Potluck: holiday style (I have no idea what that means)...

Holiday potluck! What a treat. Step right in and have a seat.

Really, I will stop with the rhyme thing.

This is the first potluck in the new place so I think catering might be my best option. I don't want to have to leave the party to burn cook food, open windows to rid the new place of smoke serve food or call the fire department to come turn off the smoke alarms clean up. Not like ANYTHING like that has EVER happened to me.

Ryan(7) had a friend(6) over last week and Reid(4) was doing some little-brother-attention-seeking-behavior that was about to get him into trouble. I didn't want to embarrass him in front of his older brother and guest so I pulled him aside and whispered into his ear some suggestions to improve his behavior. He responded by screaming, "I HEAR YOU!" like he was eavesdropping on our conversation.


A few dear readers have arrived after Googling, "Ward Cleaver Nirvana". *light bulb moment* Could that be my next expansion step in my quest for worldwide blog domination?

I also have become a source for beaver trapping information seekers. I sure hope my wardrobe suggestions come in handy for them. Glad to help the Beaver Trappers of America fight the frump.


Reid(4) was sitting in the back seat of the minivan in the middle of a drive without any context he asked, "so am I going to marry a girl or what?"

Speaking of minivans, this is very funny!

This week I am changing up the fruit bowl thing a bit:

This week I am making it, "What is in Holly's large rubbermaid food storage container"....

potatoes? nope.
sweet potatoes? nope.
rotten sweet potatoes? nope. (sorry, MoscowMom)
small watermelon? nope.

It is....

a mouse. A LIVE MOUSE. A live mouse that I trapped underneath my dining room table. A live mouse that I trapped underneath my dining room table in competition with my cat.

All God's creatures love Holly.

One more reason NOT to eat left-overs at my house.


My niece graduated from highschool on Saturday. It was a beautiful graduation and it was fun to see extended family. Congratulations Allison!

Happy Memorial Day!

Suburban white water rapids followed by tents...

Reid meet fountain:






Sleeping puppy break:




Let's camp in the living room:





Mid-peek, mid-boo:



Unauthorized photo of blog-Stedman (shhhhh...don't tell him I posted it):



More photos at Sarcastic Mom.

Extreme Makeover--blog edition...

Hi honey, I'm home!

Notice anything different?

To the right?

To the left?

Up?

Down?

I know! I know! I am in love with my new place. It has the right balance between color and black and white, retro and today, perkiness and angst (OK, it might be a little light on the angst, but who needs a whole bunch of angst anyway?).

Can I just say that Nap Warden is the most patient, long-suffering, capable, level-headed, creative person I have worked with in a very long time.

And NICE. So NICE. Probably too NICE. She could write a giant essay...maybe even a book about what a pain I have been about this.

Here is my side of the story. I love my blog. I loved the way it looked but wanted to make a change. I wanted my blog to scream "HOLLY!".

Nap Warden did an amazing job. She designed a fabulous look that I ALMOST had her install last week. Then at the last minute I changed my mind...

And then started at square one again. She was so sweet that her obvious head banging and cursing in the general direction of Texas did not translate in her emails.

After another week of emails, scans, links and marker drawings, this is what we came up with.

I love it.

This is what a visual scream "HOLLY!" looks like (today).

Thank you Nap Warden. I will release you from any designer-client privilege to tell your tale of woe. You might even want to develop some sort of screening process to assure you never have another high-maintenance-like-Holly client.

We are She is not done. We have several more things that are being added:

-I will be all official at my very own .com address
-I will have Feedburner installed properly (unlike the unsuccessful attempts of my past)
-I will have email subscriptions available (mom)
-I am changing to Haloscan for comments so that I can more easily track you down
-and a few more things that hopefully will make things easier

Please hang in there while the kinks are worked out.

And go visit Nap Warden who will be very available in a few days. After me, you will be a breeze...

For the love of tile...

I couldn't help myself. Here is the tile:


The thing about the tile is it has texture. It feels how bamboo or raw silk looks.


Here is my hair and eyebrow combination:


photo by long suffering friend who took the picture in the middle of a buffet restaurant surrounded by the chaos that happens when a bunch of moms take 9 children to a buffet restaurant.

I wish you could get the live action on how flippy my hair is. A still photo just doesn't do it justice. Please send a film crew...

Cue the choir...

My hair and eyebrow maintenance issues have been covered here at the Nirvana for my long suffering (but dear) readers.

It has been a long and winding road. A road of horridity. A road of crapicity. A road that has left me unwilling to subject myself to regular maintenance due to the feeling of impending doom...

Monday I looked in the mirror and it was clear that something had to be done. Quite frankly, anything.

I called a salon that had just opened up in town. I figured the less Holly history someone has the better.

Of course they were closed on Monday (see how far out of the self maintenance loop I am?) but they cheerfully (yes...cheerfully) returned my call Tuesday morning and set me up for an appointment that afternoon.

I walked in. The receptionist was warm and friendly. I was taken back to the chair and I saw it.

I saw it...

They had tiled the walls with the most amazing tile I recently saw this very tile at the tile showroom. Ever since that showroom moment I have been mentally figuring out how to sell our current house and build a new house around that very tile. Hi tile of glory, I am home.

A lovely person did my color. She listened to me. *gasp* She made suggestions. *gasp* We had free-flowing conversation. *gasp*

The whole time I get to gaze at the tile of glory.

Another lovely person did my haircut. She listened to me. *gasp* She made suggestions. *gasp* We had free-flowing conversation. *gasp*

The whole time I get to gaze at the tile of glory.

She then waxed my eyebrows. I had no input here. I am a brow moron. She took over in a as-gently-as-this-is-going-to-go-down kinda way. *gasp...little tear...* We had free-flowing conversation. *gasp...little tear...*

And if I could see through the pain I could have gazed at the tile of glory.

Oh, oh, oh! I forgot a really good part. While I was in those foil thingys that you have to wait 20 minutes to do whatever they lead me over to a COMPUTER THAT WAS CONNECTED TO THE WORLD WIDE WEB and I leisurely visited many of you.

I know. I know. This is WAY TO GOOD TO BE TRUE. But wait, there is more...

I stop to pay at the front desk and this is posted, "We do NOT accept gratuities. We are professionals".

At this point my hair and brows could look like crap...

You had me at the tile.

But in another stroke of amazingness, my hair and brows look fabulous.

I will get someone to take a picture of me today just to prove it.

And then I am going back to take a picture of that tile...

This potluck stinks...

Happy Monday to you
Happy Monday to you
Happy Monday dear reader
Happy Monday to you!


I am so excited about today's potluck. I have food! Left-overs, but yummy. I have cranberry and almond pasta salad with faux chicken. Not any faux chicken, but certified veggie Fri-Chik out of the can. Mmmmmm. You can't get that from just any grocery store. I am also serving oodles of fresh fruit with marshmallow fluff and cream cheese dip. Mmmmm. Seriously people we are only going first class here.

I have written about how all God's creatures seem to congregate around my house. Well last night was a first. This sweet creature arrived:



Huh? Is it a kitty? Is it a puppy? An armadillo wearing a fur coat?
Nope. That my friends is a skunk. A skunk curled up comfortably sleeping between my house and a very large digger toy.

Not any skunk, but the skunk that went through the dog door, ate dog food, sprayed the area and then went out to sleep on my back porch a mere 6 inches from where I took the picture through the glass door.

Hello? Are these creatures NOT reading my blog. Because I think I recently posted a lengthy list of what happened to PREVIOUS creatures who dared tread on Holly soil.

Let's just say that he won't be making that mistake again. Animal control came out and extracted him. Tomorrow we will find out if he has rabies. Oh goody! If he does then I will chronicle the 90 day house arrest my animals get to endure because they are NOT REGISTERED in my town. They have shots, but I didn't fill out the proper paperwork which I am sure is going to lead to all sorts of fines. Fun stuff here at the Nirvana.

I promise the faux chicken is not skunk meat.



Regular potatoes and a VERY small watermelon.

Really now, does it get much better then the "What's in Holly's fruit bowl" segment?

Next time I go to Starbucks I am going to order this:
Venti, soy Chai tea latte in a cup that's center of gravity is not at its rim, has a tight fitting lid, a cozy that doesn't rest on the bottom of the cup and can't be easily crushed by my bare hand in the act of being carried.

Crazy me. Wanting to actually consume my $4+ drink instead of wear it. BRING BACK THE OLD CUPS STARBUCKS.

Today the cat threw up in the living room. Rhett walked through it. Rhett had major tantrum when I removed his shoes to clean them (don't ask. He is so attached to his shoes he wears them to bed...yes, with his PJs). I finally got him calm, cleaned his shoes and then started in on the carpet.

Ryan walks through and asks what all the commotion is about. Rhett says, "kitty puked". *stop a minute...where did he learn that?*

Ryan says, "what is puked?" *whoa..not from Ryan!*

If you missed my road trip extravaganza, please click here.

Skunks, small watermelon, puking cats, crappy cups, a link to floating sandwiches and faux meat...

Park place...

This week marked the last day of school and the start of summer...

What am I going to do with three boys?

Go to the park.
Here are pictures from 3 of the 5 parks we visited this week...










Self-shadow portrait of Rhett and I holding hands on Mother's Day...


Go see more pictures at Lotus' place.