Laura Michael Jeffrey

If you know these names as a group then you've definitely been watching Pr0ject Runwaaaay.

I have to make some comments about last week's episode. The one where the designers created an outfit for the "everyday woman"?

Daniel's sister was a cutie and was an easy one to design for. Michael did a great job with putting more into the garment than he needed to. Making it reversible? Sheer genius. I was happy that Vincent finally won something. But Uli's Mom was a spark so she was another one who was easy to work with. I'm not sure what happened with Laura though. I thought she would have done some nice long loose pants with a tiny fitted shirt to keep with a 'cruise' feel. That high waisted pencil skirt didn't read 'cruise-wear' to me at all!

Angela's Mom was definitely creating drama. Could she just go with the flow and not complain? Granted, she wasn't enthused about the color choices that Jeffrey made but could she just keep that to herself? SEE what he was going to create for her? Jeffrey is opinionated. I'm not saying he isn't. And he can come off abrasive. But so can I. So I can tolerate him for the most part. It's not like Angela's Mom had to wear that outfit OUT in the real world. All she had to do was walk it down the runway. She didn't need to be COVERED and in the colors that SHE liked.

Jeffrey made that comment back to her at one point where she was disagreeing with him. Something like maybe other people could see something about her that's beautiful that she doesn't see. I didn't tape the show so I'm not sure of his exact wording there. But he was going to MAKE something for her and keep her preferences in mind. That's what a designer does.

The designers who made EXACTLY what their client wanted? Turned out to be the same old, same old of what those ladies normally wear. There was no DESIGNING involved really. So Jeffrey did go a little against the grain of what Angela's Mom wanted but it still wasn't what he wanted to create for her. So in this case, she wasn't happy and he wasn't happy.

I must say that she did DRIVE me BATTY! Moreso than Jeffrey's snippety behavior.

And I must say that Michael continues to create really awesome stuff. Last night's outfit? Seersucker? It was fabulous! He looked comfortable and unwrinkled when he landed. I think he's the best designer of the group. From what he's created for each week's challenges? Every style has been different.

All the other designers seem to put themselves into certain niches. Angela with her rosettes. Jeffrey has a rocker type look. Laura has the classic line, empire waisted look. Uli has the patterned fabric. Vincent.....oh Vincent. But don't you think so?

I'm really rooting for Michael. He's even keeled. He's professional. He doesn't have a bad attitude. He doesn't think he's "better" than the other designers. He's the Chloe of season 3!

Ernesto Hhitting Hard

That's the little blurb that's on The Weather Channel as they're showing a guy in Wrightsville Beach, NC trying to TELL people how hard the storm is hitting.

What's the funniest?

I'm getting a sense of how hard the storm is hitting by just watching him. Not listening to him. He's basically trying to stand INTO the wind. He's at a 75% angle to his right as his hood is whipping to his left. I can't believe the hood is staying on. And he's kind of stepping to the left as gusts hit him. THAT is how hard the wind is driving him. I'm sure the camera guy is behind a pillar or something because the camera is totally steady.

This POOR GUY!

There's his name! ED CRUMB -- you go dude!

What's even funnier is they're doing a split shot with the other weather guy he's talking to. This 2nd guy? He's got no wind. No rain. Standing straight up.

Jeez-louise!

Moments like these

that I like to watch tennis.

But this match tonight? Agassi versus Baghdatis? I've HAD to watch it.

And right now? It's the 5th set with a 4-4 score Deuce #8. I don't care if I've typed that correctly in tennis terms. Let's just say it's matches like this that make me LOVE this game.

This will be Andre Agassi's last tournament. He'll be leaving the sport after this tournament. I thought this might be his last match so that's why I started watching it.

Andre is 36 years old. Baghdatis is 21. And it's Baghdatis that's cramping up. Amazing.

Way back when Andre entered the professional circuit he was a flashy young guy. We ALL remember his hair. That LONG hair -- mullet...whatever.

Now? He's got a shaved head. He's married. He's got 2 children.

I like the way he's chosen to leave the sport. To announce in June that he was planning on retiring. This way people are prepared. So they can enjoy his game. To watch him and remember all the years he's played. And won. And lost. And won again. He's definitely the comeback kid.

Even though I'm not an avid watcher of tennis....it's been FABULOUS watching Mr. Agassi.

And now? We'll get to see him in at least ONE MORE MATCH! He won! He won!

Simple words to make me feel like a good mommy

Yesterday I had a nice conversation with a co-worker of mine, who I'll call Buddy.

[ring-ring-ring]

Me: Hello, X Company, this is Grace. [said in a sing-song voice while I'm typing away on my computer]

Buddy: Hey, it's Buddy.

Me: Oh hey! Long time no talk!"

Buddy: Yeah. Been busy. What's going on with you?

Me: Nothing much. Just picked the kiddos up from school. I'm trying to get caught up with emails now [said again in a sing-song manner]

Buddy: How do you do that?

Me: Do what?"

Buddy: You always sound like you've got everything under control. That nothing bothers you. You've got the kids and work and stuff....

That comment was followed by thunderous laughter on my end.

Me: You said it right. It SOUNDS like I've got things under control."

Buddy: "But it never sounds like things are bothering you. There's always work issues that crop up and then you're still able to do stuff with your kids."

Me: Well, if I can't control a problem then I just have to handle it and go with the flow, right?"

Buddy: You are such a good Mom!

So that last bit has stayed with me since yesterday afternoon. It makes me feel better. That I can still work and be a good Mom. That my struggle to balance work and my kids is worth it. Each early morning (even on the weekends) to gather data and get stuff done so that I can spend that next hour with the kids each morning as I get them ready for their day. Worth it. That even if I doubt myself....that someone else...an adult thinks I'm a good Mom.

I don't think that Buddy, who is a newlywed with no kids, will ever know HOW MUCH his comment means to me. That I'll keep that tucked away in my brain for those moments when I don't feel like a good Mom.

When has someone given you kudos for being a good Mom? Something that has stayed with you?

Leaving me hanging

There's something that irritates me during my workday. When people IM me with cryptic messages.

"There's a problem"

"I need help"

People. People! When you write this stuff I'm waiting for YOU to type in the issue so I can respond accordingly. Why must you wait for me to type back?

"What's wrong?"

If it's a lenghty issue then EMAIL me with all the details. If it's hard to describe then put a print screen in so I can "see" what you're talking about.

It's just so frustrating!

Even more frustrating is when people don't think through a situation before they contact me.

Here's an IM with a subordinate of mine.

The dates on the reports were JUL31-AUG27

data is correct

but problem with dates

shall i continue or wait for ur answer

HUH? First of all, this guy compiles a weekly report, which is always for Monday to Sunday. So how could the data be correct if the dates are totally wrong? And what is he talking about continuing to compile the data? He can't do that if the date range is wrong.

Uh-hummm....obviously wrong.

We can't update these reports ourselves. We grab these reports off a client site. The client is responsible for changing the dates. So, of course, I need to contact the client and request an update to the date range. Right?

S-P-E-L-L it out people! I get so aggrevated when workplace contacts don't provide enough information. ARGH!

Now are you one of those people who sned out little blurbs with no real info to co-workers?

The name game - Part 3

What have you and your siblings and/or your children named after? Names passed down from generation to generation? Names that have special meaning?

My parents named us whatever happened to come into their heads as a "good" sounding name. I think they gave us all SOLID names. Nothing frilly or trendy.

The only unusual thing that happened was that 3 of us got 2 first names, the my Mom's maiden name as our middle name, and then my Dad's last name. By 2 first names I mean something like Stacey Faye. But my second sister only go 1 first name, my Mom's maiden and then my Dad's last name. What makes it even more pronounced is that she had the shortest first name. Four simple letters. We always found that odd. But it turns out she was the only daughter that my Dad named. AHA!

My Mom's parents named their kids according to the alphabet. The first kid had an "A" name. The second kid (my Mom) got a "B" name. The third kid got a "C" and so on. They got up to the letter "G", so there are 7 kids in all. AND this method of naming makes it easy for us to remember in what order my Mom's siblings were born.

Of couse, we all know of those families that name their kids with the same name. The Duggar's and their 16 kids are the most well known right now. Can you believe they thought up all those "J" names? Whew!

My BIL (the husband of the sister with one first name) and his 3 siblings all have "A" names. What's interesting is that my BILs one set of cousins from his father's side (4 in all) also have "A" names. And they all grew up in the same neighborhood. So if you didn't know them, you'd think they were all from the same parents because of how their names were - "A" last name.

Then there's the weirdness of my husband's parents. My husband is the oldest - let's say his name is Peter Sam. His younger brother (who is second born) is Sam Jeff. If the third child was a boy, his name would have been Jeff something. No one else in my MIL or my FILs family does this. Has anyone heard of this? I knew my ILs were weird but seriously!

Now what's the deal in your family? How are you named?

Here's another first

I was in the den working this afternoon when I thought I heard a scream. I stopped. I listened. Then I heard crying. BAWLING really.

I ran to the family room. Stopped. Listened again. Was the sound from the upstairs loft where the Bear was? Or was it downstairs where the Princess was located?

Downstairs. The downstairs bathroom to be exact.

I walk into the half bath to find my daughter bawling in that cry of pain.

Me: Honey, what's wrong?

Princess: Mommy! There's something wrong with my poo-poo! It's not coming out!"

She said this through sobs and gasps of air.

I looked between her little legs towards the bottom of the toilet. I saw one piece of doody. And it looked "not so soft".

Me: When was the last time you went poo-poo?

Princess: Umm... [sniffle-sniffle]

Me: Yesterday or the day before?

Princess: The day before.

Me: Oh baby. This is what happens when you don't drink enough water every day.

I told her to relax and let the poo-poo come slowly. I leaned her forward so that she was hunched over her knees. I gave her a kiss on her head and gave her some privacy.

About 5 minutes later I heard more crying.

Me: Baby, what's going on?

Princess: Mommy! Mommy! It's stuck!

I look down between her stick thin legs and see that "yes indeed" it was stuck. I repositioned her forward over her knees and told her to relax.

Me: Take a deep breath now and push hard.

She actually listened and there was immediate relief. That HUGE BRICK came out and was followed by a smaller pebble. There was a definite change in the Prin's face.

Princess: Whew!

So what's the lesson here? That a kid's first bout of constipation can be traumatic. Scary. But it all works out in the end with a flush....

Don't see the big deal

Why is everyone making such a big deal about how they've organized $urvivor for this coming season?

By Race? NOT a huge deal. There have been shows that display race much more artificially. How about Black/White on FX? Now THAT was a controversial show. Why? Because they made these individuals up to "blend" with the other race. Granted, this show wasn't on one of the MAJOR 3 stations but FX is a big cable channel.

I just think separating people into these various teams is not a huge deal. It's only a huge deal if the teams talk smack about the other teams in an offensive manner.

So that's my opinion....I've got none.

Can you tell I'm out of ideas for today?

Bowling for...fun?

Just back home. It's almost 9pm. On a SCHOOL night?

Yes. The Princess and I went out tonight. Dinner and a school activity. A hot dog cookout and bowling!

How cool is that?

It was a little disorganized for dinner but everyone ate. There was enough for all who attended.

The bowling? A blast!

I hadn't been bowling in AGES! Probably since before the kids were born. It was the Princess' first time ever. She enjoyed it immensely once they set the bumpers to automatically come up when it was her turn. That's right. I might be one of the only people who didn't know this. The technology is so sophisticated now that these bumpers could automatically be set so they come out for the younger players.

What was even better about the evening is that we WON something from the raffle. Last year we didn't win ONE SINGLE thing. This year? We won a gift card to Tar-jay! Woohoo! I'm going to let the Princess buy whatever she wants with that gift card.

And the highlight of the evening? When the teachers danced....The CHICKEN dance! They were able to grab some of the kids to dance with them. And one of those kids was the Princess! Her participation earned her an additional raffle ticket. Then they all danced the Macarena. The teachers and the kids. With us parents smiling and clapping along.

I'm sure the Princess will be fully tired tomorrow morning. But it was well worth it.

Fun all around

We all had such a GOOD time the last couple of days.

The Bear enjoyed the scrimmage. By the end he was saying that he wanted to play.

"I pway foo-baw. I stwong!"

But I couldn't believe how many people showed up at the stadium. The entire lower section of one side was filled. SERIOUSLY! Normally, the team has this scrimmage up in the mountain training camp. This year they changed it to the campus. And based upon the turn-out, the Hubs thinks that they'll continue to have the game at the stadium each year.

The hotel we stayed at had the most uncomfortable beds. I felt every single spring. So I barely slept. AND the Bear woke up at his usual time even though he went to bed 2 hours later than normal. That's right folks. The kid was up at 6am. When I rolled over and looked at him in the next bed, you know what he said?

"Wook! The sun is up!"

So he and I got dressed and went out. We had a nice breakfast outside. And the wonderful staff only charged me for one meal. I got the Bear some oatmeal and he barely touched it. He likes the 1-minute outmeal where you can still see each individual oat. He doesn't like it all mushy and blended. So he ate some strawberry yogurt. I tried to convince him to eat some of my waffle.

"I don wike!"

5 minutes later he was eatting the waffles.

After breakfast we hung out at the fountain and watched the birds. And listened to the airplanes arriving and departing the airport.

It was a good time. Even though it WAS early yesterday.

What did YOU do? Anything new? Interesting? Or was it just chores and errands?

Footbeall season begins...

The Hubs is ecstatic. Overjoyed really.

Football season starts for "us" tomorrow.

We'll be headed up tomorrow afternoon to his alma mater.

To watch the football team play a scrimmage game.

It'll be the Bear's FIRST football game. Sure, he's watched it on tv. But this'll be the first time he's been in a stadium.

We're expecting to see the mascot make the rounds through the stadium. Hopefully, the Bear won't freak out when he sees the mascot.

The Princess has been to about a dozen games already. And she's only almost 6. So she's a pro at this stuff.

What'll be great about this weekend is that we're going to spend the night up near the university. Then we're going to drop the kiddos off at my ILs to spend the rest of the day and night. The Hubs and I will drive home (90 minutes) in silence. No kiddo movie playing. No kiddo music playing.

The kidlings will be dropped back at home on Sunday afternoon before dinner. Ahhhh....

Without any notice

If you enjoy Kri$py K donuts, don't come here.

Apparently, the two stores here were closed down mid-week.

With NO warning to anyone. The employees came to open up the stores and there were notices on the doors.

"Store closed until further notice"

WTF?

I would be totally ticked if I was an employee. Shouldn't there be SOME kind of indicator to management that the franchise was in trouble? Give your people....your employees a heads up? DANG!

Do Your Eyes Light Up

I watched a small snippet of Oprah today.

It was filled with highlights from previous shows.

The part that I saw was about a tough biker husband who bought his wife Oprah's 20th Anniversary DVD. She got the first DVD in and had him sit down and watch with her. She left on to go to the grocery store. And when she came back? He was sitting there watching Oprah.

He said that something that Maya Angelou stuck with him.

"Do your eyes light up when you look at your children?"

After he saw that show, he realized that he HAD to make an effort when he interacted with his children. That he could be hurting their feelings by just looking at them in a blank or irritated manner.

That got ME to thinking.

How do I look at my children? Do my face and my eyes light up?

I think it does. But not ALL the time. I know that when I pick up my daughter, I try to have a smile on my face. Hold her hand as we walk to the car. LISTEN to her as she tells me about her day. I do the same with the Bear.

I remember one time when the Princess' teacher said that she liked seeing the Princess and I together after school. How we'd hug and kiss each other. That she could tell the Princess and I enjoyed each other. The gals at the Bear's daycare know what our morning routine is like. That the Bear kisses my left cheek, my right cheek, my forehead, my chin, and then we rub noses. Then it's a big hug from me and then his sister. Then he's off. We send him off with love with our routine. It comforts us all. It sends us all off with a smile.

But I'm definitely not a saint. I get in bad moods. I think it's important for them to realize that even parents get upset. That we control our anger for the majority of things. But there are moments when we parents lose it.

But I am amazed at how many parents I see at school or at daycare that have a "whatever" expression on their face. Like they're irritated by their kids. It saddens me.

Now...do YOUR eyes light up?

And the Bear says...

There are things that the Bear says that crack me up.

At least once a week, we drive down eastbound on this one street. As we're driving eastbound, there's a place on the right that sells toolsheds.

"Mommy! Da-E! Wook! Oh-mac-donna! See? SEE!"

One of the sheds they've got next to the road? It's red. And it's painted like a barn. Get it?

"Old McDonald had a farm....E-I...E-I-O!"

***************

Since it's been raining so much the last few weeks, the flowers have decided to make an early comeback. The first ones to make an appearance?

"Mommy! Mommy! I see poo-pull FOW-ers!"

"See? I see TWO poo-pull fow-ers!"

"Wook! Wook! I see mow poo-pull fow-ers!"

That's right folks. The purple flowers were the first to bloom.

Every time we'd drive by some purple flowers he'd let me know. Just to be sure I saw them too.

***************

The Bear and the Princess go through this weird dialogue sometimes because the Bear is being possessive.

"No Prin. That's MY Da-e!"

"Okay bubby. It's your Daddy? Then that's my Mommy."

"NO. That's MY Mommy."

"Okay. If that's your Mommy. Then that's my Daddy."

"Hmmmph....NO! That's MY Da-e!"

Usually by that go-around, the Princess just walks away. She just likes to aggrevate her brother.

***************

We have a dialogue that occurs when HE puts on his shoes in the morning.

"Is this the right foot?"

"Okay buddy. The L (pointing to the letter on the back of his shoe) is for the LEFT foot (touching the big toe on his left foot)."

"Oh.....okay....this one goes on this foot?"

"Yes buddy. The R (pointing to the letter on the back of his shoe) is for the RIGHT foot (touching the big toe on his right foot)."

Happens every morning when we leave.

***************

My Bear loves bagels for breakfast. It's one of the top 3 requested items in the morning. When I do throw a bagel into the toaster and it pops up, what happens?

"It's BAGEL time!"

"Bagel time...la-la-la-la-la-la-la..."

"Bagel time...la-la-la-la-la"

He breaks out into song. Think of that tune in Blues' Clues when Blue and the gang get ready for bed? Pajama time? THAT is the tune he uses to sing.

And while he's singing? He's dancing. Shaking his booty and pumping his shoulders in rhythm.

***************

I love the fact that he is polite without having to hound him about it. PEAS and FANK YOU and BESS YOU are a part of everyday language. He's a fun little guy. Growing each day. Each week. I can see it. I can hear it in the way his vocabulary is expanding. How complex our conversations are getting. How when I point to things he KNOWS what they are.

I love and adore you my Bear-Bear!

Cutting across -- must you?

When I take the exit off the highway to get home, there are two left turn lanes.

The LEFT-left lane and the left-right lane.

Got it so far?

How many times have people in the LEFT-left lane decided after we've made the left turn that they need to get into the RIGHT lane?

Yes. The Mickey D's is pretty much the first driveway after we get onto the road. But do you HAVE to cut people off so that you can get your Big Mac? There IS another right turn at the end of the block where you can take the loop around back to Mickey D's. Is that risk of taking off a bumper WORTH those skinny oily french fires?

How many times have people in the left-right lane decided that NEED to get into the LEFT lane?

Yes. I do know that the Wally Mart is that first left turn lane. But do you HAVE to cut people off in your desperation to get those Low Prices? There is another left turn about another half block up. It takes you to the SAME parking lot. And it's a whole heck of a lot safer for you and all the drivers around you.

It's just frustrating when people don't consider the drivers around them. If you don't know where you're going then get out of the way. Drive the long way around. PLEASE!

The name game - Part 2

Here's another issue I've got with names.

I can't stand it when I hear people pronounce someone's name wrong. Grates on my nerves like nobody's business. Here are a couple examples that I've witnessed.

Take the name Gabrielle. It's the female version of the name Gabriel.

Gabriel pronounced -> GAY-bree-l

The reason I bring up this name is because there's a little girl I know with the name Gabrielle. How would you pronounce the name?

Most of you would probably the name as Gaa-bree-L --> just say the word gasket to get the Gaa sound.

And there's a guy that we know that calls that little girl -> GAY-bree-L

What? You're seeing that right people. He puts emphasis on two sections of the name. He's basically saying the male pronunciation of the name but putting additional emphasis on the last part of the name. Why? I don't know.

The parents of this little girl call her GAW-bree-l -> just say the word gone to get the GAW sound.

The parents are hispanic. So they are pronouncing the name with an " a " sound like they would in Spanish.

What's crazy is that we've been to more than a couple of gatherings and SO many people pronounce this little girl's name wrong.

Then there's another little girl named Alysia.

It's pronounced --> Uh-LEE-SEE-uh

The little girl's adult cousin pronounces her name --> Uh-LEE-sha

The girl is now 7 and her adult cousin STILL says her name wrong. AMAZING!

*********

But here's another interesting situation with names.

There's a Mom that we know. She's got 3 boys.

The oldest is her's from a previous marriage. The second is her husband's from a previous marriage. Her youngest is both her and her current husband's child.

The youngest is called "Johnny" by his friends. But his Mom calls him Carson. Why? Because Carson is his given name. But why would he want to be called "Johnny"?

His oldest brother is John.

His second oldest brother is Jonathan.

So this little boy figured he should also be a version of that name and dubbed himself "Johnny".

Everytime we see "Johnny", the Hubs chuckles. Why? Because he sees that little boy as "Johnny Carson"....

*********

So what names do YOU hear pronounced incorrectly? Anyone? Anyone?

The Ugh and YEAH of life

All I can say is NO MORE SHRIMP for me!

Last night, we picked up some Chinese take-out. I had some mixed veggies with shrimp. I started to feel quesy an hour or so after dinner. I already had a HUGE headache. Pounding. Pounding. Pounding in my head.

My husband's solution?

"Honey, drink some more water."

Thanks for your concern, but water can only do so much.

I felt like I was barely functioning by the time we got the kids into bed. I was short-tempered and unable to focus. I took a shower. I thought that the HOT water would sooth away the pains in my head. But no. It didn't work this time around.

I was in bed by 9:15pm. The Hubs decided to sleep upstairs in the guest room in case I was "catching".

By 10pm, the porcelain goddess and I were best friends. And it wasn't pretty. It was the kind of volatile action that I hadn't felt in years. Usually I have very calm 'releases'. This came in surges.

The porcelain goddess and I exchanges hugs about 3 times last night. I didn't feel right until the very last bit of that shrimp dinner had exited. The sweet delirium of sleep finally came upon me. Ahhhh....

***************************

The joy of life happened today. The FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!

Woohoo! Woohoo! Woohoo!

The Princess didn't even want me to walk into the school with her. She marched in line into the school along with the other 1st graders.

Last year, I had to walk into school with her until about halfway through the school year. And then she ended up crying her 4th morning drop-off. Her teacher had to take the Princess out of my arms.

Right now, the Princess is doing her homework. 15 minutes of reading out loud. She's actually up to 20 minutes. When I told her she was 15 minutes, she protested!

"Mom! I want to READ longer!"

Ha! I'm happy that she's happy to be back in the groove!

Making Mommy Laugh

Today was basically the last weekday vacation day for the Princess. This will be her last free weekend before school starts on Monday.

So we decided to have an 'easy' dinner. I picked up some Mickey D's. I got two apple pies for the kids' dessert. I stashed the pies on the kitchen bar - away from the table so that the kids would eat their dinner.

The Princess ate her dinner. Then was able to grab her dessert.

The Bear saw her nibbling away on her dessert and efficiently finished up his meal. He hopped down off his chair and walked around the table.

"Peas gea dat fo me."

"Honey (Hubs), get that for him."

My husband leaned down to the Bear. The Bear put his face 2 inches from the Hubs.

"Peas gea dat fo me."

The Bear said it slowly and loudly.

The Hubs had bent over so that he could get a kiss.

The Bear thought the Hubs hadn't understood the request for the apple pie.

The Princess and I started laughing hysterically at that point.

"Dat NOT funny!"

The Bear didn't like us laughing at the situation. But MAN was it funny.

...And then there was...

Had to take the Princess to the pediatrician today. As we left the pediatrician's office, which was on the 2nd floor we both looked into the Western sky. It was dark. We could see the sheets of raindrops falling. Far away. We marveled at how dark the sky was to the west. And how thin and bright it was to the east. We hopped into the car. And drove to get some drive-thru lunch. A treat after the doctor's visit.

As we get to the drive-thru, the Princess notices something.

"Mommy? Is it starting to rain?"

Indeed. There were a couple of drip-drops on the windshield.

I ordered our lunch and then drove around. And waited almost 5 minutes. For the ONE car in front of us to get their food. OY!

As I drove my car forward that ONE spot up to the window? The rain started to PELT down on us. HARD! It was suddenly a driving rain. I paid and got a drink. And closed my window. I opened my window to grab my change and grabbed the other drink. And closed my window. Then opened the window back up to get the food. Those 3 exchanges? My interior door was wet. The left side of my driver's seat was wet. As well as the left side of my dash along with my steering wheel. ALL WET!

I even hydroplaned for a moment on the freeway on the way home. That shocked the heck out of me. THANKFULLY, everyone was far apart and driving slowly through the downpour.

And the Princess? She still feels like crud. Yuck!

The name game - Part 1

This is going to be the first of a few entries about names.

Yes. Names. Our names. Mine. Yours. People in general.

In the United States, traditonally a woman marries a man she takes on his last name.

Other countries, like India or China, have different traditions when a couple marries.

My one friend took on her husband's last name. Not strange, I know. But she didn't have to change her name. Why? Because her last name was already the same as her husbands! How freaky is that? And NO....they weren't cousins or anything like that!

Then there's my other friend who KEPT her Maiden name. Her husband took her last name. That's right! It happened 12 years ago. The two got married and he took on her Maiden name. The Hubs had a COW when he heard about that one. But still now? I'm sure it's a weird one to hear for most folks.

Me? What name did I take when I got married? I hyphenated. Why? A number of reasons.

For of all, my Maiden name is short. Only 5 letters. And my husband's name is also short. Just 6 letters. If I had a long and complicated Maiden name, I might not of opted for a hyphen. But since it's a short one then it's not an ordeal to link the two names together.

Secondly, I had been working for a bit before I got married. I figured that if I hyphenated my name, then old co-workers and bosses could always locate me.

Another reason is that I came from a family of four daughters. My poor father. And he was the last child in his family. AND the only boy. So he was the last to carry his name. I find it nice to continue carrying his (our) family name. Especially since he and I are so alike on so many levels.

And really. To me, getting married is a joining of two people. So I joined our last names.

But what do people call me?

When people write to only me, they write Grace MaidenName-HubsLastName.

When people write to me and my husband, they either write Mr. and Mrs. HubsLastName or Hubs and Grace HubsLastName. Because we're a couple.

My kids? They've just got my Hubs last name. No reason to hyphenate them. They didn't invent 30+ years with my Maiden name. I did. They can do what they want when they get married.

Now what about you? Did you contemplate hyphenating? Did you keep your maiden name? Or did you take on your spouse's last name as is traditionally done here in the United States?