Blogger's Block and Mad Props

Wow! I am super-impressed that people are starting to comment on my blog regularly!!! Yay! (I know some people read at work where they can't comment, but I know who you are and you are special, too!!)
This does, however, present the minor issue of me feeling considerably more self-conscious about the posts. Are they interesting enough? Too personal? Too gross? Too grammatically incorrect and misspelled? (Some people actually remember that I have an English degree and that I should USE it! Especially if they paid for it--thanks, Mom and Dad.)
So I'm guessing it might take a little while for me to adjust to this new "fame" and just go back to posting like nobody was reading. . .I'm sure I'll get over it soon. "ASAP" (that was for you, Tami and Janis!)

Now that I've gotten that out of the way, I wasn't sure what to post today. We had a pretty boring weekend. John and I have been on this baby-book-reading trip and I think we've taken the "sleep in as much as you can on weekends" advice to heart. Saturday we spent half of the day in our PJs. Well, actually, John spent half of the morning in his football gear (his "kit" as they say here--so cute!) trying it on and getting ready for his first practice Sunday.
By noon we were both stir-crazy so we ventured out for lunch and to find the Woody's DIY store (2/3 Home Depot, 1/6 Pier 1, 1/6 Wal-Mart) and the Smyth's Toy Store to look at baby gear.

**I'll just pause a moment here to discuss how women give directions (John let me know my posts are just WAAAY too long for anyone trying to read one between action items at work. . ). Women, while literal about many, many things, are not so literal about directions. Between the two sets of directions to Smyth's that ladies here gave me, which, granted, is tucked away behind and around a slew of industrial buildings, we were more confused then helped. But, with John's eagle-eye tracking skills, we made it.**

The rest of the weekend was split between housekeeping lists and football practice, so I have no new pictures of lovely Irish villages, countryside, pubs, etc. (The weather right now is unpredictable at best, and it usually starts raining as soon as I step outside. No kidding.)

What I do have is a list of "props" for some awesome people. Ever think about how "props" came into use? Well, that's for another post, so here goes some mad props. ..

Houston marathon folk: 5K, 1/2 marathon, or the full 26.2, WAY TO GO!!! And you were even discouraged to wear your IPod, so even more power to you if you did the whole thing solo with no jams. And while I missed props for our friends who did Dallas last month---major props to you, too!! Kat set a PR (sorry to be so late on that!).

Special marathon props to: Greg, Stigg's husband, who completed his first marathon. And to Stiggs who beat back pregnancy discomfort to stand out in the cold for five hours and more to support her hubby. And props to our friend Kat's friend Cassie's husband Josh (you followin' me?) who ran a blazing marathon in like 2 minutes. Whew!

To my Grandpa: Props to Grandpa, who made me feel less alone in the world by getting accosted by the police the same night I did. Grandpa is in his 80s and doesn't sleep much, so he likes to drive around at night. He showed up at the Kroger parking lot at 3AM and was immediately surrounded by police cruisers, lights flashing, the whole nine yards. When they figured out gramps was not looking to score some smack or anything, they let him go. Thanks for not letting me be the only one harassed by police, Grandpa!

For John: Way to go for making it through your first full-pads practice with your new football team. Nothing broken, damaged, etc. and he didn't hurt anyone else too badly. You can see the aftermath of football practice below in the picture. (Props to me when I actually wash these things)

To those who have taken time to read the blog and comment: Yeah! Thanks! B-Lee , Cindy, Isa, and MamaDrama Jenny you all are great for commenting when you have small children to take care of. I am so impressed!!! And Stiggs, thank you for always commenting (BTW, something weird is going on with our e-mails--perhaps the CCISD filter or something is gumming up the works. More on that later.)

MamaDrama Jenny: Props to you for your insanely difficult MeMe alphabet poem. I still have MeMe envy.

Kat and family: Many props to you and your family for putting up with another week (month?) of our dogs. They're stinky and messy and muddy and love you, and we know they can be a pain and you all are so incredible for taking care of them!!!

Knitters unite!: Props to the knitters out there with their soon-to-be-arthritic hands. I finished the KidZilla's first blanket yesterday after a "marathon" knitting session. It's a weird size, yes, but if I ever learned to CHECK MY GAUGE then I might not have this problem. Anyway. . . it can wrap around the kid, so that's all that matters. I have yet to learn where to purchase yarn here so I used all I had and bound off. You would think that in the land of sheep, etc. yarn would not be so difficult to acquire. I have heard of one place that might have some, though. ..

So that brings my props to a close for now. I know many more people are doing many awesome things that I have left out, so, oops! I'm going to blame baby-brain-drain!!!

I have a feeling that there's another post brewing this morning, so watch out! I may have to drop another one on you!!!
Keep on keeping on!