Mug Shot O' the Day

Needlefingers gave me the idea.

I laugh every time I see this. Don't you wish you were so easily amused?

A walk through my day

First, I wake up all snuggly and warm in my new jammies.

I sleep later than usual, but when it's time to get up, I have my new tempurpedic slippers to keep my feet nice and toasty. They feel awesome. So awesome, in fact, that I picked up a pizza and took my daughter to a game shop while wearing them. That's proof that I've become an old lady who cares more about comfort than style. Shut up.

Next, it's on to the bathroom. I brush my teeth with my fancy-schmancy new toothbrush. The plaque doesn't stand a chance with this baby.

Now, what to wear, what to wear...maybe I'll wear this jeans and top combo that my mom gave me. I think I'll keep the slippers on though.

Wait! I don't have to wear the slippers all day to have nice warm feet. I'll just put on a pair of my soft, snuggly lounging around socks! My family knows that mommy is no fun when she's cold.

Now it's time for a little cooking. It's not my favorite thing in the world to do, but having a cookbook like this makes it a little more fun. My sister-in-law got "Any Bitch Can Drink". My goal is to collect the entire "bitch" series. You gotta aim high, people. Thanks Kellie!

Doing dishes is a lot more fun when I have a pretty new shiny thing to look at. Thanks again Kellie!

I'm still trying to decide what I want to do with this gift. Being a musicgeek, you know I love my tunes. This was the only Ipod-type thing that D could find that was left in any of the stores around here. I'm thinking I may throw a little more money with it and get a nano. What do you all think?

The other wonderful thing that Santa (aka -D) got for me was the niftiest little camera ever. He knows I love to take lots of pictures, so he made it really easy for me. I already had a great little Cannon Powershot, but it was pretty heavy and hard to carry around easily. Not this little jewel! It's tiny, light, and has a docking station that recharges the battery. It's perfect for me to carry everywhere.

I must have been a very good little girl this year. Even with all of the wonderful gifts I received this year, the best gift was spending time with the people I love.

I am so very blessed.

A new teapot

It must be the English ancestry. I just love a good cup of tea. So following Jennifer's lead of getting "one present for you, and one for me", I bought myself a new elecric teapot. It works great, and is so much more fun to use than the microwave.

I'd like to take a picture of it for you, but I'm afraid to. Look what happened to this poor Ebay seller.

One more day!

All we need to do is put little baby Jesus in his manger tomorrow. He's waiting patiently in his little pocket. We've had this advent calendar since the girls were itty bitty. They still like to put all the pieces up every year. There's usually a knock-down drag out over who gets to put the baby Jesus in place.

Ah, the stuff sweet memories are made of.

Last day of school before Christmas break, what the...?!?

That means mommy will be running around like an insane person today. I totally forgot about stocking stuffers, until I walked by the stockings this morning and saw them mocking me with their emptiness. That's right, folks, I'm really not like an insane person, I think I've reached the tipping point with the holidays and become crazy.

The kids went off today with gifts for their teachers. They'd better appreciate them is all I can say. They will all be getting scarves knit by the little darlins'. Ciara only has one teacher, so her workload was a little lighter than Savannah. She had to make four of them! We wrapped the last one this morning.

The bus drivers got white chocolate and sprinkle covered pretzels. They should get a medal.

So today I'm off to stuff stockings, and pick up an ever growing list of gifties that I seem to have utterly and completely zoned out on.

But, there's always time for pie.

Above is a pic of my breakfast. Don't you just love pie for breakfast.

Who is it?

Tonight's the big night! We finally learn the identity of the Carver!! I'm so hoping that the Nip/Tuck finale doesn't disappoint me. I really don't have very many things on TV that I just have to watch. I've been into this show since the first season, and feel like I'm really invested in it...pardon me while I go get a life.

Birthday presents, apple pie, Japanese food, and bowling

Yes, these are what a make a brand new 12 year old happy.

Savannah's birthday was yesterday, but we did most of our celebrating over the weekend, and celebrate we did! Granny made the trek over to join in the fun. We went bowling Saturday night, had presents at lunch on Sunday, then topped it off with a trip to the local Japanese restaurant that evening. Savannah loves that place, and has been looking forward to going there for her birthday for MONTHS. The birthday girl's choice for dessert was apple pie. Granny and I made one that afternoon, so that was dessert.

Oh, in case you're wondering, the new senior citizens free bowling day regular (aka "Granny") beat the crap out of us on the lanes.

Here we are at the Japanese Garden. Daddy was there behind the camera. The birthday girl got a fancy cut pineapple with an umbrella in it. You've gotta love anything with a little umbrella in it.

Snug as a bug in a rug...

or make that a cat in a shawl. I knitted this over the Thanksgiving holiday. It's made of good old acrylic-y Homespun...yeah, shut up. I know all of the yarn snobs are breaking out in hives right now. It really feels pretty good, and most importantly, it's Zippy-friendly. I'll do lots of things for my kitty, but hand washing his blankie isn't one of them.




The girls had a Christmas recital over the weekend. Savannah played "Gertrude and Elizabeth" by Beethoven.










Ciara played "Turkish March", also by Beethoven.

It was a more relaxed, casual recital this time. The teacher divided the kids into two groups, and had two "mini-recitals", one at 10:30 and one at 12:00. It took place in the Youth fellowship hall at church instead of the big sanctuary. I know the pics aren't very good, but you get the general idea. Having the kids split up into the two groups was a great idea. We were finished with our session in about an hour. In piano recital time (which is almost like dog years), that's awesome!

They both did a great job, I'm so proud of them.

Come on in!

This is the front door of the gingerbread house the girls made. I think they did a great job on it. I always wanted to make a gingerbread house when I was a kid, but never did. Now that I'm a mom, the big perk is that I get to live vicariously through MY kids! I bought a kit for cheap at Aldi, which is the giver of all good, cheap things. It had house bits, candy, and two bags of icing. One thing I learned is that two bags of icing just ain't enough. Thank goodness I had some ancient powdered sugar rattling around the back of the cabinet. The roof alone is so coated with "snow" that it's a miracle the wieght of it hasn't caused it to just fold in on itself. They had fun decorating it, and mommy is still vaccuuming up sprinkles.

It's the gift that just keeps on giving.

Yup, that pretty much hits the nail on the head.

Stole (er, I mean borrowed) this from Ragged's site. Took the little quizzie, and here I am:

You Have a Choleric Temperament

You are a person of great enthusiasm - easily excited by many things.Unsatisfied by the ordinary, you are reaching for an epic, extraordinary life.You want the best. The best life. The best love. The best reputation. You posses a sharp and keen intellect. Your mind is your primary weapon.Strong willed, nothing can keep you down. Your energy can break down any wall.You're an instantly passionate person - and this passion gives you an intoxicating power over others. At your worst, you are a narcissist. Full of yourself and even proud of your faults.Stubborn and opinionated, you know what you think is right. End of discussion.A bit of a misanthrope, you often see others as weak, ignorant, and inferior.

What Temperment Are You?

The Manolo, he is a genius.

Ah, the Manolo, he never steers me into the direction that is wrong. The Father Ted is a show for the television that is most funny. It makes me do the laughing like I am a silly person.

New format, same old me.

Here's a little story for the day.

Back when I was a little kid of about 7 or 8, my family "added on" to our very small house. The people I know now would call it "putting on an addition" or "doing a remodel". We just called it adding on. The men who did the work for us were friends as well, and went to the same little country church that we did. For a kid who grew up as far out in the country as I did, it was very exciting to have these guys coming to OUR house ever day, hammering and sawing.

One man in particular was my favorite. His name was Gene. Looking back, I realize that he was a few years younger than I am now when they worked for us. Gene would always take a few minutes out to tell me a new (and always corny) joke, or just to tease me a little. One of my very favorite things he would do was sit down at our piano and play and sing the song "Old Dan Tucker" for me. I would always crack up at the thought of someone washing "their face in a frying pan". Every chance I would get, I would beg him to play and sing it for me again. Many times, he would oblige me, which looking back probably didn't thrill my mom and dad too much, since he was supposed to be building our house, not serenading me.

This memory popped into my head when I heard the news that Gene's funeral was this past Wednesday. It seems he was suffering from some Alzheimer-type disorder and wandered outside, where he died of exposure. It made me very sad to hear that. I can only hope that God protected him in ways we can't understand, and allowed him a peaceful end.

The main reason I'm sharing this story, sad as it is, is for the simple reason that I hope when I leave this earth, someone will be prodded to remember some little kindness that I did for them. What a wonderful way to live on.

Although my friend Gene grew older and got sick, in my heart he's still young and singing to a little girl, just because she asked him to.

It's getting harder to keep up with the Jones'

My nephew Levi, just won another honor! He's just been named the Non-Winged Sprint Driver of the Year. We're so proud of him!

Did you miss me?

It's been pretty busy the last few days. The Thanksgiving cookies are long gone, and Christmas is in 'da house. Had a wonderful time with both sides of the family over the holiday. I even had a little lesson in what a "yarn over" is from my dear, young cousin. Much food was eaten, we talked, we laughed, we napped...well, you get the idea.

D and I got to have a little get away time in St. Louis over the weekend. Granny was holding down the fort. Lucky her, she even got to attend a 6th grade band skating party. Even though it was a work related weekend, D didn't have too many committments, so we got to get in some shopping and general R&R. I whittled away at the Xmas list, had a few glasses of wine, and ate insane amounts of pasta and Chinese food.

The photo above is our view of the Mississippi river from the 15th floor of the Adam's Mark in lovely downtown St. Louis