Princess Birthday Party For A Little Princess

And no, it's not my birthday although I have been called "a princess" by the Running Nazi and she didn't mean it as a compliment exactly.  I still have a few days to go before my big day and just for the record, I'm 29 and holding. (It works for my mom so it'll work for me!)

I went over to the Running Nazi, L's house today.  She was having a party for her niece who turned 3 years old.  It was the first time I had met her cute little niece A, but I have heard lots about her during our long runs.  A is very, very lucky to have the Running Nazi as an aunt. RN's make great aunts!

I also finally got to meet several of L's family members - brother, sister, nieces etc.  She loves doing parties and is a super cook.  I've told her she should do catering she loves it so much.  She really went all out on decorations, food, activities.  I have never left her house hungry and she even helps me out when I have parties by making something really tasty.

L's niece A wanted a pink princess party with tacos for lunch, so the food was Mexican themed and delicious.  I had a soft taco with a little steak and chicken on it, (she had three different choices), guacamole dip, chips, 7 layer dip, chicken enchilada casserole, and several other types of dips and black beans and stuffed jalapenos.

For dessert L had birthday cake, cupcakes, cookies and chess squares.  And then there was some delicious pink princess punch made with raspberry sherbet and ginger ale.

It's a good thing we are running 13 miles tomorrow.  I need to burn this off.

It's been a long time since The Boy was that age, but it brought back memories of all his parties and the many parties he was invited to go to..  It seemed like everybody in his preschool class had a big birthday party.  And all his cousins as well.  They are all graduating from high school or in college now.

Those days he wouldn't let me out of his sight.  All the other kids would be playing and he would be right by my side.

He wasn't diagnosed with Asperger's yet during those days so I just thought he was shy and would out grow it.

I don't think he ever really out grew it.  I think his peer group just got older and eventually stopped having birthdays where they invited everyone in the class.

The girls invited girls and the boys invited boys and only close friends got invited.  The Boy did better in these smaller groups.

Back then I got my share of jumping in these things with The Boy.  It was the only way I could get him in one, but once inside he loved it.

All the children had fun swimming in the swimming pool.  I didn't see any adults go in the pool, but a mom, dad or two that had really small children might have gotten in.  I was too busy inside eating cupcakes.

The Running Nazis' dog's Ali and Max were handling things really well.  Ali even dressed for the occasion.

Ali

Max

 And then there was the pinata, handmade in Mexico that the RN's husband, P called the "bad prom date'.   Yes, I can see why.  So can the Murph.

I love this sandbox that the RN's husband P made for little A.

And the funniest picture of all,  P riding in cinderella's carriage.

And princess goody bags!  (I got some pink Lancome lip gloss)

What a fun party!  Happy Birthday A!

Special Needs Ryan Gosling Week 14

Once again I am participating in the Special Needs Ryan Gosling meme started by Sunday Stillwell over at Adventures in Extreme Parenthood.  I've managed to do 2 of the 14 weeks.  Check out more of these on her blog.

The Boy is obviously home from college to help his technologically challenged mom!

Short Beach Visit

It's great to be back at the beach even if it's only for a couple of days.  The trip to New Jersey for my fiances' brother's funeral took top priority last week.   So sad since the Murph's brother was only 53 years old.  He was very obese and his body started shutting down.  Another good reason to exercise and stay fit.

Tomorrow we are heading to the University to pack my son up and bring him home for the summer.  I am so proud of him completing his first year of college with excellent grades.  I think he has been lonely this semester and is ready to come home for a while.  We've spent hours on the phone the past couple of months with the conversation ending when one of our cell phones die.  Then it's on to skype.

 Hopefully, he will find a job for the summer.

The weather at the coast has been cloudy with some rain and lightning.  Doesn't look like we are going to get any beach time.  It's still very relaxing to just be here.

I took these pictures yesterday.  Most were as we were coming across the bridges onto the island and as we were leaving for dinner in the evening.

Here's the freshly painted water tower on Pensacola Beach.  I've cut back on the amount of tap water I drink when I am on the island because I noticed whenever I am here I start having problems with swelling and inflammation under my toes, right on the joint, much like calcium deposits or gout.  It always flares up within two days of me being on the island and clears up immediately when I am back home.   The Murph says I don't have gout because it goes away too quickly and predictably.  The only thing different I do here is drink the water.  It is a mystery.

I am very happy that my toenails are finally growing back.  I lost both nails from my big toes last November after I ran the Pensacola Marathon.  Growing them back has been a slow process.  I can only imagine what my pedicurists think when they see my feet.   They usually take one look at all the callouses and now my lack of toenails and start talking to each other in Vietnamese.  It can't be good... 

Sephora by OPI nail color

The Murph patiently letting me take pictures when he's really ready to go get a beer.  His usual response to me when I hand him the camera to take a picture or I tell him to stand still so I can get a picture of him is "Ok, Blogger!"

Runner's Ailments

Yesterday I met the Running Nazi at 6:30 a.m. to do a long run.  We had planned on running 13 miles which usually ends up being almost 15 miles, but  I knew she was sick when she stepped out of her car.  She had that glazed over, feverish kind of look and her voice was raspy when she tried to talk.

The bottle of chloraseptic spray in her hand was another dead give away.  She took one good spray down her throat before she put it back in her car and we set off for our run.

She admitted that her husband tried to talk her into staying home that morning and canceling on me.  She knew I would totally understand.  It's not like I've never canceled on her at the last minute before.  That's what friends are for.  I'm very understanding.

She said she hadn't run much this past week so she really needed to get in a long run.  I understood.  I'm the same way.  I told her we didn't have to run 13 miles.  As long as I get in 10 to 13 miles I'm happy right now.  I haven't signed up for a marathon yet and it might be Fall before I do another one.  This summer I might only stick with sprint tris. 

The RN must have been really sick because we ended up running only 11 miles.  I told her she needed to go home and take some advil, eat some chicken soup and spend the rest of the day in bed.  I don't know what she ended up doing, but I do hope she got some rest.

We ran for 2 hours and during that time we shared our many ailments.  I'm pretty good at self diagnosis, but the RN has me stumped.  Either she has several things going on at one time or it's a really mysterious, big something that she has.

 I couldn't even come close to a diagnosis which is really surprising.  After all,  I have a Fashion Merchandising degree, a Real Estate license and have been a mom for almost 20 years.  You'd think I could come up with something.

Although the kidney stone totally had me stumped.  I was thinking more on the lines of gall bladder.  The symptoms seemed similar to mine when I had gall bladder trouble after my first Ironman.  Who knew??  We both drink more fluids now during our runs.

I told her to see a real doctor and get some strong antibiotics and maybe some steroids.  That always works for me when I am sick and then my asthma acts up.

Of course, she doesn't have asthma so I don't know if the doctor would give her a round of steroids.  Don't know what else steroids are prescribed for, but I do know they calm the immune system down.

She does need something stronger than chloraseptic spray.  Hope she got some rest yesterday.

This Song is Stuck in My Head -Nicki Minaj - Starships (Explicit)

Sopia Grace and Rosie performed a cleaned up version of this song on The Ellen Show http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5PejJ3Tuew.  Now I can't get it out of my head.

Love the music video with Nicki Minaj shot in Hawaii.  It's blocked from watching it on my website (if it isn't blocked now it probably will be soon) so you'll have to watch it on you tube.

Go ahead.  Get it stuck in your head too.

Iron Girl Gone Bad

The pool is shaping up nicely

It seems like I spend more time these days taking pictures of bodies of water (such as swimming pools) than actually getting in them and swimming laps.  I realize at some point this has to stop if I am going to race this year.  I'm always in the pool a couple of times a week by now.

 I could use the excuse that I am no longer a member of the Y and my new gym doesn't have a pool.  I could also say that the pool in the back yard has looked more like a fungus filled mud hole until a couple of days ago.  It looks very inviting now, but it isn't quite long enough to swim a good lap in so there's my excuse for that.

I have always been a pro at good excuses to get out of swimming too much.  In fact, the only time I have ever put in a consistent 3 days a week, at least a mile or more swim is when I have signed up for at minumun a half ironman.  More if I am training for an Ironman.  But not much more.  I just make one of my swims a long 2 hour straight swim.  Sprints, not so much.

I realize I could do so much better in a race if I got in the water on a regular basis.  My lack of water time was never much of an issue when I was a stronger biker.

That's the other problem.  In order to be a stronger biker, I know I need to put more time in on the saddle and that doesn't mean just trainer rides, exercise bikes or spin classes.   I love (loved) biking so I don't really have any reason for not riding except I'm just being bad.  I'm an Iron Girl gone bad.  It's a simple as that.

Donuts, alcohol, chips, sugary sweets combined with no swimming and very little biking.

Put me in time out!

Cream filled Dunkin Donut....

I eat way to much sugar including pigging out on Dunkin Donuts this week along with other kinds of sweets.  The other day I recklessly started tweeting about all the Dunkin Donuts I was eating and the next day the" Find Healthy Snacks Girl" was following me on Twitter.  Coincidence or is "big brother" watching?   Was this a sign that I need to become a healthier snacker or else??

I was so worried that the Murph and I checked our blood sugar levels with his dad's diabetic kit when we were in New Jersey a couple of days ago.   I was relieved to find that despite all the sugar, desserts, pasta and alcohol I had consumed all that day, my blood sugar was normal.

 But now what?  It is May and I haven't been in the pool since last October.   I have only been on my bike a handful of times and here I am wanting to qualify for the Ironman World Championship in Kona.  I am also planning on doing some races in June.  Less than a month away.  I know I can do it even without all the training and discipline I usually have by now because I have been racing for almost 15 years.

Will it be painful?  Yes.  Will my time totally suck?  Yes.  Do I need to get my procrastinating butt in the pool and on my bike?  Hell, yes!  Enough already.

I have a Running Nazi to hold me accountable for running.  I just need to find a Swimming Nazi and a Bike Nazi.  Then I will swim way more than I want and bike more than I want.  Then I will get on here and write blog posts about them cussing at them to make me feel better.

It's a perfect solution cause then I will get all the training I need and lots of writing practice too and they will never know that I blog about them.  The Running Nazi doesn't know unless I tell her and she doesn't care anyway.  (I don't think she cares)

My goal is to get faster.  To get faster I need to go shorter distance first and then get longer and try to stay fast.  Then I will be fast enough to qualify for Kona.

 I'm already fast enough in my dreams.  Blazing fast.  In my dreams I swim every single night.  At some point during REM sleep between frantically searching for my bike helmet, goggles, race number, and various other race gear (during my dreams for some reason I always forget my racing gear) and getting lost along the course.

 Getting lost on the course is a recurring dream since that time last summer when the Nazi and I got lost running without fluids in 90 degree F. temps in what should have been a familiar neighborhood.

Then the cat usually wakes me up from this dream/nightmare by pawing me in the face.

My plan is to just slip in and start training like I've been doing it for months.  Hopefully, my body won't notice.  I have been running fairly steadily thanks to marathon training so the running part is easy.   I have also been working out at the gym doing weights and at least 30 minutes of cardio every single day for over a year now.

It's all mind over matter anyway.  This should work, right?

Visit To The Jersey Shore

The Murph and I have been in New Jersey since Sunday.  We had to fly up suddenly to attend a funeral.  This is the first time I have been able to get on my laptop to post anything.  Doing it from a cell phone is impossible for me.  I even started having strange dreams last night that I was attending a baby shower for my blogger friend's brother (go figure!).  It was really strange because there were several other bloggers there that I follow.  They all had very creative, artsy baby gifts.

 I told the Murph about my dream this morning and he said we better find a wifi spot  before I lose my mind.  So now we are at Dunkin Donuts drinking coffee, munching on assorted muffins and donuts and blogging.

As I came strolling in pulling my computer bag some old guy looked at the Murph and asked "where's she going?  I take less than that when I go to Florida."

My computer bag's not THAT big.

The gym where the Murph works out when he comes to NJ to visit his dad was very nice to us and let us have a discount on our gym membership for the week since we were here for a funeral.   We've worked out every day since we've been here.  

Yesterday our workout was later than usual because of the funeral.  It really helps when we can keep our regular exercise schedule.  Otherwise, we get fat and sluggish and that's no fun.  

This gym in Toms River, NJ is a really cool gym. They have a little bit of everything.

I don't think I will ever get use to the sea gulls flying around everywhere here in Tom's River. The ocean isn't that far away, but for a southern girl like me who is use to the gulf coast, whenever I see a sea gull, it's tropical hot and humid and palm trees are everywhere.  

There are no palm trees or any of the other things I'm use to at the gulf coast here in New Jersey to remind you that the ocean is not far way.  Nothing but the sea gulls.  

The first time I visited Toms River and saw the sea gulls I was confused.  I thought maybe they were a "different" sort of pigeon since I knew there are tons of pigeons in Manhatten which isn't that far away. ( only when we were in Manhatten I accidently called them penguins and the Murph still hasn't let me live that one down). 

Another thing I'm not use to is all the retirement communities up here in Toms River.  We don't have any Leisure Villages in Alabama.  We should.  Southern elderly people would probably like having their own leisure village to hang out just like Northern ones.  The Murph and I like hanging out in Leisure Village.  We like saying the name "Leisure Village" even more.

Well, gotta go get another donut and the Murph is starting to complain because we've been at Dunkin Donuts for a entire shift change.

Running Nazi Strikes Again

Well, once again I fell for one of the Running Nazi's little tricks.  This time I was rested and well hydrated so I didn't suffer as much as I have in the past.

And we didn't get lost this time.

It all started when I met her for lunch Friday and she said she was going to run 12 miles this morning so I said I would meet her and run with her since she was running under 13 miles.

This morning when I got to the run start,  she suggested we run a little different course than we usually run.

 I very naively said "Sure!"

Big mistake.

We took off running and about 7 miles into it she says she hopes she remembers the correct turns. (where have I heard that before!)   She kept calculating how much this loop was going to be and then add this street and that and we would be at 12 miles by the time we got back to our cars.

I wasn't paying much attention as we were running along and chatting until I started to get hungry so I looked at my watch and realized we had been running almost 3 hours!

Now we run kind of slow and we stop to drink a couple of times along the course, but it NEVER takes us 3 hours to run 12 miles.

I mentioned how long we had been running to the Running Nazi and she says "Oh, yeah, we did that loop and then we added this and.... but we stopped a lot too...."

Not over 45 minutes worth of stopping!

Finally she admitted that we would probably be at around 15 miles by the time we got back to the car.

I'm not sure, but I think she had planned this the entire time.   She knew if it was a course unfamiliar to me that I would have no idea what mile we were at in the run.  I never would figure it out if I didn't know how long we had run. I'm just not that smart.

She knows this.

I am still trying to calculate how many miles we really ran today.  Was it only 15??

 I've run long enough to know approximately how long it takes me to run 12 miles.  And it's not 3 hours.

So much for keeping my long runs at 13 miles and under when I'm not training for a marathon or Ironman.

Dammit, she's done it again!

Nice Tail - The Furry Kind

 Phantom's, what else did you think?

He refused to sit still and look cute for this photo shoot.  He had other ideas such as "Get me the heck out of here!"

Cute tail though.

He's counting the days until his boy comes home from college.  It's been awhile since he's been bear hugged and squeezed practically to death.

And he has had to sleep all alone in The Boy's bedroom.  Nobody to snuggle with and he's not allowed to freely roam the house because of his stalking tendency with the other cats.

Poor baby!

Dive Into This Stuff

It's official - the pool's a mess.  There's been a mystery leak that started about 3 years ago and the Murph just ignored it and kept adding water to the pool.  The leak wasn't that bad, but any leak apparently needs repair immediately according to what we found out today.  It's not a good idea to let a pool leak go for three years.  Who knew?

At the end of last summer, the Murph had the pool guy cover the pool without cleaning it (against the pool guys advice) because we were moving to the coast for the fall and he had already decided to do a super clean/leak repair this spring when he opened the pool back up.  I can only imagine what the pool guy was thinking as he covered a filthy pool with yellowish black water last fall.

I'm surprised the pool guy even showed up today knowing what he was going to be dealing with.

I haven't been in the pool since summer before last except on a big float where the water wouldn't touch me.  This is because by mid-summer the water was a funny color, murky with yellow stuff floating around in it. I told the Murph he was going to get a fungus or something really gross if he got in the water.

He got in anyway.  He didn't get a fungus.

Yesterday he spent the afternoon scooping up dead leaves that had fallen on top of the pool cover.  Water had collected on top of the cover as well and now it's a mosquito breeding ground.

The pool guy came today and was mortified.  He and the Murph have a love/hate relationship.  The Murph loves it when he comes and gets the pool uncovered, but hates the prices he charges.  The pool guy loves the money he gets but not enough to deal with the pool's neglected condition.

Now The Murph is really going to "love" it when he gets the final pool bill.  I think the pool guy wanted The Murph to call somebody else to do the work, but he's been doing it for almost 20 years so he's stuck.  The Murph's not letting him get away that easily.  He's a loyal customer.

The pool guy couldn't do much today because he had to pump the water off the pool cover before he can get it off.  Then he discovered that the mystery leak has caused the pool liner to slip off and now he's going to have to empty the pool to stretch the liner back on or get a new liner.  Then he's going to have to dig around underground to see where the leak is coming from.

Yes, it's a MESS!

On a positive note  - once the leak is repaired, the liner is properly installed and the pool is filled with fresh water. maybe we will have a summer where the water is clear all summer long and we can actually swim in it without fear of fungus or other nasty infectious diseases.

Seriously, we had a party here last summer where more than one person commented on the "funky" color of the water and asked what The Murph was doing to it.  One person even offered to loan us some pool chemicals....

Helicopter Parent

Yesterday someone I went to high school with who is now a college professor updated her status on facebook with -


"Dear helicopter parents of the 1990s: thanks so much for making college teaching harder. Explaining there are no trophies for showing up and that rules apply to everyone makes for a long, tedious day."


I was confused because I had no freaking clue what a helicopter parent was.  No clue.  So being the inquisitive, google savvy person that I am, I did a google search of the term and learned that a helicopter parent is one that is overly involved in their children's lives to the point that they smother the child by their "hovering" much like a helicopter hovers.


These parents are the ones that never let their children out of their sight to play outside because they might get hurt or abducted.  Jungle gyms and swing sets can be too dangerous and so they are banned from the playground.  If a teacher grades the child's work too harshly the parent is at the school to confront them.


 As the children get older these parents pick colleges, majors, fill out applications, etc for these children.  Parents have even been known to negotiate salaries for their adult children getting their first jobs.  


This kind of over involvement cripples the child making it almost impossible to make any decisions in their lives.  They have no respect for authority figures and they grow up feeling entitled.  Shouldn't they get extra credit just for showing up to class?  Those deadlines don't really apply to them,  do they?  


 I can understand why this would drive college professors and employers crazy.


My heart sank when I read all those things because I came to a very disturbing realization.  


 Oh no!  That's me!!  I'm a helicopter parent! 


Now I have the correct terminology for something I have been for years.  And college professors HATE me.  Now I understand why The Boy's college tried (notice I said "tried") to refuse to talk to me last summer when I was doing whatever I could to get him accepted last minute into the college he decided he wanted to go to. (I thought he wanted to go to a Junior college near home for a year or two).  He changed his mind. 


 Now I know why the college wouldn't let any parents within a 20 mile radius when it was time for the student's to register for fall classes at orientation. 


 Now I know why after a brief intro meeting the first morning of orientation, the took the students in one direction and put all the parents in a big bus and sent us on a "tour".


My one saving point is that I didn't become a helicopter parent willingly.  Really, I didn't.  It was a necessity brought on by the fact The Boy has Asperger's.  I did encourage The Boy to become independent and do things on his own.  I would push, but I would always be nearby.  In part because if I wasn't nearby The Boy would refuse to participate in birthday parties, sports, playing outside, swimming etc.  


Believe me, I would rather NOT know what the top of the tunnel in the germ filled playground at McDonald's or the inside of the ball pit at Chuck E Cheeses is like.  Fact is if I didn't agree to go up in them, The Boy never would have either.  And bribery doesn't work.  I tried.


It is a fine line for parents with children with special needs to walk.  On the one hand we want our children to become independent, but on the way they do need us more than other children.  Does that really make me fall into the helicopter parent definition?  I hope not.  I took this survey online to find out if I fit the definition of helicopter parent (yes, I'm that paranoid) and the results were that I have found a balance.  


Whew!  What a relief!  To think for a second I might be one of THOSE! 


This helicopter parent phenomena really explains a lot though.  Now I know why the outside park down the street doesn't have real grass.  It has this fake squishy stuff that looks like grass but has cushioning for falls so no little tyke gets bruised or scraped up.  What was our parents thinking when they made us climb on jungle gyms with packed dirt or gravel down below?  Or concrete!   


The Murph and I were in the park a while back and went over to the playground to check out all the fancy play stuff.  A kid's dream world.  And all we had was plain silver bars to climb on when we were kids.  If you fell off one you fell on dirt and broke your arm.  Did our parents just not love us enough?


Now I realize this is the perfect example of a playground designed by our generation, the helicopter parents to help preserve and protect and smother and cripple the next generation, our kids.


Don't get me wrong, the playground is AWESOME!  I wish I had that as a kid.  I feel deprived!  I can't say I turned out ok.  I guess I did though.  My mother never had to do any of my homework for me and she didn't negotiate my salary in my first job out of college (although I sure wish somebody would have) and I 'm certainly not negotiating The Boy's salary when he gets out of college.  


His dad will have to do that.

Baby Shower and Long Run With The Running Nazi

Saturday morning I got up extremely early to run 10 miles with the Running Nazi.  I haven't seen her in over two weeks, which means I haven't done a long run in over two weeks.  Easter weekend and the trip to the beach temporarily screwed up my running schedule.  I'm not even going to discuss my biking and swim training.  Right now it's more like "what swim training?"  I bike on the exercise bike at the gym about 4 times a week.  Does that count as bike training?  The Running Nazi even missed her long run on Easter which is very unusual for her.  I hope I'm not a bad influence for her.

The plan was to run 10 miles on Saturday and then 12 to 13 on Sunday.  In between, we went to a baby shower for M one of our fellow running friends.  Her son and daughter in law are expecting a baby boy.  It's M's first grandchild.  I loved the colors they are using, blue and brown.  It was a total coincidence that I got a gift bag in that color combination.  I am really in tuned to color combos these days with all the wedding planning I have been doing.

About to leave for the shower.  The Murph likes the angled shots.
See Cadence behind me - My furry four-legged shadow.

I made the 10 miler on Saturday, but my knee was hurting and felt bruised so I had to pass on the Sunday run.  I'm going to have to build back up slowly now.  I am so scared of getting injured and having to cut back or stop running.  I have never stopped running entirely so it takes a very long time for me to recover if I get injured.  I had achilles tendonitis on both feet for a year one time after I started training for my first marathon.  It was very painful, but I kept on running.  I never want to get that again.  I finally got slower, cut back on running mileage, started stretching more (downward dog yoga pose) and it eventually healed.

For the baby shower I bought a couple of baby board books, a stuffed animal and a swaddle blanket.  My favorite book to read to The Boy when he was little was "Goodnight Moon".  We read it every night.  He also liked "The Very Hungry Caterpillar".  I still have all his old books.

My favorite book to read to the Boy at night

The food was delicious at the shower.   My favorite was the chicken salad croissants, a really awesome assorted cheese tray with crackers and white chocolate covered strawberries.  I love really good cheeses and white chocolate not dark (dark chocolate is a migraine trigger for me).  I don't care how many calories cheese has it's a good source of calcium so I can eat it.  I just keep telling myself it's good for me.

I had my camera in my purse and would have taken pictures of food but I didn't know the hostesses of the party and I thought it might be a little rude if I whipped out the camera and started taking pictures. Besides they might not want to be blogged about.  The only people I knew at the shower was M and the Nazi and three other runners who are friends of M as well.  It's funny how the camera always comes with now just in case there's a good photo op.

Brothers

Ed and Boo, brothers and two of the sweetest kitties ever, sharing the window.  I think Ed looks a lot like Maru, the famous youtube kitty.

Could Ed and Boo be part Scottish fold?

Wedding Invitations I Love

I spent several hours today surfing around online looking at wedding invitations.  There are just so many to choose from and I love so many of them even the ones that are a little too rustic or casual for what we have in mind.

Here are some of my favorites that I found.  Most I think can be customized to our colors (which aren't set in stone yet.)   I found a couple of color scheme ideas in the GO Wedding style magazine.  One is blush and black and the other is fuchsia and silver.  Both I love.
Luxury Wedding Invitations 

One of my favorites

I like this one, but with fuchsia instead of blue

I found the above three wedding invitations here -   http://www.carciofidesign.com/

I love her designs and they have the Murph's approval too.  There were some others, but they either didn't fit the theme (whatever that is because I'm all over the place!) or I couldn't figure out how to copy and paste the picture on here.

There are several pocket type, letterpress invitations that we liked and can order through a local store here and choose any color, font type, etc that we want.   That is a less expensive, but more boring option.

I like a little more sparkle!