just in case you didn't know

PSF - my own little band of Hell's Angels

We had a little fun last week

Got to be a little crazy...

And got a chance to be "bad"


Hell's little Angels, right?

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

a helpful letter to the management at Victoria's Secret

Dear Manager at Victoria's Secret,

I'm so sorry to see the that the recession has hit your store so hard. Apparently you can no longer provide any sort of customer service training for your employees.

Here are a few tips, free of charge, that might help you improve the very lacking customer service.

1. When a customer walks in the store, look at them and acknowledge presence with a "hello, how are you today." Or, at the very least, a head nod.

2. When said customer has an armful of bras and is pushing a double stroller, feel free to ask if they need help or would like their selected items to be placed in a dressing room.

3. In the event that said employee does not do that and the customer finally asks for a dressing room, note that she is pushing a double stroller and will need the largest dressing room. This is not to be confused with the smallest dressing room. If said customer is not accommodated, please note that two unruly children will be running and/or crawling around the store, one of whom is very fond of taking the panties out of the drawer and flinging them haphazardly. The other will merely be content to chew on the panties that have been flung.

4. When customer asks for a bra in a different size yet the same color and the store does not have that size/color combination in stock, do not stand there blankly staring at the wall. Lift your arm and gesture towards the slightly different but very similar style of bra a few racks over. Walking over there and looking to see if preferred bra size/color is available would be an even better option.

5. In the event that no one is at the register, yet an employee is standing near the register, direct said employee to either a) go to register to assist customer or b) use store-issued headset/walkie talkie to contact other employee in assisting customer.

I hope you find these tips helpful.

Seriously ticked off,

Emily

*UPDATE* After I posted this, I was contacted by a manager at VS's corporate offices and they sent me a gift card in response to my poor experience.

you don't know what you got until it's gone

Warning!!!

This is a post about breasts. You know, boobs. My boobs in particular. So if you are of the male persuasion or simply don't want to read about breasts then this post is NOT for you.

Consider yourself warned and don't come crying to me if you read it anyway and are scarred for life.

Back in the day, you know, before kids, I had what I thought were decent breasts. Now that I've had kids, I've come to realize they were the best breasts ever.

My wedding day...notice the perfect cleavage peeking out the top?

Yet, I didn't appreciate them at the time. I can still remember standing in front of the mirror pointing out my breasts imperfections to my sorority sisters.

(*Note: Even though I didn't fully appreciate them, I did realize their power and went to extremes to take care of them. A friend of my mom's had told me to always wear a bra even at night to prevent sagging. I took that to heart. Seriously, I think the only night of my life I went braless was my wedding night, per my husband's request! And just in case you're wondering, that little tip turned out to be BS. Yep, all those nights of wearing a bra did nothing for me.)

"They're too big!" I would whine, "I can't wear that type of bra with these boobs. I guess I'll just have to go braless. *sigh*"

If I only had that problem now! Now I'm saying, "I can't go braless...they'll poke out the hem of my shirt!"

My friend Lindsey at one point asked her now-husband Webb (aka Alex's boyfriend) if they were fake! Talk about a compliment! That's the best one I've ever received. Natural breasts so firm and perky that you can't tell if they're real or fake! That's boob perfection, my friends.

Then I had kids. Plural. Had I stopped after Jack they probably would have survived. They wouldn't have been the same but they were ok, like average, yk.
But Melody, my champion nurser, sucked. me. dry. She would probably still be nursing if I let her! They were pretty much a mere saggy memory of what had been after Melody got through with them. Charlie finished them off. Even the slightest hint of what they used to be is gone now.

Now instead of trying to find shirts that cover them appropriately, I am looking for clothing that will give the illusion of cleavage. I've become pretty good at faking it, thankyouverymuch.

As I've dealt with the emotional turmoil of the loss of what I once viewed as my greatest (physical) quality, my husband has been so supportive. When I asked him to be honest and tell me how they really look he told me he still loved them and they weren't that bad. His exact words were, "It's not like you look like some tribal woman in Africa."

Thanks, honey.

He also told me that he'd be happy to pay for a lift and/or implants.

That's sweet.

Thank goodness the three absolutely adorable children I have were more than worth the price I paid. Don't you agree?

10 months

My sweet little guy is 10 months old today. 10 months! Where has the time gone. Just yesterday he was a teeny, tiny, little baby (ok, well, really never tiny!) snuggled up to me. Now's he has better places to be...at least he thinks he does!

At 10 months he...

21+ lbs
crawls and cruises
stands alone briefly
eats anything that can be digested
waves and says bye-bye
shakes his head no
loves to make a spitting noise
has more and darker hair than his brother or sister at this age
has 8 teeth
loves books
dislikes the car
loves Luke
takes two naps/day
loves the bath
hates getting a diaper changed

He also...

loves mac-n-cheese

is the sweetest sleeper

drools. a. lot. Yeah, buddy, I'm talkin' to you!

only wants to play with the big kid toys

constantly makes this funny little face

loves his big brother

and is sometimes loved a little too much by his big sister


is all smiles, all the time!

the power of shoes

My mom is the greeting card queen; she's always on the lookout for funny, appropriate greeting cards. As a result of her greeting card obsession, every once in a while, I will get one in the mail. Now, I am not a greeting card person. I mean, I like them and all but they're just not something I'm super into.

A while ago though she sent me one that really just put life in perspective for me.

This picture is on the front along with these words: Once she was a lowly housemaid dressed in rags. Now she's got a fairy godmother, she's filthy rich, and she lives in a palace with her dreamboat husband.

(You may or may not know that I'm a Disney Princess fanatic. I even wanted to name Melody after Sleeping Beauty. Alex nixed that idea).

On the inside it says this (which is basically my person motto): It's further proof, my friend, that the right shoes CAN change your life!

True fact, my friends, true fact.

PSF - the camera and the gun

Jack watched Bambi for the first time the other day.

I was concerned that he would be upset following the death of Bambi's mother so I had my husband explain to him about hunting.

He was not upset.

In fact, he was more excited about the hunters than anything else. He has also been talking about shooting deer ever since.

My mom said to him, "You know, you can shoot deer with your camera. That's called shooting too."

He replied, "Yeah! I'll shoot them with my camera then I'll shoot them with my gun."

Perhaps he'll start a new show on the ESPN Outdoors channel: Before and After.

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

an (almost) nekkid baby shaking his head no-no

This is one of Charlie's latest tricks....

My genius baby (who is not wearing clothes due to a massive drool situation) can also wave bye-bye. Don't forget to check out the awesome dance move at the end.

not quite ready

In case any of you are wondering, here's where we stand on potty training...

Yep, that's a huggies on that adorable little fanny.
For those of you who have kept up with my blog or follow me on Facebook or Twitter, know that we were off to an awesome start. From day 1 she was excited to go to the potty and happily pranced into the bathroom every time that timer dinged.
By day 3 and 4, I thought it was kind of odd that she still wasn't actually, you know, asking to go to the potty, just expecting me to tell her. I didn't think too much of it though.
We, naturally, had a few accidents. Mostly All when we left the house for more than 20 minutes. That started getting a little frustrating.
Today, she woke up from her nap, extremely wet in a pull-up. Proceeded to potty on my friend, Kirsten's, floor without a second thought about 20 minutes later. The straw that broke the camel's back though was when she tee-teed in her pants while we were at the Farmer's Market (about 45 minutes post floor-peeing despite a potty break in between). Seriously, walking around with wet panties like she doesn't have a care in the world.
Now, I know what you're thinking, that I don't take her to the bathroom often enough. Believe me, we've been going literally every 1/2 hour.
It was there on the way to the Farmer's Market that I realize Melody was actually not potty trained. I was. Melody was just happy to tee-tee in the potty as long as I put her there every 30 minutes or so. Beyond that she was happy to go wherever she was.
Yeah, that doesn't really work for me. I mean it's hard enough potty train a child, but it's even harder when there's a 10 month old trying to climb into the toilet as your 2.5 year old is trying to use it. (Seriously, Charlie, what is your fascination with drinking from the toilet...even Luke doesn't do that!)
So, despite the fact that I feel like a complete failure, I've had to accept that she's just not quite ready. Fortunately, my mom, BFF, and many other friends as well, helped me put it all in perspective. I'm OK with it now. For now, Melody is just as happy as can be just the way she is...who am I to argue with that?!

True Story Tuesday - the flirt

Last week on our way to Resort Mitchell, we stopped in Tuscaloosa for a break and for lunch.

While we were sitting at Atlanta Bread having our sandwiches, there was this guy at the table next to us studying. He was married and, I'm assuming based on his reading material, a law student.

Melody kept looking over there.

She smiled at him.

He smiled back.

She waved.

He waved back.

Then she said, "You like my headband?"

What a flirt!

FMM - Vacations!

It's Friend Makin' Monday again and since Kasey is still on her awesome 30 day road trip, Jolanthe over at No Ordinary Moments is hosting today.

The two part topic is: vacations!

First tell us about your best or worst vacation and then list five places you want to go to on vacation at some point in your life.

Ok, you know I haven't really had a horrible vacation. At least not one I can really remember. Growing up, my family would vacation at the best place on Earth the Outer Banks in North Carolina. We always went with this one other family, got a huge house right on the beach and lived it up for a week or two. We always went the first two weeks of August, aka hurricane season. Most years we were lucky, but we did get evacuated by Hurricane Felix one year. I don't actually remember a lot, even though I was like 15 or something. (Guess that goes to show how self absorbed I was as a teenager! lol). I just really remember that we evacuated to this hotel in Greenville, NC and that I was in close quarters with my brothers (ugh!) and that there was literally nothing to do so we walked around Walmart (ugh again!). Fortunately, it was just for a night and then the next day Felix went on its way up the eastern seaboard and we went back to the Banks.

As far as best vacations go, realy some of my favorite vacation memories are from the Outer Banks; boogie-boarding in the great Atlantic waves, sitting the deck of the beach house watching the dolphins frolick in the waves, looking for shells, riding our bikes around Corolla Light. It was the kind of family vacation I hope to take my children on some day.

My other best vacation was our trip to Italy in 2006. My dad had been the highest bidder on this house

at an auction and off we (Alex, me, my brothers, and my parents) went to Perugia, Italy for a week! It was absolutely fabulous. The scenery was breath-taking and the culture amazing. One of the things I loved the most was multitude of artwork in the beautiful old churches that were everywhere! I loved going into those churches and knowing that painting in there were hundreds of years old! We went to Florence, Assisi, and many other small towns and had a great time.

Except for one small detail that really only affected me.

I was 10 weeks pregnant with Melody. And sick. as. a. dog. The whole time. I got sick on the plane when we landed in Rome and was pretty sick the whole time. And tired. So, I missed out on all the great food and wine since basically all I could stomach was bread. I'm planning on going back just so I can eat and drink there!

This was the view from mine and Alex's bedroom

Machiavelli's tomb in Florence
The cathedral in Assisi
Out of all the artwork we saw, this was my favorite painting. Sorry it's so dark, but flash wasn't allowed. It's Adam and Eve blaming the serpent when God confronts them in the Garden of Eden.
Alex in Florence. Yes, that's a Statue of David apron he's wearing. I laughed so hard when we saw the Statue of David (after waiting in line for over two hours, btw) beacuse my brother said, "Wow. David has the biggest hands ever and the smallest penis!"
My brothers and I walking up the road to Assisi.

Anyway, I really could go on and on for hours about how amazing Italy is. It's definitey a place I want to go back to.

Now for my list of where I want to go. It's so hard to narrow it down to just five places, but I'll try.
Ok, in no particular order:
1. Hawaii
2. London
3. Ireland
4. Greece
5. Alaska

Since we're already on the subject of vacations, whenever I need a vacation, I drink of of these;
In my family, our drink of choice, a gin and tonic, is known as a "Vacation" after my mom once said that "drinking a gin and tonic is like going on vacation!"

teeth, baseball, and wedgies

Here's just a bullet post of a few interesting things going on in the Powell household.

Charlie has just sprouted tooth number 8! Not even 10 months old, he's got four on the bottom and four on the top right now. Here he is (reluctantly) showing them off.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We went to yesterday's Braves game with some friends from our Sunday School class. Alex and I have managed to go a few every year since we've lived here. Jack has gone a few times and this was Melody and Charlie's first experience. Highlights include singing Take Me Out to the Ball Game at the seventh inning stretch and eating hot dogs.
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Along with potty training comes the one hazard of wearing panties, wedgies. Melody experienced her first wedgie the other day.

She came running in the room saying, "Dere's some-pin wong wif me! Dere's some-pin wong wif me!"

"Where?" I ask.

"On mah fannie!" she said.

Sadly, Melody has been blessed with the Sim's bottom, so wedgies are just going to be a part of life for her!

I'm totally bummed

I'm supposed to be sitting on one of these right now

With this cutie-pie

to visit my BFF
and meet her newest cutie-pie

and watching this (my first true love)
But instead I'm stuck here thanks to over booked flights.
Boo-hoo!

PSF - baking cookies

This is how you bake cookies in suburban America

And this is how you bake cookies in a nudist colony

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

eyes wide open

I told Melody to open her eyes really wide.

I even demonstrated.

I don't think she got the idea though

(mostly) ww - at least she's happy sitting there!

Just to update: Yesterday we had an equal number of successes as we did accidents. While she didn't go every time, as you can see she was happy to sit on the potty every ten minutes. All. day. long.
Hopefully that means we're on the right path!

True Story Tuesday - Stalling

Melody is about the easiest child to put to bed. She always has been. Even as a baby, I would just lay her down. Hardly ever any crying. It's always been a simple, easy process with her that I love

Until lately.

Like any true two-year old she's beginning to master the art of stalling. Normally our bedtime routine is simple; bath, brushing teeth, jammies, book, song, bed. A few days ago, though, she surprised me by asking for a drink of water right as I was walking out of the room. It was hot and we had been playing outside a lot, so I went into the bathroom, got a cup and gave it to her. She drank what she wanted and I left the room.

The next night same thing.

The following night yet again with the water.

Same thing the fourth night. I'm starting to feel like a sucker at this point.

The following night, I tell her before we read our book, "Melody, if you want another drink you need to get it right now." She ran into the bathroom and got a cup of water and drank about a sip of it before pouring it out and coming back in to read.

And then, just as I was closing the door I hear, "Mama, I need a dwink of wa-der." "No, Melody, we've already had all the water we need." As I shut the door, I heard this sweet little voice say, "Oh may-an!"

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In other Melody news, potty training commenced today. Please, say a prayer for us. So far we've had no accidents. However, it's only been about 20 minutes.