Summer Grab-Bag

The Department of Education is trying to kill me. Thirty days notice before the biggest, most-popular-with-our-clients grant is due?! In the middle of summer? If I make it to August first with my sanity and blood vessels intact, it will be a small miracle. I have already been having eye twitches and heart palpitations (Which, if this is early menopause, kill me now...), and I really don't want or need any further stress-induced ailments.

The good news is I finished my new book proposal just before the grant was announced. (Hopefully more on this soon! Fingers, toes, eyes crossed...)

Also, our Klassy neighbor recently buzzed over on his motorized scooter to tell us several important things:

1) He recently entered a snapshot of our house in a "cute homes" contest
2) He has a brain tumor and will probably be dead by November
3) He's thinking about entering an amateur stand-up contest. Key words there: STAND-UP

Later in the week, if I'm not curled in a fetal position on the floor clutching my heart, I'll tell you about our special paper delivery man. Boy. Man.

Also, we recently spiffed-up one of our bathrooms. Here is a before shot:

And here is the after:

Again, the before:

And after:


Finally, if you read this before Monday afternoon, you may be able to still catch Allison Winn Scotch's fantastic BOGO offer: if you pick up a copy of her newest novel, The One That I Want, before she lands in Seattle, she will mail you a copy of her NYT Bestseller, The Time of My Life. I have the former on my nightstand, and I absolutely DEVOURED the latter. You want this book, people. Well, you want both of them! Click the linkie for instructions on how to enter.

Check out These Chicks!

Aren't they adorable? I would have loved to have picked one or two up for some photos, but every time I came near they tried to escape through the bars of the cage (note the pile-up in the upper lefthand corner), and I figured they'd appreciate a more low-key experience. I wish I could say they were mine, but they belong to my parents. I will, however, be eating their eggs. Which is quite possibly the creepiest sentence I have ever typed.



Ah, when it rains, it indeed pours. Life has been crazy, but swell. I recently went to Chicago to bid farewell to my dear friend Manic Mom, whom I have known for 5 years now. She just moved to Arizona. I will definitely miss that ho-bag. (Just kidding. She's much classier than a ho-bag.) While there, we caught Jen Lancaster's signing and I met the lovely Maureen Lipinski (whose new book Not Ready for Mom Jeans is now available). Steph and I posed for photos while tiny, glowing flying saucers landed behind us.

The cutie pie below will be a big brother by Labor Day, and I will be auntie to 3 new nieces and/or nephews by the end of the year (well, actually four--the baby of a best friend counts as a niece or nephew also, right?)

We are also getting our house in shape to sell, and we hope to make an offer on a new house we absolutely fell in love with. Oh, I am also still working on the new book, and working on work (so we can pay the damn street repair bill and avoid any potential buyers passing out on our kitchen floor should they see the assessment quote). The most awesome thing? Now here's where I bring this post full-circle and connect all the dots. If we get the house I love? I can have my own chickens there!

No doubt there will be more on these developments soon. In the meantime, I'm painting trim, crafting metaphors, and holding my breath.