Tuesday, December 7, 2010

My Beautimous Christmas Tree

Just a little look at some of my Christmas decorations.  I love this time of year.....

I painted the picture of the tree on my mantle. 
 I think it's a pretty good picture of a funky Christmas tree!


 My Tree


Some of my favorite ornaments. 
The tree is full of ornaments that have been given to us and the kids.


Mike is a policeman so we have to have a Santa Cop
on the tree to keep the Elves out of trouble!


From our Disney cruise in 2007.


This belongs to Maggie or Sarah, I can't remember which one.  Their initials are on the bottom or her foot with the year.




I made this tree with lots of little strips of scrapbook paper and lots of straight pins.  I loved the way it turned out and I've it for about 3 years now.  I just gently put it in a plastic bag in the attic!


Maureen and  Starr were found with popcorn on the couch and they had been apparently watching movies all night!  They are a couple of little rascals!


Hope everyone has a Very Merry Christmas!!




Friday, December 3, 2010

Feeling Out Of Sorts!

I almost had a panic attack this morning on my way to work. I'm not one to be prone to having them, but I've had a couple in the past so I know what it feels like.  Mike and I are going on a cruise next week and our kids are not going with us.  This isn't the first time we have gone anywhere without them, but it has been two years. 

We are going on a cruise to Cozumel.  I think it might be his birthday, my 40th birthday (which I did survive by the way, but now I feel like I have to act like a grown-up) and our anniversary, which has all happened in the last two months. 

My parents are coming to stay with the girls since they have school, etc. and they live an hour away.  I have to try to make things as organized as I can for my mother because she, for obvious reasons, is not used to having to get two very, at times, stubborn little girls ready for school.  I need to make sure they have everything they need! 

I still need to do some shopping for the trip, I have a Christmas party tonight, Maggie has a birthday party to go to tomorrow, tomorrow also marks the 1 year annivesary that Philip M. Davis was killed in the line of duty on a "routine" traffic stop around midnight tonight.  the picture in that post is an actual picture from his graveside service.  There were officers from all over the country there that cold, rainy day. It's bringing back sad memories, I mean, we, the police department, are all family.  He left behind a precious wife, Paula, and two precious babies, Sarah will be turning 3 this month and John will be turning 2 in February.

I haven't even started packing for our tripo, even though we aren't leaving until Wednesday night, I also have my every day stuff to do.  I know it will get done. I just need to have a glass of wine and get busy! 

 

Monday, November 29, 2010

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

My girls went to see Santa at Bass Pro Shops last Wednesday.  They really have a nice set up at Christmas time and your picture with Santa is FREE!!!! 

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Mentos and Condiments

My sweet little Maggie is 9 and in 4th grade.  I don't really stand over Maggie's shoulder when she is on her computer.  She sits in her room with her door open and watches YouTube videos on farts, music videos (she knows whose videos she can't watch) funny home videos of kids and animals, National Geographic videos on animals, she loves animals, bugs, rodents, basically all of God's creatures.  She loves science too.  So we were all getting ready for bed last night and I was on my way to hang up a towel and thank goodness I had that towel with me because she was so excited to tell me about the experiment with a 2 liter soda bottle, Mentos and "condiments"!  She said you take the mentos and put them in a coke bottle, then put a "condiment' on top and it will make the "conditment" explode.  I was laughing. my. ass. off!  Of course, I had the towel in front of my face and she couldn't see me smiling/laughing. She thought it was so cool and I was laughing so hard I couldn't even tell Mike!  Bless her little innocent heart!  I didn't mention that particular "conditment" issue to her because she wouldn't understand and that would lead to the mechanics of sex talk, which she's not ready for, so I just told her not to watch anything without checking with me first or I would block her.  She just said OK! 



Wednesday, November 3, 2010

School Dance and Halloween

Maggie had her first school dance this past friday.  Apparently, the intermediate school she goes to has alot of dances.  I was asked by some friends if she was going with a boy or with friends and I promptly answered she was going with her Momma!!!  She's in 4th grade!  She was pretty nervous and I wasn't about to just drop her off like alot of parents do.  There are a ton of chaperones in the gym where the dance was and along the short walkway leading to the cafeteria where they were selling pizza, soda and candy.  She found her friends and hung out with them and she had a really good time.  My baby girl is growing up so fast! 


Here is a picture of Sarah playing dress-up.  That would be lipstick around her mouth. 


A few weeks ago we went to some friends house so we could make Halloween treats.  We made cookies, brownie, candy necklaces and Halloween pictures with foam stickers.







The kids all had such a great time.  Can't wait for Christmas!  Next up was Halloween.  We went to some friends house and their neighborhood decided they were  Trick or Treating on Saturday night, so headed over for chili, wings and candy! 




On Sunday, we went to our church's Fall Festival.  There were probably 1000 people there!  it was crazy! 




By the time Sunday evening rolled around, I was done!  We had such a good weekend and we have such wonderful friends to spend time with! 

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

I DO LOVE MY SWAGBUCKS!!!

In the month of October, I racked up on my swag!!! 

Searching the Web:  524 Swag Bucks

Swag Codes: 236 Swag Bucks

Surveys: 25 Swag Bucks

Special Offers: 26 Swag Bucks

NOSO/Survey Visit/Daily Poll/Toolbar: 116 Swag Bucks

Swag Bucks TV (watching videos): 51 Swag Bucks

Purchased 3 Amazon gift cards totalling $15.00.

Each Amazon Gift Card cost 450 Swagbucks.

You should definitely check it out! You can get lots of cool prizes and how much does it cost you?  NOT A DIME!  It's totally free!

Click on the picture and check it out!

Search & Win

Monday, November 1, 2010

My Little Alabama Fans!

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Monday Minute 11/1/10


What did you dress up as your first Halloween? Wow, I don't remember that far back, BUT there were a few memorable ones.  I dressed up as a Pink Lady (from Grease), I was about 11 and that's when my parents notice I was shaving my legs!  :-)  I dressed up like a black eyed pea, and a blooming idiot just to name a few.


What has been your favorite Halloween costume of all time? My fav for me was probably the black eyed pea, but one someone else, a one night stand....table built around the person, lamp shade on their head, alarm clock, rubbers and vasosline on the table too.

Do you believe in ghosts? no, sure don't

What's your favorite holiday of the year? Christmas

What's your favorite fall dessert?  anything sweet! 
 

Monday, October 25, 2010

Monday Minute 10/25/10


I'm linking up with Cristy at Is There A Doctor In The House for today's Monday Minute!

(1) Have you ever been hospitalized? (OK, maybe that one isn't so upbeat) Plastic surgery on my ears (I had dumbo ears in a bad way) when I was 7, appendicitis sometime in elementary school, had my tonsils taken out when I was 25, gave birth to two children, had my tubes tied.  I did go to the emergency room not too terribly long ago for slipping in the shower and fracturing my wrist...does that count?

(2) What’s the last bit of good news you received? My good friend Shannan is pregnant with her third child! Very exciting, they have been trying for a year or so! 

(3) Who was your favorite teacher? Ms. Mixon, my 12th grade history/economics teacher.  She was a go getter and made learning fun.  In econmics, the class divided into groups, we actually formed a "company", marketed and sold products.  Our group sold "risky business" sunglasses, whipped everyone's butt and got to go downtown and have lunch in a fancy restaurant.  It was so fun! 

(4) Do you sing in the shower?  No, I shower really early in the morning and it's all I can do to stand there and do what I'm supposed to do, can't add anything else to my shower routine, even if it's just singing.

(5) Describe the happiest day of your life.   I have had the happiest day of my life, I've had lots, 4 to be specific, the day I got engaged, the day I got married, the day I had my first baby, Maggie and the day I had my second sweet girl, Sarah. 

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

THE DREADED AND HATED 4-0

I'm just not real happy right now.  I've been crying on and off all day today.  What is my problem you might ask yourself? 
In approximately 45 days, I will be turning 40.  That's right, November 27, 2010 is doomsday for me.   I'm just not happy about it at all.  I emailed my mother this morning and told her I don't want a cake, I don't want to hear anyone sing Happy Birthday to me and giving me crap about me having gray hair or about how it all goes hill from here, about how I'm still a baby, BLAH. BLAH. FREAKING BLAH.

Spare me!  Please! 

I was excited to turn 30.  I did lots of partying and God knows what else in my early to mid 20s, had a great time.  Got married two weeks shy of being 29, had a baby at 30 and I was ready to be in my 30s, ready to move on with the next stage of my life and my 30s have been great.  But now, I'm sliding into 40 and I'm just not ready.  I feel like my life is slipping away so fast, before I know it, I'm going to have 2 teenage girls....driving.....in college then getting married and having kids of their own!  

I think 1970 was a great year to be born.  Great because #1, I was born, and great because there were significant things going on in history....Vietnam War, Civil Rights Movement, Women's Rights Movement and let's not forget All My Children aired and Susan Lucci was 20 years old, and these shows also aired, The Odd Couple, The Partridge Family, Mary Tyler Moore Show, the movie M*A*S*H, the Jackson 5 was quite popular and The Beatles broke up! 

On the day I was born, Bolivian artist Benjamin Mendoza tried to assassinate Pope Paul VI during his visit in Manila....BUT.......

I'm just not ready to turn 40 and I guess I don't have a choice.  Mike is taking me on a cruise the first of December for my birthday, but I'm going to pretend it's just a nice getaway for our anniversary which is in a month. 

I think I want to sit around the house and watch college football all day on THAT day and sulk.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Monday Minute 10/11/10

It's time again to link with Cristy at Is There A Doctor In The House for another version of Monday Minute!

(1) What color undies/ boxers do you have on right now? boring old white ones!

(2) What song have you been playing on repeat lately? I love DJ Got Us Falling In Love by Usher and dance like a complete idiot every time I hear it.

(3) What's your best personality trait? I'm a loyal friend. Once I'm your friend, I will always be your friend. No matter what happens and no matter where life takes us.

(4) Are you a leader or a follower? definitely a follower. I just go with the flow. I'm so laid back, my mother calls me a "schmoo"!

(5) What's your least favorite household chore? probably the one that has to be done most often which are the floors. I thought I would love having hardwoods, but I really don't. I have them in all rooms except bedrooms and bathrooms. Which reminds me, they need to be done tonight!

Hope everyone has a fantastic day!

Thursday, October 7, 2010

This is a test from the blackberry phone that is owned by lisa

TYVM 10/7/10


It's free therapy day!  I normally don't have anything to get off my chest, but today is the day.  Link up with Foursons who is hosting Thank You Very Much for Kmama from The Daily Dribbles while she is away! 

To Ms. Attorney Person in my office, THANK YOU VERY MUCH for hogging the milk because I filled my cereal bowl up with yummy Kashi Go Lean and then got about a quarter cup of milk!!!  I still ate it, but not happy about it!

To Bellsouth, THANK YOU VERY MUCH for having an area internet outage for the second time this week!  I have been needing to check my emails and print coupons and you are making my life difficult in not being able to do this!

To my friends whom I love dearly and don't work full time out of the home like I do, please stop asking us to do stuff during the week.  I only have about 2 1/2 hours in which to cook dinner, make sure homework is done, read to Sarah for her reading log, see that backpacks are cleaned out and organized for the next day, make sure kids are bathed and get them in the bed while trying to keep up with laundry, trying to keep the floors clean, trying to keep the bathrooms clean, etc etc etc.  I do not have time for anything else.  I wish you would be a little more understanding, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

Monday, October 4, 2010

Monday Minute 10/4/10

Yay!!! It's Monday and it's nice and crisp here in Bama (Roll Tide!) at 49 degrees!!!  WOO HOO!!!

It's time for another edition of Monday Minute with Cristy at Is There A Doctor In The House!

(1) What's your biggest pet peeve? Constantly comparing your kid to mine.  I have a friend whose daughter is 3 days younger than Maggie.  Everytime I see her, it's "Oh M is doing this and M is doing that and she's the best, she such a fashionista and everybody loves M."  Well let me tell you, my kid isn't a brat or a liar or a little sneak. 


(2) Describe your first kiss. (Ian's suggestion, thank you Ian!) WOW!!!  It was 5th grade, I was "going with" Scott and Lori was "going with" Jason.  We decided to have them come over to my house after school, which was completely taboo since no parent was home, so we could have our first kiss, a real full blown french kiss, I mean that was the plan.  I remember it like it was yesterday, Scott and I were sitting on the couch and Lori and Jason were sitting in the black recliner and Jason and Lori kissed first while Scott and I looked on and then it was our turn.  I didn't think it was gross or anything because I was totally into boys and I did lots of kissing after that.  In "Lovers Hall" at school, by the bathroom while the entire 5th grade looked on, it was great!!!! 

(3) Describe the drunkest night of your life (or at least, the drunkest night you can remember).  Gosh there are so many!  One of the more funnier ones was the night of our office Christmas party and open bar....need I say more?  I was wearing a full lengh black dress, looked pretty spiffy!  My friend Lucy and I took a cab there because we knew where the night was going before it even began and that way there was no way we could drive and put our lives or any else's life in danger by drinking and driving.  We were completely toasted and left the party with two of the runners from our office in a Toyota MR2, a two seater...do the math, four people + two seater car = one jacked up ride home!  Well, we didn't go home just yet.  We ended up at Billy's, a local pub, with the partners of the firm we worked at and they were paying the tab.  Well, if that's the case, bring on the Jager shots!  I dropped my cigarette and fell out of my chair when I bent down to get it, by the time we left there, the split in my skirt was up to my hip and everyone could see my control top panty hose.  We finally got back home at who knows what time and one other thing I remember about that night was I was sitting on Lucy's porch and fell off into the bushes.  That made for some gut wrenching giggles! 

(4) What's the last movie you saw and what did you think of it? We don't go the theater because I'm too cheap, I'll wait till it comes on PPV or Netflix or something.  I did see Transformers last week and it was a good movie.  I don't get into movies like that but I thoroughly enjoyed it, kind of like that kiss! 

(5) Do you prefer taking a bath or a shower?  definitely a shower.  I don't have time to lounge in the tub and the times I've tried, I get too bored and end up getting out pretty quickly!
 
Hope everyone has a great day!!

Friday, October 1, 2010

Ella Jean Ezell - My Grandmother and My Dreams

I was very close to my Grandmother (my mom's mother). My mom had me when she was 19 and my grandmother was only 40, so she was like my second mom. I love her dearly. She fell and broke her hip at a young age, had colon cancer and beat it, but unfortunately, it came back and went straight for her liver. She suffered for too many years before finding out what was wrong, she had terrible symptoms of which I won't go into because it breaks my heart into a million pieces. It was a very rare kind of cancer and only certain hospitals could treat her. So off to Vanderbilt (Tennesse in case you didn't know) she went and had radiation straight into her liver. She went there for a while then she started going to Mercy in New Orleans. We live in Central Alabama so neither place is right around the corner. It then got to the point where nothing else could be done. She spent alot of time in bed and I spent alot of time in bed with her talking, reading the newspaper, watching Gone With The Wind (our favorite movie), something about Scarlet reminded me of my Grandmother, and I was spent my time telling her about my fiance whom she had met a few times, but there were times when my Grandmother would be too sick to have company and unfortunately, Mike never really got know my Grandmother. But as time got closer to my wedding date, the sicker she got. In getting ready for the big day, I wasn't able to spend time with her like I wanted to and the next thing I know, November 13, 1999, was here. My GrandDaddy didn't attend my wedding so he could stay home with her, but she was there in spirit.

After I got engaged and before she got really sick, she ordered me an absoutely beautiful porcelain bride on a stand that she wanted me to have at my wedding.  I put that doll on the table with my guest book.  It was the most precious gift I had received up to that point in my life.  Mike and I went on our honeymoon and spent a week at Disney World.  On Saturday, I called my mom before we left Orlando to start our 8-9 hour drive home.  She was pleasant on the phone and she said make sure you call me when you get home.  I knew then that my Grandmother had passed away.  I don't think I said one word to my new husband all the way home. I didn't want to go home, I didn't want to face the reality that my precious Grandmother had passed away.  I waited as long as I could when we got home to call my mother, but I forced myself to and she told me that my Grandmother had passed away on Friday, November 19, 1999.  She was only 69.  Everthing was a blur and I couldn't handle it. 

At the funeral we one of her favorite hymnals, Blessed Assurance.  To this day, I cannot sing that in church or even hear it without having a breakdown.  At the graveside service, a fella by the name of Robert Howard, who unfortunatley passed away at an early age, also played the trumpet at their church, played It Is Well With My Soul, which was completely heart wrenching.  That is another song I can't sing or hear in church.  I know it sounds crazy after 11 years, but my heart still hurts.

By the way it's killing me to write this...

My Grandmother's sister, Aunt Carol, lived in Yonkers, NY and just was not well enough to make to my Grandmother's funeral.  Within a very short period of time, she died.  Which leads me to my dream.  I dreamt that I was on the foot of my Grandmother's bed and she was sick, we were talking and she told me she was dying and not to be afraid because she was going to Heaven to see my cousin Jeremy, who died in the early 1980s right after he turned 2).  And she slowly drifted away.  Like most of my dreams it was very vivid.  Of course, I woke up crying and my mother called me the very next morning and told me that Aunt Carol had passed away the night before.  I swear my Grandmother was trying to tell me.

My dreams freak me out sometimes and I believe that is one dream that I will never forget.

Bit O'Randomness

Today is a lovely day, don't you think?  It's Friday and here in Alabama, there isn't a cloud in the sky and it's 67 degrees right now, but most importantly, NO HUMIDITY!  This is my favorite time of year although the leaves don't turn bright yellow, orange or deep red soon enough for me.  It's October 1 and I want it to be full blown Fall!  Hey, I'll take what I can get after the blazing hot summer that just ended!  This is our 7 day forecast!!  I Love It!!!
On to other stuff, Sarah is in kindergarten and she absolutely loves it.  She tries to make up homework to do.  That won't last long.  So we are going over letters of the alphabet and the sound each letter makes.  I asked her what was the sound that "A" makes and she said "a a apple" and then I said "what sound does B make?" and she said "'buh' Beer!"  I just about lost it.  Call me a bad parent if you want, but stuff like that doesn't embarrass me as long as she isn't talking about me personally, so I was not worried about her going to school and saying that.

I had a dream the other night about Bill Murray (the actor).  Not sure where it came from because I haven't seen him on anything recently.  I have to be careful what I watch on TV because I will most certainly dream about it, like when I saw Dr. Oz talking about the outbreak of bed bugs, oh yeah, only in my dreams (now I'm singing Debbie Gibson)!  I'll tell you about another dream I had in another post (lots of stuff leading up to the dream).  So back to Bill, I'm getting on an elevator after getting Chinese for Mike and I for dinner, and there is Bill Murray standing there with jeans, button up shirt and sports jacket on and I was like Hey you are Bill Murray and he said yes what is your favorite movie of mine and I said hands down, Ground Hog Day.  He said well, I don't think that is the funniest.  I said well my husband is a big fan of yours, do you want to come to the house and meet him?  He said sure, so we got in separate cars and he followed me to my house, which wasn't my house at all and we went in and I gave Mike his dinner and we hung out with Bill the rest of the night. 



Thursday, September 30, 2010

Tag!


I got this from Sonya at Belly Charms and thought I would play along to get my blog up and running again.


1.Would you ever go sky diving? No, I thought about it once and really wanted to but as I got older, I decided that probably wouldn't be in my best interest! 

2.What is your favorite clothing store? Cato, they have really cutes clothes and they are cheap!  BUT even as cheap as they are, they hold up in the washer and dryer!

3.What was your worst date ever? how many can I list? His name was Jeff, seemed like a nice guy, had a good job, saw him from a distance, seemed to be nice looking, he got my number from my mother and we set up a date.  I'll try to make this short...he showed up looking like Kris Kringle!  Rosey cheeks and a button nose.  UGH!  I could never look at  him through dinner. We went to the comedy club and I had the tickets in my coat pocket and I was kidding around and was like Oh I can't find the tickets.  I thought he was going to flip his freaking lid!  Then we had a table close to the stage and it was tight quarters, he was sitting across from me and a 500 pound fella was sitting next to him, I had more fun cutting up with the big fella than my date!  The waiter dropped a couple of drinks and I thought he was going to fall out in the floor laughing at this poor guy.  Afterward he wanted to out dancing and I said no for fear of my friends seeing me with him and I didn't want to be mean to the guy so I told him I had to work the next day and needed to go home.  He walked me in my apartment and I started stretching acting like I was tired... GO HOME! hint hint and then he grabbed my shirt with two hands like you grab someone's shirt that you are about to beat the hell out of and layed one of the nastiest sloppiest kisses on me in recorded history.  He called the next day and wanted to go out again and politely told him Hell no, don't ever call me again! 
4.What is the most annoying kid show on TV? I don't know, Spongebob can be pretty annoying

5.What is your favorite movie? recently, I've seen Twilight and Inglorious Basterds and loved them both

6.Who is the all time hunkiest actor? Hugh Jackman - have you seen pictures of him without a shirt?  WOW!
7.If you could be on any TV show, which one would it be? Deal or No Deal

8.What is your favorite blog? I love them all!

If you want to play, tag yourself and let me know then answer the same questions I got from Sonya.