Your card was selected for Hallmark’s Shoebox line!

That was in the subject line of an email I received today from Hallmark!

Do you remember my daughter's 15 mins of fame awhile back as a finalist in Hallmark's Mother's Day Card Contest? Of course you do. I put it in your face every day for 4 months while we tried to win first place. In case you forgot what it looked like (or if you are a new reader).

We got second place. That wasn't bad.

I really think they should of had a second and third prize too, but we did get a finalist prize and had fun being on TV, the radio and in the papers. Oh, and Emily still talks about the card signings. She will never be the same. Once you've been treated like a celebrity, you can't go back.
I totally tucked the whole thing away in the back of my mind for future stories to tell her children. THEN, I see this email and at first I just glanced at it and almost deleted it, thinking that it was junk mail. But, I didn't. I went back and really read the subject line this time.

Subject: Your card was selected for Hallmark’s Shoebox line!

What in the H-E-double-L did it say??

Your card was selected for Hallmark’s Shoebox line!

I open it and this is what it says:

Guess what, Card Star?

We’ve got some good news for you! Your creative card from the yourParenthood competition has been chosen to go into our incredibly funny Shoebox card line.

What does that mean, exactly? Your card was hand-picked by some of our Hallmark friends to be offered in stores like Hallmark Gold Crown, drugstores and department stores by the end of March, 2010!

Of course, the needs for the Shoebox line are a little different from those of our card contest, so don’t be surprised if we had to modify your card just a teensy bit to fit a different sending situation. Your card will now be in the Birthday section.

Don’t worry. Your original creation remains fully intact and is still part of our online Winners’ Gallery.We’re excited for your extra 15 minutes of fame, and we hope you are, too.

Holly Smokes! I couldn't believe it! How exciting is that? I did the jump of joy and the M C Hammer dance and then fell down and broke my legs. Not really. I did run and tell Emily that her card would be in the stores again as a birthday card now too and how cool because it comes out the same month her mom's birthday is.

What did she have to say about all that?

You guessed it-Do I get to have a card signing?

Celebrities.

Is it Monday? Crap, it's Tuesday already.

I can't believe that the weekend is over and I totally missed Monday. I've been working hard on my book and I have companies at my heels, waiting for my reviews to be posted. I've been dealing with an unplanned crisis. Friday, I had woke up with pain in my jaw and my gums all swollen by my jaw. I called the dentist, hoping to just get some medicine called in, but they wanted to see me right away.
I have to tell you that I'm not one that likes to have the dentist poke and pry at my teeth. Especially when there's definitely something wrong. To me that spells N-E-E-D-L-E-S. I HATE NEEDLES. I'd rather stay home and deal with the pain than get it fixed. I'm real bad about that. But, after getting yelled at by the hubby, I still went.
As I suspected, I had an infection from something getting stuck in part of my tooth that had broken way back-that I never had fixed because it was way back in my mouth. So, they fixed everything and put me on antibiotics and sent me home. Yes, I had to deal with it for our trip and it did put a bit of a damper on my good time. Today, I still sit here hurting, so I'm wondering if I will have to go back to see if they have to do more work.
So, yes, I'm still alive (thanks Sis, for checking in) and trying real hard to concentrate on working because it's really hard to do anything mentally when you have sharp, pulsating pain shooting up your jaw. As I edit my novel, I'm tempted to change the story to someone stalking a dentist for all the needles he's stuck in her mouth.

Am I a glutton for punishment?

We've decided to go back to Coralville Mall again this weekend for one last mini trip. I know. Those shoppers were tyrants and I had to soak my heels for a week. But, I like that mall and I'm not going to let something like a bunch of tailgating shoppers bully me, by golly!

I'm really looking forward to it and so are the kids. Emily already has her shopping list ready- big bag of cotton candy to bring back for Daddy, a Barbie, and two thousand rides on the carousel. Jordon did not go with us last time, so I'm sure we'll have to find every video store. Jessica will just ask for money and then probably not spend it. I'll probably just come home with nothing and my hubby will ask, why do you go on a shopping trip and not buy anything? I will answer with, just the thrill of going somewhere is enough for me. Then he will feel guilty and take me out to dinner.

I also get to watch little Zman this weekend because Jessica is going to Chicago on Saturday with a friend. I must be getting better about her leaving town because my first thought was about wondering how I will baby proof my living room for the day instead of my usual OH-MY-GOSH-YOU-CAN'T-LEAVE-TOWN-BECAUSE-I-WILL-WORRY-SO-MUCH-I-WILL-DIE!!

So hopefully, the baby won't wear me out too much on Saturday that I am tired for our Sunday trip because I'll need all my strength to run away from those mean shoppers.

We may have to start calling him "Farrah"

When little Zachary came over today, I must have blinked and his hair poofed out, because I don't recall it being SO long and curly yesterday.

I was holding him in my lap and I realized that his bangs actually feather over to the side. I know the "in" style is going back to the Farrah Fawcett look to an extent, but I'm not sure if they meant it for a one year old boy.
Gosh darn it though, he still looks cute even if his hair is looking a bit girly.

My name is Bond-James Bond.

This weekend my oldest daughter and I went undercover to promote my wedding magazine, Wedding Bliss. Yes, I'm not proud of it, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do to get your name out there. I can hear my grandma turning in her grave right now wondering, What in heaven's sake did you do, Teresa?!

Ok, it wasn't all that bad. We just pretended that Jessica was getting married next year so we could crash two bridal expos to promote my magazine. One was Saturday and the other on Sunday. We paid, so we really didn't crash them, but we did have alterior motives.

We brought copies of my magazine, hidden in a big purse. My plan was to go through the whole place and collect business cards from the vendors, get the free stuff (hey, get off my back, I did pay, ok?) and then on the way out, hand out the magazines to unsuspecting brides and run like hell out the door before the bridal expo police came after us.

So, on our first expo day, (Sat) it went well and I actually got up some nerve to mention my magazine to some vendors and offered some free advertising and I even saw the DJ that did my wedding six years ago who I didn't remember, but he had remembered me! That was some flattery(yes, I will take anything). My daughter kind of got caught up in the whole wedding thing after awhile and started saying that she wanted to get married, so I did have to slap her back to reality a couple of times.

When we got through all the vendors, it was time to pass out the magazines. I took out the magazines and I quickly passed them out to the brides while we headed towards the exit. All the while, my heart pumping so hard, it felt like it was going to jump out of my chest. We finally got to the front door and I'm all like Run! and I take off while my daughter is laughing at me, calling me a dork.

On Sunday, I decided to take a different approach. I decided that this time, I would not pass out and magazines and just talk to the vendors and tell them how wonderful they are and could we please network so I do not jump off a cliff out of depression because nobody knows about my magazine?

We were actually signed up for the early bird special, so we got to get free wine and hors d'oeuvres. So, we ate and drank the wine first and then we hit the vendor's booths. Everyone was great after the initial surprise of me bombarding them with a sales pitch at a bridal expo. I even saw my DJ buddy again who waved and yelled, Hi Tess! I had one vendor tell me that they would be happy to display my magazine in their studio and I could even bring in a magazine rack. (NOTE TO SELF: Where the hell do you get magazine racks??)

So, I didn't have to run away at Sunday's expo and I got a crap load of free stuff, including about a million pens, and I decided that I will definately be renting a booth next year. Now, get off my back and quit making me feel guilty already! Wait. Maybe that's my conscious yelling at me...

The mean man in the white jacket is not so mean anymore.

Unfortunately, our household has become germ infested with a case of strep throat. After two days of Emily running a fever, we decided to take her to the doctor. If you are a long time reader, you know that Emily has a total phobia of doctors which stemmed from having to go to the dentist awhile back and having major dental work done. After that, she was all like, I'M NOT GOING TO ANY DOCTOR AND I WILL MAKE YOUR LIFE MISERABLE IF YOU MAKE ME GO.

When she started getting sick, I should have been all worried about what the heck she had, but in all honesty, I was more concerned if we were going to have to borrow a straight jacket or promise her four million dollars to get her to go.

So, when I calmly explained to her that we just might have to visit the most horrible person in the world, she surprised me by jumping up and yelling, YEAH!!!

I was all like, Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat??? Did you hear me right? The doctor. We are going to the doctor. The person you hate more than anyone and how you would even rather get your ears pierced then go there?

As she was still jumping she yelled, "Mommy, I WANT to go to the doctor. They have Princess stickers!"

Okay, some how I must of missed this transformation from thinking that the doctor is the devil to the doctor being the-bestest-person-in-the-world-who-has-Princess-stickers. Ok, I can now start believing in little fairies and Santa Claus.

So, we got ready and she was all smiles all morning and telling me how she was going to let the doctor look at her throat and eyes and even her belly button. Everything was great until it was time to go. Then, right before her dad was ready to take her, she stops right in front of the door and states, "I'm not going".

I tried not to panic. I asked her why she changed her mind and she tells me that, well, she decided that she already has enough Princess stickers. I instantly started calculating in my head how much money we had in the bank and if it would be enough to bribe her. A second mortgage, maybe?

I then remembered that we had also promised her a visit to Whitey's for Smurf ice cream-her favorite treat to eat. I took a deep breath and crossed my fingers and shouted, "Don't forget, you get to get Smurf ice cream!"

She thought a moment and then pointed her finger at me and said, "Ok, I'll go this one time."

Thank you God, I thought to myself. I then promised to go to church on Sunday for the next three thousand months.

So how did it go? She did great except for yelling at the doctor for making her eyes water when they stuck that stick down her throat. Oh, and they only had Barbie stickers, so she wasn't to happy about that. I'll have to make a mental note to call them and tell them that next time they better have Princess stickers-the fate of the world depended on it.

And even MORE conversations with a 4 year old.

Me: "Emily, when do you want to get your ears pierced?"
Emily: "Um, when I'm big-at Christmas time."
Me: "That's in a couple of months."
Emily: "Oh. How about the tomorrow after that. Or the tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow and tomorrow after that?"
Me: "Ok. Are you sure?"
Emily: " And the tomorrow after that."
Me: "Ok."
Emily: "Mom?"
Me: "What?"
Emily: "How about NEVER?!"


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Emily: "How many teeth do I have to brush?"
Dad: "Just the ones you want to keep."


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Emily: "Dad. I will love you if you give me a hundred dollars."
Dad: "You're just like your mother."

Yellow and black season

Have you had enough of my he's-so-cute-I-could-eat-him-up grandson? Ok, fine.

Yesterday, was all about the first official Steelers game. There was planning. There was deep frying. There was Steelers attire brought out.

Then, we ate while watching. We complained how badly Black Eyed Peas sang while watching. We sat while watching. We(hubby) yelled at the tv screen while watching. We (I) typed on the laptop while watching.

After that, I spent the rest of the game trying to ignore a terrible tummy ache that came about after supper. I don't think it was the wings, but maybe the 3 day old tuna salad I had for lunch.

Yep. Don't tell a die hard Steelers fan that you might need to go to the hospital to get your stomach pumped until at least halftime and then you better hope the emergency room isn't busy and can they please be done before the third quarter starts?

Emily usually gets tired of wearing her jersey about 5 mins into the game. She did pretty good this game and even posed for photos so we can send them to The Post Gazette.

The things you do for the ones you love.

I never was into football until I met my husband. I never even pretended to like it to win over any other guy that I had been dating. So, I knew I loved my husband when I actually cared to know what an interception was.

A Laboring Weekend

We survived the holiday weekend and ended it with Zachary's birthday party.

He had a monkey cake.

He got lots of presents.

I'm not sure if he knew what was going on.

But I think he started becoming allergic to opening presents.

Or maybe just to monkeys.

Boy, will she need that when he starts walking.

At the end of the night-and it was late-him and Grandpa both passed out on the couch.

I can't wait until Christmas.

Sep/Oct issue!

The new issue!

Happy Birthday Zachary!

Dear Zach-

Today you turn ONE! I can't believe that you've been around for a whole year. We've been through alot together already and I wouldn't change being a grandma (so young-ha). You are my little boy and we all love you so much.

I see a wonderful personality in you and I'm sure you will do great things when you are older. I know you will protect your mommy from any harm and you are a great son and some day I'm sure you'll be a great big brother-not for a LONG time though, ok?

I hope you have a fun first birthday and get lots of fun stuff. I know Nana's getting you lots of toys and maybe some loud ones too just to annoy Mommy.

We love you and we wouldn't trade you for anything, not even a double hot fudge sundae with three cherries on top.

Happy Birthday, Booger.

"Pop" goes your brain cells

Got this from my cousin-ouch!


Pop Corn téléphone portable micro-ondes
Uploaded by sassiere. - News videos hot off the press.

Looney Tunes and Safeway get together.

We received our Eating Right Kids lunchbox set for review and it was awesome. Emily wanted to try it out right away, so we unpacked the goodies and set out to do our review!

It came with a lunch bag containing pasta, juice, fruit and a chewy bar.

Emily loved it and finished it off fast. I was lucky that I hurried up and got a photo of it and her!

What I liked-

I liked that it was simple yet healthy. Kids can be picky eaters and mine needs flavor in her food and she said it was yummy.

I also like that it would be simple to put together. I don't like having to spend my whole morning putting together a lunch and hoping that it still stays intact by the time lunch comes around.

What I might change-

Not sure with the pasta needing heating up if they brought it to school without the capabilities to do so.

So, go visit safeway.com and find out how you can give your children a safe and healthy lunch or snack!