Can I love College Sports??

Since we are moving to a place were college sports are a hige part of the culture, Tom is teaching me the basics of the teams in NC. Do transplants need to pick a team to fit in to the culture? If I have to choose, I think I have narrowed it down to NC State and Wake Forest, since Todd likes Duke and UNC. This is what I learned so far...

1. UNC - Tarheels, Light Blue & White
2. NC State - Wolfpack, Red & White
3. Duke - Blue Devils, Royal Blue & White
4. Wake Forest - Demon Deacons - Black & Gold

Perhaps I will lean towards Wake Forest. They sound the toughest....how can you beat Demons? Sounds tough and scary to me and since I have nothing else to base my decision on, I think I need to go with what sounds like it could kick every other teams butt.

The end of an era (The Age of Accounting)

I have never considered myself an accountant, though I suppose many people have for the past 8 years or so I have worked in accounting departments. I do not have an accounting degree (thankfully) and therefore can never be an accountant. My degree is in Finance and Management Information Systems. And, with only 6 more business days in Accounting, I am really looking forward to making the transition to the information world of reporting and project management. Sounds exciting, no?

All I can think about at this point is getting through the earnings release on Wednesday of next week. My reward?? A trip to the beach (see my to do list below). I want nothing more than to just sit on the beach with a cold one in hand (a cold IBC root beer is our usual beach bev)and chill out. No phone, no computer, nothing except me, sunblock and the beach (and Ben, Tom and Alicia!) I need to get some sort of tent/cabana for Ben. Otherwise, we are good to go.

Let me know if you have seen any good "end of summer" sales on beach chairs. We have not purchased any so far and have gone back and forth on whether or not they make sense since we will be hours from the beach next summer and they will probably not get much use. But, since I am seeing the summer clearance already, I may break down if there is a good deal. I love the chairs that are low to the ground so you are almost in the sand, but get a little back support so you don't have to just lay on the ground.

I cannot wait to see what Ben does at the beach. Thinking he might eat sand. He really loves his bathtime and loved the swimming pool, so I bet he will really like the water. And, since he adores Alicia, I am sure it will be a great trip for him. Another first for the list and page for the scrapbook.

aaaaaaaaaahhhhhh summer! I can taste the root beer already.

Summer To Do List

7 weekends until the official end of summer. SO here is the remainder of our summer to do list.... If you have any suggestions for our final Massachusetts summer, let us know!

1. Read 2 non-baby-related books
2. Go to Nantucket for the first time!
3. Check out WaterFire in Providence.
4. Get LOBSTER at Woodman's or revisit Barnacle Billy's
5. Turn 27
6. Take Ben for his first day at the beach
7. Go for my SPA SPLURGE (a Christmas gift from Tom)
8. Visit Raleigh, NC (which requires its own to do list!)

In a word.....IKEA

The Swedish sensation. This past weekend marked my first visit to IKEA. Much to Tom's dismay, I am hooked. He only has himself to blame. I mean, it is not often dear husband suggests we go to a store just to browse. And browse we did for nearly 2 1/2 hours. It was fantastic. "Why did you love IKEA so much?" he asks whenever I speak of this new love...well, I cannot really answer. First, I love furniture and even more, furniture stores. And, I love accessories for our house. No matter how fat I get, I can always enjoy shopping for household items. With our upcoming move, I found myself eyeing all sorts of wonderful odds and ends that I will gladly get for our new home when the time is right. One item I really enjoyed were the Vurm wineracks. I want to hang three of them (stacked) in our new kitchen. While we found most of the furniture to be a bit less than "high quality" (mostly plastic/inexpensive wood, Tom and I both agreed that the Fagelbo sofa bed with storage is the ideal relationship between functionality and form that we need for what will eventually be our guestroom/office. I could have ordered the sofa bed the moment I saw it....but then I realized we should probably find a place to live before we buy the furniture! We also really loved a table and chairs set that is sure to eventually make its way into our playroom. To be honest, I was mostly struck by the accessories. I loved the assortment of lamps and lamp shades. I really LOVED the curtains that they had on display and I found that many of the art pieces were quite attractive. And, to top it off, the prices just cannot be beat. I know we have spent well over $100 to have a print framed. At IKEA, there were endless possibilities in clsoer to about $20. We have very simple lamps that were about $60 each. At IKEA, similar lamps (including the shade) would run you around $10. I was also shocked to see the area rugs they were selling for about $15 compared to my $150. You can even get a kitchen mat for less than $2!!

All in all, IKEA strikes me as a fantastic place to go and pick up odds and ends. Maybe a table for a spare room or an entry way. It also gives you the option to mix things up a bit since the prices are so reasonable. I know when we spend a lot of money on an item, I want to get all the use out of it that I can. With the IKEA products, I think you could almost get away with changing your decor with the seasons. Or at least annually or however often you get bored with your surroundings. I think, in general, the quality is good enough that you would be proud to have it in your house. The true test will be to see how often their product lines change. I can see IKEA as the type of place I could visit monthly (this is a HUGE store....it takes at least 2 hours to really evaluate the selection). If I get through my second visit with the same stars in my eyes I had the first time, I will be personally signing the petition going around the NC area to get an IKEA built in our new neighborhood. Until then, I will be dragging everyone up to Maryland or down to Atlanta for my IKEA fix.

Netflix

So, by now, I think everyone knows what Netflix is...the deliver to your home video service. Tom and I started up on Netflix this past winter. We have been really happy with it so far. We have watched a couple of series we missed while they were actually on TV (we are half way through season 3 of Sex and the City, which I had started to watch, but then stopped when I was too cheap for HBO!)Totally loving it. We have basically seen 1 movie and 1 TV series disc a week since we started out.

Every time I watch SATC, I can see why people get these bizarre ideas on relationships and life. While I am really loving the show, I find myself saying, so thats why XXXX (fill in name here) doesn't wear a bra when she goes out. And that's why XXXX thinks I was so young to get married. At least I get it now. While the show is fantastic, I think people need to understand this is far from reality. Sure it is fine to not be married when you are 24 like I was, but women in the mid-late 30s with no serious relationship....that just seems like a setup for a really lonely existance...with or without a cosmopolitan. And the whole lack of a bra thing...I guess if you are Sarah Jessica Parker, floating through NYC and writing a sex column, it is acceptable. But for anyone else bigger than an A cup...please, PLEASE, wear a bra when we go out together.

Ben's First Tooth!!

Such a big day. We check every day when he wakes up to see if he has cut a tooth and we check again at night. I was so excited tonight when I was giving Ben a post-dinner fruit puff and I saw the little tooth that had appeared. Right there on the bottom, the right-middle tooth has arrived!

So, I tried to get a picture, but it is too small to really come out and Ben is just way more interested in sucking my finger to let me get a good shot. So, the silly cartoon will just have to do until we see more of those chompers!

He is so much fun. It seems like every day brings with it something new that Ben has accomplished. He is not crawling yet, but he turns himself in circles when he is playing on his belly (especially when trying to get to Phoebe!). He has learned to roll himself back and forth in his crib so we never know what we will see when we get him up in the morning (though I must say, he generally sleeps in the same position as I do...on his side, hugging his blanket with his leg flamingo style). He has also discovered that he can use his hands to lift his upper body onto things. He is not pulling himself to his feet yet, but with the way he is moving lately, that could definitely be soon.

If I get some good teeth pictures, I will add them for you all to drool over. I have tried to get pictures of him and his new found "mobility", but obviuosly that is tough with a still camera. If I get some video that is fun, I will post it.

Updated Pics of Ben

Check out our Online Photo Gallery (you can click on the link at the right of this post) for updated pictures of Ben. We got a little behind when our hard drive died in May, but we are back on track now. Enjoy!

Stuff for Ben

So, Ben has a ton of toys from Christmas he still has yet to play with. He is just too little. And, he is so happy with his current set of toys, there seems little need to open anything else up at this point anyway. So, we are waiting. Probably waiting until we move because we really don't have the space for the new toys at this point. And, when we move, we will likely have a play room so we will be able to bring out all the good stuff then.

Even his closet is jam packed. I am mostly to blame for this. We got a good amount of clothes for him for the summer months in the late winter/early spring this year. Mostly clearance stuff at Filenes. Then, I had some coupons at Gymboree that we used to "finish up" his summer attire. Well, little did I know that I would be unstoppable when it comes to buying baby clothes. I love it. I just buy anything I see on sale basically. I always have a reason....extra clothes for sweaty (or just messy) days, extra clothes for daycare. He needs them, for the most part, but it just makes you laugh when you open his closet and it is full. It has actually gotten to the point where I struggle to decide what to dress him in each day because there are so many cute options waiting to be chosen.

I realized today while waiting in line at The Children's Place outlet at The Wrentham Outlets that he has no clothes for fall. We are waiting to buy fall clothes until later anyway because we don't want to add to the stuff we have to move (and our summer will be extended down south anyway). But, I was thinking, what a bummer it is that he has no fall clothes. Then I got so excited!! MORE SHOPPING FOR BEN. It is not like shopping for me. Getting depressed as things don't fit, thinking things are too expensive or that I won't get enough use out of it or feeling like last year's stuff will be fine. Ben actually needs to clothes...there are no clothes from last year. And, at this age, things don't fit year after year.

I admit it, I am a shopaholic. Doesn't matter what I am shopping for. I love it. Someone said to me once while I was pregnant that the mother buys the cheap clothes and everyone else can pick up a more expensive outfit every once in a while. Haven't seen that happen yet. Sure we get the outfits from others. But, this mom has not been the sensible shopper......and I never will be. Why should everyone else have all the fun?!

I am done shopping for summer things now. Ben has an extra supply of extras at this point. He is almost out of hangers (the same number of hangers that used to handle 2 sizes of clothes!) For the next few months, I guess I will just have to remind myself that fall is coming and with it comes the new styles of fall fashion.