It’s occurred to me that people who are savvy enough to read and post on blogs are savvy at Internet surfing and perhaps posting some favorite links on an occasional Saturday is a dumb idea. But while making the blog rounds this week I read some things I wanted to share. Have I mentioned that I am now addicted to Bloglines? Thank you Renee for bringing that up!

R*Belle at Musings of a Former Jr. League Dropout (one of the first blogs I started reading after I was intrigued by her blog’s name on Busy Mom’s blogroll) wrote the most touching letter to her grandmother, who has Alzheimers. It brought me to tears. Mama_Tulip, always an excellent writer, wrote a moving post about a memorable drive.

I just started reading the very funny Amy at Amalah (discovered through R*Belle’s blogroll…see how this works?), who recently quit her job to stay home with her baby boy Noah. Then she announced this week that she got the cool blog wrapup editor gig at ClubMom. Speaking of ClubMom, they are sponsoring a Mother’s Day sweepstakes for a 2006 Dodge Caravan. Click on the ad above my blogroll to register with ClubMom and enter the sweepstakes. When you register to join ClubMom you automatically receive 10 entries. So far I’ve made enough money from my blog ad revenue to buy Caitlin a carton of chicken McNuggets and I can’t bear to tell her she can’t have a juice box to help wash them down.

Several blogs made me laugh this week. Nancy at MomMa’amMe created a PowerPoint graph explaining the ebb and flow of PMS. The always funny Lucinda at Suburban Turmoil wrote a hilarious post about potty training. And Sweatpants Mom wrote about all those witty comebacks she should have fired back at a woman who made a catty remark about her weight.

I just read that the first New Orleans Jazz Fest since Hurricane Katrina kicked off yesterday. I went to Jazz Fest in 1994 and loved it. I’ve always wanted to go back. It was one of those trips where you get your roll of film developed (pre-digital camera days) and you look at the pictures and think, “Oh YEAH, we went there?” And the artist who designed this year’s Jazz Fest poster, James Michalopolous, is awesome. We have one of his paintings hanging in our entry way. It’s a long story, but basically I bought a painting worth several thousand dollars for less than $200.

Those are some highlights from this week’s blog reading. This time last year I didn’t even know what a blog was, but I’ve met some incredible people in the blogosphere!

UPDATED: I meant to include a link to Helene’s blog on a cool Supermom trading card idea she has for a Mother’s Day Flickr-palooza. Go check out her blog now!

Back by popular demand! Here are the sundry items on my Chafe My Ass Friday (CMAF) list:

The unwelcome houseguests that crashed our house overnight. Amelia was up twice in the wee morning hours and I didn’t get much sleep so the brotherhood of ants streaming like a tiny black ribbon by the hundreds along the kitchen floor nearly sent me over the edge. Thankfully they’re not, as Anne noted, flying roaches. But thank you Anne for putting that visual in my mind. And thanks to Trisha for the awesome margarita recipe!

Unloading the grocery bags from my car, in my typical carry as many at once as humanly possible fashion, and realizing I forgot the item at the top of my list. (Gallon o’ milk!)

People who misspell my name. It’s J A M I E. Not, J A I M E. And to all the junk snail mail and spam e-mail marketers in the world, I am not a “Mr.” or a “Sir.” If you’re going to spam me at least get my gender right. Have you no pride in the reliability of your data? Sheesh.

Huge plastic toy sets that come with 9 million stickers for decoration purposes (tell me what marketing genius really thinks that’s a selling point). We NEVER used the silver glitter stickers that came with Caitlin’s My Little Pony Castle and she’s never known the difference. Frankly, I think the castle has more curb appeal without those stickers which always start to peel at the edges.

Blindly venturing into the kitchen pre-shower and pre-caffeine (without the aid of contacts or glasses, so I really was legally blind) and using eye drops only to realize they are the hubby’s 90 proof prescription eye drops for pink eye.

The floor is now open for venting.

What’s Your Poison?

Originally uploaded by crazy lady with Raid in her hand.

Help.

Ants.

Taking.

Over.

House.

Send cocktails.

p.s. Exterminators coming Monday (the first one we called couldn’t come for over a WEEK. Raid’s “Outdoor Fresh” scent is really disgusting.)

First Set of Wheels

Originally uploaded by blondemom.

I mentioned in my Monday Musings post that Amelia isn’t walking yet at 13 1/2 months. I have to admit I am guilty of doing the sibling comparison thing between her and Caitlin, but with two girls it is an easy thing to do. Now Caitlin didn’t walk until right at 13 months, but she didn’t start doing her funny “crabby walk,” as we dubbed it, until 11 months. She was a big booty chunkster, weighing nearly 25 pounds at her one-year physical, so it was no big surprise that it would take her a little while to walk. Amelia, on the other hand, crawled much earlier at 7 months but still is content to stick to cruising, crawling, or her favorite mode of transportation, mommy’s arms. With Amelia being my second child I’ve let my mommy hair down a bit when it comes to relying on parenting guides. With Caitlin I had my copy of “What to Expect The First Year” on my nightstand table like a parenting Bible that I could reference when she got an odd rash or her poop turned green. With Amelia, I’ve barely touched the book. It might as well be a doorstop. In fact, I realized the other night that I could not remember the last time I even opened the book. It’s not that I really know what I’m doing as a mom, but I do have a higher comfort level that things are okay without referring to a book or a website or Googling “poop turned green.” I put it back on the shelf with the other parenting books I don’t read have on display for looks because I couldn’t quite bare to give it away just yet. Amelia’s first year may officially be over, but I’m still clinging to it. And deep down inside I am selfishly a little glad that she is not walking yet because that will be just one more part of the baby phase that’s gone. Not to mention it’s much easier to keep up with a baby who’s not walking yet!

Super Caitlin

Originally uploaded by blondemom.

Caitlin and I went to the mall Sunday for a 3-year-old girl’s equivalent of the quest for the retail Holy Grail… the search for the perfect Dora sandals. The hubby mentioned a few weeks ago that he’d seen some at the mall shoe store. (As a side note, our mall is one step away from becoming Nashville’s largest fireworks stand, or so it seems as even Old Navy and Victoria’s Secret…we’re talking stalwart pillars of suburban mall life…have closed.) After the obligatory escalator ride, we headed straight to the shoe store which has an actual name so generic that it might as well be The Mall Shoe Store. I quickly scanned the children’s shoes and to my dismay there were no Dora sandals. I rounded the corner to the clearance aisle still hopeful, but only found some white dress shoes and a few random pairs of boots leftover from winter. “Caitlin, sweetie, they don’t have any Dora sandals, but look at these. These have BUTTERFLIES.” I was using my sunshine mommy voice in hopes that I’d tempt her as I had really talked up the Dora sandals like an idiot. She would have none of it. Only super cool explorer Dora could adorn her feet. So we headed to Sears, which, sadly, is the only other store in the mall that sells children’s shoes. We hit a shopping brick wall at Sears, too. Thankfully Caitlin is easily amused at the mall and I distracted her with another escalator ride. We walked past the first shoe store we’d hit and I had that shopper’s intuition that somewhere, somehow in the aisles of the store there was the perfect pair of sandals and that we’d just missed them the first time. Plus I really didn’t feel like driving to Target or the other upscale, bustling local mall which makes ours look like a giant flea market. Caitlin agreed, somewhat reluctantly, and I wrestled on to her feet a cute pair of pink and green sandals while she hitched her sundress up and stuck her hand down the back of her Sleeping Beauty underwear while yelling “MY BOMMON HURTS MAMA!” So much for looking like a little lady. Any way, I called it a loss because they were too loose, but as we were leaving I scoped out the clearance section once again and there they were…a pair of sporty pink and purple Nike sandals on the top shelf marked down to $15.98! I still had my shopping mojo! Like Cinderella’s glass slippers they molded to her little feet perfectly and, more importantly, she loved them. I told her they were great for running on the playground and she was so excited about her new sandals she wore them home. Fast forward a few hours later and I was pushing her in the stroller at dusk while the hubby was home with Amelia, who had zonked out early for the night. About half way into our 1 mile walk Caitlin climbed out of the stroller and started jogging beside me in her little pink and green sundress, pumping her arms, blonde hair flying, and saying, “I faster mommy! I super girl mommy! I faster!” And darn if she didn’t jog the half mile back to our house.

I just looked in my compact mirror and realized I applied mascara on my right eye only. I guess I’m a wee bit distracted in the mornings trying to get the girls and myself ready with everyone dressed and accounted for. My biggest fear is that I’m going to make it all the way to the office one day and realize Amelia is still strapped in her high chair. Caitlin is trying to master her tricycle and was practicing her bike skills on our back patio all the while screaming “Mommy HELP ME!” over and over this morning while I was putting on makeup and yelling out the window, “Get in here Caitlin. We are getting ready to leave!” You can put the country girl in the suburbs, but she’s still going to use the low-tech intercom system with the kids.

The hubby e-mailed me at 10 to say he’d run home (his office is less than a miile from our house) to put some chicken in the crockpot with queso and beer…makes really yummy Mexican fare… and our dog was on the couch, watching Dora. I’m not sure if I’d had the TV on earlier and had hit the Tivo pause button or what, but our dog was watching Nick Jr. If there are Pringles crumbs on the couch and she’s watching Oprah when I get home today I’m so rigging a hidden doggy cam.

You know you live in the south when you get behind a trailer hauling goats on the way to work.

Amelia is still not walking at 13 months, but she loves to wave and smile so maybe she’s just perfecting her beauty queen routine.

We’ve been outside playing all afternoon. Caitlin drew this the other day and it’s on our “art gallery” wall (aka fridge.) Artwork by 3-year-olds is the best. Of course, as her mama, I’m completely biased. That’s the sun in the center surrounded by flowers.

Oh, and I brought an “Egg Man” Easter art project complete with squiggly construction paper arms and legs and a red pompom nose the other day to work and one of my co-workers said “Oh that’s cute” and then asked if it was supposed to me. To which I thought (silently)…”so I look like Humpty Dumpty?”