Ketchup.

Ok, so it's been a while. A little over a month, to be exact. Yes, I admit my gloomy week turned into an extended hiatus from blogging, but not because there was nothing happening. So let's play "ketchup," shall we?

--We have decided to use part of our tax return to finish a room downstairs for Brendan. Right now, his room looks like this:





It gets darn cold down there in the winter, although it's quite nice in the summer. And before you call child protective services, please understand that I've invited Brendan to move back upstairs numerous times and he refuses. He's just not too keen on having to share a room with little Carter and be bound by his bed/nap times and such. I can't say I blame him.

--We also used a little bit of our tax return to get some much-needed clothing for our kids. You see, when in the midst of a financial crisis (or financial cri-SES), things like clothing and shoes and such utter nonsense get placed quite hastily on the backburner of our lives. And so, with a little money in our pockets, we indulged the kids. And then,

--Randy indulged ME by inviting a business friend of his to our house to evaluate my closet and take me shopping.

This is Sarah. She's an image consultant and jewelry designer who is also part of Randy's small business networking group. As a surprise, he gave her some money with which to buy me some clothes, invited her to the house, took the kids, and left. And I was alone with....her. Any woman like me (one with issues. I mean SERIOUS issues.) would have reacted the way I did in the face of her cool sophistication, fashionable breeziness and shopping savvy--I started to get sweaty, I had a hard time looking her in the eye, and I began to think over all the clothing in my wardrobe and immediately decided it was all frumpy and I hated it. EVERY. SINGLE. PIECE.

And then 20 minutes later we were best buddies, heading to the mall to try on millions of outfits and be brutally honest with each other. We (or I, at least!) had a blast. Sarah helped me choose some good solid wardrobe staples and made me try on some things I NEVER would have tried on myself, which was good for me. All in all, I was completely happy with our session.

So, men (or sneaky wives who need some pampering and are good at dropping hints), go to her websites and see what she has to offer. She's AMAZING. (And thanks to my sweet husband for putting it all together!)

Cable Car Couture
Blue Bijou

--Carter has a new favorite game. It's called Cash Cab.

(I'm totally attracted to this guy in a "You seem really nice and funny, but there's something in your eyes that makes me think you could rob someone at knifepoint in a dark alley" kind of way. It's one of my issues.)

On the TV show, you get in a cab, answer trivia questions, and many people walk away with a couple of thousand dollars. In Carter's version, he climbs into my mom-taxi and then begins grilling me with questions like, "What is your middle name?" and "What street do you live on?" and "When is my birthday?" It doesn't seem like it would be that funny, but I'm telling you, the kid knows how to work it. He has his TV gameshow hosting duties down to a T. So, dear reader, next time you ride in my car, I'm putting YOU on the hot seat.

--I applied for YET ANOTHER job. (I know, I know, enough with the "trying to find your destiny" crap, Stephanie.) But this is the one job that I promised myself I would apply for if it ever came up.

Until three months ago, I worked for a small community newspaper called the Valley Journals covering Cottonwood Heights' city government. Two weeks ago, the city opened a job for a part-time Public Relations Specialist. My heart just about dropped through my feet, and I applied the following Tuesday. I would LOVE this job, the salary is phenomenal, and I would be able to spend more time home with Carter than I am now. So we've got our fingers crossed that it works out. I'll keep you posted.

Anyway, that's about it for now. On my honor, I will be better at updating the blog. Now, don't you wish you had a nice hot dog to go with all that ketchup?