Archive for the ‘Club 17’ Category

I didn’t forget. Really.  The internet simply did not want to cooperate tonight. We’ve been switching from pc to macs, and the transition has been… bumpy.  For some reason tonight we had 5 computers in our bedroom on.  At one point there were THREE laptops in my lap, trying to access internet.  Two of those swayed and swaggered their way closer to computer death.  The other three are new and better not even think of following suit for a long long time.

I got to take my big truck out tonight to ‘mud!’  How fun!!! It’s been raining a lot, which is a requirement, of course. But it’s a little TOO wet.  The puddles are too liquid-y.  The mud just splashes all over the place, and I prefer for it to rain down on me in giant clods.  Well. There’s always tomorrow.In case you were wondering, no. Of course I do not go mudding with my mother. J-Mom is very cool, but in a cautious, poised, elegant sort of way that does not involve reckless behavior.  Although she did DRIVE my big ol’ truck the other night. So cute!  

I used to strive for that same cautious, poised elegant thing she has going on.  Pfft.  Then I realized I am 1) a total klutz 2) weirdly drawn to the Reckless 3) am all about the adrenaline that accompanies lots of things that are simply not elegant. 

Book stuff:  Mmmm. No idea. As usual.  But thanks for asking!  Last I heard it was ‘at the printers.’   How long does that take?  No idea.  I didn’t want to ask.  So I didn’t.   I’m excellent with avoidance like that.  

Other stuff: We roadtripped to welcome my sister to the state, and to drop off J-Mom for awhile.  Met with old friends and I got all silly/social-anxiety-ish.  I do that.  But it was reeeeally great.  There was no reason to get all silly/social-anxiety-ish, but then again, there almost never is, but knowing this never ever manages to prevent it.To Whom It May Concern: Sorry. I haven’t checked email in ages.   

On with the show.  I went shopping at a way cute store for this month’s winner!  Darling little paper thingies tied up with pretty bows, and a bath thing that is too hard to explain, but i tried it today and loved it.  No. I didn’t try the one I’ll send the winner. Ew! I tried one that i’m keeping for me. So to be that lucky winner, just do your monthly self breast exam that of course you should be doing anyway.  Then you leave a comment on this post saying you did.  Done.  That easy.  Yay for you!  

I’ll check back in a few days and announce the winner. All questions can be answered here.  And also?  The really cute little button advertising Club 17 can also be found there.  If you’d like it, it’s yours.

*another technical glitch.  really, this evening could not have been complete without another one.  for some reason i can’t link to the post with all the answers and the buttons.  If you google holymama bse, it will come up first.  if you reeeeeally want it.         

So, the random winner for the BSE-er of June is….   Emily!    She just got a very pretty in pink new blog, so be sure to go say hi!

PharmacistMike made an excellent point in the comments. It was one of the more entertaining comment sections we’ve had on these posts.  Men, check your testicles.  (Did that sound a little like, “gentlemen, start your engines?” it did to me.)

And just in case you’re not going to go read, fine. Here a few highlights.  Becky got married, Stacey is pleased to be a woman, and had a great progress report, Cmerie (who just got a cute haircut) was inspired to post a funny story you just have to go read (in comments), Shalee provided a fashion report and bluepaintred also had a positive report. 

Soooo. It took me longer than usual to get around to this!  I’ve BEEN. BUSY!!!! In a good way! 

Yay!

I’ve been finishing up the last of the final edits before my book could go to the printers.  And it did!  It’s officially at the printers. Wherever that is.  How exciting!!!!

I have no idea how much longer until I get to see it, but I’ll let you know.    

If all of you just got a thousand notifications of new posts from me, um.  Sorry.  I needed to update the links in every post that mentioned Total Transformation and that kinda took awhile.  Who knew there were so many?  Anyway. I think I’m done now.

Have you done that BSE yet?

As I type, a spider awaits certain death on the ceiling above me.  It’d be easier if we didn’t have huge ceilings that form an upside down V, and if the spider were not at the highest point of that upside down V. But whatever. 

At least it is not a snake.  Yesterday, it was a snake.  Not on the bedroom ceiling, of course.  In the backyard.  I ran in the house screaming for Mike, who was busy painting Caden-4yr’s room.  I told him of the snake with an expression on my face that clearly indicated he was expected to morph into Snake Terminator.  Pronto.  Perhaps that assumption seems a bit archaic in its gender roles, but I have no trouble with fully declaring that The One With Testicles Must Kill Snakes.  And spiders.  Please. 

Before yesterday, we’ve never had a snake, and so there had been no need to previously negotiate the Snake Terminator role.  (Therefore, it is rather impressive that it was all done instantaneously with the expression on my face, don’t you think?)  Not that this saved us any time.  Mike needed to wash his hands.  He’d been painting.  And apparently, Snake Terminators must have sparkling clean, hygienic hands to get near their subjects. 

Surgeons do not wash their hands as thoroughly as Mike did. 

However.  Then he donned boots (with shorts), and went to face the snake, who was stupid enough to hang around in the same spot for the entire time Mike washed and rewashed his hands. 

Since he was wearing boots with shorts - and holding the largest pair of BBQ tongs ever created, of course I took pictures and called the boys to watch through the window. 

Snake Terminator (with very clean hands, and boots - with shorts) prevailed.  We cheered.  We took photos.  I ushered the children away from the window when the snake needed to pass on from this life.

It was all very exciting, and Seth-2yr and Caden-4yr yelled ” NAKE!”  for what seemed like forever. Seth-2yr’s tongue did ’nake imitations all night.   Adrenalin ran high, and suddenly all of us were a bit jumpy about anything unexpectedly brushing up against us.  Mike and the boys looked up the ’nake on the internet and determined it was a mildly venomous but not deadly variety.  Blech.   

I am SO glad I do not have testicles. Even with them, I could not possibly wear shorts with boots.  Never.

Which brings me to the real point of this post. If you also do not have testicles, and do have breasts, then please do your monthly self breast exam. Pronto!  Then leave a comment on this post saying you did so, and then you are eligible to receive a fantastically cute  rainbow assortment of bath gels.  I think there are 7 or 8.  Very cute. 

Snake Terminator has slayed the spider.  Yay!

Random Integer Generator picked #5! 

 That’s Tas!!!  YEA!!!!!

IF you were one of the 8 who left a comment on the May Club 17 post AND you want daylilies, just email me before Friday morning at 8 and I’ll send you some.  (how’s that, Grim Reality Girl….?) 

Tas, if you’re not into daylilies, I will find something of extraodinary cuteness to send instead!

I don’t usually make everyone a winner, but after re-reading that post, I’m surprised any of you were inspired to participate. Lame! 

I’ve been scrambling to manage all the kids’ end of school field trips/parties/etc. Mike’s out of town too, and the boys are getting antsy.  It’s just a crazy time of year, and that last post certainly showed it. 

Also? The boys and I leave for a roadtrip on Friday.  I’m a little nervous.  THIS is how it went the last time the 3 boys and I hit the road.   

It’s that special day of the month where all the ladies do their monthly self breast exams, then say they did in the comment section, then possibly win a prize. 

So. Easy.

The reward of feeling health conscious is free to all who participate, and the prize is free to one of you. 

Daylilies, if you’re into plants.  Something else if you’re not.  Makes no difference at all to me.

Ok, now go do that BSE! 

Questions? Go here first.

Yeaaaa! I was secretly pulling for Jan this month, but the online random number picker thing agreed. (She said she’d be happy to have garden-y stuff, and BOY, DO I HAVE THE GARDEN-Y STUFF.)

Tonight I planted 100 MORE daylilies and about 25 MORE cannas. Last week the numbers were about the same, if not more. I can’t wait to see them bloom!

Jan is EXTRA lucky this month, since she is also supposed to head directly over to Janera’s site to choose additional prize components. Last week Janera sent me yellow cannas (that I planted promptly in the front flowerbeds) , and a gorgeous candle.

I’m picky with candles. They can’t smell like food, especially not fruit, and they can’t smell like spices and certainly not like vanilla. Gag. Really, I love candles. But I only like ones that smell like Christmas trees. Not Christmas, because those often smell of cinnamon too. Gross. And? This candle fits the bill and is gorgeous, too. This is the second time in recent months I’ve had good candle success with Bloggers Who Sell Candles. Y’all are better than traditional candle stores. Or school fundraising candle type places, which is usually the source of candles that end up in my home, only to smell suspiciously like spices and fruits. Janera’s site also offers bath and body products, which I haven’t tried, but I can tell you they’re probably pretty good because it’s the same company as that candle. And Janera said it was good. Actually, she said ‘addictive.’

So, go HERE to see Janera’s candle/bath body stuff site.

Go HERE to say hi to Janera at her blog.  (Actually, ALL of you should go do that, since right now she’s giving away candle goodness, and you, too, can be like Jan!)

So.  Jan. Good month to win. You get garden-y goodness AND stuff from Janera!  I’ll send you details shortly.

Before I get to the whole ‘go feel your boobs’ part of this post, have y’all been reading Jeana’s posts about her family’s days in London?  FANTASTIC.  Don’t miss.

Now. Boobs.  Time to do the monthly self breast exam, leave a comment on this post saying you did and thereby gain entry to a contest. Winner of said contest gets something cute.  I vowed to start saying WHAT you win ahead of time, but then I forgot.  Well. I didn’t ‘vow.’  I said.   

Hmm. 

Okay, winging it here.  This month, if you’re a gardener, I can send you a few daylilies or cannas from my EXTREME ebay shopping spree.  Boxes of big brown earthy smelling bulbs and tubers arrive daily on my doorstep. Nice! 

And if you’re not into plants, there will be other, unnamed cuteness for your prize. (not that tubers are cute. nothing called ‘tuber’ could be cute.  you know what i mean.) 

Sooooo.  As a reminder, we do this monthly thing just to remember these things are important and have a fun incentive in order to stay on track.  Because it’s a once a month thing, I also use it as a reminder to do the Rid-X and bug Mike about changing the air filters.  (Yes really. Once a month.)  Because no one gives me a prize for remembering to do the Rid-X or bug Mike about the air filters - and because I don’t have to remember to GIVE a prize for these things, I tend to forget. But it’s a good system.  In a ’not really working’ sort of way.  Which probably means it isn’t a good system.  Hmm.  Moving on.

BSE. Then report back. Win earthy smelling potential blooms or Mystery Prize.  Feel health conscious.  Better than self conscious.  Although I suppose you could easily feel both. 

I think I’m tired. Goodnight. Good luck! 

Yea for Stacey at Purling Dervish!  (LOVE that name) 

Honorable mention to Seasonal Learner who did her very first BSE and lived to comment about it. YEA!  (of COURSE there can be Honorable Mentions. Making this up as we go along, y’all.)   

And while I’m clarifying, let it be known that of course you can win over and over again. The whole point is that you do these BSE’s and keep doing them, so repeated wins work for me.

The following will make sense in a minute. Really.

LaLa and I were the only kids in our family.  Everyone in our family called us simply, “The Girls.”  Our names, it seemed to us,  were often not uttered for long periods of time. “The Girls” sufficed.  Well, for everyone else’s purposes - for our part, it drove us completely nuts.  We were individuals, and everyone lumping us together like that just ignored that fact. Or so it seemed to us. One time I remember LaLa protesting this oversight and someone (sorry J-Mom, but I think it was you) saying, “Well, what SHOULD we call you?”   In her LaLa way, she probably said, “WHAT DO YOU THINK WE ARE, THE NORMAN LUBOFF CHOIR?“  Or more likely, “OUR NAMES!” 

In any case.  I have a personal lifelong aversion to the phrase “The Girls” which apparently, none of you share.  For ages I’ve been somewhat surprised at just how many of you affectionately refer to your breasts as “The Girls.”  Perhaps I’m not big on personification in general.  Also, I have no problem admitting I do not have pet names or occasional endearments for any of my body parts. The only exception to this is during times of pregnancy when the baby bump deserved names. (But that’s hardly the same because it was a baaaaaby.)  

I am ALL for whatever works for you guys, but it certainly has made me laugh. Forever. Since every single comment section of each Club 17 post has this theme, and it’s apparently a code you ALL speak which I gladly forego.  And Shalee even calls hers “Irish Lassies” on St. Patrick’s!  WOW.   

Y’all.

Y’all are funny. 

So. Don’t get me wrong. You call them whatever you want, as long as you BSE each month. It won’t bother me at all.  It’ll completely crack me up, and just make me feel all the more justified that LaLa and I protested ever being referred to as The Girls.  

(If you’re wondering, of COURSE I call my 3 boys The Boys. All the time. None of them seems to mind, or take it as an offense against his individuality.)

Okay, team! Quickly go do this month’s BSE (breast self exam) which you OF COURSE do every single month. Then come right back here and leave a comment saying “i did it!” or something like that. Then you might win something really cute. This month it’s a sweet little red leather and silver Brighton keychain.

Last month my Real Life Friend Karla won. Yea Karla! She took pictures of her February Club 17 prize, and wrote about it here.

Julie,formerly The Desert Diva, created the cute blog buttons. Her blog is more recently known as One Mom’s Lifesong, and you can find out how to get the buttons here. Please do!

( All questions are most likely addressed here. )