At what point should I admit that I have a problem?

On any given day, at any given time, if you were to come into my home, you may very well hear

my magazine holder crying....

...crying for help that is.

It's become pretty clear to me as of late that I am indeed an Obsessive Catalog/Magazine Subscriber (OCMS). That's right, I have more subscriptions to magazines and children's clothing catalogs than my grandma does arthritis meds.

My living room could make any doctor's office around the country have a small subscription complex. They don't have anything on my stash of periodicals.

This is just some of my problem. The ones shown above are part of my newest stack collected over the past month or so, of which only about 1/4 have been touched.

If I find a company's website that has decent looking kid's clothing (they don't even have to be super-duper cute, just decent, and they've got me) I immediately find the link at the top right corner (or sometimes bottom center, believe me I know) of their site for the 'request catalog' form and off I go entering in all of my mailing info.

It's a sickness, it is, really.

Phone rings: "Oh, you say you're giving a year's subscription to the magazine of my choice at a discounted rate? And it will benefit which organization? Sounds great, sign me up!"

In my defense however, my magazine choices have changed, as have my roles in life. But that's not to say that I don't devour the really juicy ones while waiting in the cashier's line at the grocery store.

"Oh you only have two items, sir? You can go ahead of me."

Because I may or may not have just found a really interesting article on Brangelina, with tons of pics to boot! Or maybe I'm getting educated on how celebs are 'just like US'.

So now I'm finding myself swimming drowning in an ocean of unread mags, and catalogs with the sticker across the front that reads: This is the last issue you will receive if no order is placed by...
Basically they're starting to pick up on the fact that I am an OCMS and I usually have no intention of placing an order and well, they're beginning to take it personal.

Can't a girl order a catalog and look at it at her own leisure (and as I typed that word 'leisure' I pronounced it with a short e sound, not a long e, because that's how they say in on news programs now and I think it's a hoot)?! And so what if I'm making Fall recipes involving pumpkin spice next summer? In the words of my man Bobby Brown, "It's my prerogative." No?

Anyone else fall into this category with me?

He keeps me straight and she keeps me laughing

I've told ya'll before about Kate's bedhead issue and it seems that unfortunately for her (and for me because I'm the one that's gotta tame that mess) it hasn't gotten much better. On Sunday morning she woke up like she does every morning, with a bird's nest in the back of her head.

This picture doesn't really show the depth of the 'mat'. And even though she still had that early morning squint going on, she made sure that she put on those high heels. I mean really, they go with just about everything you know, even a diaper and pajama top.

Well, as it turned out, I had quite a mess on the top of my head, too. So as I was trying to hold the camera up above my head to snag a pic to show you all, my camera skills failed me. It really is quite awkward holding a camera above your head just so and trying to press the magic button. And if you're wondering why I didn't just retake it, the picture I actually ended up with will explain...

Instead of getting the desired picture, I ended up getting M to the Izz-A oh so helpfully breaking down the exact amount of time we had left before we needed to leave for church. Here is his, watching me try to take a picture of the back of my head, and getting...well...slightly irritated. He's telling me in his 'man of the house voice' that we had to be in the car, driving down the driveway, headed for Sunday School in exactly 27 minutes and some odd seconds. The use of his hands of course is strictly for dramatic effect and is supposed to be showing how serious he is. So as you can see, I knew I better not try to retake the picture and instead took myself upstairs with a quickness to start getting ready. When I uploaded this photo I died laughing because I couldn't wait to show him what he looks like when he puts on his Hollieifyoudon'tgetyourbuttreadyIhatetobelate face. He thought it was funny, but wasn't nearly as amused with it as I was.

Speaking of church, Kate loves it and has been learning a lot. She also loves riding in the car listening to her CD's with Bible songs on it. Her favorite song right now is "Who Did?" It's about Jonah and the Whale and goes something like this: Who Did? Who Did? Who Did? Who Did? Who did swallow Jo, Jo, Jonah?! Well, I'm telling you this little story because as you know, nothing can be normal in our family. Kate doesn't sing the words exactly right. She thinks that instead of the song saying "Who Did?" that is says "pooted." And when she gets in the car she yells, "Play pooted, pooted!" Yea, makes for an interesting conversation when she starts singing it a church.

However, she is learning some things correctly and even uses them to teach Mommy a lesson or two! The other night as I was giving her a bath and told her to stand up so that I could finish rinsing her off, she ignored me and remained seated. I kept saying, "Stand up, Kate. Stand up." And with no success on my part, she still didn't budge. So, beginning to lose my patience (who me?), I raised my voice and said with much frustration, "Kate, stand up!" And with the exact amount of force in her voice, she stood up and said, "For Jesus!!" All I could do was laugh. She surely shed a whole new light on the situation. So I answered, "Yes, stand up for Jesus. Because I know He definitely wouldn't want you to go to bed with soap in all of your crevices!"

Let's Just Get It Over With

Okay, so I honestly thought that Blogger would have totally thrown out my blog by now and slapped a big fat header across the top, something along the lines of "Abandoned" or "Neglected" or "This Blogger Is Lazy As All Get Out". But to my pleasant surprise, good ol' Moddy is still hanging around, and while she may be hangin' on by a thread, the fact is, she's still hanging.

Kinda feels weird to be blogging right now... it's been way too long. And you would think that I would have tons to say, but I seriously do not. I mean dang, have I become a woman of few words?! That would be a first. And if so, I don't remember signing up for it! I can't even promise that I won't pause mid-post to go and finish watching Toot and Puddle on Noggin with Kate. Actually, I wouldn't have to 'go' anywhere, because we're both curled up in the recliner as we speak. (Now if it was Yo Gabba Gabba I'd be hiding behind the couch sucking my thumb because that show completely freaks me out....about as much as Lady Gaga, but that's another post in itself.) Now where was I? Oh, there I was... It's 5:15 pm on Friday and she came to me 5 minutes ago already wanting to put on her pj's. Now there's a girl after my own heart. Come 5 o'clock Friday, this lil' mama is ready for her pj's, too! But mine aren't nearly as cute as hers. Come to think of it, I've slept in the same old tank top for four out of five days this week. And the only reason I gave it a rest is because it started getting stretched out around the arm holes and let's face it, that look doesn't flatter anyone. It's all very sexy. Pshhh. Poor M to the Izz-A.

Note to self: Dadgum it Hollie, work on your sleep attire for goodness sake.

And for those of you that don't see Kate on a regular basis, I really think you're gonna be amazed at how much she's grown. I know, I know, it's only been two or three weeks, but I think she hit a growth spurt of sorts. But for those of you who are friends with me on Facebook, this post will be pretty anti-climactic for you, because I posted these on there a couple of days ago.

See for yourselves...

I told her that we were going to the store and I turned around to wash my hands and grab a Diet Coke and heard, "My Ready!" She had dressed herself, complete with super-hard plastic heels and her flower purse. The best part, I let her wear it. I pick my battles. You could hear her coming down the produce aisle from miles away.

Dancin' in her new kicks. That's my girl.

Hope you all have a great weekend.

Ahh, this felt good, to finally muster up a post.

One monkey off my back.

Now what about the ones in my head?!

Wordless Wednesday

To Gladiate or Not to Gladiate: That is the Question

My younger sister and her family, along with my parents, came down from South Carolina to visit last weekend. We all spent the majority of the time together and had a blast.

Although I love all of my family members dearly, one of my most favorite things to do in the whole entire world is to spend time with my two sisters. When the three of us get together, it's a feeling I can't describe. It's laughter, it's love, it's honesty, it's realness. It's laughing so hard until your laugh lines are deeper than they've ever been. I feel like I'm at my best when I have the two of them around...if that makes any sense. They make me 'me'.

While down for the visit, my younger sis Ali (also lovingly referred to as Big Al) wanted to share with us her new pair of sandals. She called them part of her 'gladiator starter-kit' because they were kind of like the gladiator-style sandals that are all the rage right now, but without all of the crazy straps. Sal Gal and I both agreed that gladiator sandals are somewhat tricky to just jump right into, unless you've really got the in-your-face style confidence of say...Sienna Miller. She told us that they were her 'gladiator training wheels' and that if she does well with them, she may just move on into the real deals. I, too, own a pair of sandals that could definitely be referred to as my very own pair of gladiator training wheels, because I didn't think I could pull off the full-fledged gladiators. Have any of you just embraced this style and jumped right on in, minus the starter-kit? Do you like them? Granted, summer is on it's way out, so I may never fully get in to a pair of them ,but I don't feel too terribly sad about it. I know many of you may have bought yourself a pair, but how many of you actually wore them....more than once? Just curious...

Here's a few pics of one of our dinner dates from last weekend. My mom and dad kept the kids while we went out. Thank you Mom and Dad!!


Sal Gal and Chad

M to the Izz-A and me

Ali and James

Oh look, we're in the order of our ages... (sorry Sal Gal!!)

The fellas

Today is M to the Izz-A's birthday. Happy Birthday Matt!! (Would someone please do me a favor and tell him that I wrote that on here, I don't think he actually ever reads this thing! Sometimes I just like to pretend he does.) We had a wonderfully romantic night of eating dinner at Pizza Hut with Kate and buying groceries for the next month at Sam's. Ahhhh, the good life.

Listen, I started back to work today, so I am barely getting this post out. My summer is officially over and I'm in mourning.

More pics of our family weekend to come...

Sweat 'n Stuff

I really haven't felt like blogging much lately. To be honest, I've been feeling a bit 'off'. There's an underlying irritability that keeps surfacing and I can't really put my finger on it. It's like a bunch of little things that when you add them all up, or think of them all at the same time, equal one big BLAH.

Now for those of you that know me in real life, don't you go thinking that this has to do with the fact that I turned the big.....well, that had a birthday on Tuesday. And for those of you that just read my blog because you get a kick out of my weirdness, you're probably thinking I'm even weirder now. Yes, my birthday was on Tuesday and I didn't even do a post for it. I really couldn't think of a single thing to say, other than 'Happy Birthday to Me!'... and then what? So I just didn't post at all. M to the Izz-A and I did go out for sushi, which was absolutely delicious. And since his birthday is next week, we may do a dual celebration and go out with friends in a couple of weeks. Hopefully. I LOVE doing stuff like that.

Another contributing factor to my blah-ness may be the fact that next week I'm headed back to work after what felt like an incredibly short summer break. I do, however, love my job and the people I work with, but it's always hard going back to the classroom after having a couple of months off. Plus, Kate and I have become extremely close BFF's this summer and I'm feeling all sad and sorry for myself when I think of not being able to spend as much time with her.

Gah, is this post completely boring and depressing or what?! I just went back and reread what I've written so far and already I wanna give myself a swift kick in the...

Well, on the brighter side of things, my mom has been in town for a couple of weeks and Kate and I have gotten to spend some time with her. I love seeing the two of them together.

We went to the zoo yesterday. Although the only personal hygiene that took place in my bathroom before leaving was brushing the teeth and throwing on deodorant, I am so very glad I went the deodorant route. IT. WAS. HOT. At one point my mom looked at me and said, "Wow, you're really....ummm....sweaty." I knew I brought her along for some reason. I also could have won the Dirtiest Hair in America award yesterday.

No contest.

But something told me the apes wouldn't mind.

Thank goodness for the little signs that labeled each animal. I had no idea what the names were for some of them.

Here I am pointing out a 'deer-thingy'. I later found the sign and informed Kate of the correct name, although I can't remember it now.

I remember going on field trips to the zoo as a kid and it seemed like there was always some type of construction going on or that certain areas of the zoo were shut down due to unknown reasons; therefore, my teachers would resort to talking about the different types of plants and flowers that were planted around the sidewalks of the blocked off areas. Super interesting! Pshhh. I was glad to see that all areas of the zoo were up and running yesterday, except for the photo booth.

But I simply don't have it in me to pass up a photo booth, so we made do and took our own pics. Doesn't quite have the same effect, does it?

Kate loved watching me feed the giraffes, but didn't really want to do it herself. I tried to act like the giraffes tongue wasn't freaking me out. This shot doesn't really show exactly just how long it's tongue was, but believe me when I say that it just made me feel weird.

We immediately headed for the hand washing station...and proceeded to count to 30.

Kate didn't actually touch the lettuce or the giraffe, but I was thinking all things airborne.

I'm pretty fond of the giraffes. We both share a common trait known as ELN, Extremely Long Neck.

Best seat on the ride! You know it thrilled my soul when Kate told me she wanted to ride on the Gator. She knows what's up.

A word to the wise: Don't try to video tape your child on a carousel when you're riding it, too. I got a little nauseous and wanted to throw up the cheese puffs that I had stolen from Kate's backpack two seconds before hopping onto this thing. I might be smiling in this pic, but my mouth is doing that watering thing it does right before you throw-up.

We had a great time and loved watching all of Kate's facial expressions...

...and this one was my favorite.

So now I'm off to clean this house of mine. It's been neglected lately, as when I get into a slump, I slump in ALL areas.

But I crawlin' out of it.

I can just feel it.

Grab the popcorn

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

**added music!**