If They Asked Me, I Could Write A Book

Have I mentioned that Harry Connick, Jr. will be performing at Blissdom '10???? NO?

HARRY CONNICK, JR. WILL BE PERFORMING AT BLISSDOM '10!!!!!!! SWOON!!!!

I have been a fan of his smooth crooning voice since the movie "When Harry Met Sally" debuted in 1989. The song "I Could Write A Book" has long been a favorite of mine and I have several versions of this song loaded onto my iTouch; however, Mr. Connick's version always lands as the top favorite on my jazz playlist with Dinah Washington being a close second. This being said.....how appropriate is the song title "I Could Write a Book" in connection to a blogging conference?

With this song rattling around in my head, I have found myself breaking out in random "if they asked me, I could write a book" lyrics during Isaac's math lessons. For some reason, he finds my crooning very distracting to his mathematical calculations. And then the need to take along some funky girl pajamas to this event created a energetic mass bundle in my brain. The pressure was becoming too much so I had to express myself.

Here is the result:

Sometimes red Krylon spray paint, a few stencils and

a hot pink T-shirt are all a girl needs!

That and a sparkly valentine cap found while buying the spray paint!

It matched! Don't judge me!

And some dachshund PJ bottoms!

What can I say, they were ON SALE!

AND they MATCHED!

Let me just add that Oscar, always looking to be the center of attention, came tipping around the door to the kitchen, saw this on the counter and pitched a growling, barking fit! He thought the dachshund PJ bottoms was a bit ..... MUCH!

I am going to wear them anyway.

Thanks for reading, Rosie.

What to Wear to Blissdom '10 - Part 2

I have the results, my friends, of the dresses I will take to Blissdom '10! If you do not know of which I speak, too bad. Just kidding! You can go here to catch up.


Drum roll please.......

Dress #1 was the most popular with fourteen votes;

Dress #3 was a close second with thirteen votes; and











Dress #4 followed in third place with twelve votes!

These are the dresses in which I feel the most confident and the ones that will now go in to my suitcase. Thank you Bloggie and Facebook friends for all the positive feedback. Your opinions helped confirm my thoughts.

I realize that some of you are thinking, "Why is she obsessing over this?" Let me remind you.....I am the wife of one manly man, the mother of two manly boys, and the owner of an alpha male dog. I am surrounded by testosterone on an hourly basis. I am also a nerdy bookworm that works in a library and am somewhat of a computer geek. And I home school! I am lucky to get out of my pajamas on most days. One any given day I might witness burp or fart contests and clean up dog poop. If I do manage to get dressed, ratty jeans, a stained hoodie and wool socks is my attire. Occasionally, I manage to put makeup on my acne prone skin and brush my hair. It's not a pretty picture people! I have LOST my femininity! I have to fight for the right to watch Project Runway one hour per week. I am out of the loop on what is fashionable for a 40ish woman. When I get the chance to "escape" my first thought is, "What should I wear?"

On that note.....pick your three favorites from the following ensembles.....Please and Thank You!

Assume that all of these looks have black pants or jeans.

#1 - Green tunic sweater with a black sleeveless blouse.

#2 - Multi-colored, splatter wear top.

#3 - Sparkling grey tunic sweater with sleeveless red tank.

#4 - Retro print top with sleeveless lace tank and groovy vest.

#5 - Bluegreen sweater with matching sleeveless tank.

#6 - Longsleeve black shirt with tunic style overskirt.

#7 - Short sleeve black shirt with drop-shoulder, bat-wing sleeve sweater.

Once again, your opinion is greatly desired and appreciated. I would take you with me if I could!

Thanks for reading, Rosie.

What to Wear? What to Wear? What to Wear?

I started blogging two years ago on a whim. What started as a road trip journal, became something I thoroughly enjoyed. To make a long story short, when my Dad became terminally ill with cancer last year, I did not have the heart or the time to invest in maintaining my blog. I simply "let it go". I did however, continue reading other blogs that I enjoyed. They inspire me, make my eyes leak, and cause spontaneous fits of laughter at 3:00 a.m. when I can not sleep. I love the blogger world!

In November 2009, I ran across an advertisement for a Blogging Conference (Blissdom '10) in Nashville, Tennessee, and immediately knew what I wanted for Christmas -- A ticket! Santa, was very kind to me, although he had no reason to be. In two weeks, I'll be on the road headed to my first blogging conference and I am giddy with excitement. My hope is to be inspired and get clear direction as to where I want to go with this social venue.

But I have a conundrum! What to wear? What to wear? What to wear? The age old question for every woman!

For the next few days I am going to post different ensembles I have chosen from my closet. I desperately need your opinion....good or bad....I am tough, I can HANDLE the truth! First, let me make it very clear I am NOT a size 8 and the mannequin in the following pictures in no way represents my body type. I have ASSETS people! So you will need to envision a bigger bust with more cleavage and more curvaceous hips. I am just being honest.

I need to take three dresses with me. I've picked out five that I like...please help me narrow it down to three or tell me to toss them all out and start over......

Dress 1: A dark chocolate little number with an A-line skirt. It is very flattering but is it dressy enough?

Dress 2: Red Hot Mama! Too much? I promise the breast pockets will NOT be empty and drooping when I put this on.

Dress 3: Cheetah! I love this dress. It fits me perfectly and the wide belt gives the illusion of a smaller waist. The wrap is brown, not olive green as the picture makes it look.

Dress 4: Classic black. I know that I can never go wrong with the classic black dress. This one is very straight with a split side (not too deep) and I have accessorized it with a silver belt and lovely wrap a friend gave me for Christmas. Yes? No?

Dress 5: Classic cut, modern print, feel good dress. Not too short, not too long. Feels very good on. Simple. Too plain?

So choose your three favorites and post it in the comments or feel free to tell me your thoughts on any of the dresses. Really, I NEED your help!

Thanks for reading, Rosie.

A Year of Loss, A Year of Learning

So here I am, January 3, 2010. It has been over three months since I have posted on this obscure little blog. I am a blogging drop out. No diploma for meeee! Not to make excuses but 2009 was a beast of a year and I can honestly say I’m glad it is in the past. 2009 will be journalized as a year of loss. Beginning with the tragic death of Carter’s friend, the unexpected death of a dear high school friend, Carter moving out on his own and the death of my dad in September. Life became an emotional roller coaster; however, I learned a lot in the process. At least I guess that is what I am supposed to say…I learned a lot. And I did….really.

I needed to write about my dad’s death. I could not. Words would not come. Neither would grief or tears. My body went numb. How is that possible when I knew death was present? I witnessed his decline; I said good-bye. I was wracked with guilt for feeling a sense of relief…not relief that he died…relief from the time consuming doctor’s appointments, the constant anxiety, the long sleepless nights and the never ending dialogue that comes from family members about his “condition”. Gone in an instant. Then began all the stories of how this holiday season will be so difficult when in reality, the holiday season was not too difficult. “How are you doing?” questions everywhere with “I am fine” answers. Then out of the blue while washing dishes of all things, I begin thinking about the pain my dad was in the last few days of his life. His body shook with pain and the truth is, he was probably in severe pain for several weeks and kept it to himself. And I think, “How could I not see this and request stronger pain meds for him earlier? He suffered and I did not do anything!” And there is where Grief found me. Standing in the kitchen with my hands in soapy water. Finally tears came in torrents. Wailing sobs of grief, anger, relief, guilt, and even some foot stomping and then simply missing my daddy. Missing his, “Hey, Rosie” greeting and “How are the boys?” question, his firm grip of affection that he gave me by squeezing the back of my neck and even his terrible Irish temper that I inherited (something I never thought I would miss).

I am learning what grief really is - a tricky emotion that treats everyone the same but causes as many different reactions as there are people. I am learning not to judge someone for their lack of outward grief. I am learning not to try and tame grief. And I am learning how to live without my Dad.

Thanks for reading, Rosie.