• Christmas was good.  The King wanted this year to be “magical” for Babboo.  We figured we only have a few good years of him totally believing in Santa Claus and we’d better take advantage of it.  Needless to say Babboo was spoiled a little more then I’m totally comfortable with.

• For the first time in our ten year marriage The King and I sat down and wrote out actual goals for 2011.  One of them is to go out on a Date Night at least once a month (for a total of 15 times in the calendar year.)  We’re going out tonight and again next Monday.

• Speaking of next Monday….we’re going to see Rhett Miller and The Old 97’s!!!  Hooray.  We haven’t seen them since back when I was knocked up.  We’re both pretty excited.  The King’s already written up the songs he wants them to play.  And I’m trying to get up the courage to DM Rhett Miller to see if we can get back stage.  Gulp.

• One of my personal goals for the year is to post to my blog at least once a week.  Back in December I paid for my blog for the next year.  I want something to show for the money I paid.

• One of The King’s goals is to be more consistent in doing yoga.  He decided that he wanted to go off dairy to help him with his flexibility.   There are two things I don’t like about this:

• • He didn’t discuss this before hand with the rest of the family, so Babboo and I didn’t have a vote.
  • Dude, I DO NOT want to go off dairy.

• We’ve recently become obsessed with both Nick Kroll.  You must search the interweb and listen to him.  Our favoritea are El Cupacabra and the Ed Hardy Boys.  We can’t stop saying “que pasa baby” at our house. Even Babboo says it.

• And I know we’re about ten years behind on this, but we’ve also recently become obsessed with Tosh.0.  We DVR’d all of the old episodes and have been watching them the last few weeks.  Tosh.0 reminds me of why the internet is so awesome.  And for that, I thank him.

• Due to policy changes at the school district my dad has taught at for the last 24 years he was forced to retire over Christmas break.  It was either that or lose his pension.  He had two days to make the decision and once he submitted his paper work he couldn’t return to work.  No time to say good-bye to his students or prepare them for it.  They just came back after Christmas break to find that their favorite teacher was no longer there.  And so now my dad is retired and wasn’t mentally prepared to be retired yet.  He’s recently become even more obsessed with Facebook and his status updates are getting a little creepy.  I hope nobody tell him about Twitter.

• • Seriously, don’t tell him.

• While I was on maternity leave the company The King works for moved a block away from my office.  Again for the first time in our ten year marriage we’ve been meeting for lunch every now and again.  It’s pretty cool to spend time with him away from Babboo and Rerun and be reminded that we actually enjoy each others company and that we can still make each other laugh.  (I think we’re supposed to meet today. Which would mean we’re having lunch AND dinner together today.)

• I went back to Weight Watchers last week.  There is so much to say about this and yet, so little I want to say.

• We went to Vancouver, Canada last weekend.  We usually pay about $35 a day to park at the hotel.  (The hotel that we get on Priceline for less then $70.  Do the math.  We’re getting screwed on parking.)  Last weekend we tried just parking for free on the street.  Totally worked.  Saved us a ton of money.

(This is us in front of the 2010 Olympic Torch last weekend.  We’re a little late on this too.)

• The King gave me a new type of calendar for Christmas and I’ve had to learn a new way to keep track of my schedule.  It’s embarrassing how hard it’s been for me to change my way of thinking.  I guess us old people do get stuck in our ways.

• So tell me, is there something you’ve wanted to blog about for a while, but just could never seem to write an entire post about?

(I have no idea why when I use bullet points in a post my font gets all messed up.  Please forgive how lame this looks.  Unless you’re using a reader.  Then I’m sure it looks just fine.)

Most everyone has a different definition of camping.  Here is the definition my family had of camping:

• Sleeping in a trailer.  (We had a family of six and there was a bed for each of us.)
• Cooking every meal in the kitchen of the trailer.
• Storing all food in the trailer fridge.
• Eating meals off of real live plates with real live utensils that are kept in the trailers cupboards and drawers.
• Spending every evening at the trailer kitchen trailer playing card games with the trailer lights on.
• Eating the same meals we would have eaten if we were at home.
• Taking a daily shower in the trailer bathroom and using the toilet as needed.

I know, I know, most people wouldn’t refer to this as camping and I totally understand.

At some point we did buy a little tent.  But we used it to keep our luggage in.  For reals.

My aunt and uncle and their family would usually go camping with us.   Sometimes even my grandma would bring her trailer and meet us.  We would park our trailers next to each other.  We’d take turns riding bikes and ATV’s.  I think maybe once we took a hike ON A PAVED WALKWAY.  While we weren’t roasting marshmallows and sleeping in sleeping bags, we had fun.  I truly enjoyed all the summers we spent up in the mountains with my family.

(circa 1985)

As a teenager I never really thought about why we didn’t sleep in a tent, pee in the woods and cook over a fire.  I knew my mom had no interest in it and I guess I just assumed I’d have no interest in it either.  And so, I never even imagined camping in a tent.

I was only married to my first husband for a year and that summer we were married we went camping with some of his friends one time.  It sucked.  I didn’t like one single minute of it.  I chalked it up to just not liking camping in a tent, just like my mom.  Looking back I think it was more of “I didn’t like my husband or his friends” and not really “I hate camping”.

After that one trip with the ex, I put the idea of camping out of my mind and never thought about it again.  Until last summer when we got invited to go camping with a group of our really good friends.  The King and Babboo were very excited about going camping and so I put a smile on my face and agreed to go with them.

We borrowed a few camping supplies from The King’s parents and bought ourselves a tent and Babboo a sleeping bag.  The King found some awesome mattress thingys at the REI basement and we were set.

We camped for a weekend with three other families.  All together there were five kids and eight adults.  We slept in our tent, kept our food in a cooler, cooked all of our meals over the fire, went without showers, hiked with the kids, participated in our first geocache, and played in the river.

I had a blast.  (Minus the hike and my fear of falling off a cliff.  Or my kid falling off a cliff.)

(Pictures from our hike last weekend.)

We ended up going camping later in the summer with one of the families.  Again, we slept in a tent, cooked over a fire, hiked, geocached, and went sans showers.  And again, I had a blast.

We’ve been waiting all year for another chance to go camping this year.  Last weekend was our first camping trip of the season.  I was a little nervous about going camping while 32 weeks pregnant.  I tried to ignore my nerves and didn’t share them with anyone else.  I figured I was tough enough to handle a few nights sleeping on the ground in the tent.  The King set us up with a blow up mattress and I booked a camp site near the bathroom to accommodate my THREE nightly trips to the toilet.  The King found a hike that we figured was safe enough for me and my huge belly.

I’ll be honest here.  I slept better in the tent then I’ve been sleeping in my own bed at home.  The weather was perfect.  And I didn’t have to use the potty AT ALL during the night.  And the hike?  Well, it was actually just about perfect.

(Woody and Juggernaut didn’t like the hike as much as we did.  Those silly guys got in a fight while the rest of us found a geocache.)

And let’s not forget the food.

Why is it anything cooked over a fire tastes 100% better.  I mean dude, hotdogs cooked over the fire are AWESOME.  Not to mention s’mores or French toast.

The boys did take a bath in the FREEZING water.  (But not us girls!)

Babboo did end up going sans clothes in the lake.  Or rather, NEAR the lake.  It was just too cold for him to actually get in the water.

Before we left for home we did eight geocaches.  It had been way too long since we’d done them.  I forgot how much fun it is to geocache!

On the drive back to our house on Sunday evening The King and I got to talking about tent camping.  I told him that I loved tent camping way more then trailer camping.  We tried to figure out what it was about tent camping that my mom hated.  And what it was about trailer camping that she liked so much.  We couldn’t really figure it out.  Maybe it was because there were four of us kids and so maybe camping in the trailer was easier.  Or maybe she just hates going without a daily shower.  Or maybe she can’t physically squat to pee.  Although I really doubt it’s any of those things.

Maybe she’s just never tent camped and doesn’t know how awesome it is.

This weekend we’ll be visiting my family in Utah.  During this trip I plan on sitting my mom down and getting to the bottom of this.

So tell me, do you prefer tent, trailer, or hotel camping?  And why?

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OH MY GOSH, we’re going to see The Old 97’s tonight.  It’s been almost two years since we last saw them.  We were able to see Rhett Miller in concert when I was about this far along with Babboo, so I think it’s pretty cool that Rerun will get to attend his first Old 97’s concert while in utero too!

That’s right….the fabulous Rhett Miller of Old 97’s fame IS FOLLOWING ME ON TWITTER.

(In case you aren’t sure what this means exactly…it means that my obsession love musical respect for Rhett Miller has been realized….by Rhett Miller himself.)

And now I’m self-conscious and worried about tweeting about witty and clever things.

(I promise to never tweet about poop.  NEVER EVER!)

Oh yes, muy seriously.

Thanks to my recent birthday I recently came into a windfall of iTunes gift cards. (Note to Universe: PERFECT GIFT!) Upon receiving these gift cards my first thought was:

RHETT MILLER’S NEW SOLO ALBUM!!!

Oh yes, Rhett Miller has a self-titled solo album that drops comes out June 9^th. (That’s next Tuesday.) But then I remembered that I had already pre-ordered a copy of “Rhett Miller”. (Pre-ordering got me a FREE autograph with my copy.) (It’s in the mail.)

I spent this week looking for The Perfect Summer Songs. I took suggestions. I reviewed my current iPod collection and as of this morning, I have compiled a new playlist:

I call this playlist “Summer Tunes”. (And you can see it HERE.)

I’ve covered all the bases. I made sure to include the two available songs from “Glee” (love!) as well as a Joey Lawrence song, a Justin Timberlake song, a New Kids on the Block song and a song that mentions New Kids on the Block.

I dare anyone to listen to any of the songs on this playlist and not automatically feel happier and more boppy. Seriously, it’s guaranteed to make anyone feel happy. (It’s been tested over the last few hours and it appears to be working!)

I admit this playlist is not completed. Oh no. I’m still up for suggestion as my iTunes gift cards STILL HAVE MONEY ON THEM. Please feel free to make any Perfect Summer Song suggestions to me.

Also, Monday is my mom’s birthday. What do you give the woman who has everything? You commission this:

After seeing my mom snuggled up to Mr. Edward Cullen, my sister commissioned her own copy:

My mom’s copy will be delivered on her birthday in a shiny new frame. Along with a sheet of wallet sized pictures she can hand out to her friends.

I’m not kidding.

So yeah, what do you think is The Perfect Summer Song?

(Just wait until I post a picture of what I got The King for Father’s Day. JUST WAIT!)

I’m still pushing around a stroller while wearing bad pants and a scowl of my face.

Although my third birthday was pretty sweet. My mom made me the much coveted bunny cake. Plus, I had a smile that year. Hooray for no scowl. (I can tell by the awesome wallpaper in this picture that we celebrated my birthday that year at my Grandma’s house.)

My fourth birthday, again spent at my grandma’s house, was rocked with my new Dorothy Hamill Wedge Cut.

While my sixth birthday was not spent at my Grandma’s house (we lived in Oregon by then), I still had the awesome wedge cut and white tights with open toed shoes. Also, THE SCOWL HAS RETURNED.

I’m pretty sure I won’t be eating a bunny cake today. And that’s okay. I will be lucky enough to spend my birthday with all of my favorite people. I was able to spend some quality time with The King (white My Sweet Babboo watched his shows) this morning before work. After work I’m flying to Utah to spend the next four days with my family and friends out there. Thanks to Southwest for having such sweet deals right now, and thanks to The King for buying me a ticket for my birthday present.

I promise to not scowl at all today. Yep, that’s my birthday present to the world.

Edited to add: In case you don’t follow me on Twitter you might have missed this:

rhettmiller@holaisabel there’s a song on my new record called “Happy Birthday Don’t Die”. Today I dedicate it to you.

Dude, do you see that?  RHETT freakin’ MILLER!  Be cool like me and pre-order  Rhett Miller’s latest solo album HERE.  (Pre-orders come autographed.)

(Also,  follow me on Twitter!)

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I have a super duper awesome spectacular guest blogger lined up for tomorrow. SO SUPER! I promise you that you WILL WANT TO READ THIS POST. For reals. I don’t want to give anything away before it goes live tomorrow, but I will tell you that it’s written by my best friend May. And based on the awesome, and homemade, birthday present she sent me (see below), tomorrow’s post will knock your socks off.

For reals, May hand-painted each individual card in the greeting card set she made me.

So, come back tomorrow to read May’s guest post.

(Okay, here’s one hint: EDWARD!)