Gratzie, Gratze, Belllllllla!

Mmm! I just heard about the Memphis Italian Fest going on right now thru Saturday.

I've been doing some daydreaming lately - ok, honesty- everyday I daydream. I've been yearning to travel in a BAD way. Not just to Florida or some place in the US. No, I'm talking overseas. I feel Spain and/or Italy calling me. I just need to go to the places I adore. My little village here is just not doing it for me these days.

But ... (sigh) ... travel is probably not in my cards for a while. We are going to buy a house soon, and maybe #2 on the way in the next year (this is not an announcement....I promise!!), and ... well, just lots of other life things. When I was single, as my family knows (and was sitting on nerves about) I was picking up and going to foreign lands on whims. I feel blessed that I was able to do so then - but my appetite for such travel was just beginning to be fulfilled - and then (NOT REGRETFULLY) I decided to get married, and pop out Joey. AGAIN - NO REGRETS!!! But I do long to travel. Hopefully, we'll have a chance to travel as a family in the near future - but for now, its MEMPHIS ITALIAN FEST, watching "The Godfather" a few more times, and taking chances to make my own sangria. I wonder if Memphis offers flamenco lessons??

Pencil Works by Joyce

*Sweat beads rolling down my face*

I've officially completed my first web design. It was finished a few weeks ago, but I hadn't officially spread the word until I had some more kinks worked out, and some blanks filled in. Now that those things are done, I can start passing the link around.

I'M STILL LEARNING.... and have a long way to go ... but I'm truly enjoying this extra-curricular activity, well ... soon-to-be business, or second household income (THANK YOU economy for making it hard to buy food and TP these days!!!!).

Check it out (but don't be too harsh on my inexperienced ass): Pencil Works by Joyce

It is still very amateurish, but that will come with experience. Let me know what you think. No use of templates... just completely built from blank documents - from the ground, up.

By the way, that's my mama's art site. I can only hope that I could do her incredible work justice.

Son of a .... gun buying ebayer?

I can't believe it. Not that this is really something to complain about....

I've finally found a fragrance that I adore, but, at retail, it's $130. That's a little steep for my wallet these days so .... I found it on ebay, and started a bidding war.

Up until about 3 minutes ago, I was winning nicely. I was about to be the winner of some Prada Infusion D'Iris for $47 when I get this email ONE MINUTE AGO that said "Sorry, you didn't win."

While the war was on, I was receiving emails regularly about how I was being outbid, etc., and I finally went to the lead. Somehow, that final email that told me I was being outbid didn't arrive. So i lost.

When I lost, I thought "Damn...... Oh well, I guess she needed it worse than I."

My curiosity led me to see who the winner was. The past review of items bought and sold were composed of manual-loading guns, a E-6 series passenger van, and a package of Hanes boxer briefs.

Now he can add women's perfume to his list.

The 5k

I made it.

I don't know how but .... I made it.

I actually did quite well (THANK GOD) for not practicing or working out to lead up to the event.

I came in 17th place over all (and there were maybe 300 or 400 runners??). I was the 4th female to finish, and I was 2nd in my age class. KEEP IN MIND THIS ROUTE WAS FLAT AS A PANCAKE. I can promise you that if we had even a hint of a hill, my ass would not have made it as smoothly and successfully.

I was SOOOO happy to see such a fantastic turnout for this first annual event. People of ALL ages were there to run/walk. The 2nd place winner was actually a kid that was about 10 years old... maybe younger? The 1st place woman was 42 (go girl!) and people of all shapes and sizes entered. I LOVED IT. A good friend of ours entered the race and finished without stopping, and he JUST started training 5 weeks ago.

I ran the Nashville "Boo Dash" in October of 2001 for a "Jog Run" Class at college (yes, they had this class, and yes I got credit.....sounds pretty unfair doesn't it?) I did alright, but not as well as I would have liked then. But, I must blame it on THE HILLS. And Nashville has them. Oh yes. They do.

But today was actually pretty "easy" (term used loosely) . I'm just thankful that I didn't blow my knee out or fall on my face as I actually almost did about a 1/2 mile in when my toe found my loose shoe lace. (Mom - I had to hold back a "SON OF A BITCH!.... oh my, I almost fell down!" when that happened.....**inside joke**)

The race actually had a weird twist to the whole thing though. The new contestants from The Biggest Loser were running with us, so there were camera crews EVERYWHERE following the race. It was actually quite annoying trying run around them.


Following the race, I was blessed to meet some people. I made a new friend, Simone, and her two beautiful children. They are from Australia, and they moved here about a year ago. She beat me in the race (I don't hold that against her! haha!) but that did strike up conversation that we should go running together sometime when our "kiddo" schedules coincide. I hope that happens, because she is really cool. And I need more girlfriends here. That area of my new world here is coming around. I've made some good ones through events like this race, and at church, thank goodness. And the ones with kiddos Joey's age are coming out of their holes just like I am, because our kids are finally old enough to need buddies of their own. Its about time because Joey REALLY needs to learn how to play nice. (He swatted and screamed at Rudy, our dog, the other day, when he was playing with Joey's ball. Time to find him a good playmate when he gets mad at THE DOG!!! Holy smokes.)

Run Forrest!

I signed up for our little town's Springfest 5k. I run it tomorrow. At 8am.

Crap. First of all, to do anything physical at 8am that requires getting OUT of bed (sorry mom) is not exactly my forte. And second, I've been running lately (when I can which usually amounts to about 2 or 3 times a week) but I haven't hit 5k yet....in fact, I doubt that I've ran a full 5k since BEFORE I was pregnant with Joey. But I'm going to do it this weekend. What the heck.

I'm going to suck bad. I'll let you know how it goes. I think I can do it ....

No pictures at the finish line please. ha!

Snip-Snip

I cut Joey's hair the other day. WHOA, my heart was beating fast. I've never cut hair before (besides a little snip snip on my own hair where the beautician had missed a few after coming home from a trip to the salon), and he had never had his hair cut before. Talk about PRESSURE.

His beautiful little curls were starting to look a little feminine, so I decided that I wasn't going to be one of those moms that let his hair grown 1/2 way down his back, and have to answer the question "ahhhh so cute! Boy or girl?" every time we visit the grocery store.

Joe and I battled over who essentially should cut his hair. I wanted to take him to the lady that just cut off my hair (14 inches!!!!!), but he was adamantly opposed to someone else putting scissors near his eyes. I don't blame him, but I assured JOe that they had (a) experience cutting hair, (b) experience cutting KIDS hair, and (c) it would probably be much better than ME putting scissors anywhere near his face.

Joe went out of town at the beginning of this week, and I decided to get brave.

I did it. My heart about beat its way out of my chest. I think I did alright. :)

Here it was before the cut....
And here it is after the cut. (Sorry for the bad picture.... I can't really keep him in one place for a good shot any more. Seems like I just get the back of his head these days as he's bolting away.)

Music Meme

I got this "meme" from Just Eat Your Cupcake . I decided this one looked fun, and so I did it, whether I really had the time to or not. ((I didn't, but what the heck...I needed some me time.) Some of the way these answers fell surprised me. Very ironic!

Here's how to do it: Put your ipod on shuffle and press next for each question. Write down the song that's playing as an answer.

1) How would you describe yourself?

Green Eyes by Coldplay – Well, I don’t have green eyes. At all. Not even in a different light. They are black brown. Just about as dark as can be. BUT…this happens to be one of my favorite songs on my whole list of tune selections. When I thought I might try to break out as an artist, I wanted to cover this song, country-pop style. But it is odd – every lyric that was sang is what my hubby has said to me at some point or another – even before he heard the song – except for the “green eyes” part….

2) What do you like in a guy/girl?

“Come Away With Me” by Norah Jones – You mean, MY guy…. He’s not as sentimental as this song, but the “I want to walk with you on a cloudy day, where the yellow grass grows knee high” and such is proverbial for our marriage. I love this song. Its just the classic love song. In fact, I’ve sang it at 2 weddings.

3) What is your motto?

“Oh Atlanta” by Alison Kraus & Union Station – “Same old place, same old city. What can I do, I’m falling in love… Oh Atlanta, I hear you calling, I’m heading back to youuuuu one fine day” MMMMMMM!!!!! This song is delicious! I love Atlanta, and I love this song!

4) What do your friends think of you?

“A Clean Pair of Eyes” by David Gray – This is an interesting irony. I should hope that my friends feel that I have a clean pair of eyes – a forgiving heart and ofference of a new clean start after blemished situation. The song actually is a prayer to God to be able to see with a clean pair of eyes following a mass of dreams that speak of fear, silence and doubt. In another aspect, maybe my friends think that I can be one that continues to hope for good things following negativity?? Now I’m reaching….

5) What do you think about often?

“Gravity” by Coldplay – You know, I thought that Gravity songs by John Mayer or Alison Kraus really fit more my style of thinking. And I’ve never really listened to the words of this song as much as I did the melody. But today I listened. And I cried. I see it as a song about the ultimate love, and then the tragic turn of losing the one you love to death – how you are pulled together through the gravity of love, and the only thing that can pull you apart is the gravity of death. If you do not have this song in your itunes collection, you must get it. It will set your mood. Its absolutely, absolutely….beautiful.

6) What do your parents think of you?

“Hurricane” by Mindy Smith – Wow…what a day to concentrate on the lyrics of the songs I really dig. I don’t know if this pertains to how my parents think of me, but this is such a beautiful song as well. If the lyrics were anything descriptive of hurricane, they could probably think this of me when I was about 18. But this is another song about loss and leaving, and the troubles of moving on. In this song, it would be best for a hurricane, or something of a natural force of destruction, force her to move on with her life, as she hasn’t the strength to move herself. Another good one for the lonely tune list. And what a VOICE……..what a voice. My dear friend Amanda has this voice on steroids, and every time I hear Mindy, I think of Amanda. I hope you are still singing, Amanda….

7) What do you think of your best friend?

“Bleeders” by the Wallflowers – Nah, Joe doesn’t “bleed” easy. I bleed much easier than he does. Emotionally, not physically.

8) What do you think of the person you like?

“Within You” by Ray LaMontagne – The only lyrics to this song is “War is not the answer, the answer is within you. Love, Love…..” Ironic selection. This has been his lesson of the year.

9) What do you want to be when you grow up?

“Sexy Ladies” by Justin Timberlake
Just the fact that I have this song means that I haven’t grown up – you may as well consider me a 14 year old girl because I have a little JT in my collection. But what can I say… I dig his stuff. And Joey and I like to dance to it. But yes, when I grow up, maybe I’ll finally be a “sexy lady.”

10) What do you think when you see the person you like?

“Fumbling Toward Ecstasy” by Sara McLachlin – Another ironic selection. The person I “like” of course is the one I love – my husband. There is fear hidden in love, at times. Fear and love are opposites, yet they intertwine. And I still have fears within our love, and yes, we fumble with each other towards the ecstasy of finding our love. We are in love, yet, it grows as fears are destroyed, one by one.


11) What song will they play at your wedding?

“Cold Water” by Damien Rice
Considering I’ve already had my wedding, and this song was not on the satellite radio mix going on in the background of our little reception, it SHOULD have been played…if you know what I mean.

12) What will they play at your funeral?

“Tripping Billies” by the Dave Matthews Band - “Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die….”

13) What is your hobby/interest?

“If you could only see” by Tonic – the only thing hobbyish about this song for me is singing it. I love this song. Who doesn’t?


14) What is your biggest fear?

“Crash Into Me” by the Dave Matthews Band – well, you know. It’s a fear. I don’t like car accidents …. Or tornados.

15) What is your biggest secret?

“Turn Me On” by Norah Jones.
Getting a little personal, are we now??

16) What do you think of your friends?

“Slave Song” by Sade.
This doesn’t fit AT ALL.

17) What is your theme song?

“These Arms of Mine” by Otis Redding – Yearning for my man, only. And my baby boy. I gotta have hugs from my mens.

18) What do you think of your family?

“White Christmas” by Dean Martin – Ok, so this is my lone Christmas album in my itunes selection and somehow out of 1500+ songs, WHITE DAMN CHRISTMAS pops in on the list. I guess it kind of fits though. I like Christmas with my family. I love it, in fact. ☺ I’ll take a White Christmas right here. Perfect fit.

19) What is your best friend's theme song?

“Kind and Generous” by Natalie Merchant – this would be my man. ☺ I couldn’t’ think of a more perfect song….!

20) What is your mood right now?

“Everytime You Say Goodbye” by Alison Kraus and Union Station. – “There's a restless feeling knocking at my door today
There's a shadow hanging 'round my garden gate” I have been feeling VERY restless lately. I need a break. Bad. I need to have some “me” time, some away time. I need to recharge my battery. YES, this is my mood.

21) If your heart could talk what would it say?

“Hurricane Waters” by Citizen Cope – “I will carry you through the hurricane waters, And I'll remember you in the blue skies.” My sentiments exactly.

22) What do your co-workers think of you?

“Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor Opus 23” by Tchiakovsky – complicated and clumsy? Yeah, probably – but I don’t have any co-workers so its all good.

23) What does your future look like?

“Harder to Breathe” by Maroon 5
hmmm…. Probably some truth to this, but I’m always hoping that it will be easier to breathe, metaphorically speaking. But as I get older physically, you know how the body gets. At least I don’t smoke.