W/W and Don't burst my Bubble.

Read this in a very fast and furious tone:

You know when you are super duper happy, ecstatic, giddy, joyful etc....and then someone comes along and takes a big fat needle and tries to insert it into your happy, ecstatic, giddy, joyful bubble?


And at once, your super duper happy, ecstatic, giddy, joyful bubble starts to deflate and then you remember HEY WAIT, IT"S MY FREAKIN' BUBBLE and YOU can't BURST IT!!


So,  you proceed to take the biggest shank from your arsenal and you take down the bubble popping culprit. With glee. And joy. And giddyness. And ecstaticness. And all that other stuff. 
Ahhhhhhhh.

The shanking part only happened in my head, but it still felt good.

Anyhoo...I got that off my chest.


So much for wordless Wednesday. I was never good at that quiet type of stuff.
This photo has nothing to do with what was on my chest.

Lolo's boyfriend has been gone since early August for Air Force basic training....he came home on Wednedsay of last week. They met at their 'old' high school to pick up both the 'little Sisters' together. 

Did I just hear a collective ahhhhhh?

This photo will be reenacted next week when he has to leave again. Minus her smile.

The moral of this post, and surprisingly, there is one...is: Give the finger (or shank) to all bubble bursters. Metaphorically of course.  Then go hug a soldier. You can actually do this in reverse order if you like. 

Have a great day! I know I will.
xoxo

16 Candles!

No one wants to compete with Jesus....and their birthdays are so close together.

BUT, we try to make HER day as special as possible.

She will never be forgotten like Molly Ringwald was in the movie 16 candles...
nor will her Grandma's tweak her you-know-whats and horrify her.

{what kind of family DOES that?}

And I HOPE  she will NOT end her birthday sitting on a glass dining room table with a cute guy named Jake blowing out her 16 candles. 

We do have the glass dining room table, but I NEVER let anyone sit on it.

FYI: Movie making people, glass breaks.

 {BUT on the other hand, Jake IS cute and could possibly be worth maiming yourself.}


Did you have a stretch Armstrong doll? Lindsay didn't.

Meow.

Lindsay....a little comedienne, a laughing, silly-as-heck girl.
She got this all from her Daddy (or both of us)

Lindsay, Happy birthday baby!

 Lee Ann Womack said it best: "if you get the chance to sit it out or dance...

 I hope you DANCE!"


I hope you ALWAYS DANCE!
What is better than dancing?
You, like your Sister, bring ME JOY every day! 
Every day. 


ps. I tried for an hour last night to make a movie/slideshow for her birthday, and I ended up mad, flustered and kinda cussing. Thanks Mark for hanging the tribute slideshow bar so high.


I hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas! The Coach surprised us like never before!

The slightly intoxicated snowman.

TGIW.
Wednesday?
27 times today I had to pause and remember what day it was. Tuesday? Thursday? Friday? Oh, Wednesday!!!!!


Gift shopping is complete as well as the food shopping. Bring on the madness. Did I day madness? You know what I mean...funness.
I feel like I am up to my eyeballs in Christmas and pre-birthday. (Linds turns 16 on Tuesday!)


Ok, I took 25 minutes out of my day for some fun with Nelson; the traveling snowman.

No, I didn't take Nelson with me to the store, but he did applaud my use of reusable bags. There is such a thing as green snowmen.
And then I showed him the tomatoes I just picked! Not the best place for me to set them though.

 You know how nutty I am. 

We are having such mild temps. And when I say mild, I mean I only broke out in a sweat 4 times today. 83 degrees?? C'mon Old man winter, help a sister out!

Anyhoo...he wanted to sit under the chickee hut and enjoy the views.

A sit under the chickee is nice accompanied by a glass of vino.

 What? He wasn't driving anywhere!

Well, one glass of wine proved to be too much for this guy.

No, he's not planking. He's puking. 

I told him enough was enough.

But he didn't listen.

 Funny thing is, he is a fun drunk. Not mean at all. And he didn't break anything.

I did catch him trying to drunk text Rudolf...but I saved him the embarrassment.  

Down for the count.

Again, not planking....sleeping!

Plop plop, fizz fizz oh, what a relief it is!

We have our big Italian feast on Christmas eve. I am expecting 17 wonderful peeps this year!
If you decide to join us, please bring your own plates and silverware!!

I will catch you on the other side of Christmas!!!

I hope your weekend is filled with all the love you can handle, all the laughs you can muster and JOY-out-the-ying-yang!!! {Ouch?}

Bee safe out there....cause *someone* loves you!!!

{I am SOMEONE!!!}

Traveling snowmen, a fiesta! And keeping it all together.

I've got much to tell, but no time to tell it and you probably have no time to read it!

 On Friday this guy arrived via the postman. His name is Nelson and he belongs to my friend Vicki (aka Jake) in snowy/cold Utah.

Nelson is a cutie...and he loves to travel. A while ago he spent some time visiting another good friend PJ and he was able to see lots of snow and spend Christmas with her family.

 I was worried he might melt here in sunny Florida, but these other guys have survived a few years now. 

I've been quite busy since he arrived, he seems to be well behaved, despite what I've been told.

I should have taken him out by the pool with Linds and I yesterday...I took an hour and sat outside while catching up with my words with friends. If I get any further behind...it will just be WORDS. Minus friends.

{Yes, I was also mindlessly bragging about sitting by the pool 6 days before Christmas. Florida has a few benefits, and that is ONE.}

On Saturday, I had the pleasure to attend a birthday fiesta....my friend Dawn loves all things mexican.  Well, you know what I mean. She is the only person I know who decorates for Cinco De Mayo every year.

Cinco de mayo is May 5th for those who don't own a calendar. Or know spanish.

She had a vision of a fiesta for her 40th...and it was pulled off beautifully! 

Once the sun went down and all the lights were sparkly and the colorful flags were swaying...magnificent...or...perhaps bravo...aribba??

I really love Mexican food, but I've never had a desire to go to Mexico. You?

Today is December the 19th...that means Christmas eve is in FIVE days...but I am NOT panicking. 

I am stressing a little, but I'm NOT panicking.

I just realized this morning that I never even moved the Christmas coffee mugs from the top shelf to the 'user friendly' shelf.
Sure, you are shocked at this as well? What kind of a person does this. Nonsense.

And darn it to crud, I have to go to the post office today.
Ok, now that puts me in a panic!!!

Are you ready??

My heart ain't bad.

Technically, I've not heard back from my Dr. yet, but I am sure of this.

AND technically, if you live in the south, ain't is a proper word to be used multiple times daily.

I am fairly sure, and this is almost too hard to type, but I think my palpitations are related to my ever aging ovaries. Oh, you know....it is getting to be that time. 

Or as, my Dr. said (with her 30 year old self) "This type of thing happens to a lot of MIDDLE AGED women."

I looked around to see WHO the Dr. was talking to!

THE NERVE!!

After the holidays, I am going to make an appointment with  Dr. Lady parts. There is a very good chance that my whore-moans are off. Either that or, I am developing multiple personalities. And I don't really work well with these other personalities.

Some snapshots of Linds at the winter band show last weekend.

Fancy Dancer. 

Ballerina baby.

It's not polite to point.

Anyhoo...I am up to my eyeballs in stuff. YOU TOO? What a coincidence!!

I will never ever understand how parents who work full time can get anything done with the family or house!!
I seem to be getting a lot of stuff done, but there is always more to do...and I have fit in three good workouts this week...that is so good for my brain!! And really, I am feeling good. Really good.

I am a lucky girl.



I'll leave you with a vision for the weekend....
Check out the dude with the Orange shirt and black pants.

We love his dancing style, and on occasion Linds and I dance around the house JUST LIKE HIM.
Cute huh??? Ok, maybe not so much, but it is a good shoulder work out!

Wishing you a danceable weekend!

xoxoxoxoox

The dangers of drugs {or, trying to sleep well}

When my Mom was here at Thanksgiving, I let her know that I was having issues sleeping. And she was too. Her Dr. had prescribed for her Ambien and assured her that it was non-addictive. My Mom does not care for drugs. Anymore.

So, she suggested I try it too. I was leery, I was scared. I pictured myself standing outside of walmart in a few months asking for a 'little help' from strangers. And I don't even like walmart.

Anyhoo...I took them a few times. Mind you, I never took and ENTIRE pill, I always cut stuff in half, cause I am scared I tell ya!

On the few nights that I did take a HALF, I had glorious sleep. Fabulous...I woke up in the morning happy, practically bouncing out of bed.
Ok, take back the bouncing part.

Cut to Monday night of this week, some of you know I was wearing a heart monitor to check on my recent heart palpitations.

This was not pleasant and I knew sleep would allude me. So, I took my 1/2 drug dose.

And then, for some reason, I decided to NOT go right to bed.
What did I do? 
I wandered around the house doing weird things.
Laundry, and swaying.
Talking to my family, and swaying.
Trying to play words with friends, and swaying.
Repeating things to my family, and swaying.
Repeating the same exact sentence after 4.5 minutes, and swaying.

They all thought I was crazy...but of course, I was oblivious to it all...cause I must have been high as a kite.
I have only a vague recollection of a sentence that I repeated and the Coach said: "You just told me that."


I hate it when people repeat themselves!!!

After the entertainment wore off, they sent me to bed, I slept...even with this apparatus with all the flipping cords attached to me...I slept.

The coach said, if I ever decide to take this sleeping pill again, that I should do so WHILE in bed and ready for sleep!
This is a very strong drug....and scary. I don't know if I will ever take them again!

BTW: I have no test results, but I really don't think anything is wrong with my heart. My head? Yeah, but not my heart!

My party pants are getting tight.

I survived another Christmas party...I'm sure you were all worried.

I had the girls snap a bunch of pictures through the night.

Speaking of snapping....I did get a little snappy with my family just prior to the 7'oclock party start time.

 I always get a bit crazy trying to ready the food and myself....even with the help of my three favorite people, I get snap happy at everyone. I always apologize and they still love me. But maybe, they love me a little less each year. 

The Coach really did a lot of the food this year...ordering and picking things up without me having to get into the middle of it was fabulous. He is a keeper. 

We learned new billiard game called CRUD.

Our pool table has never seen so much action....it was a blast. There was pushing, shoving, cussing and laughing.

   Cussing is always fun when drinking is involved.

I might have burnt a few calories running around the pool table, while cussing.

Crud is a cuss word...right?

We had a great time...and we were all exhausted on Sunday. Ok, maybe the kids were not exhausted, they went Christmas shopping.

Do you see that someone left a fork in the middle of my nativity? I have a feeling I know who did this...

and Jesus does not appreciate this type of humor.

And late Sunday night, I found a dirty dish IN MY REFRIGERATOR.
What is this world coming to?

Out of our 31 guests, I've got the perp narrowed down to three people.

It is Monday morning, and I am still tired. How old am I?

How was your weekend??? Any parties? Any cussing?

Tidbits and NOT panicking.

We decorated most of the house Saturday, Sunday and I finished on Monday. That really was only two rooms, so I don't know why it took so long.

This is the little tree in the family room. Perhaps it is my fave? The girls call it the ghetto tree....

It holds all the colorful, home made and kitschy ornaments. Some tacky, some not.

I gave Lolo carte blanche on the apothocary jars....I think she did an amazing job. 

Don't try to eat that candy...it gets reused year after year. yum.

You know how green I am. Old candy + clear jars= Christmas cheer!!

 Do you know that I didn't have any anxiety throwing this eco friendly snow around.

Ten years ago, you would have had to sedate me before I would accept a messy table like this.

I've come a long way baby!

The other night, I went to sleep with two plates and a cup in the sink. And ~SHOCKERS~the world did not end. 

Speaking of anxiety...I thought I was having a heart attack early Monday morning. (4am)

{change of topic much?} 

Really. 

My heart was pounding so hard,  I took off my ratty old PJ's and put on nicer ones. Just in case.

Some of those paramedics are cute.

This came out of the blue.

My Dr. thinks that more than likely, I had an anxiety attack.

What?

I do declare, that I am NOT experiencing any stress; anxiety. 

I'm not.

Why should trees only get to enjoy the Christmas skirts?

 So, they did an EKG and took some blood. I forgot to ask if they will give it back to me.

We will see what becomes of this. 

But, I swear, I have no anxiety. 

Don't you think I would know if I had anxiety?

The FUN we can have with a tree skirt!

I've done no decorating outside. I just can't motivate myself....must I mention our hot weather? Tres' hotto.

 Global warming.

And did I mention that I started a part time job a few weeks ago? I didn't?
Well, I was just too busy to fill you in.
I like it.

And also, we are having our annual Christmas party on Saturday! I am so excited.
I promised myself I would not go over the top this year. I think 4 buckets of chicken and a bag of cheese doodles should do it for food, a couple of boxes of wine for libations.
Perfect!

Thats all I've got to say about that.

Ok, comment away...but no mention of any anxiety. NONE. 

I have NONE. 

Don't mention it. 

Fo'rizzle. 

It's all good in the hood!

What does your 'hump day' look like? 
If you would like some unwanted attention, just wear your tree skirt!

Dance like snow-one is watching.

Our county goes big during the holidays...kinda.
We have the annual SNoW FeSt at one of our community parks/rec centers.

It is sponsored partially by the recycling dept...you know that makes my heart happy.

BTW, I had a dream about one of you bloggers and you were not recycling and I was conflicted as to shank you or not. Did anyone wake up sore on Sunday morning??? Yeah, you deserved that.

They spare no expense importing snow from up north. Or maybe it is imported ice?

 No worries....little kids just know it is white and cold. They are so naive. 

Anyhoo, our main reason for going was a very special dance show: 

The Lindsay Show!

 Her dance studio had six performances on the snow fest stage on Saturday. 

Lindsay was in five, one was a solo.
And the other one she directed from the sidelines. 

It seems it was just yesterday that SHE was the little one behind the BIG one...following along.

I am so thankful they had that NO SMOKING sign above them, I saw one of these five year olds about to light up a pall mall before she saw this sign. 

But now, SHE is the LEADER....leading the littles. 

I may have mentioned before, that Linds is not a huge fan of short people. Well, I mean YOUNG/SMALL people. 

But between helping with these dance students 2 days a week, and four days of week dealing with the 3 & 4 year olds in her childcare class at school; well, she is coming around.

 Pretty soon, she'll be asking to bring a few of them home. I can imagine the conversation: "Please Mommy...I promise I will feed them, walk them and clean up after them!"

I will stay strong....she doesn't even remember to feed the snake one day a week.

I pulled 3 ligaments and both hammy's uploading this photo.

Aren't these little girls adorable? I want that pink dress something fierce!

Black swan? I can clearly see who is going to make it to the big stage.

After the dance extravaganza, we hit the fair part of this fest. Guess who won a fish? Not sure what that guy is doing behind her.

I wanted to name the fish: Snowfest. Coach wanted to name it: Orangey. 

His name is Squishy. 

Defiant children.

Don't you love taking photos when they don't know you are taking photos?

Surely this guy in the back didn't know I was taking his photo. Isn't NO-SHAVE November over?

If you want to swim, you will have to come back later. When it is colder.

Later in the day we put up the Christmas trees. By 7:30 on Saturday I was wiped OUT!!

It's hard being 44. I can't imagine what my 45th year will bring? More exhaustion?

How was your weekend??