There was a parade at NikkiZ’s school today and they let her and another baby in her class be “grand marshals” because they looked so cute in their red, white, and blue outfits. They put them in a double stroller adorned with streamers and had them lead the rest of the kids in their parade. It was so damn adorable I kinda teared up in pride. It was cheesy and ridiculous but totally awesome all at the same time.

It’s a good thing I didn’t buy the American flag bikini I saw at Old Navy and put her in that, or the cuteness she emitted would have killed the entire crowd. As it was? There were only a few casualties.

I’ve mentioned before that I love NikkiZ being in the toddler class now, because the kids are so fun to play with each time I go feed her. I have a soft spot in my heart reserved for the two boys in the class, one who has the name NikkiZ would have had if she had been a boy, and the other is the one who blows me kisses when I leave.

All of the kids learn their signs and the Kiss-Blower knows them VERY well. Today, he went up to the other boy while he was eating, took a piece of peach off of his plate, and brought it to me while I was nursing NikkiZ. I told him “Thank-You” while doing the sign and then let him know that I wasn’t really hungry at that moment.

He then proceeded to eat it himself, and go get another piece off of the boy’s plate. This time, the Kiss-Blower did the sign for “Thank-you” to the little boy as he was eating food off of his plate. It was cracking me up. Here he was, essentially taking another child’s lunch, but politely thanking him (using his signs!) after each and every bite.

Gotta love a kid who uses his manners.

So, I have this stack of pre-pregnancy pants/capris in my bedroom. I’ve been using them as a gauge to indicate when I’m at my pre-pregnancy size as I’ve been slowly but surely able to squeeze myself into more and more of them. (I stacked them with the biggest/loosest on top and the tiniest/tightest on bottom). This morning? I thought about trying the denim capris on that I could not fasten closed last week (but I could pull them up, which was a big step). I pulled them on and sucked it in (and in, and in, and in) and possibly prayed to the gods of flexible fabrics and then, Bam! they were fastened.

Now, keep in mind, I could barely breathe and I may have had to pull some excess flab up above the waistline, but they were fastened, and the diet choirs of angels sang in praise. Unfortunately, I was a bit worried about the whole “muffin-top” issue that both Amy and RSM have spoken out against recently. I didn’t want somebody I passed on the street to do a blog entry about my flab hanging over my waist-line, but I also really wanted to enjoy fitting into these capris, so I just found a long-ish shirt to wear with them.

I went to the restroom awhile ago, before leaving to nurse NikkiZ. I wanted to survey the waist-line again before I left the office because I didn’t want the young girls teaching NikkiZ’s class to see my muffin-top when I sat down to feed her. I did the turn thing looking in the mirror to make sure no flesh was showing. As I looked at my rear-end, I pulled up the shirt to see how much flab was hanging out the back from my ass when I realized: Shit. My underwear is on inside-out.

How glamorous is that? To not only see my underwear (I hate the word “panties”) above my capris (but under the flab), but to also see the tag on the outside indicating that not only do I break fashion rules by wearing pants obviously too small, but I also can’t put my underwear on right.

I’m so awesome.

Remember my camera issues?. After the second time of having to send my camera back (through Best Buy) for repairs, I said:

I refused to say the name of the repair company because I didn’t want someone to avoid them based on my BAD experience. I was hoping it was just a one-time thing. Even though they sent my camera back with one of the problems still there (after TWO visits, but we’re not sending it back for a third try until after summer…maybe never now). Tommy just sent me an email that said:

Here is the article on TMZ if you want to see the original source. So, there you go! Precision Camera and Video Repair is now officially out of the Sucky Service closet so I can openly bash them and not feel bad.

Did I mention that even though my camera has been back for awhile, it’s still not fixed? One of the orignal problems was an issue with the USB port on the actual camera. Now, that was a low-priority issue since it doesn’t keep the camera from working and I just use my card-reader to get pictures off, but still. After the summer we’re going to have to send it back for the THIRD TIME. Maybe Best Buy will just send my camera to the manufacturer this time.

So, not only do they suck at fixing cameras? They also like to invade the privacy of celebrities. My favorite celebrities, to be exact. DAMN THEM!

(Thanks, Tommy!)

I just wrote an entire entry about Summer that when I went back and re-read? I fell asleep it bored me so much. So - instead? I’m going to make a list of other things that excite me way more than the average person:

• Lists. Man, I love lists. Especially bulleted ones.
• Pens, but I talk about that enough already so I won’t add anymore to that item.
• Pretty papers. Amy got me into making my own greeting cards and I admitted to her I loved the hobby because it gave me justification for keeping scraps of pretty paper that before had no use.
• Socks. Having to take off my shoes when I go into NikkiZ’s classroom has inspired in me a sock-obsession.
• My Entertainment Weekly in the mail. I hide them from the family if I get to them first because I don’t want anyone reading it before I do.
• A virgin calendar. I love love love writing things in a new calendar.
• Postcards.
• Freshly vacuumed carpet. Makes me SO HAPPY.
• The ice cream man. Yep, we still have one in our neighborhood.
• Buttered movie-theater popcorn. (Has anyone else noticed how many of these are food-related?)
• Cool dishes. My dream is to someday have enough dishes for 8 place-settings, but none of them match each other.
• Blogging. I know you are almost all bloggers so you think blogging excites you like it does me, but have you noticed how often I post? And how many blogs I have? Yes. It’s a sickness.
• Seeing new photos from my Flickr contacts.
• Stickers. Man, I still love stickers. As soon as I come up with a good use for them again as an adult? I’m going to start another collection.

What weird things get you excited? Wait. That sounded bad. I don’t want this to become a “Dear Penthouse…” type of entry.

Or do I?