Do you see the scab under NikkiZ’s eye? That would be a scratch from my toenail. Do you know the logistics involved for an incident like that? She was crawling in one direction, lunging kinda quickly, while I was walking in another direction. And I swear, I don’t have like razor toenails or anything, they’re girly toenails! They’re painted! They’re not weapons.

It will be a miracle if she makes it to her first birthday, at the rate I’m going with her. And let’s not talk about the head-BONK from the park on Saturday. The one that made her do that face-gets-red-mouth-open-no-sound thing BEFORE the screaming started. That’s how you know it’s a painful boo-boo, when they do the still-life scream for a few seconds first, just getting redder and redder and redder until you’re all “BREATHE!”

And then she screamed for 15 minutes.

So, when I saw the above t-shirt this weekend? I had to get it for her. Especially since I knew LilZ already had one he had bought for himself a while ago. And of course, I had to take pictures. SEVERAL of them. So many LilZ, who loved the idea when I came home with her tiny version, was like, “Yeah - this matching shirt thing? Not so cool if you’re going to make us pose for an hour for pictures when we wear them.”

I guess a more appropriate shirt would say, “Since my mom is a Grade-A Klutz, I am forced to do all my own stunts and probably should just be wearing a helmet at all times, to be on the safe side.” But, I don’t think that would have fit on a shirt.

…here’s a few videos to alleviate the boredom -

Daddy dancing with his little girl

Commando crawling, NikkiZ style.

NikkiZ’s version of “talking”

First? This is the new hair color. Not that drastic, just a little lighter than natural, but closer to what it’s been the 10 years before I went back to natural. I remember why I kept dying my hair all sorts of colors over the years: I hate my natural hair color. So? I went a little lighter with a subtle touch of red. I love it. And yes, I did it myself. Aren’t you impressed?

This hair style, though? This is compliments of my son who was “styling” my hair for me at the in-laws’ last night. Isn’t it to die for? He did a couple other styles that were equally awesome, but this one is my favorite. And to think, he didn’t even loose any fingers in that mess of curls!

I did a lot of things yesterday morning. I went to the Super Target and bought a weeks’ worth of groceries (with LilZ’s help). We came home, unloaded those groceries (Why do I keep buying tuna? We already had too much to begin with.), LilZ showered, I fed NikkiZ, and then we went to the used bookstore.

(Not before LilZ’s cash was EATEN by our DOG. Our dog ate MONEY. COLD HARD CASH. I’m still in shock over it. We’ve been finding pieces of bills chewed up around the house all day.)

LilZ bought about 13 books at the bookstore (some with credit from his trade-ins) and then we went to check my mailbox. WHICH WAS CLOSED for the damn holiday weekend. I swear, Mail Boxes Etc. would be the best store to work for because they have the easiest schedule EVER. Damn them. (This also means I still didn’t get to mail my brother’s birthday gift. It will be a Christmas present by the time he gets it.) We then went to Hobby Lobby (the new one!) and then walked from there to Barnes and Noble. LilZ spent the rest of the cash (I reimbursed him) on MORE books and we headed home.

Okay. Now - do you see what all we did? Do you know where MrZ was during all of this? HOME DEPOT.

Do you know what happens when you run a deal with 12 months no financing at a home repair store? And you mix that with a guy with a credit card from that store. A credit card with nothing on it. And you add in a house in need of repainting? You get my husband spending FOUR HOURS (I am not exaggerating at all, as a matter of fact? I may be leaving off 30 minutes or so) at the damn store and coming how with all of this crap. And you know? He says if we didn’t have to be somewhere at 1:30? He would have stayed a little bit longer and bought a little bit more.

I told him that if I had gone with him? We would have been divorced by the time the trip was over. AND I WASNT LYING. I hate Home Depot on Saturdays almost as much as I hate Wal-Mart. The crowds? Are the type of crowds that drive normal citizens to murder. Especially in the summer when everyone decides they want to do something to better their homes. I hate that place. HATE.

My family is back to one piece again! LilZ and MrZ got back from their road trip late last night. It was so good to see my firtborn and he missed me as he immediately started asking if we could “Do this…” and “Do that…” and “Buy this…” Ahhh…the love a son has for his mother (and her ability to drive and her wallet) is unsurpassable.

I love that This entry has 50 comments. I love even more that the majority of you would not mind if I double dipped. Want to know a secret? The whole scoop-some-on-a-plate concept? Had really never occurred to me. (That’s why Michelle took her saucer out from under her coffee…) but you can bet I’ll use that technique from now on.

The funniest thing? Was how many of you said things like, “It depends who’s sharing…” and made mention of drool, and dirty homeless, as signals of people who you wouldn’t want to double-dip. I now have this image of being at a uyparty and seeing some go hovering over the bean dip with drool dripping from his face like it does on NikkiZ when she’s teething. Are there really people like that? I don’t think I’ve ever had a dip encounter that ever grossed me out on any level. Is that a sign that I’m usually the one people are grossed out by?

“Look at Zoot, double-dipping like the whole damn bowl of bean-dip belongs only to her. No way I’m eating any of that now…”

Wait. What’s the downside of that situation again?

Speaking of food, I posted some comparison pictures on flickr to show my weight loss from post-NikkiZ to present day. I am still 6lbs from my pre-pregnancy weight, but I’m hoping those 6 will come off easier (I’ve been working on them for a few weeks) now that I’ve joined the Y. I’m 16lbs from my wedding day weight - but let’s face it - that’s probably an unattainable goal. I was on a strict 1300 calorie a day diet and I was running 4+ miles a workout session, on top of a weight-training routine. I don’t see me having time or motivation for that type of diet again. Not unless the same set of circumstances pops up: A wedding and a Class Reunion within one month of each other. The greatest two motivators for weight loss at ONE TIME.

So - I’ll just settle for pre-pregnancy weight. Six more pounds. A total loss of 38 or so pounds so far. The end is in sight. As are the donuts.