Is This Thing On?

I guess it's time I stretched my blogging muscles and got back to regular posting, right? This is the longest break I've ever taken from blogging since I started back in January 2006. And while it's been nice to not post, I have missed it and am sad that I haven't documented the last month and a half very well. Shoot, I haven't even been very good about actually taking pictures either. In 20 years it'll seem like the last half of February and most of March 2009 will never have existed...

Normally when friends take big blogging breaks I get suspicious that they're pregnant and feeling sick and therefore don't feel like blogging. Allow me to squelch any of these inclinations right here and now. I'm not pregnant; I've just been lazy!

As for a recap of what we've been up to for the past six weeks, I have to admit, it's not too exciting. One of the blogs I stalk regularly does bullet points and that seems fitting for today. So here we go...

• Everett's started sleeping in underwear at night and is doing surprisingly well. The boy can hold it!
• It snowed. In March. In Georgia. It was beautiful, as all snow is, as it was falling. And then it was dirty and slushy for the next few days and I was reminded yet again why I love living in the South. Snow is pretty to look at and maybe even vacation to, but why in the world would I ever LIVE in it? Give me warm weather eight months out of the year any day, please.
• Juliana has become a talking fool. She reguarly says hi, bye bye, Dad, please, thank you, no, uh huh, what's that, horse, dog, cheese, mine and cool. Personally, I think cool is the funniest. Especially when I think of her saying it dressed as she is here:
  
  
  
• Will flew to Philadelphia at the beginning of March for some training at home office for Penn Mutual. It was only for certain producers, so I was thrilled for Will that he was selected to attend. He had a great time meeting all the big wigs and learned tons. He came back on fire and ready to close some big business.
• Paula and I went and saw "He's Just Not That Into You" and "Confessions of a Shopaholic", both of which did their job and were entertaining. I actually liked Shopaholic better than the book, although in both instances I felt like having a heart attack reading about/watching her rack up that much debt. Ugh!
• Per Shanna's suggestion I read "Three Weeks With my Brother" by Nicholas Sparks. I am by no means a Sparks fan and incidentally think all the movies based on his books (yes, even The Notebook) are kind of dumb, but this book was fabulous! It's non-fiction and basically tells his life story. It was a fascinating read and I highly recommend it.
• Speaking of reading, I also read "Outliers" by Malcolm Galdwell. Another non-fiction, but so, so, so INTERESTING. Seriously. There's so much good stuff in it that is worth discussing, so run to your local library and get a copy so we can chat.
  
• I accomplished one of my 2009 goals and printed up all of my 2006 blog posts into a Blurb book. It was fairly easy and I'm pleased with the results, although I already have plans for how to do it a tad differently whenever I get around to publishing 2007's and 2008's posts.
• I'm annoyed by the new Facebook. I hate that I can't see everyone's statuses at the click of a button. And no offense to anyone, but I could care less about everyone's quiz results.
• Everett's new favorite movies are "Wall-E" and "Meet the Robinsons". "Meet the Robinsons" is pretty cute, but "Wall-E" gets on my last nerve! It is so incredibly liberal to me that it's like nails on a chalkboard whenever I have to sit there and watch it.
• I've started a new exercise routine. I've only been at it for just over a week, but I think I like it. I'll give more details in a few weeks after I see how I'm doing with it and if it's working for me. But, so far, so good!
• Am I weird? I honestly love to read people's blogs. Some of the blogs belong to close friends, friends, friends of friends and then some belong to people I've never met before in my entire life. Out of curiousity, how many blogs are on your Google Reader or Bloglines? I just saw how many I have and I'm almost embarrassed. Please leave me a comment and in my next post I'll divulge how many I read.
• Another reason it's taken me so long to post is because we just got Photoshop and I've been itching to have a customized banner. It's been a royal pain to try to figure out how to do it with a three column blog, but I've finally figured it out - a little. It's amazing the information you can find with Google. But, I'm in desperate need of some tips. Do you see how my picture is a little squished? How do I fix that?
• And of course, we've had our fair share of sunny days at the playground, birthday parties, playing in the sandbox, coloring on the driveway and riding Big Wheels. All in a day's work around here.

Gosh, it feels good to be back!