Mid February Randoms

This is what I love about February. You blink and it's halfway though! Here's what we've had going on:

- One month from yesterday is Match/Unmatch Day. This is where we find out if Mr. Snoop got a residency position. I get nauseous just thinking about it or looking at that day on my calendar.

- Nemo! We got well over a foot of snow:

Mr. Snoop shoveled while I stayed inside and made a bright yellow polka-dot skirt for the summer, naturally. We only have one snow shovel, ok? Luckily, we did not lose power or anything like that.

- Now that interviews are over, Mr. Snoop is on a new rotation. Looking at his ID picture, you get the idea that he may be scraping out earwax and boogers or killing you in your sleep with an ax. I mean, 50/50. You decide.

- The first weekend in February we went to parties Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. I'm still worn out. Here we are at one of them, James Bond themed. Where else do you get to carry a fake gun (sorry, I'm a Texan and therefore completely tacky about such things), rock cat eyes, AND a sequined, leopard-print dress? And drink martinis!

Happy Valentine's week, everyone! I hope your week is full of all things pink and sparkly.

December Updates

So here's what has been going on in the Snoop household as of December.

- Mr Snoop has been flying across the country for interviews. He does not have very many, but it has still been insane. I can't imagine what it must be like to have a large number of interviews and have to fly around everywhere to get to those. Then again, all of his interview have been well south of the Mason Dixon, which means longer and more travel.

- My main goal in life right now is to try to stay sane in this interview process. Luckily (I guess) December is such a busy month. So my life has looked like..

- Work

- Yoga. I always knew I had tight hamstrings, but I had no idea they were this bad. My down dog is absolutely atrocious. And I have had many, many sightings of panties man. My theory was correct. He comes in his regular clothes and then just strips down to his underwear. I would freeze.

- In a possibly related note, I am coming down with a sty/pinkeye. This typically happens when I am stressed, but I still blame panties man. Yes, I bring my own mat. But still, I knew that sh*t is unsanitary.

- Christmas prep. Typically I have all my shopping done by December 1. Ha. Not this year. This is complicated by the impending arrival of a new niece (!!!!) soon. Still need to make a big brother gift.

- I made my first lululemon purchase. Typically, I do not like to spend ridiculous amounts of money on clothes I am going to sweat in. But then there was a lululemon outlet. And they had $19 running shorts that have a zipper in the back waist for a car key. And they were marvelously comfortable and pretty darn cute. So I bought 3 pairs. I'm justifying it by the fact that they were originally $68 a piece (I mean really?? Come on!).

The End

Sandy

Well, we made it through the storm. With more than a touch of survivor's guilt. We had flashlights and candles a plenty; a hurricane lantern; a battery operated radio; a cooler filled with ice; and pots, pans, and a bathtub full of water.

So at about 6:00pm on Monday, I looked outside and saw that our neighbor's giant, beautiful tree looked like someone was shaking a handful of cooked spaghetti. At that point, we decided to retreat with the cats to the basement. We live in a tiny, two room cottage. It was built in the late 1800s as a hunting lodge and is rock solid. So much so that though we live on a main road, you can't hear the cars. Well, we could feel our little house shaking from the winds even from down in the basement. It was really pretty scary. The cats were spooked and alternated between hiding inside the boxspring or trying to see out the tiny basement windows. The wind sounded like a 747 was taking off on our roof.

The next morning we woke up fully prepared to have a tree on our roof. We didn't. Our neighbor's spaghetti tree lost most of its branches, and they have another tree down. After all our preparations, we never lost power. We were so, so lucky. Living on a main road may explain how we kept power. We are so grateful. I know people who are still without power, 8 days later. The devastation is really pretty sobering, especially in the community where I work, which is right along the Long Island Sound. Not to mention Staten Island, where Mr. Snoop and I went on Sunday.

Last week was pretty much a wash. Since the town where I work is just now getting power back more than a week later, I did not work in the office last week. Mr. Snoop is on his ER rotation and saw lots of hurricane related stuff. The neighborhood where we regularly run is trashed. I did 4 miles yesterday and still there are wires down, trees down, trees on homes, etc. So sad.

What I learned

- If you don't have a plug for your tub, duct tape works just great. Better than a plug, even.

- So glad Mr. Snoop and I filled up our cars Sunday night. Since I did not have work last week, we still have half a tank each. I'm grateful for my little hybrid civic. 38 miles per gallon is pretty marvelous right about now.

- If Mr. Snoop and I stay in this area for his residency, we've decided that we will invest in a good generator and emergency supplies. Between the hurricanes and the nor'easters and the blizzards, people are constantly losing power/water here. The infrastructure here is just so old and they do not properly keep it up or repair it. I could go all political and talk about taxes, unions, etc; but I won't. We're just going to keep a supply of water and nonperishables on hand. I think you have to, if you live up here.

My work is doing another run to Staten Island to hook up with Presbyterian Disaster Assitance this week. Having been there on Sunday, I can tell you that they really do need your thoughts and prayers. Thanks, y'all.

Random Thoughts

Here's what is going through my mind this week.....

- Summer.  In New York it is too dang short.  In a month it will be feeling like fall.  I'm sure someday when I (hopefully) live someplace hot again, I will miss this.  But when the cold and dark weather drags on and on I would love a summer longer than 2.5 months!

- Olympic Gymnastics.  Oh dear.  I just cried and cried watching Team USA win the all-around.  And those poor sweet Russian girls, bless their hearts.  I felt so bad for them and wanted to throttle the camera people getting in their faces while they sobbed.  They are children, jeez, give them some space!  Seeing Jordan Wieber smile as she hit tumbling pass after tumbling pass just did me in.  And isn't Gabby Douglas just the most darling thing you have ever seen?  Too cute for words.  I can't stand it.

- Chick-Fil-A.  I like my delicious chicken served by well-mannered teenagers saying "My Pleasure" without a side of politics.  Any politics.  I'm just annoyed about everyone's reaction to it, left and right.  What's wrong with live and let live?  On both sides. 

- I have lots of projects around the home coming up.  Including a cabinet that I'm re-finshing to (hopefully) consolidate all of my craft storage.  I may have to share if they turn out pretty.

- Olympics in general.  I'm probably the only person who is not the hugest fan of swimming.  It all looks the same to me.  Plus Michael Phelps needs subtitles in his interviews.  Such a party pooper, I know.  I do love diving, even though I'm constantly terrified that someone will die.  And I can't wait for track and field!

Hope y'all are doing well!

So Maybe I'm Running Again

I have a new old hobby.  That's right.  Big news.  I'm running again.  Running is probably overstating it as my pace falls more under the category of jogging.  Honestly, I never thought I'd run ever again.  Haven't run at all since college.  But given the crazy that was going on back home, my beloved zumba just wasn't cutting it any more.  Plus after three solid years of zumba-ing, the routines had begun to seem the same. 

This all happened a month or so ago when the family stress level back in Texas reached a pinnacle.  And I felt the urge to go for a run.  Two very fast miles fueled by Miranda Lambert's "Gunpowder and Lead" on repeat later, I felt better.  The next day I was hurting, y'all.  Which I guess is what happens when you run two hard and fast miles after not running in years.  Anyway, much to my surprise, I've kept up the whole running thing. 

Mr. Snoop runs several times a week, but he often runs on a local high school track.  I have too much PTSD from my own high school track days to do that.  So I've found some pretty sweet trails near our house.  I saw two red-headed woodpeckers on my run yesterday.  They came out of nowhere and dive-bombed me in the middle of Bombs Over Baghdad.  Well played, woodpeckers.

Not so hard to keep up the habit when the trails look like this:

Or this:

I've even splurged --read: Target and TJ Maxx-- on new running shorts.  Since the ones I have are literally 10 years old.  And I've got a pretty awesome music mix with some Nicki Minaj, Kanye, and Three Six Mafia.  Any suggestions for good workout songs that I should add to my list?

In conclusion, please enjoy these fantastic shades that I've been rockin on the trail.  A thank-you gift from the mission trip.  Don't be jealous:

What We've Been Up To

- After a month of spring-like weather, it is cold again up here.  So cold that the heat is on and there is a freeze warning for the next three nights.  Yeah, it's almost May.  They say that in the Great White North you should not plant anything in your yard before Mother's Day.  Last weekend, Mr. Snoop and I took a risk and did yardwork all day Saturday.  We're such rebels.  Pray for my impatiens. 

- If I do say so myself, I am a bit of an expert when it comes to digging up and dividing hostas.  I did a ton last spring, so I got back to work this past Saturday.  See evidence...  little girl with a big hosta.

Sorry about the crazy eyes, that thing was heavy.

- I got Mr. Snoop a compost tumbler for his birthday last year.  This past weekend, he mixed in his first "batch."  Warning: Mr. Snoop sans shirt.  Meow.

- Aside from being yardwork geeks, what else are we up to?  Well, Mr. Snoop has started his pediatric rotation, which is his last rotation of 3rd year.  Yikes, that went fast.  He likes that he does not have to wear his nemesis, the white coat.  And he's broken out all the "fun" ties with critters on them.  Jcrew addict, much?

- Is it weird that I am SO excited that Giuliana and Bill Rancic are going to have a baby?  I am just thrilled for them. 

- I finally started reading the Hunger Games.  Yes, I work with middle and high schoolers.  No, I hadn't read it till now.  I started the first book Wednesday and now am almost done.  So good and so addictive.  Now I can't wait to see the movie.

- Did I ever talk about the book Columbine?  This one by Dave Cullen.  I read it a couple of months ago and it was a great book.  Sort of In Cold Blood-esque.  The author did an incredible, painstaking job with his research.  Mr. Snoop is reading it now.

- Our TV show du jour is Game of Thrones.  Anyone else like this one?  It is pretty addicting.  Almost as much as the Hunger Games. 

- Have a great weekend, everyone!

That Sucked

I've been thinking about writing this for a few months.  Typically I like to write about happy things like diet cherry limeade and cats and things that are pink, because that is what I choose to focus on.  Now I'm going to talk about the time I had a miscarriage. 

Yep.  I sure did.  It sucked. 

It's not really me to share something so personal on the interwebs.  Actually, it scares the snot out of me.  But when I had my miscarriage, it really helped Mr. Snoop and I to hear from other people who went through the same thing.  Not because I would ever in a million years wish that on anyone else, but because the experience is so incredibly common.  So even though it scares the bejesus out of me, I'm coming out of the closet with this because if any of the few readers of this teeny blog ever go through the same thing (or have a friend who does), I want you to know you aren't alone.  This crapola experience happens in 1 out of 5 pregnancies.  So here goes.

Back in February, I was a little over 10 weeks pregnant when I went to my obgyn for a routine appointment.  Via ultrasound, we found out that there was no heartbeat and that the baby was measuring weeks behind.  Previously, at my 7 week appointment, Mr. Snoop and I had seen the little blinking heartbeat and everything looked good.  By 10 weeks, something had gone wrong.  I was given the choice to a) wait it out and let it happen naturally, b) take medication to induce the actual process of the miscarriage, or c) have a surgical procedure called a D&C.   

After much debate, Mr. Snoop and I decided to go with the D&C.  Why?  My body was not registering that something had gone wrong with the pregnancy, so I would have had to wait weeks for the natural route.  This was confirmed after the D&C, when the levels of pregnancy hormone in my body stayed elevated for over a month, which is not normal.  The medical route would have involved heavy bleeding and painful cramping.  With the D&C, I was put to sleep for 30 minutes, the procedure lasted 10 minutes, and I woke up with it all being over.  It was definitely the best choice for me.  And not even the $800 medical bill could convince me otherwise.

So now that I'm on the other end of this experience, I guess it feels ok to tell about it.  Here's what I've learned:

- This happens.  I was terrified of having a miscarriage.  Then I did.  Lots of people do.  And I'm still here. 1 out of 5 pregnancies end in miscarriage... that we know of. 

- A miscarriage is hard on your husband/partner. My ob told me this. I guess I was stereotyping, but I didn't believe her. I was wrong.

- Choose your obgyn wisely.  They may have to tell you really horrible news.  You need to be able to completely trust them in case scary shit goes down.  My Dr. D is the best and I feel so thankful for her.

- Forget about control. Y'all know I am a crazy control freak. I was insanely careful when I was pregnant.  But when it comes to pregnancy, it is out of your hands. You can do everything perfectly and still have a miscarriage. And it sucks. But you have to relinquish control.

- Not many people knew I was pregnant in the first place, but we wound up being open about the miscarriage.  People will say the wrong thing.  That's ok.  They're trying and that's all that matters.

- On the topic of where God is in a mess like this, a smarty pants friend of mine says that God shows up in the midst of the shit.  Well, that's true.  God showed up in my obgyn's kindness throughout the whole experience... exemplified in holding my hand as I nervously got put under on the operating table for the D&C.  In the amazing, sympathetic nurses and staff at my ob's office and in the hospital.  In my sweet friend who brought over nail polish that I had pinned and cookies to decorate.  When my mom came up to help out and distract me.  When family members and family friends sent notes.  And the list goes on...

So, anyway, that happened.  And it sucked.  But while my body gets back to nomal, I'm enjoying wine, coffee, raw cookie dough, having energy, and not gagging every 10 minutes.

Tick Tock

This is going to sound totally cheesy and cliche.  But this past week I have realized how insanely quickly time seems to be passing.  On my way to work I looked at my car registration sticker and realized that we might no longer be in New York when I need to have it renewed.  By a long shot. 

Then I looked at my car inspection sticker (April), and it hit me that things are going to be crazy different in April of next year.  We will already know where we are going for residency for the next 5 years.  And we might already be packing.  I just can't believe it.  I remember being told that medical school would fly by, but I thought there was no freaking way.  Wrong!

In a matter of months, Mr. Snoop will have applied to residencies.  In a frantic effort to control my world, and we all know how much I love to do that, I took a page out of my girl Keely's book and made a gigantic spreadsheet organized by state.  For Mr. Snoop's specialty of choice, he will apply to a minimum of 50 programs, God help us.  In case you are wondering why, the specialty he wants to go into is very competitive and there are typically only 2-3 spots per program.  So the spreadsheet it absolutely necessary so that I can keep track of where everything is. 

Mr. Snoop has already applied to one of his two away rotations, and I am so anxious to hear back.  As usual, I can't wait for the next piece of news--where/when he'll go for the away rotations, when the application process starts.  I'm trying my best to just be present in this particular moment in time and not think too much about the next steps.  Patience is a virtue that I don't have, right?

May 23, 2013

The other night, Mr. Snoop and I were talking about his sister's graduation from medical school this May and the logistics of getting there.

And that's when Mr. Snoop dropped this bomb:

"My school emailed me our graduation date but I deleted it."

WHAT.

No.  He.  Didn't.

Mr. Snoop's graduation date from med school has thus far been on par with other myths and urban legends like Atlantis, the Loch Ness monster, and alligators living in the nyc sewers.  The fact that it might actually be real was heretofore unheard of.  Naturally, I lost my ever loving mind that he had not only deleted the email, but emptied the trash folder.  Mr. Snoop could not understand why I was flipping the eff out. 

He is lucky to be alive.

Thankfully for him, upon receiving my panicked text message, my fellow medwife Keely came to the rescue.  As did some of our female med student friends.  I note that they were female because let's be honest, I think all of the guys had the same reaction.

May 23, 2013.  At 5pm.

Happy girl

Lots of things are making me happy today.

We're getting a hint of spring here in New York, and it is thrilling.  It was 53° when I woke up this morning and it is supposed to hit 68° today.  My office windows are open and I am loving the fresh air.  A celebration is in order, so Mr. Snoop and I have plans for a frozen yogurt date tonight.

Also, I found this in our yard on Monday:

It's going to drop back down into the 40s over the next few days, but I don't care because daylight savings is this weekend!  The sun might even set after 6:00.  No freaking way. 

...and I'm wearing my coral pants. 

Cute angle, right?  Super flattering.

What's that?  A shoe that doesn't cover up my entire foot and require socks?  Yes, I am wearing flats today.  Sorry that you have to see my horrid winter foot skin.  No amount of fake tanner can solve that problem.

And then there's this guy. 

My little bitty pink geranium.  Which is only little bitty compared to its gigantic friend in my other window. 

Happy thursday, y'all!  



Howdy

Well... it sure has been a while!  Here's what the snoops have been up to, which is mainly an update on Mr. Snoop's experience with surgery.

- Mr. Snoop is busy vying for Husband of the Year award.  Last weekend he...

A) Chaperoned a middle school lock-in at St. John the Divine with me.  That's 100 middle schoolers for 19 hours.  We may or may not have recovered from 19 hours of middle school boy smell by now.  If you haven't been to St. John the Divine in the city, you should.  It is ENORMOUS.  We're talking the length of 2 football fields end to end.  Being from Texas, I measure everything in football fields.  Also, the Statue of Liberty would fit in there.  If you work with youth, Nightwatch at St. John's really is the bomb.com, even if you are exhausted and stinky afterwards.  Here's what the cathedral looks like:

source



Side note: chaperoning middle school lock-ins is totally worth putting on a med school resume, right?  Especially when one of said middle schoolers is convinced s/he's dying of a stomach ache some rare disease and Mr. Snoop talks them off the ledge, medically speaking?

B) Mr. Snoop cemented his spot as Husband of the Year when he and a friend took over the high school youth group for me on Sunday, since I had to set up for/attend the middle school play. 

- I think I need a break from adolescents.  Love them, but really.

- I am loving the fact that the surgery rotation requires the use of scrubs 24/7.  The Vacation From Ironing rocks.

- Vacation From Ironing ends in a week and a half.  Mr. Snoop is in trauma surgery now and does family medecine next.

- Have I told you that Mr. Snoop has found a specialty within surgery that he really likes?  It involves this:

- On to figuring out away rotations. 

- As a goodbye gift from surgery, Mr. Snoop has 24 hour call in the hospital this Saturday.  I'm trying to figure out how many ridiculously girly things I can fit into a day since he won't be around.

Happy weekend, everyone!

Things I Am Loving

- $1 socks at Target.  Valentine socks make everything better.

- How much Mr. Snoop is loving his ENT rotation, even after only one day.

- Today is the last day of January.  Alleluia!  Good riddance, you wretched wretched month.

- This, from pinterest.  Is there a better combination than lemon and blueberry?  I think not.  Now I just have to get around to making it...

Pinterest

- $9 manicures.  Got to love that about New York.  You heard me.  Best. Therapy.  Ever. 

- My cousin and his wife had their first baby this past friday.  Baby Jack!  I can't wait to gobble him up.

- Shake Shack in the city.  Mr. Snoop and I tried it out Saturday.  Delicious.  You should go.

- The two geraniums in my office are exploding with flowers.  It rocks.

- Our vet came to see the boys for their annual appointment yesterday (yes, he comes to our house.  yes, it is so worth it).  Woo was most displeased and hissed at him.  I'm loving that Shammy Boy came to his rescue. 

Happy Last Day of January, everyone!  If it were up to me it would be a national holiday.

Brain Dump

My brain is not functioning well enough to write a coherent post (let's be honest.. I'm never all that coherent anyway), so I'll do bullet points today.

- Mr. Snoop is in his 4th week of his surgery rotation.  This means he has 4 more weeks to go.  As expected, surgery has been by far is favorite.  He's rotated through vascular surgery and is currently in pediatric surgery.  Next week he begins ENT and after that it will be trauma.

- The 6am to 6pm surgery hours are wearing both of us out.  Not that I mind being in bed by 9pm.  Totally my style.  Sometimes it feels like all we do is work, eat dinner, and sleep.

- The hospital where Mr. Snoop does his rotations recently laid off a ton of nurses.  And will be laying off many more.  Makes for an interesting environment, to say the least.

- Our friends' three year old loves to borrow my cell phone.  And I love finding pictures like this one:

- I've been daydreaming about our trip to the Dallas Arboretum last March.  Mr. Snoop and I met my family in Fort Worth for a wedding and I dragged us all the Dallas Arboretum for Dallas Blooms.  It was awesome.  Such a welcome, sunny, beautiful relief from New York winter.  That trip was so good for the soul.  I can't stop thinking about it.

But really.. Can you blame me?

Gorgeous.  Le sigh. 

If you're ever in the DFW area March 3 - April 8 you just have to go.  Here's their website.

-  It's really hard to believe Mr. Snoop will be graduating in 18 months.  What?

-  I'm excited for the SuperBowl because every year we are generously invited to a really fun party.  Who doesn't love that?  Now I need to plan what to make...

- I think that's it.  Thanks for reading :)

 

Extreme Couponing

From TLC

Extreme couponing kind of fascinates me.  Its like a train wreck: I can't look away.  Some of the people on the show seem a bit.. off.  I mean, really, what do people do with 400 pounds of dog food?  Or carts and carts of ketchup?  How much laundry detergent does one actually need? 

Personally, I do use coupons for items I need or will use.  We get the Sunday paper, so I clip them there.  I'm sort of afraid of the black hole that is online coupons.  I do feel like it helps our budget quite a bit.  But I don't go cray cray.

I recently read this article about couponing for a cause.  Through their church, these women do the couponing thing and donate the goods to local food banks.  I think that is awesome, and felt inspired.  With working a (more than) full time job and taking care of a medical student, my time to "give back" has been limited of late, and I have been feeling it.  I do think that food banks are wonderful resources in the community, especially in this economy.  So with my last local paper, I also clipped coupons for the food bank and put them in a seperate envelope.  When I did my usual grocery store run, I picked up these goods for the local food pantry.  Combined with the coupons and the in-store deals, this all cost about $11.50.  (Keep in mind I live in New York, where food prices are through. the. roof.)

I just noticed Shammy Boy in the window.  Lol.



I think this is something I'll continue to do--certainly not as seriously as the extreme couponers, but when I'm clipping coupons I'm going to put a couple aside for the food bank.  When I'm already in the store and see one of those items on sale, I'll grab it.  I'd encourage anyone who feels up to it to do this same.  Such an easy way to lend a hand!

What about you?  Do you coupon?

Irene + Mr. Snoop's Friend

Well, we made it safely through Irene.  The power only went out for a couple of seconds on Sunday night.. after the hurricane came through.  Honestly, I find the snowstorms up here to be far more terrifying than Irene was.  But then again I'm allergic to the cold.  This is the worst of the damages in the Snoop household:

I sustained this perfectly rhombus-shaped burn while baking cookies for the hospital staff who had to stay overnight Saturday in order to work on Sunday.  And yes, a cat stepped on me in utero.  That's how I got the birthmark. 

All joking aside, this happened about a mile away:

In addition, neighborhoods in the town where I work got over 4 feet of water.  A psychiatrist who was an attending physician for medical students in their psych rotation at Mr. Snoop's school died.  So sad.  Needless to say, I am very thankful that the little cottage we rent was so solidly built over a hundred years ago... on a hill.

On to other news.  Mr. Snoop is nearing the tail end of his Internal Medicine rotation, and has decided without a doubt that Internal Medicine is not for him.  But, as I learned last night, I'm glad he is apparently making friends:

He says: "Did I tell you about the nurse at the hospital who treats me like I'm her son?"

I say:  "Umm.  No."

Mr. Snoop:  "Yeah, she's a little bit older.  She rubs my head and brings me popcorn."

....????....

Hurricane a comin'!

Well, in case you haven't heard blaring from all things news-related, Hurricane Irene is on her way to our neck of the woods.  For all things Earth Science, it's been quite a week up here in the Great White North.  First there was The Earthquake.  Which I did not feel.  My co-worker, 20 feet away in the next office, did.  He said "The church is moving!"  I said, "You're crazy!"  He wasn't.  I never felt earthquakes when I lived in Memphis, either.

And now, Irene. 

Earlier this summer, I took eleven teenagers down to New Orleans on a mission trip (they rocked, btw).  There was still a lot of work to be done down there.  I lived not too far from Katrina when it came through.  Though I have a very healthy respect for hurricanes and the damage which they can wreak, somehow my feelings around Irene have gone all Disney.  All I can think about is this:

"Hurricane's a comin'!  Stand fast the riggings!"

(sorry)



In spite of my Disney-fication of Irene, I am ready with the following items:

Battery-powered lanterns (2)

Candles (lots)

Butane Lighters (2)

Water (a couple jugs)

....None of which is immune from Disney-fication either.  Now I have Scar's voice running through my head:

"Be Prepaaarrrred!  Muaahahahaha!"

Maybe I process stress through Disney.  Is that wrong?  This is my first hurricane, after all.

On a totally unrelated note, Lilly Pulitzer is having their summer sale.  I ordered two totally adorable dresses for work.  Ya'll should check it out!

Our Weekend / Barbie Cupcakes

We had a great weekend.  On Friday, we hosted a little party with our medical school friends.  It was a fabulous time and I think everyone enjoyed the much-needed relaxation.

Keely and I with the margaritas.  Please excuse the creepy red eyes.

Saturday was a beautiful day.  Keely and I did a little consignment store shopping.  I scored this little shelf that I'm re-painting and going to use as a night stand in our guest basement room.  Keely got an awesome piece for her dining room, but I'll wait for her to show that off :)

Our neighbor's daughter (age 7) came over to do crafts with me.  She taught me how to make this precious caterpillar craft.  To bad there aren't any caterpillar Bible stories, or I would totally use this at work!

It rained all day Sunday, which made for perfect relaxation weather.  Mr. Snoop played his video game and I read.  It was lovely.  As usual, my reading devolved into a gigantic nap.  Some of you may know about my propensity to talk (and walk) in my sleep.  During my nap, Mr. Snoop and I apparently had the following interaction, which I have no memory of:

Snoop:  "Do you like them?"

Mr. Snoop:  "Do I like what, Snoop?"

Snoop:  "The cupcakes.  You know, the cupcakes."

Mr. Snoop: "What cupcakes?"

Snoop:  "The Barbie cupcakes.  Did you like them?"

Mr. Snoop:  "Yes, Snoop.  I liked the Barbie cupcakes." 

Maybe these are what I was thinking of...



source

Horrifying, no?

Jamesie beats the tumor

Some of you in the blogosphere may have heard about baby Jamesie.  Less than a month after he became sick with an incredibly aggressive brain tumor, James Sykes went to heaven.  He was eight months old.  You can get the whole story on their family blog: Jamesie beats the tumor.  You should be prepared to cry.  A lot. 

James' mom is a high school friend of my cousin, and she has requested that folks help out in their effort to have a baby giraffe at the Dallas Zoo named after baby James.  I think this is such a sweet legacy for their baby boy.  If you feel so led, please fill out and send in the form here and vote for the giraffe to be named "Jamie the giraffe"  (she is a girl giraffe).  You can see the Sykes' post on naming the giraffe here.  And if you have a blog, please feel free to pass this along.  Thanks!