Tutus for Everyone!! (But, Will They Come in My Husband's Size?)

A friend introduced me to Halo Heaven, a wholesale website that sells loads of dress-up stuff for little girls--things like tutus, pettiskirts, wands, tiaras, costumes, headbands, etc. for super cheap. Obviously, the stuff isn't going to be the same quality as something handmade, but if you need to fuel an addiction to all things girly, as I do for my little girl, take a look. Tutus run between $2-4 bucks a piece, pettiskirts run between $5-10, headbands run $1-2 a pop, etc. If you're looking for cute favors/decorations/themes for parties and stuff, this could be a really great place to go (though I hear the customer service/speed is so-so, so order early). So, in the next couple of weeks, I'll have enough tutus to outfit my entire house...maybe even the dog. *wink*

All the Blogosphere's a Stage, and We Are Merely Sleep-Deprived Players....

I've had several blogs in my lifetime. The first one I started back in high school, during my emo poetry days when life was cruel and black-red nail polish was cool. In some ways, I wish that blog was around, mainly for entertainment's sake, but also to see how I have changed along the way.
And changed I have...throughout my last several blogs, I've dated, married, had babies, worked a variety of jobs, stumbled, fallen, gotten back up again, cracked jokes, shared dreams, mourned losses, etc. And every now and again, I get the urge to say goodbye to my old work in order to create a new chapter in my life...perhaps out of some sense of restlessness, or maybe because, in some way, a new blog is symbolic of a new start in life, new goals, new changes, and so forth.
So, for any potential new readers (hi, nice to meet you), who am I? I still think, after 28 years of existence, I'm trying to figure that out. In an effort to maintain some sense of anonymity, I'll refer to my cast of players with pseudonyms...maybe I'll divulge names at some point, and maybe I won't, but I'll stick with this for now. Back to the original question--who am I? I'm a lot of things: I'm a 28 year old wife of nearly five years and mother of two, ages 3 and 3 months. I have the world's most spastic dog. I hold a bachelor's and master's degree in English literature. I teach composition and rhetoric in the evenings at a local university. I'm swimming in debt and trying to find my way through a sea of financial goals and weaknesses. I'm an incredible bargain huntress--I love shopping clearance sales, warehouse stores, wholesale websites, Freecycle, thrift shops, used book stores...any place where I feel I can get a good deal on something important to my family. I'm working on creating a food storage in our home. I live in the country, in a small development on a hill (aren't they all?), in a home whose basement is currently inhabited by mice (le sigh) because I'm too allergic to own a cat. I'm sarcastic, a pop culture junkie, and I'm terribly addicted to Facebook. I'm extremely self-conscious. I'm one of those people who lives life with the attitude that everything has to be 100% or nothing at all (which can be really good, or really bad, depending on the situation). I struggle getting to know people--I'm much more open online than in person. I'm an incredible slacker mom. You won't see crafts on this blog (though maybe some recipes). I have a heavy hand when it comes to adding spices to my cooking. I always order the same things at restaurants. I volunteer at a local animal shelter because I like the animals more than I do most people. I am wanted by neither the conservatives nor the liberals when it comes to politics. I'm afraid of other moms. If it's cream-filled, I'll take two of whatever the dessert is.
As mentioned, I'm married to an engineer. He's 30. He does not drive trains. (When I taught at another school, a drunken student asked me what my husband was studying, and I answered with engineering. The student then asked if my hubby would drive trains and have to wear those pin-striped overalls, and I then reminded the student what his own major was...engineering...and had to ask him whether he was going to drive trains someday, which made him think for a while before putting his head back on his desk to sleep off the hangover some more.) My hubby puts up with the fact that I kinda suck at this whole "being domestic" thing, and still loves me anyway. We'll call him The Engineer.
I have a 3 year old son that I'll reference on this blog as The Goob (my parents' nickname for him). He is very bright, very high intensity, high maintenance, and leaves me both aching with love and feeling a bit lost/inadequate when it comes to being a mother. I have never met someone who loves to make others smile and laugh as much as my little boy does. He sings songs by both '80s hair bands and Lady Gaga, and is already becoming a little pop culture database. I love his crazy, frenetic self, and how he helps me to grow.
I have a 3 month old daughter whose nickname is Vanilla Bean. As a rule, she is calm and happy, and is the smilingest little thing I have ever seen. But, like her mother, just don't get her mad. And I'm pretty sure I shouldn't feed her after midnight, you know, kinda like the Gremlins from that crazy '80s movie. She was nearly ten pounds at birth (9 pounds, 8.2 ounces, to be exact), and I will never let her live that down. I say all the time that my Goob taught me how to be a mother, and that the Bean taught me how to love being a mother.
I'm hoping that somehow, someday, my words will have something to offer to someone. I thrive so much from others' experiences that I hope mine hold some value to someone some day, some way. I'll share my thoughts, goals, experiences, failings, things I find interesting or of good report. You'll learn quickly that I am a sarcastic, cantankerous soul at times, and irreverent, more often than not. To that, I say, take me as I am. I think a lot about my life in terms my mother-in-law always references--when it comes to life, you can either laugh or cry. I, however, choose sarcasm.