner which impressed him. I didn't give it another thought.

Until, I walked into the bathroom last night and he was rubbing the back of the toothbrush on his cheek. The OUTSIDE of his cheek.

It took me a 1/2 second to figure out what in the world he was doing.

Goodness, he couldn't be any sweeter.
I ADORE that child...



And now, the INSIDE of his cheeks are appropriately maintained too.

Hope you hug your kid today...just like I hugged mine!!

Muffin News

I've got piles in various places around the house. I really need to get it under control...it's a constant battle.

Over the past few weeks I've been working at it more than usual and came upon a recipe that I'd clipped from somewhere and wanted to try. Oddly enough, I had everything I needed to make it (the main ingredient is pancake mix!).

Banana Praline Muffins- YUM!

You can find the recipe here. It's really easy and would be perfect to make for a brunch or breakfast on the go (which was my intent).

I made them last week and was pretty impressed with myself.



Don't they look delicious?
I'm pretty sure they were....but the only one in our family who might be able to give a review cannot talk.



GYPSY ATE ALL OF THEM.
Crazy dog.
She loves a carb.
And evidently, a Banana Praline Muffin.

Let me know how yours turn out...if you're so inclined.

Vegetable Challenged

Cooper didn't have school today (but Jon did) so we spent the day together at the river. Our neighbor planted a fall garden in our field and there were some random crops still in various stages of growing and we were doing some exploring.

I found this-



And I promptly sent the picture to Jon with a message that said,
BEET IT!
I thought I was so funny.

Until tonight at dinner when I said, "Hey, didn't you think my beet message was so hilarious?"

And he said, "Yeah, especially because it was a radish!"

Oops, I'm beet red!!
(and I make myself laugh!!)

But really, does that look like a radish to you? It was white inside, and it did smell radish-y, but my word. It was enormous!

Here's hoping you ate some veggies today that were recognizable.

Order- COMPLETE!

I'm a total procrastinator- it's a flaw, I'm aware. I'm pretty sure I could reduce a large amount of stress if I could just be more organized and plan ahead. But that would take planning and being organized- and I'm no good there.....at least on a consistent basis. On the other hand, if I just lower my expectations I might achieve the same thing.

Who knows.

Anyway- I'm TRYING!
And today I saved 40% on my Christmas cards by ordering in November vs. my typical mid-December time frame. Genius.

What's different this year? Instead of pouring over options, trying to come up with something witty and stressing out about the perfect photo- I used a picture from the summer that I like, sent a generic wish for happiness & love and called it a day.

What about you?

"delete this from your memory" (an early morning exchange)

I woke up today and couldn't bring myself to walk on the treadmill. It was dark and cold and I was super cozy. When I finally pulled myself out of bed, Cooper padded in to our room and promptly sneezed five times.

Then he looked at me with tears in his eyes and said the words I never want to hear.
"Momma, I'm sick"

Poor kid- sneezing, sniffling, headache, body aches.
So. NOT. Good.
I had a marathon meeting from 9 until 5 that I simply couldn't miss.

So, like any good mother, I dosed him up with meds, stuck him in the shower and waited to see whether there might be any hope.

NONE.

So, I got him snuggled back in bed and sent an email letting my team know that I would need to attend the meeting via phone.

I'm thankful that I have that option because otherwise, I'm up a creek.
There is no back up plan.

To calm my nerves and get me ready for the battle of an 8 hour conference call, I did what I'm sure many people would.

I cleaned out a closet.
I've needed to do it for a while and I had 30 minutes to kill since I didn't have to drive to work.

And after I was finished, I shot a message to Jon-

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

From: Carolyn
Sent: Tuesday, November 01, 2011 7:39 AM
To: Jon
Subject: Sick kid

Ughhhh.
No school for him.
Poor thing.

His response-


From: Jon
Sent: Tuesday, November 01, 2011 07:48 AM
To: Carolyn
Subject: RE: Sick kid

What wrong with him? Too much candy? His ear hurts? Do you need me to come home?

My response-

From: Carolyn
Sent: Tuesday, November 01, 2011 7:55 AM
To: Jon
Subject: Re: Sick kid

Not ear silly. (he had this weird ear wound...but it's not a reason to stay home)
He is sneezing, stuffy, head aches, throat hurts, can't move his body hurts.

I can work from home today- you stay

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

He shot me back a message letting me know that he had downloaded some sports stuff on his computer that Coop might like and this was my response-

From: Neblett, Carolyn [mailto:carolyn.neblett@capitalone.com]
Sent: Tuesday, November 01, 2011 8:55 AM
To: Jon Neblett
Subject: RE: Sick kid

Awesome, thanks.

I cleaned out the hall closet- tons of stuff to take to the Good Will and
lots to throw away too. I'm getting brutal!

Hope you have a good day-
xoxo


And with that, I thought the exchange was finished and we'd both go on with our days.

Until this came....

From: Jon
Sent: Tuesday, November 01, 2011 9:26 AM
To: Carolyn
Subject: RE: Sick kid

Wow that's awesome.

Another thing I think we could do is revamp our whole disk/glass situation.
I think we could buy some place setting of just one thing. We have such a hodge podge of plates, bowls glasses ect. Some of which we use very little if at all. I don't know how much that stuff costs but Im willing to pay for it as I really think it would help us stay more organized. Im thinking something very plain but practical (like a solid color).

Perhaps we could take all the old down the river. Let me know your thoughts.

My response-

From: Carolyn
Sent: Tuesday, November 01, 2011 10:38 AM
To: Jon
Subject: RE: Sick kid


I'm not sure what a disk/glass is but I think you may be treading on thin
ice here.
We have dishes- they are blue/yellow/white and we have a service for 8
(dinner plate, bowl, salad plate and cup/saucer). What about them isn't
organized and what about dishes that we already have isn't practical?

So that my head doesn't explode- this is probably a conversation to have in
person.

: )


His response-

From: Jon
Sent: Tuesday, November 01, 2011 10:42 AM
To:Carolyn
Subject: RE: Sick kid

I will never speak of it again, please delete from you memory.

The word disk should have said dish.


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

Ok, couple things here.

1) I'm not sure what he could have written that might have shocked me more.
2) I ADORE our dishes. They make me happy every time I take them out of the cabinet.



3) I have been working really hard over the past year on being more organized and being less attached to "stuff". I'm purging and getting rid of things that I never would have dreamed of throwing away before. And for the life of me, I couldn't imagine what in the world was wrong with the way our dishes were organized and how changing the color of the dishes would help.

UNLESS.
Unless he doesn't like the dishes.

But seriously- is that even possible? How could he have an opinion on the dishes that we've used for our entire married life?

4) To be clear, these dishes pre-date him. We didn't register for everyday dishes when we got married because I had these and they were basically brand new.

So, when he got home I brought it up. And do you know what he said?

"It really doesn't have anything to do with being organized. I don't like those dishes. Well actually, it's not that I don't like them really- it's just that I'm TIRED of them"

Really? Tired of them? Do they really impact you that much? Would it kill you to eat from the same plate that we've used since 1999?

And then I wondered.
Are these dishes out? Am I screaming 1995, which is when I got the dishes? Am I living in the past? Are they offensive? In bad taste? Tacky?

Should I cave and get new dishes (after all, he did say he'd pay for them!)
Because really, I do love plain white dishes and have coveted them from Wade and Sarah ever since they registered for them.

But a replacement plate is selling for $54 at Replacements and $30 on e*bay. That's gotta count for something. And so does using what you have- and not creating more excess.


HELP!!!
What do I do?

happy halloween

Although my pictures aren't great, I think this was one of the best years in terms of Cooper's costume. There has been some stiff competition in the past- but this year was the 1st time that he decided his entire outfit.

He had an idea and he delivered.



Yup, that's him on the left with his friend L.

Cooper was a Monkey Suit. Get it??
We thought it was hilarious and genius all at the same time.

He found the mask at the grocery store and begged me to buy it.
Then, he figured out the rest of the costume on his own- painstakingly going through every pair of pants until he found just the right ones.

See how the pants have the stripe on the side, just like a tux does??
No matter that they're wind pants. They fit the bill.

I love that kid.
And the best part was how much fun he and L. had on their quest for candy.


But not before a little horseplay on the swings.


It makes me laugh whenever I see them-


The best was that the mask was too big so he had some trouble maneuvering. They'd be walking up the driveway and L. would make a turn onto the sidewalk and Coop would keep right on walking....a little kid in a suit with a purpose (oh, and a monkey head).

L (sweet kid that he is) ended up holding on to Coop and leading him from place to place to be sure that he wouldn't get tangled up in the shrubbery. Now, that's a true friend.

If you know me, you'll realize that this probably wasn't my 1st choice for his costume (or my 27th), but I got so overcome with pride that he did it on his own that it really didn't matter what he was. He loved it, he was proud and he had a great night.

I can't think of a better Halloween treat.

Hope yours was great too!

oh momma -look! i wanted you to see this....

those were words that cooper just said to me as we're snuggled up on the sofa to watch the world series.

what was he referring to you may wonder?

A GOUT COMMERCIAL.
What????

I said, "why in the world did you want me to see this?"
He said, "well, you said your foot was hurting, i thought you might have gout"

He's referring to the fact that I've been complaining about my heel hurting. I have plantar fasciitis....NOT GOUT.

My word.
That kid does make me laugh.

30-14

Guess where we were this weekend?



Hmm- give up?
Maybe this will help-



We went to the VT vs. BC game!!
Did the graffiti throw you? Yeah, I was thrown off too.

Jon's sister and her hubs have season tickets to Tech and they graciously invited us to come up for the game. And what's a football game without a great tailgate...especially if that tailgate is in an abandoned apartment complex complete with what I think may have been gang signs.


Goodness, they're cute (and not concerned in the least bit by a little graffiti)!

And as you can tell by our tailgating surroundings (and our beer of choice)....they spoiled us with nothing but the best!



We had so much fun....laughing, playing, posing, eating, drinking and hanging out together.









They love our kid & he's crazy about them too.
The day was perfect for a ball game- clear blue skies and crisp weather.


Also perfect for some brother/sister together time.

It was homecoming- and so the Highty Tighty Band and their Alumni were in all their glory.



I'm a sucker for a marching band- I always have been. Let's be clear- I wasn't IN the band....nope, no such talent in that area, I'm just a fan.


They were great!

But then....the boys hit the field.
The stadium was electric.





But not as electric as it was when they scored!



Can you see the people who are horizontal? They're being thrown up in the air to celebrate the score. Can you imagine?


So much fun!!



As the sun went down, the scoreboard was in our favor- great ending to a great day!



But Kathy wasn't done yet....what could make the day even better than it already had been?


Yup. That's kale salad.



Kale, yeah!!!!
Enough said.

Thanks Kathy & Mike....we had a blast!!

New Fave-

This is kale.



I haven't been a fan of kale for the majority of my life.
Actually, I haven't been a fan of kale ever.
Until tonight.

But let me back up so you'll have the whole story. I'm really trying to make some changes in the foods that I eat. My friends at Relay Foods are helping and some real friends are too!

Enter Sarah. We work together (although in different states) and she's one of those all natural, healthy, crunchy sort of people. Anywhooo, we had dinner together while I was in Atlanta and the conversation turned to vegetables that we love (see, I am changing....who in the world talks about vegetables they love??? oh, and yes, this was hours after I ate a chili cheese dog at the Varsity!).

Sarah loves kale.
What??? Gross. No can do.

But she tells me about this amazing salad that one of her friends has turned her on to and it sounds interesting. So I googled it, ordered the ingredients from Relay and made it for dinner tonight.

And you know what??
I LOVED IT!!! And even better....Jon did too.

The trick to eating raw kale and loving it is to massage the kale with olive oil and salt.
Yup, it's a fact. I watched 2 videos that told me all about it.


Then I added chopped onion, grape tomatoes, avocado and lemon juice.

I massaged some more and we ate it as a side dish with salmon.
Stop the madness, we're super food maniacs tonight!



Seriously delish.
I can't wait to eat the leftovers tomorrow!

I think I'm going to try making kale chips (take leaves, brush with olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt and bake for 8-10 minutes).

What you do think? Will you try it??

Thankful Thursday & Relay Foods

(via google)

My friend Angela gave me the scoop a while ago about an awesome new concept in food shopping. I thought it was a great idea so I signed up- and never placed an order. Fast forward to this weekend when I got a message from the Founder & CEO saying that October was a big month for Relay and asking for our help by getting out the word and placing an order.

So I did.
I logged in on Monday night, picked what I wanted- dt. coke, avocados, hamburger patties, scallions, olive oil, dog food, ground turkey, bacon, butter, brussel sprouts- (random, I know!), paid on line and waited until Wednesday.


(via google)

Then, I stopped to pick up my order at a nearby parking lot where they loaded everything into my car and wished me a good night. Then I drove home.

So easy, so tasty, so addicting.
I've already placed my order for next week.
I am LOVING this!!

Check it out....if you're in Richmond or Charlottesville then you're in luck. If not and you're interested in having Relay come to your area- let them know!!


I'm thankful for Angela, for saving time, for being a little green, for buying local, for reducing my stress, for removing the temptation that faces me whenever I walk through the aisles of the grocery store, for people with great ideas who want to make the world a better place, for my family who shared my enthusiasm for this awesome new way of shopping!

Have a super weekend-

A letter to my one fan-

Dear Tim,
Don't turn your back on me....



I promise to try and be better about posting regularly....
I even promise to stay away from 2 Word posts whenever possible.
Give a working mom with too few hours in the day a break.

I'll do better....really I will.

And to prove it.....check out my posts from last week. I hope they pass the muster (or is it mustard?).

Love & hugs-
Caro

What'll Ya Have??

About 10 years ago I worked on a project that had me flying to Tampa at least once a month. I was the most junior person on the team and two of my co-workers were probably some of the funniest people on the planet.

They were supposed to "take care of me" on the trips....because I was a female traveling alone. I wasn't 12- but most of the time I was the little sister tagging along on with them on planes, in airports, at hotels and as the butt of many of their jokes. I adored them! Still do.

The flight to Tampa was never direct (although it should have been) and so we had to fly through either Atlanta or Charlotte. I was all about sticking to policy and taking the flights that were the cheapest- even if they weren't the most convenient. But my funny co-workers.....paid no attention to policy. Those jokers would schedule flights around lunch time and add a long layover in Atlanta all so they could eat at the place they called "legendary". I never went- I was too afraid of getting in trouble. They happily left me behind and never brought me anything but a stinkin' paper hat.


(via google)

Last week, I was able to experience it myself.

My 1st trip to the Varsity.
Anxious faces behind the counter in those crazy red paper hats yelling, "What'll Ya Have?"

It was all that I anticipated and more & this is what I had-


(via google)

AWESOME!!
I know those jokers are proud of me, even 10 years later.

What'll ya have????

My Favorite Pitcher

Fall Ball is historically less intense and more instructional.
I'm not sure either is entirely true, at least for me.

1st- Cooper is now playing kid pitch vs. machine pitch and while that may be exciting for him, it completely freaks me out. Kids are getting hit with rogue pitches at least once an inning.

2nd- Today Cooper was one of those pitchers! Thankfully he didn't hit anyone....AND he struck 2 kids out.....but who's keeping track?

3rd- I have zero ability to remain calm and collected during a baseball game featuring my child as a player. I just get SO excited!



A wad of bubble gum really makes the pitcher more authentic- don't you agree?







At the end of the game, guess who got handed the Game Ball?



Yup- my favorite powerade drinking, gum chewing pitcher!



Way to Go, Coop!

2 Word Wednesday

unbeatable uncle.




greatest grandma.

70, 75 & the rainy weekend

It was a very special weekend...



with a very special visitor....who came all the way from California-



Sadly, the weather didn't cooperate with our birthday plans.
At all.

No matter, we made the best of it!




Happy Birthday Mom & Dad



Thanks for putting up with us- through broken bones, crashed cars, concussions and dropped birthday cakes (and too many happy memories to count!).



We love you dearly!

What's in a Name?

Cooper asked this on the way home today....

Hey Momma?
Is the reason they call them serial killers because they keep their weapons in a cereal box?


Wow- wasn't expecting that one, but I sure do love that kid!!

Game On-

These are the legs of a kid who stole home in the 1st game of the season.



And that's the coach who gave him the signal to GO!



He was itching for the chance.....



But ask him about it- and he's all business.
Stealing home is serious!




This year, the game is serious....he moved up to kid-pitch and it's game on. Let's just say that pitching at the 9 year old level isn't an exact science. Every batter had to duck or move to avoid being hit by a renegade pitch.

I was a wreck. Jon didn't seem to see the potential disaster waiting to happen.

But Cooper?
He loved it and is counting the days until Game #2.