my first vlog!

Even though I ABHORE seeing/hearing myself recorded, trying new things builds character! When I heard about Mamarazzi and Shawn's fun VLOG idea for April, I really wanted to join in. Much thanks to Janna for her "You jump I jump" idea that we film it together :)

The specifics of the VLOG are listed below. Stop on by Mamarazzi's page if you want to make fun of listen to other people's accents, and think about joining in yourself!


(Left-Amy, Right-Janna)
You start by saying the following words:

Aunt, Route, Wash, Oil, Theater, Iron, Salmon, Caramel, Fire, Water, Sure, Data, Ruin, Crayon, Toilet, New Orleans, Pecan, Both, Again, Probably, Spitting image, Alabama, Lawyer, Coupon, Mayonnaise, Syrup, Pajamas, Caught, Antenna, Rootbeer, Ambulance, Museum, Milk, Orange, Apricot


THEN you answer the following questions:

What is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house?
What is the bug that when you touch it, it curls into a ball?
What is the bubbly carbonated drink called?
What do you call gym shoes?
What do you say to address a group of people?
What do you call the kind of spider that has an oval-shaped
body and extremely long legs?
What do you call your grandparents?
What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry
groceries at the supermarket?
What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining?
What is the thing you change the TV channel with?
Where do you buy your groceries?

Happy Monday Folks

Sooo I found this lil guy at Walgreens this weekend and he makes me so happy. His belly full of jelly beans have been long since eaten, but it made me so happy to find a penguin during EASTER! This weekend Shawn and I are going to San Antonio and Sea World and I honestly am giddy like a child to see real life penguins :)

In an un-related story, I had a rough morning. I was 97% to work when I realized that I never put my work shoes back in my car (I'm one of those weird people that drives with house slippers on). It was 6:55am...maybe there are shoe-selling stores open at 6:55am?? I was in unfamiliar store territory and I sure didn't want to spend money on another pair of stupid brown shoes (I own 4 pair...3 of which I can't wear because they hurt my feet). So I opted to drive back home. I was SUPER grateful that I'm OCD and leave insanely early for work every day, so I only ended up being 13 minutes late...which was still 35 minutes early based on when my boss shows up.

There's a moral to this story. It's two part actually:
1. A penny saved is a penny not spent
2. Better early than late
...or something like that :)

Light it up Blue!

I have so many friends and loved ones who are affected by Autism. Here's my small part to bring awareness to a great cause that has so much importance to me. You can join me and donate to the cause here!

Me wearing blue on April 1st

Shawn, Bailey and Me wearing blue.

My friend Stephanie and her son Brennan. He has Asperger's, which is a high functioning form of Autism

time flies when you're having fun

Although work was stressful (my counterpart is on vacation for a week), I have been keeping up with the workload and actually learning a lot! Here are a few other (fun) highlights!

Tuesday night was book club meeting where we discussed Water for Elephants and Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons. We had about 18 ladies show up this time. While I love the meetings, that many ladies together in one small room is sooo loud!! I loved when we actually went around the room taking turns commenting on both the reads, but besides that it was utter chaos. Here's to hoping there are some ground rules going forward!

Our books for April are The Red Tent (which I've already started-thanks for the lend Kelly!), and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (which I've already read). We're also going to have a meet and greet with an author in May, so I'll be starting Already Home soon.

Janna and I went out for sushi after bookclub. Best $30 I didn't mean to spend!

My dear friend Kelly celebrated her 27th bday this week and decided throw a birthday bash on Friday night! Shawn and I brought Bailey to come play in the yard with all the other dogs. We had a wonderful time! (photos shamelessly stolen from Kelly)

Birthday girl Kelly with her little boy Henry!

Kelly's family lives on some acreage up north, and they put together a scavenger hunt. Janna, Shawn and I came in 2nd and won cool Sesame Street mugs :)

Bailey and Reese (Janna's dog) were the shy dogs together. Here's Bailey deciding if he's thirsty enough to go share some water with Miss Reese.

Shawn and I had plenty of errands planned for Saturday but Aunt Flow decided to tag along and make me feel miserable most of the day. At least we bought a gift for his coworker's wedding and had his/her eye appointments. Shawn got new contacts and spare glasses and I picked up some glasses for myself too. I've used reading glasses before but have found it irritating to take them on/off. The ones I got today I can wear all the time. I can really tell a difference!

Don't mind my frumpy-ness, I can see when I READ now!

Breaking the Ice

My friend Jenn at Perfectly Imperfect is having a fun link-up survey today. Such a fun way to ring in the new week! Stop on by if you want to participate, I'd love to see your responses :)

Q: What is your middle name?
A: Technically my parents didn't give me one, but I was lovingly called "amysue" when I was a lil' girl. After my split with my ex, I had it changed as part of my divorce decree. So now according to all things official I am Amy "Sue" Blackham. Kinda fun huh??

Q: When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A: I wanted to be a librarian (so I could use the bar code scanner) or a teacher (so I could write on chalkboards) and a wife/mother. Though I'm neither a librarian nor a teacher, I still have high hopes for the wife/mother bit :)

Q: If you could have 3 wishes granted, what would they be?
A: 1}Lose all the weight I've put on, 2} Maintain said weight-loss and 3}World Peace. Now my definition of world peace is rather encompassing and may cause the wish granter to regret offering :)

Q: If your house was on fire and you could grab only 3 things before leaving, what would they be?
A: My dog, my favorite bra, and my pictures

Q: You wouldn’t be caught dead, where?
A: Alone at the movies :p

Q: If you could be any cartoon character, who would you be?
A: Belle from Beauty and the Beast or Ariel from The Little Mermaid

Q: Who was the last person you hugged?
A: My dog Bailey

Q: What do you think of when you hear the word "yellow"?
A: Lemonaide