Onto Greener Pastures...

After much hand-wringing and extensive polling, I've decided to make the full switch from Blogger to Wordpress.

The good part(s):

The formatting is so much better and it's easier to post, which means I'll post more often.

There is also a feature that will allow you to sign up via e-mail so you'll now when a fresh post is added.

Eventually, I'll be able to customize the blog so it's even more interactive for you.

The annoying part(s):

You'll need to change my blog address in your favorites, because I'm certain it's there. :) to www.lesliewebber.wordpress.com. If you click on that link, it will take you there right away.

You'll have to re-register to be able to read the blog. I'm not 100% certain what that will entail, but I assume it will be as simple as registering for Blogger, maybe even easier.

The important part:

If you want to continue reading, all three of you...Please send me an e-mail at: lwebber76@yahoo.com and I'll make certain you're on the list. Watch your inbox for further instructions, that will likely come from Wordpress with my name attached.

I'm going to leave this blog as it is, so no need to rush to the new one, but I will no longer be posting here. See you on the other side!

Thank you from the bottom of my ♥ for reading all the musings I would otherwise barrage innocent bystanders with.

Leslie

Jump to the new blog...

All right, I've decided I'm going to test the waters with the Wordpress blog. I'm going to watch my stats and be on the lookout for weirdos. That's an effective security strategy; actually come to think of it, that seems to be Obama's plan for national security. So, I'm going to post new entries at www.lesliewebber.wordpress.com and see how it goes! There's a fresh post there on Alex's latest obsession that doesn't involve arts&crafts.

Changes, they're a comin'

Meredith is on day two of a fever and general achi-ness. I'm much better equiped for dealing with this type of virus than I am of the stomach variety. As a result, we haven't left the house much in two days. We may be starting to loose it.

When Alex came home from school today, he ate half the kitchen and then got out his Bendaroos, a.k.a Wiki Stix. He asked for them several times for Christmas and Santa delivered. These are right up Alex's alley. He loves to create, especially with his hands. He also loves instant gratification and these charmers provide just that. I think they're borderline genius and once again, wish I'd thought of them.

I expected a lot of this:

Not all that complicated, yet still creative despite it's monochromatic appearance.

What I didn't expect was this:

Way to go Gator! He followed directions and it looks exactly like the one on the box; which is completely necessary to prevent a meltdown. Also, this is so much better than the mouse we had in our house last winter. Let's hope he doesn't call any friends.

I'm also in the process of switching this blog over to Wordpress. In fact, if you go there now you can see the Beta version. It's a big jump because I'll pretty much be forced to throw open the doors to the public. I'm worried about two things:

1.) The safety of our kids.

2.) My images.

I want to do some testing to see just how easy it is to lift images. If you have a minute, jump over there and try right clicking on images. Let me know if it allows you to save them, and you dear friends are welcome to print them for your wallets. It's the child predators with whom I do not wish to share.

Why would anyone be a candy striper?!

How about that? I complained a bit about too much togetherness and whamo! Brandon leaves for work in Chicago. Either my timing is great, or he'd had enough of me and decided to create some work for himself.

Before Brandon left, Meredith came down with some sort of virus. She complained of a runny nose this morning, but ate breakfast. A low appetite is the first sign of illness if you are biologically related to me, so I thought she was fine. Thirty minutes later, she looked odd...sort of spacey, red eyes, the whole bit. She said she didn't feel well and I decided to keep her home from preschool just in case. I'm glad I did, because within an hour, she was boiling. She's been on the couch or my chest the majority of the day. Hopefully, she'll be better tomorrow. I can only tolerate the ill for a day or two. I'd make a spectacular nurse!

I did make it to Moms in Touch this morning for the first time in months. It felt good to get back into the habit of praying for our kids and our school. We spent a good chunk of time comparing notes on a head-lice outbreak that seems to be running through Hamilton country. Gross.

Completely off the subject, but Alex is about to drive me over the edge with his ridiculous toy revolver. He shoots it over and over and over and over and over and over again. "SNAP! SNAP! SNAP! SNAP! SNAP!" For extra nerd effect, he carries it in a toy tool belt, because I won't buy him a holster. (Kelly, DO NOT send him a holster. Please.) I'm curious to know if it would harm my tires if I drove over the gun. Sure, I could just toss it in the trash while Alex is at school and claim ignorance, but it would be much more satisfying to crush it!

Since this post is a hodge podge I may as well share my latest obsession. Planning our Spring Break trip. Here's the dilemma, Brandon and I going to my cousin's wedding in California in March. Our trip to Mexico and another cross-country journey puts a dent in the ole frequent flier account; which means duh, duh, duuuuhhh we'd have to purchase plane tickets for Spring Break.

Normally, this wouldn't be that big of a deal because air fare is normally pretty cheap to Mexico, South Florida, etc. Not during Spring Break. So, we're left with beaches within reasonable driving distances, which means beaches that may or may not be warm during the first week in April. We don't want to risk our vacation and sit with our teeth chattering, bound and determine to enjoy the beaches of Gulf Shores or Hilton Head. Brandon's alternative? Great Wolf Lodge, in ahem...Ohio!

I wasn't too jazzed about the idea until I presented it to Alex tonight during dinner. He laid down his gun and said, "YES!!! Great Wolf Lodge!!! That's it!!! I don't want to go anywhere else!!!" So, I guess I'll be spending Spring Break with my family and the rest of the Midwesterners in Ohio...sleeping in a bear den. BUT, it is guaranteed to be 84 degrees and artificially sunny.

I need a guest house.

How do I say this without sounding ungrateful to have a husband who is home for the week? I don't think I can word it properly, so just know I really do love Brandon. BUT, he's driving me bananas!

We know I don't have any patience, right? We also know I enjoy schedules and consistency. Brandon is throwing me for a loop. Outside of work, or oddly enough vacation, he doesn't appreciate time lines.

It's the middle of the day and I have laundry to fold, "Hey, what are we having for lunch? Let's go get a burger!" It's 1:30 p.m. Meredith's nap time, "Let's go to Costco! Meredith can nap in the car." I pre-cook chicken in the crockpot for homemade chicken noodle soup, "What's for dinner?...How about picking up a pizza?"

Actual dinner times are another land-mind littered area. If Brandon isn't entertaining clients or taking people who work doggedly for him out for a meal, he eats alone in a hotel room. If he's inclined to stretch and yawn loudly during the middle of his salad, so be it! If he decides to wolf down his food and move onto a candy bar, it's within his solitary right to do so. He feels like scraping melted cheese off his fork with his teeth? Nobody is around to care.

Oh, but I care! I really care about all of these things. Should I? Probably not. Is it that big of a deal? To me, it is. I can't stand poor table manners. My mother was a stickler, my grandfather was a huge stickler, even if his shirtless appearance at the dinner table suggested otherwise. I followed suit and want my children to have exemplary table manners. Humor me. It's important and I don't ask for much.

I've also just about had it with the sound of virtual balloons popping. Alex plays a balloon popping game on coolmath.com (right, cool math.). Alex showed Brandon and both of their math facts have improved exponentially.

Brandon has training and actual work to do, but for the next couple of weeks, it looks like he might be doing it from home. Let's hope we all survive!

Jo Frost where are you?

I need Super Nanny. Not just because my children are obnoxious little back-chatters, but I need her personally. You know how she creates a family schedule, writes it on a big piece of poster board, and slaps it to the wall, usually somewhere unsightly? I need someone to do that for me.

I'm a sloth if I don't have a set schedule of events. I can't be trusted to get showered, get ready, and carry on with my day if I don't have an appointment breathing down my neck. Maybe instead of Super Nanny, I just need to grow up.

Case in point; I didn't shower before 2:00 p.m. either day this weekend.

My friend Amanda was picking me up at 3:00 Saturday afternoon so I could help her select some camera gear. She even called at 2:00 and I said I'd be ready right away. I hadn't showered. Did I jump right into the shower? No, I got sucked into an episode of "Jersey Shore" on MTV.

The "Brain Trust of MTV"


This is wrong for a number of reasons, not the least of which I'm 15 years too old for the network. I couldn't help myself. Brian Williams mentioned it on The Jay Leno Show, so I had to see what it was. I wish I hadn't looked, but I will say the best diatribe of the 15 minutes I witnessed was, "Get her out of here! What we're you thinking bringing that white trash here. Someone get a dumpster! She doesn't even look Italian!" Where else can I find such highbrow entertainment?


Amanda had to hang out with the squabble twins for a few minutes while I slapped on my mineral veil and we headed out the door. We found her some incredible gear and I'm excited to help her learn and watch her grow. I'm not saying any of this because she's a regular reader, I promise. She has a great eye, is eager to learn, and will be a smashing success!


Sunday I intended to get the laundry caught up and get ready for Maria, but Meredith and I fell asleep watching Shreck and once again I wasn't ready to leave the house before 3:00 p.m. We ran a few errands. Alex needed new tennis shoes and I should really buy a 2010 calendar. (Then I can schedule some appointments.) I can't find one I like. I blame it on living in Indiana. It's either quilts, cats, or barns; or God help me, a combination of ALL THREE. Maybe I shouldn't wait to purchase on until they are on clearance?!?!?

I will still need dental insurance...

Among the things Meredith received for Christmas was a giant beading kit. I groaned because generally that means I'll hear the familiar sound of plastic beads spilling and rolling across the tile floor. The thrill of the bead kit normally lasts slightly longer than the amount of time it takes to pry off the lid.

Thursday morning I left early to shoot some stuff for "the paper." I was shooting at "the athletic" club of Noblesville, and that's a post in and of itself. Anyway, Brandon was home and could watch Meredith. He told me they were going to make bracelets. I wondered if he had been hitting the bottle a little early in the day. Low and behold by the time I returned home, they had a case full of creations.

Meredith's were remarkably good. Her patterns were perfect and the color combinations and jeweled spacers blew me away. I told her how great they were and she told me she changed vocational aspirations. Dental school has taken a backseat to her new plan of becoming a designer. Specifically, a jewelry designer. I told her I wasn't surprised and she'd be really great because she has really great taste.

Meredith licked her arm and said, "What are you talking about.?! I just taste normal." She added, "I'm not a lollipop." for comedic impact.

Good bye, Meredith Webber, DDS. It was fun to dream.

Can we move on please?

Someone needs to let the Webbers know Christmas was over two weeks ago.

Brandon continues to turn on our outside lights. He has a myriad of excuses:

• "It's acceptable to leave them on to celebrate the New Year."
• "The neighbor six doors down (the one he normally makes fun of) still has his on."
• "We haven't seen them in the snow!"

Meredith is still walking around singing, "Jingle Bells, I'm not here, I am at the mall, buying lots of gifts for you, but thank you for your call." Good thing she absorbed all my lessons about the true meaning of Christmas.

Alex seems to be on an extended holiday break of some sort. It isn't all that important to study for the spelling test, "Relax, it's the first one of the year. I'm sure she'll grade it easily." Really?

Our tree...our damn 12' tree is still fully decorated and mocking me from the living room. The fire once blazing through Brandon's hair is gone. After the other five trees came down, he lost motivation. Who wouldn't? It's coming down tomorrow or I'm sending it through the wood chipper. Yes, it's artificial. No, I don't care.

Rolly appears to have over-indulged on something that had wheat in it. It may be a peanut butter treat the kids and I bought him. If I haven't mentioned it before we have a Wheaten Terrier who happens to be allergic to wheat. Ironic, isn't it? He's quarantined to the tile of the kitchen and is thoroughly annoyed. He's still wearing a Christmas sweater because an unfortunate groom left him nearly bald. I can't find his regular sweater, so red and green it is. Might as well be.

I have a feeling tomorrow may be the day I snap. To be fair, someone should probably warn my family.

A week ago, I was here:

It felt less like Christmas.

All right, all right!

*A note about today's post: It's making me INSANE that I'm suddenly unable to move pictures around with ease. I think I'm going to switch the blog over to Wordpress, but for the time being enjoy the pictures completely and totally out of order...The following picture will make sense once you get to the end. Way to steal my story-telling thunder, Blogger!

I still can’t wrap my brain around the fact that there are a handful of you who miss this blog when I don’t update it. Then again, there are several blogs I read like the morning paper, so I guess I can relate. I just don’t think I’m all that entertaining. I get sick of myself, so I assume everyone appreciates a break from “all Leslie all the time!” But since you asked, or badgered…

I assume you know our December was busy. Isn’t everyone’s? I could drone on about general business, that isn’t at all entertaining, but just know I did the same Christmas preparation everyone else did. Having Maria’s help was a Godsend all month long. I strategically baked before her visits.

We had a great Christmas. Because my father-in-law is two bricks short of a load and carries with him more drama than Lindsay Lohan, I decided it would be much more pleasant to celebrate Christmas Eve with our family alone. Had he been here, I wouldn’t have needed a salted pot of boiling water to steam the crab legs.

The day after Christmas, we left for Nashville and dropped the kids off with my parents for their annual post-Christmas stay. This year Brandon and I decided we would go somewhere rather than hanging around our house taking down decorations and shopping the Target clearance aisles. We settled on Cancun, Mexico. We wanted to go to Mexico and the Marriott there was billed as fabulous.

It was, but I had to get used to being in a third-world country. I also had to acclimate to over-development. I’m not used to sweeping back the balcony curtains to see another hotel right next door. I know I’m spoiled and obnoxious. I was also 80% convinced we were going to wind up in the cross-fire of the escalating Mexican drug war.

Our first day there, Brandon and I went downtown to shop for junk and wound up at Jose Frog’s for lunch. I am way too old and was sober as a church mouse, so it wasn’t my cup of tea. Brandon however, made himself at home and drank a “big ass beer.” I sat and watched him and longed for a Lysol wipe to sanitize my seat.

Our second day there, the Bickerson’s got into a fight in the lobby over the tour Brandon scheduled for us to Chichen Itza. Brandon said something mean to me after he was convinced I let the bus leave without us. In a mature response, I demanded $500 cash if I was forced to go on the trip.

The third day there, we restored harmony by SCUBA diving. It isn’t a good idea to get into a fight when you could possibly be dependent on one another should you run low on air. A good time was had by all, aside from me having to cram myself into a wet suite.

We did one other little snorkel-wave runner “jungle” tour, but aside from that we just hung around the pool and the beach. We needed time to talk without acting as referees between the children. It was a welcome break. It was also fun to check weather.com and know it was 9 degrees at home.

Of course I missed the kids and researched Mexican adoptions on-line because I thought maybe I could speed up the process and come home with a little girl with jet black hair. It didn’t happen and after an hour with the kids, I was back to my theory that our family is more than complete.

Oh…I almost forgot…the Cancun airport was a ZOO when we were leaving. Not to sound like a snot, but we were in 1st class because Brandon has 8 billion frequent flier miles. Had we not been, we never would have made the flight. It took people four hours to check in. I felt so bad for the people waiting dragging bags and pushing tired babies in strollers. Ugh.

As we were standing in line Brandon said, “Hey, I think ‘your buddy’ from that silly show you love is over there.” Hot snot, he was right! It was the guy who plays Mitchell on “Modern Family,” which is seriously the funniest show I’ve watched in years. I violated my own, “I don’t bother celebrities,” rule and asked to take a picture with him. He was unbelievably nice and accommodated my annoying request.

Now we’re home. I forced the entire family into action this morning because I thought Maria was coming to clean. She didn’t, but it was an exercise in productivity. We’re now de-Christmasing the house. I’ll be vacuuming artificial pine needles until Easter. In between then and now, I’ll try to be better about updating the blog.