A baby, a dress, and a fit of laughter

Marcie had her baby on Thursday and they are well! I've seen some photos on facebook and he is absolutely adorable! They are all getting settled and hopefully will get to go home today. Thanks for all your wishes and prayers!

Branden and I went shopping on Friday. We've been looking for new jeans for Branden and I've been in search of a teapot for a while. While we were in a clothing shop, I was drawn to a particular item of clothing that I long for but have never owned...a maxi dress. Yes, I know that I am only 5'2" and a floor length dress will make me look like a stump made of fabric, but there is just something about this dress that makes tall, stick figured women, look fabulous, would transform my curvy, short, feminine body into something similar to an overstuffed sausage, I like. This is why I don't own a maxi dress, because I fight this constant struggle of "I love it but I shouldn't have it if I want to look remotely decent". So anyway, I spied the maxi dress display and made a beeline for it. As I flipped through them, I told Branden all the reasons why I shouldn't wear one and how I thought just the right style and pattern may just work if I could just find it. Then it happened...my whole maxi dream was crushed...in my husband's rare moment of common sense.

"Mags, just look at how high the hanger is in comparison to you. You couldn't wear it if you wanted to." He obviously stated with a small grin on his face.

My face dropped. I had never thought of this before. My eyes gazed at the dress, the fabric reaching the floor, and the straps, hanging from a hanger that reached the very tip-top of my head! In slight sadness, but mostly ridiculous realization, I started cracking up! Heavens, I pretty much could have muffled my giggles in the dresses waistline! Why had I not realized this before?? I consider myself to be very practical, but I would have reached far above my head, grabbed the Amazonian dress from the rack, tried it on, and only then been surprised and disappointed that the dress was way too long for me. By this time Branden was laughing as well and my eyes were tearing up with my fit of giggles. So much for my own common sense!

Other than my maxi dress dream being crushed (and don't even think that I could just hem the skirt because if you knew my 'sewing abilities' you wouldn't suggest the demise of an innocent item of clothing) we had a very successful day of shopping! Branden got 3 pairs of jeans, I got my teapot, and we also got some new bathroom towels, a new casserole dish, and some other handy things. Now if only my allergies would let up, I may get to enjoy the week!

Hello there, remember me???

There's so much going on that it's hard to get my mind focused enough to write. Unfortunately things won't be letting up soon so I am sadly going to be the aloof, on and off blogger for a while. The big thing that I can't wait for is...we've got a baby coming!!! I'm so excited!!! ...did you totally just think I was talking about me? Sorry, I wasn't...hehehe. My lovely friend is nearing the end of her pregnancy and I am getting really anxious to finally meet him. This means I'm gearing up to be a cooking mad woman, making them a bunch of meals to have in their freezer and pre made baking mixes.

Also, Street Pastors is really getting in full swing and we are planning for training in May and June so we can be out on the Streets by mid July! I've got a bit of paperwork to finish filling out but I am just overjoyed that we will be starting relatively soon!

Branden's leaving next week for a conference in Belfast that he will be presenting at so he's been working late nights in preparation. I'll be staying with a girlfriend while he's gone so I won't have another breakdown in my sanity from being alone. With all that's been going on, we still have somehow been social butterflies and the chances I get to be in the comfort of my room, I have been using them to relax and not think about anything. I also got a bit crafty too and made a new ring and pair of earrings.

I know there has been more but I'm in my cosy room so my mind is currently shut off. Here's a glimpse at my newest craft creations. I miss you all and hope things have been going well for you!

 Needle felted band with sewn on beads

 Needle felted ball with attached bead

Easy to make but I really like them!

The Many Adventures of Maggie with Poo!

I'm cleaning like a mad woman today since we have friends coming to cook for us in our house tomorrow (don't you wish you had our crazy convincing skills!) so I had to dig through my ancient archives of old blog fodder to give you something today. This was written about 6 years ago but the memories linger for a lifetime...unfortunately...

I guess you could say that poo has been a background theme in my life. There have been many strange

instances with this crap and most of them I would like to wipe from my memory! When I was 3, we were having a snowball fight and my neighbor hit me right in the mouth. Unfortunately for me it was loaded with dog poo but luckily my vomit cleansed the taste from my mouth. When I was about 4, my neighbors had a new kitty. I loved kitties so much and I loved to hold them. I held it a bit too tight however, squeezing the poo right out of it and all over my shirt! 

At about age 13 my sister and I were walking along a muddy road and got into a mud fight. After being covered in mud we started to notice a nasty smell. It was then our intelligent minds realized that this mud from the road IN a cow field might be contaminated! Imagine that! I had a friend in high school that would get into horse poo fights with me...it is good for throwing. I have also been pooped on by seagulls twice in my life. 

About 3 months ago I was running the steer shoot at roping practice and the steer kicked up a lot of poo as he shot out of the shoot. It landed on my sweatshirt so I flicked the material to get it off causing the poo to take flight yet again. This time it landed perfectly...on my bottom lip! I was spewing and spitting for a long time...ulgh! 

Moral of this blog: Don't pitch me crap...it has a tendency to land in my mouth !

Did I forget to mention...???

Branden's birthday is tomorrow and today feels like we've started the celebration early! The sun is glorious and we've had a picture perfect day so far...quite literally actually. We met up with 2 of my girlfriends (my other sister wives) as Ciara, the one with the cutest boy in all the land, was taking maternity photos of Marcie in the lovely park by our house. Since Branden turned in the paper he's been slaving over for the past couple of weeks, he and I met them in the park to visit and help if we could. It was fun and we laughed a lot!

Afterwards, Branden and I headed up to the University to go to the gallery and cafe for lunch. The cafe was fabulous and I was actually surprised at how reasonable the prices were for Cork! Going out to eat is ridiculously expensive here so I was shocked at what all we got for just under 9 euros a meal. I had a seared tuna salad with roasted red peppers, hard boiled egg, green beans, roast potatoes, and a tomato dressing. Branden got a teriyaki duck salad with candied pecans, roast peppers, red onion, papaya, and a raspberry vinaigrette dressing. It was amazing and we were able to sit outside and bask in the sun. We have received birthday money so this little splurge was such a wonderful treat!

Tomorrow we are going to Waterford to see the cathedral, town, and museum. Technically Branden will be using the trip for study purposes but we've also been wanting to go so it will be fun for his birthday. We have reservations for dinner in town and are really looking forward to the day. The weather is also supposed to be just as nice so we couldn't ask for anything better!

I mentioned in my last post about getting ice cream in the park. We took a photo of the two of us with our cones but it's a little wonky...Branden's eyes are closed and I look like I'm wearing a lovely steeple hat.

I've also had the crafting bug lately and made a couple of needle felted rings yesterday. The beads are sewn on.

 The band is needle felted so it's a little stretchy and comfy.

I am slightly nervous that I look like a British sympathizer with this one but oh well, it's cute! 

For a first time at making rings, I think I did fairly well. Wearing felted things isn't typically my style but I actually think I like these...I've been wearing the first one all day! I also made a needle felted elephant toy for my girlfriend's daughter who recently turned 2. It turned out pretty cute and it actually didn't take me as long as I thought!

Some cheesy posing 

Cute little fluffy tail 

He was fun to make and I am quite happy with how he turned out. Well, we have a skype date with Branden's parents so I'm off for now. I am way behind in blog reads this week since the weather has been insanely nice and I've been trying to be part of it. Hopefully I'll catch up next week when temperatures are supposed to get back to normal. Have a wonderful weekend! We sure will with Branden's birthday celebrations!

Irish summer is basically here!

The weather has been fantastic and should keep up for at least the rest of the week! Although my allergies keep trying to convince me that I don't like this dry, sunny weather, I have called it a big fat liar and coughed in it's face! Take that! Yesterday was fabulous as I met up with 2 of my girlfriends. One has a 1 year old boy, who is the cutest thing in the land, and the other is almost 1 month away from her due date. I said we looked like a group of sister wives and I appeared to be the unloved one...

Today has been even nicer outside and Branden and I even took a break to go to the park by our house. There is almost always an ice cream truck at this park so when we saw the Mr. Softie van, we looked at each other with excitement. (NOT what she said!) This was a different ice cream truck than the normal one that scours our neighborhood. This is a good thing as we were pretty much convinced that the other truck was a drug dealer as he would loudly jingle through the streets at 8:30 at night, long past dark, and in the dead of winter...crack cream cone anyone? I hear the Meth with chocolate chip is to die from! ...er, for...

I will be posting about my birthday fun but Branden is hogging his computer (how selfish of him!) which has all of our photos and videos on it from the day. I probably need to take some time to continue to calm down from the experience because I TOTALLY GOT 3 FEET FROM A LEMUR!!! I don't think a 4 year old girl meeting all the Disney princesses could have been as excited as I was! There was some serious flipping out going on and the photos of me as the day progressed had me looking more and more crazed with a questioning look on my face as if to say to Branden, "Can we put a kangaroo in your backpack??" Sadly, no animals were smuggled out in the process of our visit but we got some great shots and some great videos. I really want to upload a video and share it where Branden and I are looking at a baby monkey. Our conversation is completely normal for us but to the general audience, we would sound like a couple of nutters who should not be allowed out in public.

Even though today is Tuesday, I am sharing something under "Music Monday" because it's too hilarious to pass up! I love hounds and I love towheaded kids playing harmonicas so this was just brilliant! I hope you enjoy it!