It's Finally Friday!

I feel like this Friday has taken extra long to get here. I even took a sick day this week and I still feel like I have been in my office forever.  I really felt the need to blog today, but my head is still too stuffy for me to think straight, so I am joining a link up.  Here are 5 things that I have wanted to write about, but haven't had the time or energy to make a real post.


ONE. I hate Black Friday.  As many of you know, I am a all about getting killer deals and paying almost nothing for retail things. (maybe some day I will write a quick tutorial about it).  But I hate black Friday.  It saddens/angers me that important holidays are being lost in a commercialized haze.

TWO. Have you ever just known without a doubt that you should do something?  That's how I feel about being a mother.  I know that I was made to be a mother.  Needless to say, the baby bug has bitten me.  logically and monetarily. is it wise for me to have a child right now?  Maybe not, but we wait until every little thing is in place, then we would be waiting forever.

THREE. This one totally ties into #2 (I told you I have baby fever).  How do all the working moms out there do it?  How can you afford to pay for childcare and put food on the table?  The cost of childcare makes it almost not worth working!.... yet another reason we should maybe wait for a kid...

FOUR. Balancing Holiday as a married person pretty much sucks.  Thankfully, my mother is super understanding and could care less if we celebrated Christmas on the 25th or the 10th.  She is just happy to spend time with us.  Dean's family is all about HUGE gatherings and traditions.   It's a little overwhelming for this Scrooge-like only child.

FIVE.  I wish I wasn't afraid of change.  Dean desperately wants to move to Europe or at least the northern west coast.  To me, the thought of having to start all over in a new place without knowing anyone scares the crap out of me!  Even if on paper it looks better.

Dogs and Waffles Don't Mix.

It's no secret to me that the majority of my better posts are stories about my animals.  What can I say?  It just happens that way.  This time is no exception.

Saturday morning I had the brilliant idea of making waffles for breakfast. Cause really, who doesn't like waffles?  Dean was already in bed, so there was no way that I was going to make a whole batch.  I halved the recipe and expected  to get about 3 waffles out of it.

I mixed all three of the ingredients together (yes, I used a mixed, I know - how undomesticated of me), and started pouring the mix into my waffle iron.  As I am pouring, it appears that all of the batter will fit.  Foolishly I thought "awesome, now I won't have left overs", instead of "this should have made 4 waffles".  I put the mixing bowl in the sink and tuned around to see the batter oozing out of the waffle iron, like a volcano at a fourth grade science fair.

It was a hot mess.  It started dripping down the cabinet to the floor faster than I could find the paper towels.  That's when Faust thought it would be fun to lick up what was on the floor.  The only problem with that, is that more batter was on it's way down.  In a time frame of maybe 30 sec, my dog was covered in waffle batter.  his whole ear, is collar, and a few drops on his face.  He was a mess, but at least he was a cute mess.

Yes, I was bribing him with a Milk Bone.  How else do you get a non-blurry photo of a 8 month old puppy?

Wimpy still thinks he is a dog.

Yes, I know I am not a mother yet, but...

It has always annoyed me when people find a way to dismiss my opinion about something.  My opinions are exactly that, mine.  Just because you disagree with me, does not make my opinions any less valuable.  Lately I have found that a lot of younger mother's completely disregard my opinions when it comes to parenting. It all started with a Facebook post that I mentioned last week.  Frankly, it pisses me off.

I don't know how to say this with out sounding completely full of myself, so I am just going to say it.  For  a young woman who doesn't have any children of her own yet, I know a whole heck of a lot about kids. For as long as I can remember I have been drawn to children and have purposely  made an effort to be around them.  I was a summer nanny when I was 15 for 4 kids, a camp counselor, a children's ministry director, a regular baby sitter, ect.  So, when some one tells me that I "don't understand" something because I haven't given birth, it hurts me.  

Now, I am not claiming that I will be the world's greatest mother.  I understand that there will be challenges and new learning experiences along the way.  And I am fully expecting to feel emotions I have never experienced before.  But please don't tell me "I don't get it".  Just because I haven't experienced childbirth or motherhood yet, does not mean that I do not understand the importance of the emotional impact it will have on my life.

A good friend of mine put it this way, "people tend to get cocky with the things they have had to learn though experience that they didn't know before.  Especially if it is in a field such as children that they knew nothing about before they had to."  I completely agree.  If mommy wars are this bad before I am even expecting, I can only imagine how much worse they will get!

I will get off my soap box now, but please keep that in mind  people's opinions are valuable, and adding a smiley face to your blunt and insulting comment, doesn't make it any less insulting.  

What I would rather be doing.

Halloween is not really my favorite holiday.  When I was a kid it was cool, but as an adult there is really no point to it.  I am not huge in to parting anymore, and it annoys me when people come to my door.  I am sure that when I have children I will get into it again.  In the mean time, there are plenty of things I would rather be doing than celebrating Halloween.

ONE.  Watch Boy Meets World.

I was so annoyed with Netflix for not having this on instant stream.  But my awesome husband downloaded it for me two weeks ago and I am over half way through the series.

TWO. Plan my trip to Chicago to visit Meg

Less than 6 days until I am united with this crazy lady.  Watch out Windy City - we will be running a muck soon!

THREE. Not answering my door
We live on the second story.  Every time some one knocks on the door its a big production to go down stairs, open the doors, and make sure the dog stops barking.  Not to mention, Candy is freakin expensive!  I just spend $14 on two bags of candy and a stupid plastic pumpkin head. I'd rather put my money in my closet where I can see it.

Basically, I don't like holidays. Yes I know, I am the biggest anti-blogger there is.  Just wait until I start ranting about Christmas!

I don't understand....

I am going to go against the blogger trend here and say that I really don't understand birth photography.  I just feel like this is a traditionally behind-closed-doors event for a reason.  I posted something like this on Facebook last night and I accidentally started a bit of a debate.  Don't get me wrong, I will most definitely want photos of that event...taken by my husband. And don't expect me to share them all over social media.

I was told that I should wait to judge such an event until after I have children and then see if I don't get it.  It really bothers me when people assume that I don't know what I am talking about when it comes to children/being a mother simply because I am not one yet.  Yes, I understand that there will be a lot of new experiences for me. But, when it comes to opinions, my are still valid.

I digress.

The point is that birth photography is a trend I just don't understand.  But then again, there are a lot of trends I don't understand.

like peep toe boots...

If is it chilly enough to wear boots, why would you want your toes exposed?

Or exaggerated winged eye liner

We are not in Egypt in 500 BC.  There is no need to draw lines on your face.

or why Bit Strips are suddenly all over Facebook

Can someone explain this to me?  Why is it fun?

And please don't get me started on hashtags or fantasy football.  

But what I really really really don't understand, is why people think that Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Lattes are good.  Dunkin's PSL's are a million times better!  No overly sweet chemical taste in those (much cheaper) cups!

I'll take purple over pink

It's October.  That time of year when you buy a pink colored product that has breast cancer causing chemicals from a company that donates a minuscule amount to charity.  It's also that time of year where Facebook annoys the crap out of me with silly little pranks disguised as awareness.  Because, you know, there are so many people unaware that breast cancer exists.  Oh - don't let the guys in on that game! Is this helpful in any way? Am I a “spoil sport” for refusing to play along? Are we hiding this “TRUTH” from the men because we don’t want them to know that men can get breast cancer too?   There is always something better you could be doing.  I know I sound a bit cynical. I am not saying that breast cancer is no big deal.  To the people effected by it, it could be life changing.   I am just tired of people patting themselves on the back for buying a bag of potato chips with pink packaging and thinking they saved the world.  

What I am passionate about is October being Domestic Violence Awareness month.  But, that gets no where near the time, money, or attention that it should. Did you know that 1 in every 4 women will experience domestic violence in their lifetime? That's a lot! That's double the amount of women who will get breast cancer.  Yet, domestic violence gets looked over all the time.  

Domestic violence is the willful intimidation, physical assault, battery, sexual assault, and/or other abusive behavior perpetrated by an intimate partner against another. It is an epidemic affecting individuals in every community, regardless of age, economic status, race, religion, nationality or educational background. Violence against women is often accompanied by emotionally abusive and controlling behavior, and thus is part of a systematic pattern of dominance and control. Domestic violence results in physical injury,
psychological trauma, and sometimes death. The consequences of domestic violence can cross generations and truly last a lifetime.

That's why I will be wearing a purple ribbon in October, not a pink one.  

The quickest year of my life.

This time last year I was on my way to my hairdressers to get my wedding hair done.  That and the cake were the only professional things that were done for our whole wedding.  It was beautiful.  Having a small, intimate ceremony, was one of the best choices of my life.

I was able to actually enjoy things.  I wasn't rushed or stressed all day.  I didn't feel like I was forgetting anything because there was nothing to forget.  I didn't spend a small fortune on a single day, and the end result was still the same.  I became Mrs. Gootee.  There have a been a small handful of times that I was sad about not having a big fancy wedding, but in the end, I am still glad we did things the way we did.

People often say that the first year of marriage is the hardest.  I haven't been married for more than a year, so I can't say if that is true for us or not. But i am looking forward to finding out.  We did get off to a pretty rocky start.  A hospital room is not exactly an ideal honeymoon location.  I am pretty sure if we can take that blow just two days after our wedding, we can pull through most anything.

Happy Anniversary, Babe!  One down and a lifetime to go!