This Post Was Supposed To Be About My Kids Having Strep Throat. Huh.

So Mike went out of town last week (Friday early through Sunday late) and I was left with the boys for a long weekend.

Which, wasn't really that bad. ISSSSSSSSH.

Mike left us with some Money So Mommy Doesn't Have To Cook A Lot, which meant we went shopping. (duh)
"Poor Mikey" has lost 30+ pounds and his clothes are fallingthecrap off. Nothing for his bottom half fits - jeans, boxers... jeans and boxers.. yeah. And then there is Conner, the Magically Thin Child... who FINALLY made his way into 3T and some 4T clothes, but of course, his wardrobe challenges are as complicated as finding out WHAT THE HELL HE WANTS TO EAT (pulling teeth, people, pulling. teeth.).

He has no waist.

He seems to be long.

Some 3Ts fit length wise, no 4Ts fit waist wise... le sigh.


I found a few freebie jeans that had been handed down to Conner from a neighbor of my mom. They were Old Navy.

"Hummmmm... Old Navy..." and a lightbulb went off. SHOPPING!

This is dangerous.

On Friday night, with two kids in tow, I hauled all our rearends to shop. After fighting Chase The Escape Artist (he is so damn sneaky) for an hour, we left with 2 new pairs of jeans for Mike (can you believe he's lost nearly 6 inches from his waist? I know. insane), and 2 pairs for Conner (a 3T and they are long), 2 mitten and ski cap sets (we NEVER have these when we need them... I AM PREPARED.. for what? O hell if I know), and 2 shirts for me (yay).

(clearly I thought I was shopping for Noah's Ark (arky arky...) (OMG what is wrong with me) ) (* sings twosey twoseys*)

We headed to Target for a mop. Just a mop.

We spent 80 bucks.

Target is like a money-warp. You walk in, your brains are bedazzled with it's awesomeness and GottaHaveThisBecauseItCosts$5AndOMGThatShouldNotBeSoCheap and by the time you are done WhoKnowsHowManyMinutesLaterBecauseWHOCARESItsTARGET you've got no less than 68 $5 things which ADDS UP. (I should be banned from caps lock) (MAYBE TOMORROW). And then you don't even care and you can't put anything back because it's all AMAZEBALLS and whatever... you'll just sell off a kid or a dog or a husband or your soul. For more Target trips.

Some of my purchases from that trip will be in my Things That Rock blog carnival on Friday. Which I am considering making a Thursday thing next time. So yeah. Be prepared.

I Might Be Starting a Blog Linky Thing That You Can Participate In!

Frequently on this site, I endorse things I simply love, things that I have tried, want to try, or just think are awesome (unpaid). Basically, I talk about things that just plain rock. Hard.

I know that there are like... no less than 1.56 billion blog carnivals, "memes", and listy-thingamajigs... so what is 1.56 billion and one? So without further ado, I would like to introduce you all to TheMomJob's Official "Things That Rock": a weekly blog linky-thingamajig where you can feature:

• Something you love
• Something you *think* you'd love if you could *just* buy it already
• Anything you have seen that is awesome 
• Things, Stuff, EVEN PEOPLE
• Basically, anything and everything that rocks your face off

Anyone can participate.

.........and I wrote all of that (see above) last night. But this morning? I don't know what to call my blog carnival.... but I also want to include an option for you to talk about things that absolutely DO NOT ROCK. I thought about "Rocks It, Knocks It" ? No? Any suggestions?

 I will do a Mr. Linky (or something comparable) for this round-a-bout of FUN and I will make a button with a "grab it" code... don't you fret. Kicks off this Friday! WHO IS EXCITED!??!?!

(o come on) (this is fun) (seriously) (this is EXACTLY what fun looks like) (no?) (YES) (DO IT) (it MAKES YOUR BABIEZ PRETTY) (swear) (don't make me pull out the Muppet Show Mad Scientists again)

I'm Sure This Is Sanitary Advice

This is how you know you are getting old and/or need a life. You get excited about a new mop. NOT just any mop though, I might add... but this mop:

A Libman wonder mop. ($10 - Target)

It's kinda fantastic.

I'm not going to bore you with a review about how and why this thing is great, but just know that with little effort, this appeared as a reflection on my floor:

I mean... my kids wouldn't DARE walk across this dude's face... that's just frightening. And those eyebrows? They might be contagious. As is the orange glow of his skin. He is basically radioactive. That's right, this mop can leave large, orange radioactive men to scare away your dirty children on your hard surfaces.

YOU'LL NEVER MOP AGAIN.


**i somehow managed to actually type a few good points about this mop in the comments section... go there... it's where the cool kids hang out... **

Poppy Seed Chicken

O guys, I'm living off casseroles. And not just any casserole, but poppy seed chicken ones. This slightly sinful chicken dish is a frat and sorority house staple at Alabama and I am madly in love with it.

As a matter of fact, I made two 13x9 pans of this stuff yesterday... that's 3 lbs of chicken.

I ate it 4 times yesterday.

It's only 10:12 AM and I've already had a bowl of it...

Hi, my name is Amanda and I'm a Poppy  Seed Chicken A Holic.

hi, amanda
(don't you DARE try and stage an intervention)

Here's what you need:
1 lb. of chicken - boiled then shredded
1 can of Cream of Mushroom soup
8 ounces of sour cream
1/4 cup milk (I prefer whole)
1 tablespoon poppyseeds
1 package Ritz crackers
1/3 stick butter

Preheat oven to 350. Place your boiled and shredded chicken in the bottom of a lightly greased13x9 dish. In a seperate bowl, mix the sour cream, cream of mushroom soup, milk and poppseeds (lightly pepper and salt). Mix well. Pour mixture over the chicken, spreading it evenly. Crush the package of ritz and pour over the top. Drizzle (hate that word) melted butter over ritz and sprinkle a few more poppyseeds.

Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.

Carefully remove from oven. Salivate over your casserole dish. Find fork. Stick fork in less-than-obvious place (I recommend the corners). Take a bite. Realize bite is super hot. Administer the "backwards blow" without much success because frankly? The bite is already scalding your tongue and no amount of backwards blowing will do you any good at this point.

Wait 5 minutes and actually serve yourself a big helping.

I feel that this dish is best reheated. It gives the chicken time to take on the tanginess of the sour cream and the other flavors to really mingle. Noteworthy: I actually hate sour cream but this doesn't taste a THING like sour cream.


ENJOY!

I Wasn't Joking

I am not lieing - every. single. girl at the Alabama game had on:

A long top/dress/shirt/whothehellknows

Leggings

Booooooooooots

I went against everything that Alabama instilled in me and wore TENNIS SHOES. I am not exaggerating when I say it felt AWKWARD and OFF and I was FIGHTING the urge to pull out my open toed pumps (in my purse, see? I couldn't even leave them at home. THAT IS HOW WRONG IT IS).

And to make matters that much worse, I was basically shoe shopping with each person that passed me.

Ankle boots, Knee highs, booties, uggs and other fuzzy like-minded versions.... o all the shoes! My head was spinning.

One thing that surprised me was frequency in which I witnessed brown boots with black leggings. I thought that was a no-no? Apparently not-so-much... Even black purses and bags paired with brown boots and black leggings. Never have I ever...

Sooo

Not only did I jump on the chance to purchase a pair of boots at an adorable boutique on campus and across from Bryant-Denny (Private Gallery), but I ALSO bought brown ones and wore them WHILE CARRYING A BLACK BAG. Gah-asp.

And people. They are amazeballs.

(Pardon my white legs that appear even whiter than they are due to poor lighting) (and a lack of self tanner)

(they can be found here, cost: $36.00... yes! 36 DOLLARS! They have knee highs for 50. I know, I know..)

It was 40 degrees on Saturday. I was NOT wearing leggings (I missed them the entire time I was there)(and no, I didn't put them in my purse with my heels) (but I thought about it). So, I wore my NEW BOOTS with dark jeans, a flowy white top and a black crop jacket. Oh, and a houndstooth bangle. And pearl earrings.

The craziest thing about the 45,000 pairs of boots I saw that weekend? How many girls were wearing them with TINY skirts SLASH BARELY A SHIRT (one girl had on an orange shirt that I saw and tried on at Express last year... IT. WAS. A. FRICKIN. S-H-I-R-T) and NO leggings. I was shivering in jeans, boots, knee high socks under my jeans, two tops, and a jacket and a vodka with cranberry juice. 

WHY WERE THEY NOT WEARING ANY CLOTHES?

(Noteworthy: In the SEC, girls take football seriously. To exaggerate that, the tradition of football games as a social event that requires "appropriate" dress is something very University of Alabama. On any given Saturday during football season, you can find girls from head to toe in their Sunday best, pearls and heels. Guys typically wear a nice shirt, khakis and dress shoes (pledges wear coats even). Some people laugh, some don't understand, but to me? It's not a football game if I am not dressed up.)

Not A Super Fun Post, But A Start

My mom is nothing short of hounding me about this... and apparently, God is trying to pester me as well..
Yes. God CAN pester you about your blog.
TOTALLY possible.
Swear.

God hearts blogs, too. You should see his Google Reader. Bananas.

PS - if God can follow my blog, you should too... it's only right.

I should probably clarify how God is 'bothering' me about my blog. Yesterday, I got my first check from BlogHer for my ad space. It was kinda a kick in the bottom that I should at least TRY to publish something even though I keep thinking about it and then I hesitate like whoa.

So yeah. Bloggy blog.

We went to the Alabama game (Homecoming vs. another SEC team (dumb idea whoever made that call), South Carolina). It was fabulousness covered in awesomesauce.

92,000+ people packed out Bryant-Denny.

The whole town was incredibly crowded (in the best kind of way) and we made it just in time for the end of the Homecoming parade. JUST in time to see Michael's fraternity showcase(?) 3 pledges walking naked in the parade covered by merely a blue barrel with the frat's letters painted on the front. Yeah...

We also attempted to find a friend of mine (Donya, see the  Pitter Pat House logo to the left...) about 10 minutes before the team and Coach Saban were to arrive at the stadium, so we were stopped to try and catch a glimpse of Saban and LORD DID WE.

It was 11 kinds of amazing.

No, make that 12 - one for each National Championship.

Eh. Wait..

MAKE THAT 13 FOR THE NEXT ONE!

We managed to get about 10 feet from him and I'm not going to lie... it was exactly like seeing Jesus.
Except that I haven't seen Jesus. But, I have now seen Saban... so... yeah... I WIN.

It was freezing. I got new boots (drooooooooool). We won. Alabama is now ranked #2 and #1 in the AP poll. And I got new boots.

Oh, and I saw this sign:
(It says "Slow adults at play") (I've seen this sign a thousand times before) (Just never taken a picture)

I should probably do a post on just the boots.... Hmmmm.

Blog Tease

Per orders? instructions? suggestions? O who knows... I'm *supposed* to keep this site up. I just don't know where to start... or when.