5 pet peeves

1. When people stop the microwave a few seconds before it is suppose to go off and then just leave the time on there. Just hit clear and set it back to normal. What am I going to do with 2 seconds?

2. When people turn off the automatic lights at work. Last year they upgraded us to automatic lights to try and save electricity or something and they are nice but some people have not made the adjustment and will turn the light off with the button. Which is fine until I walk into the room and the lights don't come on automatically and I have fumble around in the dark for the lights.

3. When anyone touches my face or tries to turn my head for me. My son does this a lot and it drives me crazy. I don't know why but it just sets me off. I am always asking him to stop touching or turning my face.

4. When a driver passes me up by speeding and then turns about a mile down the road forcing me to come to a complete stop or slow down significantly. Really? REALLY!? This person honestly could not wait for another mile. It's not like I'm ever going that slow. I drive the speed limit or about 5 miles above it. But some people get into terrific hurries and apparently cannot stand it. This usually leads to a little road rage for me and often involves honking and gesturing on my part. Just don't do that. I don't want to have to stop because you got impatient.

5. When I am reading a book but someone decides to talk to me anyway. Seriously I am doing something here. I am too polite to say something but rest assure that I am thinking bad things about the interrupting person. It's pretty much why I stopped eating lunch in the lounge. You'd think librarians would recognize the sanctity of reading time but not always.

Snow

I was thinking about snow this morning since my brother-in-law and his family who live in Colorado  are having snow days and I'm walking around in short sleeves in 70 degree weather. Growing up in South Louisiana I haven't seen a lot of snow in my lifetime. The most I've seen is when I've gone to Oklahoma to visit family in the winter. When Bub was about 3 or so it snowed in early December. He's seen snow probably about 3 times in his 6 years which is actually a lot for where we live. It's not something I miss though it would be pretty neat to see at Christmas time. I don't like the cold. It's not in my blood. I don't like the heat either but I think it is price you pay for not having to deal with blizzards. I know people who would say the opposite.

10 Random Things about Me

1. I always wished I'd dyed a pink streak in my hair. Now I'm too old and I'm pretty sure it would be frowned upon by the administration. But I think it looks cool.

2. I'm thinking of getting a new tattoo for Mother's Day which is a strange Mother's Day gift maybe but I've had an idea for a tattoo that I wanted as soon as I was done having kids. And I am done.

3. I like designing things and making things. I use to be more crafty but I don't have as much time on my hands as I did with just Bub once he got past the toddler years. Once Button is older I should be able to do more things. But I love making their birthday invitations and all the stuff that goes with it and making posters and flyers for my work. I'd like to do more of that one day. I like to be creative.

4. I wanted to be a psychologist specializing in jury selection. But I overshot myself in grad school applications and got discouraged. So I went to library school instead. I'm proud of being a librarian (mostly) but I had quite a few other opportunities that I passed up and I sometimes regret not taking them.

5. I've never lived outside of the state of Louisiana. And that's mostly fine. We've got great food and good people (in general). If we ever move to another state, it will be Florida mostly likely.

6. I'm the oldest of all the children-in-law in BT's family. I've also been around the longest at 13 1/2 years with my sister-in-law at 12 1/2 and my brother-in-law at 6 1/2. But I'm one of the youngest in my family being the 2nd to youngest grandchild on my dad's side and the youngest on my mom's.

7. I'm the only one in my mother's family with a master's degree. Usually my achievements have already been done coming from a large family on both sides, but this one is all my own for a change.

8. I can't find lost things that belong to me but I have better luck with other people's lost items. I also get really frustrated when I can't find what I'm looking for and can get a bit shouty.

9. People always ask me what my favorite book is because I read a lot and I'm a librarian. Truthfully I can't really say. Someplace to Be Flying by Charles DeLint is usually my answer and it is one of my top books but I find it hard to really narrow down to an absolute favorite.

10. I'm the most awkward small talker. I think I'm a naturally funny person but until I can gauge what kind of humor the other person has I have a hard time talking to them.

Ladybug Party {1st Birthday}

Button's first birthday party was a ladybug theme. I made the invitations using some clipart and a free scrapbook theme I found online. I like the way they came out. I ended up using the same clipart and backgrounds to make matching cupcake and favor toppers too.

 

I also used the banner from this free ladybug party kit to make one for the mantle. It took a while because I hand cut all the flower and circles but it came out cute. I had extra so I made hanging cutouts for the chandelier in the dining area. I bought from a local party store these plates for the cake as well as the matching hanging cutouts and the tablecloth. For the rest I got from the dollar store,  red plates, black plastic tableware and red cups.

I had to cut the tablecloth so I use the rest to dress up her highchair.

Balloons hanging over table made a cute touch.

I fretted over the cake for way too long but ended up making it. I had made a giant cupcake (using the Wilton pan) for her smash cake pictures and I decided that I wanted to do the same. When I googled ideas for giant cupcakes a YouTube video came up and gave me the idea of making a cupcake linear out of red candy melts. I love how it came out. I use black candy melts to make polka dots though I wish I'd printed out a guide plus to make them more even. I also wrote out a Happy Birthday for the top of her cake.  I use the leftover batter to make regular size and tiny cupcakes.

I dipped some ladybug strawberries on a whim (fun fact: I use to work at Godiva Chocolatier when I was in college) and I think it really completed the dessert table. Everyone said the cake and the strawberries were good.

For the favors I dipped some giant pretzels to make them look like ladybugs. I put them in snack-sized ziploc bags and made a favor topper that matched the invitations.

 And as an addition I put up red and black candy on the bar for people to grab as they walked by.
I used red and black Twizzlers, red and black raspberries candies and red and black jellybeans. The vases and bowls are from the dollar store.

BT made a ham and we served up ham sandwiches with chips to eat.

I really loved how it turned out. Pinterest is so great for inspiration because I find a great party is in the details and there are so many great ideas on there.

At the Zoo

A few pictures from a recent trip to our local zoo.