Thursday, January 28, 2010

Opportunity knocks...

I am so freakin' excited right now.

Yours truly has booked her ticket for Vancouver--and is heading to the 2010 Winter Olympics.

WOO HOO!!

I still can't believe it--I'll be doing some work with SNOW magazine--be sure to check out www.thesnowmag.com to keep up with the blog on events!

The real question is this: should I bring back a stuffed Sumi or Quatchi for Ben??


Saturday, January 23, 2010

Yesss, I Love Technology...

Log on to Facebook, and there's a good chance that one of your friends has become a fan of something. From "Thanks to Ed Hardy, I now recognize morons right away" to "Breathing Air" to "God"...there's something for everyone to like. As annoying as most of these are, one caught my attention..."When I was your age, we had to blow on the video games to make them work."

And I almost became a fan.

It got me to thinking about kids today, and the technology that is at their fingertips. (And then I thought of how old that makes me sound--even typing "kids today" ages me about 20 years.) It amazes me that I can hand my iPhone to Ben in the car and without a word, he has scrolled through 3 screens of apps to find the Tinker Bell game. Oops--I mean, uh, Star Wars Shootout.

It's crazy to me to think that my cousins who are in middle school and high school are taking their own iPhones to class with them. Teachers now are more worried about kids texting during lectures than passing folded up pieces of paper. You wanna know what I had in high school??

That's right. The Zach Morris cell phone. I eventually graduated to the Motorola StarTac, and then up to the Nokia--I was so super excited that they had a plastic Carolina blue case that could pop on to the front of it, and...what's this?! I can choose from different songs for when it rings?! Look out world, I'm an innovator.

But seriously...we have moved into a world where technology surrounds us...and our children. My dad's first laptop was a Compaq and it probably weighed about 15 pounds and the most exciting day EVER was when he figured out how to get that green pixelated Wheel of Fortune game on there. Ben can scroll on the Macbook and play Thomas the Train online and click 'print' and wirelessly put his computer art on paper. He plays tennis on the Wii and has become accustomed to having a seemingly infinite number of digital TV shows to choose from at any point in the day.

I'll admit--it's nice to have a library full of movies at my fingertips for when we're traveling. But sometimes, for a brief second, I get a little nostalgic and realize that kids today have no idea how good they have it.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Confessions of THIS Shopaholic...

Hi, my name is Nicki...and I'm a shopaholic.

(Hi, Nicki.)

Now that we've been introduced, I'd like to start by saying that I don't have a problem. I haven't really researched the exact definition of "aholic" but I'm not so sure that it should have such a negative connotation.

Case in point--I bought 4 pairs of shoes today. But wait--before you cast your judgment (and forward this link to Brad), hear me out. I'm going to, once again, say the 4 most important words in my vocabulary: They. Were. On. Sale. Seriously--I'm talking 50% off sale. And, they weren't even for me!!

As a mom--and ladies, y'all back me up on this--I'm constantly on the lookout for good deals on stuff for Ben and my nieces. It's OK to buy stuff 2 or 3 sizes too large because I know that eventually they're going to be able to wear it. Plus, it makes my life a whole lot easier to know that "hey, Ben likes these shoes and I know that he won't freak out when they don't fit and he can't wear them anymore because I've bought the exact same ones in 5 different sizes!"

Enter New Balance...specifically the store in the Winter Park Village. Their children-sized shoes are 50% off right now. That's right, mommies--HALF off. So, even though Ben wears a size 10, I bought a pair of 13s. And 1s. And 2s. (Now, I know you're perceptive and have done the math...that's only 3 pairs of shoes. I generously bought a pair of pink ones for Hailee because I called Michelle and could hardly contain my excitement...she wasn't quite as ecstatic about this deal of the new decade.) Granted, there are tons of other tennis shoes out there, but my kid couldn't even lift his head up when he started wearing 992s. What can I say...I have a thing for those gray suede sneakers...just ask Brad. ;-)

Here's the point--and I apparently have the gift of justification--he won't wear these shoes today...he won't wear them tomorrow...and he won't even wear them the next day...but someday, they'll be there. Several of his female classmates at school have already said they like his shoes--and girls, it's never too early in life to start appreciating a man's choice in sneakers. I'm just investing in his footwear future...in the meantime, I'm OK with his closet looking like the backroom of a shoe store.

Out of laziness, comes creativity...

I decided a while ago that I would start writing down things--mostly funny things about Ben--that I didn't want to ever forget. Of course, it had to be written in an adorable Kate Spade journal with a matching pen...but even that cuteness couldn't motivate me to turn off Family Guy reruns at night and really focus to write. So, I was thinking about blogging, but when Ali called and said she wanted to start doing it, too, I figured it was the perfect time to start. Plus--it's much easier to type out this stuff than it is to write it.

The name "Doodle Pad" comes from the nickname we gave Ben pre-birth. Brad and I were one of the few parents we know who chose not to find out the gender of our baby--I can now say that I had a "choice" in the matter, but I have to admit that it was quite possibly the biggest compromise I've ever made...but totally worth it! Anywho, we grew tired of calling It "It", and since my niece, Hailee said the first ultrasound picture looked like a duck...Ducky came to be. Since we then needed practice with the baby talk, "Ducky Doodles" seemed like an even cutesier nickname.

So! Now you're all caught up...let the fun begin.

PS--Ben had Quaker Oatmeal Squares for breakfast this morning.