Friday Fragments - Better Late than Never!

Friday Fragments are bits and pieces of your week that are usually brief; too short for a stand-alone post, but too good to discard. Collect humorous observations, "Heard" items, and other small gems and put them together in a Friday Fragments post.

Friday Fragments are the brainchild of Mrs.4444 and you can find more at Half Past Kissin' Time.

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I'm a little late today, but it's still FRIDAY. So, here are my fragments, and I'm freakishly awake even though it's late, so once I hit publish I'm off to visit YOUR Friday Fragments posts and see what's going on.

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I'm a big fan of portraits, and Entertainment Weekly often has some really good celebrity portraits. I was browsing the portraits from Comic Con on their website, and this one caught my attention. Beautiful.


via Entertainment Weekly - Rutina Wesley, Tara on "True Blood"

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So, we're moving. Once we made the decision, it happened pretty fast. I have a whole post to write about it soon, but for now I just need to say that I HATE PACKING. I am looking around my house wanting to do it, but at the same time, it's such a pain in the butt. I was hoping that I would not be moving again for a VERY long time, but obviously that didn't work out the way I thought. Send me some kind of 'be really productive' vibes if you have them, okay?

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Do you ever look at Improv Everywhere's website? Their most recent video is "Say Something Nice." Take a look.



Pretty great. Spreading the positive is ALWAYS a good thing, isn't it? To Infinity and Beyond!

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Sam got his 'back to school' haircut this year - he was quite shaggy.


He told me that morning he wanted to get all his hair cut off. I was kind of surprised, because I've asked him a couple of times this summer if he wanted Daddy to buzz his hair and he said no. So I asked if he was sure, and he said yes, he wanted all his hair cut off so it would be like Daddy's. AWWW! It's nice being able to see his face again, but they always look SO much older after a haircut!

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Here are a couple of things that made me laugh out loud this week.


via MamaPop - you should be reading Jurgen Nation's weekly 'make you laugh' posts, because they will!



click to enlarge - via Geek in Heels



via The Greatest

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Another thing that might make you laugh if you have some spare time is reading bad boyfriend stories over at Temerity Jane. I just started reading her blog earlier this year, and it quickly became one of my favorites. She always makes me laugh, and I can totally relate to so much of what she says.

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This week I also read about how PETA has decided to have a Porn Site. You guys... Something is really wrong with PETA. So, basically they are going to put all the naked photos they've taken up.. and randomly insert horrible animal cruelty photos? I don't get it. Then today I randomly came across this old blog post about how earlier this year for 'infertility awareness week' they were offering free vasectomy (coupons?) to men who had recently had their pets neutered. Way to OFFEND people by not understanding the meaning of infertility and how hard it is for people. I am just as against animal cruelty as the next guy, but I think that PETA should take a good, long look at their methods of trying to expose the plight of animals and convince people to change it. Their message is so lost at this point it's not even funny.

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All righty, I think that's it for this week. Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!

Friday Fragments

Friday Fragments are bits and pieces of your week that are usually brief; too short for a stand-alone post, but too good to discard. Collect humorous observations, "Heard" items, and other small gems and put them together in a Friday Fragments post.

Friday Fragments are the brainchild of Mrs.4444 and you can find more at Half Past Kissin' Time.

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My friend posted this on Facebook this week and it made me chuckle:

$1,000 worth of shares in Delta Airlines one year ago, you would have $49.00 today! If you purchased $1,000 worth of shares in AIG, you would have $33.00. If you purchased $1,000 worth of shares in Lehman Brothers, you would have $0.00 today. But, if you purchased $1,000 worth of beer, drank all the beer, turned in the aluminum cans for recycling, you would have $214.00. Therefore the best current investment plan is to drink heavily & recycle. It is called the 401-Keg Plan.

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Does anyone else out there watch In Plain Sight on USA? The season finale was really good, but that show has THE WORST cliffhangers! I can't wait for next season already, and it's been less than a week. In other TV news, SyFy is ending Eureka after next season, which sucks. Falling Skies just got better at the end - the reveal of what's inside the Skitters? AWESOME. It was one of those shows that kind of ebbed and flowed for me, but I'm really glad it was picked up for a second season. Justin and I have also been enjoying watching Hell's Kitchen together - for some reason every time Ramsay screams "It's RAW" we both crack up.

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Last weekend, my awesome cousin Emaleigh was in town, and we got to do some fun stuff. I haven't processed all my photos yet, but here are a few of my favorites:

Silhouette Mural in Phinney



Perre's Ventaglio III @ Olympic Sculpture Park in Seattle



I am not a huge art person, and not very versed in the world of sculpture. I thought this one was interesting, then I read the description of what American artist Beverly Pepper intended it to be:

One of the first sculptors of her generation to be captivated by the possibilities of industrial materials and geometric forms, Beverly Pepper achieved a cool objectivity in Perre's Ventaglio III, which reveals no trace of the artist's hand or process, but possesses the sleek appearance of a manufactured object. Light heightens the optical effect of the sculpture, whose surface reflects the surrounding natural environment, a striking contrast with the opaque blue enamel paint on the interior of each cubic form.

After reading it and looking at the sculpture, I totally GOT it and kind of loved it. Emmy wrote a great post about the sculpture park on her blog, (sometimes) blog at Emaleigh Says.

Lily in Ellensburg



Sunburst at The Gorge



Seattle Public Library



I'd never been to the amazing central branch before, and we went to check it out. It's full of amazing architecture and art, and I'm glad I got to explore it a bit! Emmy wrote another great post about that building here.

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Justin and I went and saw "The Help" on Wednesday. I read the book earlier this year after about 20 people recommended it to me, and loved it. The movie was amazing. It was incredibly well done, the casting was great, and it was just as touching and moving as the book. Justin loved it too, although he found it so unsettling that he was a little shaken. It's hard to imagine the blatant racism that occurred in this country so recently. I know it still exists, but we have certainly come a long, long way.

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Well, I'm pretty tired tonight, so I think that's it for this week! Can't wait to read more Friday Fragments tomorrow. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Marijuana should be legal... but not for babies.

Last Saturday, I attended a Phish concert at The Gorge. It was so great to be back there - I haven't been in over 5 years, and I'd forgotten just how beautiful it is. If you're not familiar with Phish, think similar to The Grateful Dead - the crowd varies, but one thing you can absolutely count on is a whole lot of pot smoking.

It doesn't bother me. I've said here on multiple occasions that I absolutely think that marijuana should be legal. I don't think that pot is any more potent than alcohol, and people get shit-canned all the time. I also think that getting high tends to be more mellow - you've probably seen 'angry drunks,' but in my experience you're not very likely to see an angry weed smoker.

Between sets, I was talking to my cousin, Emmy, about how interesting the atmosphere is of that type of show. I would say that well over 70% of the people there were smoking pot throughout the show. In other words, it's rampant. And it's pretty out-in-the-open, they check bags and do some patdowns at the gates, but we managed to sneak a kitchen knife in to cut our fancy cheese with, so it's not that hardcore. I guess it would be nearly impossible to enforce the fact that illegal drug use is happening. What are they going to do, arrest everyone? She pointed out that the amount of revenue created from a weekend of concerts where people are very, very likely to attend both shows and to camp at the venue is substantial. When I thought about it, I also wonder if the crowds at this type of show tend to consume less alcohol, and whether that makes the trek after the show any safer.

We were seated on a blanket on the huge hillside that overlooks the amphitheater. Three blankets down, there was a couple, maybe late 20's or early 30's with a baby that looked to be 4-5 months old. There were a lot of children at the show, and I'm not sure I really have an opinion about that. I would not take my child there until they were a teen, and then only if they actually really enjoyed the music of their own volition. To me, it's a hassle to bring young children to that type of concert. Not only that, but it goes very late and depending on the age, you may need to do some explanation of the drug use. The parents who did take their kids were probably very different in their parenting styles than I am, and that's fine. I'm not judging. Well, except for in the case of the woman with the baby.

Do I care that she had her baby at this concert that was loud? Not really. I used to take Sam to movies with me when he was a newborn, up to about 7 or 8 months, and he did fine. He slept, and the noise didn't bother him, and that was that. Do I care that their baby was up late? Not really. We're a night-owl type family, and when they were babies my kids stayed up late. They also slept in late, which was probably key to Justin and my sanity.

But I did care when I watched her take several hits from a pipe full of marijuana then immediately sit down to breastfeed her baby. I was so mad - how irresponsible. I'm sure many people noticed, and didn't say anything. I didn't either, but it made me sad and a bit sick. I'm not sure what I even could have said that would have been productive in any way. I think there are many ways to smoke pot or drink responsibly, even when you have children. Having a couple of drinks in the evening when you have kids? People do it all the time, and I think it's fine. But turning around and then putting that alcohol into your infant? NO.

As I sat there, I wondered if she had taken a couple of shots then immediately sat down to breastfeed if anyone would have said anything. I wondered if she would see a difference in the two if I confronted her - would she argue that it's not the same thing? I wondered if the people there would have thought that breastfeeding after drinking was more harmful, when in reality I think either one is so completely harmful to your baby. I really hope that it's not a regular occurrence, but I don't know if that's realistic.

Have you ever seen another parent do something you felt put their child at risk? Did you speak up?

Friday Fragments - TGIF!

Friday Fragments are bits and pieces of your week that are usually brief; too short for a stand-alone post, but too good to discard. Collect humorous observations, "Heard" items, and other small gems and put them together in a Friday Fragments post.

Friday Fragments are the brainchild of Mrs.4444 and you can find more at Half Past Kissin' Time.

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My cousin Emmy is visiting from Philadelphia. It's a short visit, but always awesome when she makes it over here. I'm looking forward to a really fun weekend with her and my sister Kira including a Phish show at The Gorge and a visit to the Experience Music Project in Seattle. Somehow out of all of our cousins we've managed to stay close over the years despite the distance and the fact that we only see each other 2-3 times a year. Emmy got here late Wed, then took the bus up to Bellingham from Seattle Thursday afternoon. We got to eat at Pepper Sisters and Sam showed her his trampoline. I'll try to take lots of photos this weekend!

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I saw these shoes on sale downtown yesterday and when I slipped one on they were just SO adorable. Still $40 on clearance though so I probably won't reunite with them.

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I've blogged here about how much I HATE Truck Nuts. If you still don't know what they are, or have been fortunate enough never to see any, check here. Well, it turns out that at least one person is on my side - Bonneau, South Carolina Police Department Chief Franco Fuda. He gave someone a $445 ticket for hanging those nasties on their car. I applaud you, Chief Fuda.

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I used to take a lot of pride in my nails. Kind of silly, maybe, but it's one thing I could do well, and I just like the look of some well manicured nails. Also, I MAY have a box with about 50 colors in it. Maybe. After having kids I stopped painting my nails as much, but now that Danny's a bit older and I don't have to worry about scratching him or him chewing off the polish, I've decided I want to have nice nails again. I LOVE the look of a French manicure and do them myself at home - super easy with manicure guide stickers. I have been experimenting with some other stuff lately too...

2 weeks ago - Sally Hansen Crackle over midnight blue

Last week - Pink w/black tips

Currently - Flat teal with shiny emerald tips

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This cracked me up.

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This week, I bought most of Sam's school supplies for kindergarten. WHAT? KINDERGARTEN!? SCHOOL SUPPLIES??!! I know. I can't believe it. He got a Mario Kart lunch pack and a Star Wars thermos and chose Star Wars folders too. I can't believe in only a bit over a month he'll be going to all day school three times a week.

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Well, it's almost midnight and I need to get some sleep so I have plenty of energy tomorrow. Hope everyone has a GREAT weekend. I may not be able to visit too many fragmenters until Monday, but I'll try to make the rounds!

Friday Fragments - Finally Summer!

Friday Fragments are bits and pieces of your week that are usually brief; too short for a stand-alone post, but too good to discard. Collect humorous observations, "Heard" items, and other small gems and put them together in a Friday Fragments post.

Friday Fragments are the brainchild of Mrs.4444 and you can find more at Half Past Kissin' Time.

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I FINALLY got around to uploading a ton of photos to Flickr today, so I'll put a few of my recent favorites in this post.

Finally captured his freckles that I love so much.



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So, there are a couple of places here in Bellingham where there are mid-sized pro-life/anti-abortion billboards. One of them in particular really bothers me. It's a quote from one of the Popes about how a country that kills it's children has no future. On the right side of the sign, it has a realistic looking photo of a fetus lying on top of a sort of nested American flag. First of all, gag me with your 'patriotic' imagery. Secondly? WHO decided that it's okay to put a photo of a DEAD FETUS on a poster in public? In this case, I'm not sure it's a real fetus, if it is it is developed enough that it would be too old to be aborted in most places. But, that's not really my point. My point is that you would never put a photo of a dead 6 month old corpse on a poster for SIDS. You would not put a photo of a 6 year old dead little kid on a billboard against drunk driving. There's basically nowhere else you would just be brutally confronted with a photo of a DEAD BODY where you could not avoid seeing it. So, why is this okay? I get it if people are against abortion. I disagree, but everyone is entitled to their own views. I just find it offensive that this is how some people choose to get their message out...

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Bowing in the rain.



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Yeah... so now that I blurted all that out, let's talk about HARRY POTTER! A week ago, Justin and I FINALLY got to the theater - I don't know how I managed to wait a whole week! We even drove down and saw it in IMAX 3-D. The IMAX was TOTALLY worth it! It was so good. Minor spoilers follow...

There was only one slight thing I would have added, but other than that it was amazing. In the scene where Harry is in the woods and his family appear to him, I always pictured him walking towards Voldemort with them behind him like his own private little army. It didn't appear that way in the movie. But, like I said, totally minor. That part always makes me cry. I did weep a bit in the movie, pretty much from the time they started going into Snape's story until Harry found Voldemort. I LOVE Snape, and throughout all seven books I was always rooting for him. The fact that he's played by Alan Rickman, who I totally LOVE also is just perfect. That whole story was just done so well. And I'm SO glad they kept in the bit at the end with them grown up, awesome. I totally want to see it 100 more times.

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Close to flying.



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Justin bought me a Nook color a few months ago, and I really love it. I have been reading so much more this year, I'm more on track to reach my 50 books a year goal than I have been since the first year I did it. Right now I'm in the middle of a couple of books - "Bossypants" by Tina Fey, which is my book club book for August, "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand, about an Olympic runner turned WW2 pilot lost at sea, and "Shopaholic Takes Manhattan" by Sophie Kinsella for some fluff. What are you reading this summer?

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Daddy love.



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Danny and Sam are both getting SO big. I am working on 'birthday' letters... I'm so behind. I try to write Sam a letter on his birthday every year, and I just never got around to it this year. Hopefully I'll have them done in the next week. I'm very excited about this fall - one of the days that Sam's at Kindergarten, my mom is going to watch Danny so I can have a day to myself again. I used to have Sam go to a babysitter one day a week, but since Danny arrived, I haven't had that, and I can't wait to have more time to write again.

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It's blurry, but I LOVE this photo my sister took of me, my boys, and my Grandmom. She is in her 80s and lives in assisted living now, she has Alzheimer's and when we're there, she doesn't necessarily know who I am or who the kids are, but she really enjoys having them around. I don't get to see her as much as I'd like, because she's in Pennsylvania, but every time I get over there, I make sure to go see her.



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When 'Community' came on TV two years ago, I watched the first couple of episodes then for some reason stopped. Last week my Mom said they'd been watching it and enjoying it, so we got the first 2 season. We went through the first season over the weekend while Sam was gone. It's so good. I can't believe I haven't been watching it! I can't wait to make our way through Season 2!

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I took this picture of myself in May, and came across it while uploading stuff. There's something about it that I like... it's really just real, and it's from a perspective of me that I don't usually see.



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I guess that's it for this week, but I'm glad to be fragmenting again! I'm off to link up and check everyone's posts out. Hope you all have a great weekend, it's finally starting to seem like summer here in WA (knock on wood...), so we should have a good weekend!

30 Days of Truth - Days 21-28: Knocking 'Em Out

Okay, there is just NO WAY I can somehow squeeze 8 blog posts out of the next 8 prompts. Let's knock some out, right here, right now.

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The prompt for Day 21 of 30 Days of Truth is "(scenario) Your best friend is in a car accident and you two got into a fight an hour before. What do you do?"

Really? Is this a question? GO. To her. Simple.

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The prompt for Day 22 of 30 Days of Truth is "Something you wish you hadn't done in your life."

I really, really, wish that I had not give up playing the piano. I started around 6th grade and took lessons well into high school. I got to the point where I was supposed to practice an hour a day, and I quit my lessons. I wish that I'd kept with it, I really loved playing and now I very much want to start again, but I'm going to have to re-learn a lot of stuff.

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The prompt for Day 23 of 30 Days of Truth is "Something you wish you had done in your life."

I wish that I'd had someone videotape the birth of my first son. Not for anyone else, just for me. I wish I'd realized that I'd be so empowered and want to see it. I didn't know that, nor did I know that the second time around I would plan for a video but there would be no time to make it happen.

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The prompt for Day 24 of 30 Days of Truth is "Make a playlist to someone, and explain why you chose all the songs. (Just post the titles and artists and letter)"

For my Mom

Return to Pooh Corner - Kenny Loggins
Because I remember having this sung to me, and in my head it is entwined with my childhood.

In China or a Woman's Heart - Kate Wolf
Because you are so beautiful when you play the guitar, and this song is like a hug from you - every time I hear it I feel so at peace.

Rockin' With the Rhythm of the Rain - The Judds
Because it reminds me of rockin' out with you in our living room as a kid.

Kiss Me - Sixpence None the Richer
Because it reminds you of our time in England, and since I know that, it reminds me too.

Addicted to Love - Robert Palmer
Because we played this record and danced, and that's kid of funny.

LOVE.
Rachael

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The prompt for Day 25 of 30 Days of Truth is "The reason you believe you're still alive today."

Really? WTH kind of question is this? I don't even know. Because I haven't died, and am usually pretty smart.

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The prompt for Day 26 of 30 Days of Truth is "Have you ever thought about giving up on life? If so, when and why?"

Nope. Never.

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The prompt for Day 27 of 30 Days of Truth is "What's the best thing going for you right now?"

My family. My amazing sons. My husband. My Mom and my sister. They're everything.

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The prompt for Day 28 of 30 Days of Truth is "What if you were pregnant or got someone pregnant, what would you do?"

Honestly, I don't know. We have 2 kids now, and we're definitely not looking to add to the family - it seems just right the way it is. Additionally, having two kids? Freaking HARD. I don't know how we would handle adding another to the mix. So, instead, we shall be smart and a more permanent solution will be in our near future.

For the other 29 days, click here.

30 Days of Truth - Day 20: Tax that Shit

The prompt for Day 20 of 30 Days of Truth is "Your views on drugs and alcohol."

Put simply, I think they're a much smaller deal than people like to make of them. There are people who abuse both. There are also people who abuse credit cards and food. Addiction comes in many destructive forms and the problems is not the thing itself, but the person addicted to it.

All right... so I started typing this serious post about what I think about drugs and alcohol, but now I feel like that's boring and I really don't feel like doing it. So here are my favorite drinks:

Mojito
Mudslide
Malibu & Coke
Lemon Drop
Amaretto Sour

I totally think pot should be legal, and that in many cases it is WAY less dangerous than alcohol.

Also, we could probably pave some roads and buy some books for the library if we taxed that shit.

That's all...

For the other 29 days, click here.