Civic Duty

It's a big day. It's our time to make our voices heard. I'm an ardent believer in our obligation to do our civic duty. Despite a sick kid, I plan to do mine. And of course, I ask that you do yours as well. Today we exercise our right to vote.

Of course, I'm talking about the annual Baltimore Sun Maryland Outstanding Blogs Awards (MOBBIES)! The Land of Bean has been nominated in the Family category. My fellow nominees are an amazing group of bloggers, many of whom I feel privileged to consider friends. So it pains me to say that I want to kick their asses, but I do, I really do. It is an honor to be nominated but it's freaking awesome to win. So I kindly request that you take just a couple of minutes and pop on over to the Baltimore Sun website to vote. You will have to register but it's little more than your email and a password.

Voting will take place between now and November 12 at 5pm. You can vote once in every 24 hour period, so please vote as often as you can! Don't forget to also click Land of Bean for Best Overall Blog! Note: You do not have to reside in Maryland to vote. (Mom, I'm talking to you.) Sadly, I do think you have to be in the United States, so my international friends can not take part.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you, thank you, thank you!



Oh yeah, and for all of my American readers, don't forget to vote in our mid-term elections today! It's kinda important.

Infamous

I know you are all like, sweet mother of mercy, enough already with the Mobbies. But indulge me one last time. This was in the Baltimore Sun today (page 6 if you still have it and want to save a copy, you know, for posterity):






















That's me! I feel like when I was a kid and I did something good and the teacher put my work up on the bulletin board for everyone to see. Embarrassed pride.

Okay, now I will resume my normal blah blah blah. Carry on.

Dos, Due, Deux...TWO!

Yesterday was a pretty big day in the Land of Bean. Our little girl turned TWO! At every milestone I say the same thing: where has the time gone. I'll admit, some days it feels like time is creeping by, but in the bigger picture, it's flying. Today was her day and I tried to give her as good of a time as I could.

We began the day with some blueberry pancakes and bacon. I think she gets the bacon gene from her father, they are both fanatical about it.















Followed by a little lounging around, watching some telly. Her lounging skills? From the cats.















We spent the rest of the day doing our normal things: playing, going to the gym, napping (her, not me), cleaning (me, not her), playing, some light shopping to finish up my outfit for the Mobbie shindig, playing, dinner (Qdoba, mmm). And then we had to get ready for the par-tay.

Before we left, Sophie opened a few of her presents. We're having a big birthday bash for her next weekend, but she needed at least a couple of treats on her big day. She got a personalized buffy (butterfly) puzzle from her great aunt Randee and great uncle Steve (and they are great in every sense of the word!) and a rockin' guitar from her Mammom and Grandy, who were kind enough to stay with her while Neil and I abandoned her on her birthday, heartless parents that we are.
















Clearly, she can wail.















That's me and the hubs in a rare photo of the two of us. Neil is doing his let's get this show on the road grimace. He has a really great smile and yet in half of the pictures of him he is making this face. You'd think he was a grump. (He's not.) The award ceremony was fine. Of course, I agonized over what to wear for nothing. There were people there in all manner of dress. I could have gone in jeans. I wouldn't have, but I could've. We were home by nine. We even stopped at McDonald's on the way home to get hot fudge sundaes. Yeah, we're party animals.

PS - Neil sent me an email this morning asking if she looked different now that she's two. I laughed when I read that, but you know what, she does a little.

Hail Mary

After two weeks of hawking votes from my friends, family and readers, the final day is HERE!



Voting for the Baltimore Sun Maryland Outstanding Blog Awards finishes today at 5pm. So please take a moment to head on over there and cast your vote for the Best Family category. Don't forget to also vote for Best Overall. (You do NOT have to live in Maryland, or even the US for that matter, to vote!)

Top Ten Reasons to Vote For the Land of Bean:

1. LoB could also stand for Lots o' Bacon. And who can't get behind that?!

2. I can recite every word from every single Mel Brooks movie ever made. Holy underpants!

3. I always use turn signals.

4. My hair is silky, silky soft.

5. I use excellent punctuation..

6. If I win, I pledge to improve the food in the cafeteria. Wait, this isn't the campaign for senior class president?

7. I never pick my nose in public. Well, not often. Okay, sometimes...but I'm discreet.

8. I prefer using polysyllabic words whenever possible. Onomatopoeia! Bam!

9. I make a mean bowl of chili. Which in turn makes a mean bowl of indigestion, but it's totally worth it.

10. Because this face:
















Will become this face*, if I don't win:















Thanks for all of your support!

*These photos were taken approximately 1.7 seconds apart.