All About MEme: Wine Me, Dine Me, ...

Oh, goodness, that title has me *blushing* ...
and it really has only a little to do with my story ...
but hopefully it grabbed your attention and has you ...
scrollin' for more ... oh, yeah, baby, you know you want it!

with MommyBrain and SupahMommy

 

GUESS who's coming to dinner????

We are!

SORT OF  ... kind of... 

We want to sit down, have some wine ... or several bottles 

and listen to you whine or gloat about your :

WORST DINNER EXPERIENCE

or 

YOUR BEST DINNER EXPERIENCE

or  maybe even

WHAT you would make us for dinner if we came to your house? 

We don't care.  Just feed us while you talk. 

I know, how about this?

For all of you creative souls out there: Write us a story!  

We get to be the main characters of course:  did you not notice our big heads?    

 Supah and MB came to visit:  and this is how it went down. 

 You pick the dinner prompt that works for you ! 

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Imagine a quaint little Italian restaurant.  Dim lighting.  The smell of garlic wafting through the air. Red-and-white checkered tablecloth covering the table.  The table for two.  I'm meeting a friend.  A seriously funny, ridiculously kind friend.  A friend I met - while teaching elementary school - something like 10 years ago.  That's right, Supah - I know her as Debby (yes, with a y) - invited me to a little sit-down.  I could tell from her tweet that something was up (just like Supah to extend an invitation over Twitter, huh?).  I wasn't about to pass up the chance to share a meal with her.  Who am I kidding, she doesn't really like to share, but I needed a night out like a fish needs water.  

Giddy with anticipation, I waved off the annoying hostess and made my way to the table where Supah was already waiting for me.  Her face lit up when she saw me, but the smile didn't quite reach her eyes.  I could tell something was weighing heavily on her mind.  There was an awkwardness to our conversation that I had not expected.  I sipped my wine (it was probably more like a guzzle) and wondered why Supah had invited me to such a fancy dinner.  As I reached for a piece of bread from the basket sitting between us (oh, how I love my carbs), Debby's eyes met mine ... the look said everything.  The news would be bad.  

Supah broke the silence and said, "Dana dear, I'm breaking up with you I'm going to be handing over Monday MEme to you."  She said more, but devastation was ringing in my ears.  I heard only bits and pieces, "streamlining, making moolah, sending my peeps."  None of it made sense.  None of it mattered. 

In my head, thoughts were swirling ... Supah was my first.  We lost our meme-hosting virginity together.  I thought that meant something.

I needed to clear my head.  To regain my composure.  What better way to do that than finishing off this glass of wine.  And then I played back all the good times ... our first meme, the dingo references, the stories we've told, how we made each other LOL with our silly PhotoShopping skillz, all the fantastic bloggers we've met on Mondays, ...

I was crushed, no doubt about it.  But I also realized that  big-hearted Supah  didn't make this decision lightly.  She is one of the hardest working mamas I know, and if she's lightening her load, it's with good reason. I also figured no sense ruin the evening , I told her not to worry about it, ordered another glass of wine, and looked for the most expensive entree on the menu.  I made sure I was in the restroom when the bill came and left Supah to pay for our meal. (Who's laughin' now, sucka?)

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Certain details of the above story are pure fiction.  Like the part about Supah and I sitting down in the same restaurant - how I wish that were true, but we live on opposite coasts.  And me drinking multiple glasses of wine - I'd be fall down drunk and I loathe pumping and dumping.  But the overall message is quite true.  

All About MEme Monday is now a MommyBrain exclusive (which is a really positive spin on the fact that Supah dumped us).  But that's okay; a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.  All About MEme Mondays will continue ... as long as YOU want it.

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Twitter-pation

My hearts all-a-twitter for this little thug birdie.

Isn't he the cutest?  Reminds me of my boy Nelly.

If you wanna go and take a ride wit me
We three-wheelin in the fo' with the gold D's
Oh why do I live this way? (Hey, must be the money!)

Yeah, well, the only ride I'm takin' is over to SupahMommy's place for a little Yo Tweeps Twaffic Exchange.

I really have very little idea what I am doing, which is why I chose the gangsta bird - as my Twitter icon - up there in the hopes of appearing all confident and capable :)

Anyway, here's how this works ... or at least these are the directions Supah told me copy-and-paste, and what Supah says, I do!

DIRECTIONS:

To play along and increase your twitter twaffic do the following:


1. Click on my twitter Icon above. Follow me first of all!


2. MAKE A BLOG POST - just like this one. In fact, copy-and-paste these directions.

3. Grab the YO Tweeps Twaffic Exchange Button. Put him in your post.




5. Put a twitter icon / link on your blog post like I did. It should directly link to your TWITTER PROFILE.

6. Now link up your post below!


7. Visit some other #YOTweeps linkers on the list.


8. Follow them if you choose and shout out to them on twitter that you are following so they can instantly follow you if they're on. (Follow their blog as well if you're interested.)
Example: @supahmommy #yotweeps I'm following!

9. If someone follows you JUST reciprocate. It's that easy.

See ya' all in Twitter Land ... or whatever it's called :)

All About MEme: Supah's Book Club, Part 1

 

with MommyBrain and SupahMommy

 

You can consider this my own personal couch jumping incident ...

First of all, can we talk about my awesome PhotoShop skillz?! I give full credit to Supah for being my inspiration.  But the skillz, those are all mine.  I am especially proud of this one because the idea was hatched at 2:30 am while nursing my sweet CJV.  And the logo was created at 3:00 am ... while sitting on the floor in my walk-in closet so I could hear CJV if she needed me but have enough light to see what the heck I was doing.  Sleep deprivation conjures up all kinds of delightfulness ... a whole lot of crap, too ... but this is delightful!

Anyhoo, on with the interview ...

What are you currently reading?

The History of Love by Nicole Krauss

I am only 25 pages in.  The main character is an old (and very lonely) man.  I have a thing for old guys; they are just so endearing.  He feels invisible and does things to get noticed ... like posing nude for a drawing class.  Whoa, did that create some unwanted visuals!  But I like his gumption ... and that's a word I've never thought to use before now.  Ultimately, this is a book about a book (my friend Terri would love it!) ... a book written by the old man that somehow helps another lonely soul.

When do you find the time to read?

Right now, I am not really finding time to read. I can't keep my eyes open once I crawl into bed at night.  And spare minutes during the day are rare to say the least.  When I was pregnant - just a short time ago - and enduring twice weekly doctor's appointments, I read almost a book a week.  I don't make time to read, but if I find time, I can't think of anything else I'd rather be doing.

Where do you do most of your reading?

Now, currently, because I am house-ridden with children ... in my bed with my eyes closed ;)

In the past, when I had a life ... on the beach ... oh, I've done some great reading on the beach.  In an airplane/port ... unless there's someone interesting to talk to.  And I love sitting outside to read.

How do you choose what you read?

I think you already know this about me.  I judge a book by it's cover.  (I kind of feel the same way about blogs, but that practice does not translate into how I choose my friends, though!)  The overall design of the cover has to be appealing to me.  It's not one certain thing that I look for ... the cover could be pretty or interesting or weird.  As long as it catches my eye, I'll give the book a try.

I don't stick to one author.  In fact, I prefer to read virgin first-time authors.  There's something about knowing this is a person's first attempt that intrigues me.  I've found that well-published authors can fall into a rut ... like they've been type-cast or their publisher has too much control or they aren't willing to break the mold of their first successes.

I also love book recommendations.  And the website paperbackswap.com has a cool feature that suggests books you may like based on your browsing history.

From where do you get most of your books?

My friend Tammy loans me a lot of books.  And we both share a love of used books stores and the occasional trip to Good Will.

But most recently, I've been using a website called paperbackswap.com.  I trade the books I've already read for a book that someone else has already read.  Pretty cool, huh?  All I do is pay the shipping (media rate) for the book I send, and in return the other person returns the favor.  You can even print postage right from the website.  If you haven't checked out this site, you really, really should.  What a great way to recycle a book!

What do you do with a book after you've finished reading it?

If the book makes me think of a specific friend, I pass it on.  I love knowing a friend is reading and enjoying a book that I gave her.  And right now I have about 10 books listed on paperbackswap.com, which will earn me credits to get more books!

QUICK UPDATE ... after reading comments from BJ_Mama and Amber, I did a little research ... it turns out that I can earn book credits for referrals to paperbackswap.com.  I seriously had no idea!  But if you do decide to join and use my email address - dverhoff (at) gmail (dot) com - as your referrer when you register, I'll use those credits to get Newbery Medal winning books to donate to a local children's charity - yes, paperbackswap has children's books, too

What are your book (reading) quirks?

I must finish a chapter before putting down a book.  It really bothers me to stop mid-chapter.  If it can't be avoided, I'll reread the whole chapter rather than picking up where I left off.  I prefer books with short chapters ;)

Most of my books are used, but I love the smell of a new book.  I just close my eyes, flip those pages, and breathe deeply ... it's one of my favorite smells.

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Now it's your turn to play along ... my favorite part of all this mayhem!

• Put together a post that remotely resembles an answer to the prompt.
• Be sure to copy/ paste/ post our super fabulous button thingy (at the top of this post) on your post somewhere! (That's how we'll grow and we THANK YOU 100X for helping!)
• Come back here and link up with Mr. Linky! (If you can't see it at the bottom of this post, hop over to Supah's place and link up there.)
• Visit the 3 blogs above your name if you have time and leave them a comment!! (This is the secret to growing a blog!) ... and if you're first, ... well then aren't you special! You'll just need to visit the 3 below your when name when they appear and leave a comment!