Thursday, December 30, 2010

Looking Forward, Looking Back (2010 In Review).

Did you know that I started this blog as my 2010 New Year's resolution? I have to say, it was quite possibly the best gift I could have ever given myself. I also couldn't have done it without any of you - you lovely and kind people that chanced to stop by my corner of the interweb, pull up a virtual chair, take a look around, and decide that it wasn't too scary of a place to stay awhile. I simply could not have made V2B happen without you - and if it were possible for you to see me right now you would see rainbows shooting out of my eyeballs in your general direction. You would also see a unicorn standing behind me while I sit on a giant spotted toadstool in a quiet meadow surrounded by flitting fairies who are all singing in tinkly-bell voices and crying tears of gratitude for you that turn into magical flowers, blooming into colors that have never before been imagined by mere mortals.

It's a good thing you can't see me right now. Because all of that is true. Every single last word.

Right. So that was the world's most long-winded way of saying thank you, thank you, and thank you again for being here with me this year...and what a year it was! From my first ever blog post, to house hunting and owning, celebrating my baby's first birthday and my big girl's first day of school, and of course the mind-blowing stories about Nissa running away from home and Inara getting a baby wrap named after her. What an amazing year, indeed.

I thought it would be fun to put together a selection of my favorite posts of this past year, for all of you that are feeling a bit nostalgic (like me) at the end of 2010. It was so neat to go back and read through everything we've been through this year, and I'm so looking forward to what the new year has in store for us. I hope that this will be just the start of many more amazing stories that are waiting to be told.

I hope that everyone has a fantastic new year, one that is filled with happiness and hope and the promise of infinite possibilities for all of us. It's going to be the very best 2011 ever, friends. I can feel it in my bones!

I'll see you on the flip side - I'll see you next year!

Hello, World...Now Please Pass the Manti-Perspirant 
"In the midst of all this pathetic self-involvement, the tragedy of the earthquake struck Haiti and it made me take a step back for just a second.  In the middle of diaper changes I realized that I needed to say something about it, and that I wanted people to hear me.  Too many times us Mamas don't get heard.  We don't get the chance to say that we are smart, caring, and involved in the world around us.  That we can make a difference.  And so I posted about Haiti, took a very deep (caffeine-laced) breath and hit Publish, and then I did the unthinkable.  I shared my post...eeeeeeek!"

This Post Is Full Of Poop
"Inara, can you please lean forward a little?"  and then she said: "Like this, Mama?  And don't forget to tell me to spread my legs WIDE, just like my Daddy always tells me to do!"

How To Teach Your Kid To Hate The Olympics
"I just want to STOP!  I DON'T LIKE the Olympics!  And I DO NOT LIKE CANADA!  I don't WANT to be a Canadian ANYMORE!!!"

Wanna Know What We Did This Weekend?
"I really think that buying your first house is a lot like having a baby.  There's the nervous time where you're not sure if it's actually going to happen, the waiting around expectantly, and then the moment you will never forget as long as you live - The Moment Your Offer Is Accepted - which is a lot like giving birth (It's a boy!  It's a girl!  It's a colonial!  It's a foursquare! Oh my frog, it's OURS!)."

Constance McMillen And A Community Gone Mad
"This is not the world I want for my children, for your children, or for our future leaders.  This hatred, this seething undercurrent of discrimination that people think is normal is anything but.  It's vile and it needs to stop." 

Surly Girl
"I can SO see her in there now, listening to her angsty Rainbow Brite records, chugging back big swigs of water, wearing her badass bike helmet and glove, and mulling over the unfairness of the world in general.

Sometimes it's so hard to be a four year old."

Because You Asked Me About Ramadan...
"Childhoods are funny things.  Even when we don't realize it's happening - and even if we can't look back and say that it was all roses - there are certain memories, etched on a soul with sunlight and laughter, that are ours alone to smile about all those years later.  For me, Ramadan is one of those times."

Surely My Brain Could Be Put To Better Use.
"I can't leave the house without schmutz on my shirt but I can Blame It On The Rain.
I can't exercise without pulling a cramp but I'm still Gonna Make You Sweat.
I can't compliment my husband without telling him that he's Pretty Fly For a White Guy."

The Night Before EidHashanah
"We might wear hijabs and our men might have beardsBut we’re not evil people, you have nothing to fear.
So what if we don’t have friends in high places,
We’ve got lots of oil to fuel your NASCAR races!"

You are a child of the universe, No less than the trees and the stars; You have a right to be here.
"Tell your children today that you love them.  Tell them that you have loved them since the day they were born.  Tell them that they are perfect and beautiful and full of wonder and possibility and hope and love.  Tell them that their love can transform the world."

Wearever After.
"Wearing Inara allowed her to trust me again.  I spoke to her in hushed tones while she lay against me, no matter what hospital we were in and what procedure we were undergoing.  I told her that I loved her and that I was sorry.  I begged her to trust me again and I promised her that I would never leave her alone in pain and confusion.  I promised to keep her close to me so that she could learn that her Mama was safe."

To Key Or Not To Key... 
"You must fix this. Now." I whispered - because when I'm really REALLY mad, I go beyond the yelling stage. I go right to Homicidal Whispering.  That's how you know I'm serious.

Get Your (Harry Potter) Geek On!  

"Nekkid making-out apparitions have flawless skin. Jealous.

The Talk (sort of). "Mama, when I grow up and have babies and live here with you forever, I'm going to need your van, okay? Because I really need to get out sometime. I just wanted you to know that. Oh, and I love you and thanks for the van."


And my favorite picture of this past year - one that embodies exactly how you guys make me feel:

Thanks for all the love and support! Happy New Year!

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Peace and Tranquility.


Our New Year's cards arrived late last week, and I have to say that I am so pleased with how they turned out. Thanks again to everyone who weighed in and helped me choose them, they are certainly bright and happy and my life is now complete...except for the fact that I haven't yet mailed any of them. Every time I sit down (with a mug of hot caffeinated beverage and a decorative bowl of cinnamon-scented pine cones to channel my prettiest seasonal penmanship), something insane happens. 

Right after I took a sip of that beverage, both girls spontaneously erupted into tears. They are basically dealing with the aftereffects no sleep combined with excessive amounts of chocolate ingestion and the euphoria of getting their way for four days in a row. Yousuf and I are calling it the post-Christmas sugar/grandparent detox period of the holiday, and it ain't pretty folks. In fact, it's downright insane. Convincing your kids to not clobber each other with cardboard gift wrap tubes should not be this hard. 

(You can actually tell that my drink went cold in that photo - there's a grody ring around the cup that marks where I took the one and only sip of caffeine that is supposedly going to sustain me for the rest of the day. Hah!)

The only saving grace is that I was smart and got New Year's cards - so even if it takes me 365 days to get them mailed, technically I'm still okay. To my family and friends, don't judge me too harshly if you see one of these appear on your doorstep in July. If you had to deal with the post-holiday crazies you'd completely understand my predicament.

Oh, and I just realized that I might qualify for certified geniushood because nowhere on those cards does it mention the year. So if the cardboard-tube negotiating doesn't end well, I could just mail them later....like maybe when the girls are in college? I'm sure nobody will notice the difference in their appearance at all.

Aren't the holidays just GRAND?!?!?!

Friday, December 24, 2010

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmahanukwanzafestisolstieid.


No matter what holiday you are celebrating, or even if you aren't celebrating anything at all, here's wishing all of you a lovely holiday (and a few days off from the hustle and bustle of the world). I will see everyone next week sometime, after I've indulged in obscene amounts of sugary treats. 

I may need someone to come and pull me out of my sugar coma.

Now please enjoy this wreath that I so craftily made for our front door. It took oodles of talent, and I am very proud of it. Sticking tiny pins through hundreds of pom-poms takes SKILL, you know. 

Just call me Martha.

Happy, Happy Holidays, friends! Lots of love and best wishes to all of you from all of us here at V2B - we hope you have a very warm holiday filled with wonderful memories. 

See you on the flip side!

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Chop Chop.

Look, I know that we just discussed Inara's new haircut ad nauseum. And I know you're probably over reading anything having to do with hair, but I think there is something important that I need to share with you...

...and if there is one topic in the universe that is more important than Inara's hair, then surely it's MY hair.

Right?

Okay, so here is me yesterday afternoon, reveling in the bounty of my insanely long hair. Absolutely delighting in it's hugeness. Positively traumatized at the thought of letting a pair of scissors anywhere near my luscious mane...


Or not. 
I think Yousuf was a bit worried...he wasn't quite sure what I was getting myself into, but if I told you how long it's been since I've visited my hairdresser, you'd understand why I looked more than a little deranged.

Okay fine, I'll tell you. It's been NINETEEN MONTHS since I cut  my hair!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Surely that's a new world record or something!

It's not that I haven't wanted to cut my hair, believe me I have been wanting a trim/cut/anything for longer than Nissa has been alive. I knew the last time I cut my hair (when I was 9 months pregnant and counting) that it would be some time before I could manage another visit, but I never imagined it would take THIS long. But throw in baby #2, moving, and baby #1 starting school and all of a sudden I never had any time left for me. 

Until yesterday!!

Here is a slightly less-deranged photo of me before I visited my stylist (who took one look at me when I walked in and said, "You can NOT go this long before seeing me EVER AGAIN. Understand?" Yes, ma'am! Understood!!):


And I'm giving all of you fair warning, so that you're not completely shocked out of your gourd the way Yousuf was when I came home. I even gave the man a heads-up! 

Look!! Here's me giving him a heads-up:
"Everything is going to be FINE, honey!  It's just hair...it'll grow back!"

Nothing prepared him for this, though. Probably because when I told him that I needed "a change" I forgot to leave out the word "drastic". Oops. My bad. 

So tell me...what do you think of my new 'do??


IT'S ALL GONE!!!

Apart from my neck being a bit chilly (note to self: invest in scarves!), I think I like it! It's also been flat-ironed and I'm curious to see what happens when I wash it and the curls spring up (I'm thinking South Asian Shirley Temple meets sleep-deprived mama - ATTRACTIVE!)...so we'll just see what happens. I'm telling myself that it's just hair, and that my hair especially will grow back FAST. 

For the next nineteen months however, I'm just going to enjoy this.


It's sort of like an early New Year's present just for me. And I totally deserve it!

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

The Big Snip.

Yesterday, Inara had her first haircut. It was a big deal, because she's never had a haircut before, because we all went together to support her, and MOST IMPORTANTLY...

...because I didn't cry, NOT EVEN ONCE.

I know, you're utterly shocked - aren't you?

I didn't cry when I took these very last beautiful long-hair photos...



Gotta love that stink eye. Precious girl.

And I didn't even sniffle when we got to the little girls' salon (Shout out to the Pittsford Sweet & Sassy! You ladies are amazing and made us all feel so special!) and Inara asked to hold her Daddy's hand for that first snip because she felt "Just a little bit nervous, Daddy. But not too much if you stay with me."


Okay, I may have sniffled just the teeniest bit right then. But only just a minuscule, well-covered-up-by-a-cough sniffle. Nobody even noticed.

Especially not Inara, who was too busy talking to her stylist:

 "Wow! I am surprised that haircutting doesn't hurt AT ALL!"

Mama doesn't look like sniffly AT ALL in this picture.

We actually had lots of fun together. The stylist was simply amazing - she talked and joked with Inara, and was able to hop around as Inara moved her head allllllllll over the place (she said she was an expert in "moving haircuts"). I tried to help by making my sweet girl laugh:


 And I didn't even tear up when I saw my baby being transformed right before my very eyes:

Insert another well-covered-up sniffle here.

Luckily Inara (and her mama) had a great cheering squad looking out for us:

Mama! Why do you look so sniffly? It's just HAIR. Daddy and I think it's way overrated anyway.

I didn't even wipe away a tiny tear while Inara was getting her first blow-out...


...or especially when we did the big reveal:

"Wow! I like it! My hair is so POOFY! So, can I have a lollipop now?"

I'm lying, of course. At this point it was getting a bit difficult to contain my emotions:

Maybe if I smile REALLY REALLY WIDE, nobody will notice me babbling on incoherently about 
MY BABY GROWING UP SO FAST....waaaaaaah!

After her cut (and lollipop), the stylist asked if Inara would like sparkles in her hair ("Yes please!") and also if she wanted some hairspray that smelled like cotton candy ("No thanks. People aren't supposed to smell like candy!"). Then, she took Inara to the back of the salon where there was dance music pumping beneath a glowing disco ball, a changing room, and get this - A STAGE.

I died. And cried. While I died.







There are no words.

Just lots and lots of well-covered-up sniffles.

And sparkles. Everywhere. I think I even found some in between my toes last night.

Inara looks...breathtakingly beautiful. I know I might be just a little bit biased when I say that, but it's not just her hair. I forgot how good it feels to be pampered, for someone to tell you that you are special and beautiful and sweet and smart. By the end of the day, Inara was positively glowing. Even when I asked if I could take her portrait, she tried to give me some of her patented stink-eye...


...but even that didn't last very long. 


Later that night, when we were getting ready for bed, I told Inara that I had made an appointment to get my hair cut on Wednesday. She was elated:

"Mama! When you go to your salon do you get lollipops and sparkles?"
"No, sweetie - I just get my hair cut at my salon."
"Oh, no! You mean you don't even get to dress up and go on a stage afterward? Mama! I am so SORRY! Don't feel bad though, maybe we can ask MY haircutter to cut your hair. She can give you sparkles and you can feel much much better!"

Sweet girl, with the gorgeous, short SHORT hair:


...you are such a beautiful soul, inside and out. You make my heart dance, little love. Thanks for putting up with your mushy mess of a mama yesterday. I just needed some time to catch up with all this getting bigger-ness. I hope you will understand, if not today - then someday. 

Sometimes Mamas just need a minute to catch their breath.

Especially when they see something as lovely as you. 


The End. 
p.s. - does anyone know where I can get some big, beautiful accessories for my girlies' hair? I say "girlies'" and not "girlie's" because Nissa has already claimed the flower clip in the above photo for her Alfalfa-esque sprout of hair. It looks pretty darned cute, too. But I do need more for her big sis! xoxoxmahreen

Monday, December 20, 2010

Kissing Games.

My girls love it when guests come to visit.

Especially when they get to fight over those guests...

...for kisses.

It always starts off so innocently...


...with the poor unassuming victim (my baby nephew, Ameer, in this case) in a prime position to be smooched.


*smooch*

So sweet...until Nissa notices, and in the true spirit of sibling rivalry, decides to plant a pucker of her own:


Not to be outdone by her pint-sized nemesis, Inara goes in for round two. And this time, she goes for it not once...


...but twice.

Just for good measure.


Poor Ameer. He looks so weary of all the ladies constantly fighting over him.

It's such a curse to be that cute.

At least that's what they tell me.

By the time Inara went in for her THIRD smooch, Nissa had had quite enough.


"Oh no, she DI'INT!!"

Oh yes she did, baby girl. Whatcha gonna do about it?

I have to hand it to my youngest daughter...she will never go down without a fight. She looked as if she was completely unperturbed as Inara went in for a record-breaking fourth pucker:


And before we knew it...

WHAMMO!

She is so fast. We hardly saw it coming.


Poor Ameer.

If his little head could talk it would be saying squish.

I should tell my in-laws to beware when they visit us this week. They should be prepared to be attacked by my two little competitive kissers.

I guess there's worse things in life than to be simultaneously kissed by these girls. Right Ameer?

SQUISH.

Friday, December 17, 2010

Peckish.

This blog used to stand for something. It used to stand for important things, like drawing attention to humanitarian disasters, civil rights issues and promoting interfaith tolerance. But no longer. We have devolved here at V2B. Because, all I want to talk about lately...

is FOOOOOOOOD.

Nom nom nom nom nom.

Oh sure, I could blog about importantish things that have caught my eye whilst searching online for yummy holiday recipies. Things like this NY Times column about Dr. Hawa Abdi - a heroic, female Muslim who is standing up to the militia in Somalia and empowering women in her country (found while I was oogling the tasty treats seen here). Or I could write about the latest in the ongoing WikiLeaks saga (which is so going to become a blockbuster movie in our lifetime).

Or we could just talk about cookies.

Yummmmmmmmmm. Cookies.

I really want to try to be more serious. But COOKIES, people. It's really all about priorities right now. Seriousness can wait...until after cookie season.

So please forgive my ignorance of all things worldly for just a little while, friends. I really can't help myself, and I promise to return to my senses sometime after this holiday cooking craving is over. I can't guarantee exactly when that will be....but in the meantime, let's focus on this:

Pan-Seared Oatmeal with Warm Fruit Compote and Cider Syrup from the NY Times Well Blog (scroll down for recipe). Photo taken over Thanksgiving...I'm  totally going to make this again when the family visits next week. Drooooooool.

Now what was that I was saying about paying attention to serious issues? I've forgotten because I want to lick my computer screen. 

I think I need professional help.
If you'd like to help me get over this current food obsession, please send me your yummiest holiday recipes. I've never entertained during the holidays, and I really could use some tried-and-true recipes to get through it in one piece. Appetizers, desserts, treats, anything that you love is something that I'm going to love to try. Bonus points for being slightly easy and slightly healthy...but it's not a requirement (shhhh...don't tell Yousuf aka Broccoli Boy! I'll just tell him that I stuck some green stuff in his melty brie topping. Mmmmmm...melty brie...anyone have a good recipe for that?). We are vegetarian though - so no meat-filled cookie cream puffs. Sorry for being such a downer.

Are you ready for some great food posts? I know I am! Comment below or on my Facebook page or on Twitter - and don't forget to share those recipes! My current food craze thanks you.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

A No-Win Situation.

Inara still has good days and bad days when it comes to school. Most days she is fine once she GETS to school, but for the hour beforehand - that frazzled hour when I'm trying to get lunch into her while untangling her hair and also willing Nissa to not poop with the sheer force of my mind so that we're not late again....well, that time is pure hell. I'm not gonna lie. It's not pretty.

Most days, our conversations start out like this:
"Inara, are you looking forward to school today? I think you're going to have a lot of fun doing XYZ activity or playing with XYZ friend!"

To which I inevitably get this reply:
"Yeah. I guess. Will Sadie (her cute and sweet and adorable friend) be there? Because that's the only person I really want to see. And also? I think I'm starting to feel nervous. I think I really AM nervous, Mama...because....I'm going to MISS you. Oh, Mama! I just don't want to be away from you!!!!!!"

Followed by mass hysteria. Followed by me picking up the pieces of my broken heart off the floor and putting them back together as I shove everyone out the door. Followed by more moaning and groaning and consoling in the car, on the way, walking into school, taking off coats and the worst worst WORST part - when I have to look at her big, huge, watery eyes as I walk away from her. I hates it, I do.

Meanwhile, Nissa is blowing a nut because she has either pooped or because she wants to stay at school forever and ever and how DARE I take her away from all the bright shiny things! Mean Mommy.

I think things are getting better though. It used to be that Inara would feel sad after I had left - but lately she goes through all her sadness before we even get to school and then when I've left she is apparently as happy as a clam. That is basically the only thing that is preventing me from homeschooling - the knowledge that for us, even being upset for the hour before school starts is better than how things were a month ago. But it does nothing to ease the tension at home, because every day it's the same old song and dance - Inara getting upset and me comforting her, telling her that it's going to be okay, that it's normal to feel nervous and scared, that I will be back to get her SOON. I don't know why she does it to herself, and I don't know why she keeps doing it....I guess it really does feel scary to her, even though she's FINE as soon as I leave. She even comes home and regales me with tales of her escapades in class, so I know she's having fun.

Sometimes I feel like the only person she's really upset with...is me.

Truthfully, I'm really looking forward to winter break. I'm looking forward to not fighting about school, to just being happy spending the whole day together, and having a little bit of peace. I've actually been really bad about her schedule lately and have let her stay home from school once a week just so that I don't have to deal with her anxiety. Bad, bad, Mama, I know. But it's just Pre-Kindergarten...next year will be better. Right?

So get this. Today, her class was going on a field trip - swimming. Normally what happens on Thursdays is that I drop Inara off at school, rush back to get Nissa to take a nap, and then wake Nissa up an hour and a half later, and rush to pick Inara up from school. But today, Yousuf is giving finals and he needed the car during the time Inara would have been at school. Well, in my infinite wisdom (ha ha HA), I told Inara's teacher that she wouldn't be attending the field trip, so that Yousuf could have the car, and also because if Inara was going swimming I really wanted to be there with her. Her teacher said it was absolutely no problem, that she also preferred a parent attend the swimming field trip with each child (for safety), and if that wasn't going to be possible, then we could just take a day off and have fun at home.

Well, yesterday Inara found out WHY she wasn't going to school today. And you'd think that given everything she's been feeling about school lately, that she'd be happy for the break. Well, that kind of thinking would involve logic, which DOES NOT APPLY TO THIS CHILD.

This is what she is saying, in the other room - to nobody in particular, mind you - right now:
"I really really wanted to go to school today. I really love school. But my Mama said that I couldn't go. And all I wanted was to go to school to go swimming with Sadie. But my Mama said that she has to go with me. But I don't NEED HER to go. I'm big. I can go by MYSELF. With Sadie. Why can't I JUST. GO. TO. SCHOOL????"

Sometimes, a Mama just can't win.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Feelin' Flaky.

We took a much-needed respite from the hustle and bustle of the world this weekend, to be together as a family and just enjoy each other's company. Yousuf and I turned off our laptops and telephone ringers and sat down at the table to make some paper snowflakes with the kids. It was perfectly sweet and rejuvenating...and utterly hilarious.

Inara had never cut out snowflakes before and was entranced by the method of folding, cutting, unfolding and revealing her snowy creations. Before long, she was handling the scissors and snipping out some beautiful shapes of her own:


Not bad for her first time out!

Here was the one that I did with her. It's simple, but still classy...


And this one was supposed to be mine, but then Nissa claimed it for herself:


But somewhere in the midst of all that happy and sweet family fun, things took a decidedly competitive turn. I'd like to say that Yousuf started it, but that would be untrue. I totally egged him on. I was waving around my pretty little snowflakes when I noticed that he was concentrating. Really hard. Not a good sign. When he was done, he unfolded Darth Snowflake:


Be still my nerdling heart. What can I say, the man's got talent!

Not to be outdone, I grabbed the only weapon I could think of and went to town. I'm talking, of course, about the one thing that would take my fanciful flakes to the next level. Who would ever be able to resist a pretty, GLITTERY snowflake?

(By this time the girls had decided that the dustbunnies under the sideboard were far more interesting than whatever insanity their parents were indulging themselves in.)

Back to the snowflakes, people! Note the fine lines:


Note the perfect execution, the attention to detail...and most importantly, note the GLITTER:

Shiny!

But that crafty husband of mine wasn't ready to be outdone by glitter. Oh, no he wasn't. Before I could say, "Beat That, Boba Fett!" he unveiled his masterpiece:


As he was more than happy to point out, his snowflake contained not one but TWO different Star Wars characters in it. That's Advanced Snowflake-Making, in case you didn't know. I didn't. But what I did know was that I simply could not let this blatant one-upmanship go on any longer. It was supposed to be family time! We were supposed to be making warm fuzzy memories over hot chocolate and home-baked treats and birds chirping and snow falling and cute little woodland creatures dancing around us while singing Kumbaya. 

Ahem. 

Anywhoo - the point is that I decided to put Yousuf out of his misery by ending this snowflake peeing contest. I wasn't doing it for myself. I did it for THE CHILDREN. 

(Yeah, right.)

Fist-pumpin' BOOYAH! In yo' snowflakin' face SUCKA.
(And no, I'm not competitive AT ALL.)

It was glorious! It was magnificent! It was THREE DIMENSIONAL!!!

It was also bigger than Inara's head.


Whatever. I WIN. And all is right with the world once again. 

I LOVE family time!

The Star Wars snowflake template can be found here, and the 3D snowflake instructions are here. Happy family time, and happy (hopefully non-competitive) crafting! xoxoxmahreen

Friday, December 10, 2010

Orange You Glad You Helped Me Choose?

The votes are all in and have been tallied and I am pleased to say that with a resounding voice, you have all voted for the loveliest, most stylish New Years card EVER. I am so pleased with it. I can't wait to print out tons of them and maybe even hang them all over our house in garlands. I might even have it blown up and framed. In each room of our house. Oh, did I mention that it's ORANGE?

Isn't it simply breathtaking?

 WHAT THE WHAT?!?

Ha ha ha ha! I couldn't resist!!!!! Did you fall for it? I just had to do it, after you orange and fuchsia-lovers started coming out of the woodwork.  The only thing funnier than the garish shade of orange that I chose in that mock-up are my impressive Photoshop skills. Don't say you aren't overcome with awe. I could totally make hideous photo cards for a living. 

Okay, okay - I'll get on with it now. The REAL winner of the Blue/Gray Holiday Card Challenge/Fiasco/Lame Giveaway Extravaganza is..... (drumroll please....)


BLLLLLLUUUUUUUEEEEEEE!!!!

I love it! I really really do! Well honestly, I loved both blue AND gray, which is what got me into this mess in the first place, but now that you have all decided for me I can honestly say that I adore the blue card! Thank you to everyone who voted and wrote in and sent me long messages with excellent arguments supporting your choices. If this was a debate team you'd all get trophies! Never before have I seen such impassioned pleas, a selection of which includes the following:

"I am not a lover of gray. It makes me sad. But THAT blue is so cheerful and such a bright, happy card for a good crisp winter. I drove a convertible that color in high school. It was hot :)" -- Mary 

"Is it gray or grey? 'Cause if it's grey, grey, but if it's gray, blue." -- Jillian

"Orange." -- Suzi

"Although I'm dying to say fuchsia, just to be obnoxious, I have to go with gray. It's very classy, and if I've learned one thing from reading your blog, it's that the George family is one class act." -- Jenny

"Orange actually sounds nice..." -- Carrie

Truly, I am blessed with the world's most helpful readers. THANKS A LOT, GUYS. The rest of the comments were, in fact, very helpful but they weren't as funny so they didn't make the Quotation Wall Of Shame. But I do want to thank all of you, it was really nice to just sit back and let someone else (or elses, as the case may be) do the deciding for me. I might have to do this more often. Who knows, maybe Orange might actually make the cut some day! Or not.

As for the winner of my first ever Really Lame Giveaway, I assigned numbers to all the comments that voted for Blue and then with the help of Random.org, the winner was pronounced to be Hockey Librarian, who posted this genuinely nice and HELPFUL comment:

"I also keep photo cards, there are more packrats in the world than El Cheapitan realizes. ;) Despite that I like typing grey to make people think I can't spell..., oh wait, I can't spell... uhm... I like your lovely blue card better, it has that wintery icey blue feel to it."

So thank you and congrats...Hockey? Ms. Librarian? I can't think of a better person to win - I should make sure that being a packrat is a pre-requisite for all future Veni Vidi Lame Giveaways in the future! Now if you will please email me your mailing address, you can expect one of the Blue Cards (that you chose!) sometime next year. 

As for the rest of you lovelies - THANK YOU SO MUCH. You turned this incredibly stressful thing into something fun for me. I wish I could add each of you to my mailing list and send  you a card to stick in your scrapbooks and never ever throw away!

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Just Decide, Already!

'Tis the season, folks. You know, the season of panic-induced hyperventilating brought on by the never-ending quest for perfectionism as a result of TRYING TO MAKE SOME HAPPY FAMILY MEMORIES, DAMMIT.

Case in point:

I can not choose which holiday card to order. One says style and the other says fun. Both are saying, "Buy Me! I'll make your life complete! You will treasure me forever! People will never want to throw me and my well-chosen hues away!" - or at least that's what they're saying in my head.

So maybe I'm losing my mind over this, just a wee bit. So I decide to let someone else decide for me - just so I don't have to. Here's how it went down:

Friend 1 - Blue!
Friend 2 - Gray!
El Cheapitan - Why are we doing this, again? You know people are just going to throw it away, right?
Me - arrrrrgggggggggggggggggllllllllllllflllllllllblllllllllllfffffffffffppppppppppfffffffffffffttttttt!!

You guys have to help me. This is driving me NUTS.

Here is the "Blue" Card:

And here is the "Gray" one:
 

Now YOU choose. So that I can stop obsessing over this one thing and move onto obsessing over more important things. Like seating charts. Who wants to vote on where I'll be putting El Cheapitan (my vote is at the kiddie table)?

Leave your comment (Blue! Gray! Orange! Who cares!) below, or on my Facebook page, or on Twitter. I'll tally everything up tomorrow afternoon, and hopefully get my order in on time for these to arrive sometime before the New Year.

And also, just to sweeten the deal (as if you needed more encouragement, lovely readers that you are), I'll randomly select one comment out of those who chose the winning card color and send them a treasured, heirloom, signed, autographed....

Holiday Card.

Don't say I never do anything for you!

Thank you in advance for keeping me out of the looney bin...at least for a couple of days.

Aren't the holidays JUST GRAND?!?!?!
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