Merry Christmas!

We will soon be flying to Utah and we couldn't be happier! I can't wait to see family and friends, and of course hit the slopes. I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas. Make some memories!!!

Howdy folks!

Kids are just fun, aren't they? I just love this one to death. He has grown so much and is interested in everything I'm doing. He also has a fascination with shoes. We usually take off our shoes when we get in the house, and he just thinks they are fun things to suck on. yuck! He especially likes Jared's cowboy boots. He totes them around and it's funny because they are pretty heavy, but he just lifts with all his might and drags them them around all the time. Throughout the day I just smile as I make my "clean up" rounds and find random shoes in random places. Lately I've also found my keys in the garbage, my shoe in his closet, and my brush in his dirty clothes bin. And I thought I was pretty good at keeping things out of his reach. I have now put everything higher and tried to keep shoes in closets. He is a tricky little guy.

I need a new system!

I LOVE Christmas cards. Jared thinks it's so funny when Christmas time comes around and I get the very first Holiday card of the season. I open it up and get so excited. Then, every single day after that I sort through all the mail just looking for those handwritten envelopes. Don't you just love that? Well, anyway I have always just taped the cards to the fridge, but as you can see it's just not really working anymore. Jax's early Christmas present, the Leap Frog phonics toy (which is awesome by the way) is taking up most of the space. So I need some fun ideas on how I can display my cards. How do you guys do it?

Rooney

Thanks to Charlotte for passing this on to me. Andy Rooney is sometimes a little nutty, yes? But this passion and common sense is so refreshing. ESPECIALLY on CBS!!!

Andy Rooney said on '60 Minutes' a few weeks back:

I don't think being a minority makes you a victim of anything except numbers..
The only things I can think of that are truly discriminatory are things
like the United Negro College Fund, Jet Magazine, Black Entertainment Television,
and Miss Black America. Try to have things like the United Caucasian College
Fund, Cloud Magazine, White Entertainment Television, or Miss White America;
and see what happens....Jesse Jackson will be knocking down your door.

Guns do not make you a killer. I think killing makes you a killer. You
can kill someone with a baseball bat or a car, but no one is trying to
ban you from driving to the ball game .

I believe they are called the Boy Scouts for a reason, which is why there
are no girls allowed. Girls belong in the Girl Scouts! ARE YOU LISTENING
MARTHA BURKE ?

I think that if you feel homosexuality is wrong, it is not a phobia, it
is an opinion.

I have the right 'NOT' to be tolerant of others because they
are different, weird, or tick me off.

When 70% of the people who get arrested are black, in cities where 70%
of the population is black, that is not racial profiling; it is the Law
of Probability.

I believe that if you are selling me a milkshake, a pack of cigarettes,
a newspaper or a hotel room, you must do it in English! As a matter of
fact, if you want to be an American citizen, you should have to speak English!

My father and grandfather didn't die in vain so you can leave the countries
you were born in to come over and disrespect ours.

I think the police should have every right to shoot you if you threaten
them after they tell you to stop. If you can't understand the word 'freeze'
or 'stop' in English, see the above lines.

I don't think just because you were not born in this country, you are qualified
for any special loan programs, government sponsored bank loans or tax breaks,
etc., so you can open a hotel, coffee shop, trinket store, or any other
business.

We did not go to the aid of certain foreign countries and risk our lives
in wars to defend their freedoms, so that decades later they could come
over here and tell us our constitution is a living document; and open to
their interpretations.

I don't hate the rich, I don't pity the poor

I know pro wrestling is fake, but so are movies and television. That doesn't
stop you from watching them.

I think Bill Gates has every right to keep every penny he made and continue
to make more. If it ticks you off, go and invent the next operating system
that's better, and put your name on the building.

It doesn't take a whole village to raise a child right, but it does take
a parent to stand up to the kid; and smack their little behinds when necessary,
and say 'NO!'

I think tattoos and piercing are fine if you want them, but please don't
pretend they are a political statement.. And, please, stay home until that
new lip ring heals. I don't want to look at your ugly infected mouth as
you serve me French fries!

I am sick of 'Political Correctness.' I know a lot of black people,
and not a single one of them was born in Africa ; so how can they be 'African-Americans'?
Besides, Africa is a continent. I don't go around saying I am a European-American
because my great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather was from
Europe . I am proud to be from America and nowhere else

And if you don't like my point of view, tough...

Celine and Josh; what a great duet.

I love this song during the Holidays!

shingles stink

So, I've been having one crappy week. Why? One word. Shingles. And you all thought only old folks got that. Nope. I guess you can get it when you're 9 (like I did) and also when you're 27 (which is the case currently)
I always seem to have the "older people" problems anyway,like 3 knee surgeries, knee arthritis, 3 colonoscopies , 1 big pre-cancerous colon polyp, being legally blind without contacts, etc. Well, this time was pretty bad. I have a huge rash on my right lower back, and I want to claw my skin off. I'm also extremely fatigued and have a bad headache. And then, to top off the fun, I am experiencing postherpetic neuralgia. That's just a fancy term for sharp shooting pains all over my area of infection, and beyond.
Overall though, I do have to say that I am grateful for my health. I realize that I have NOTHING to complain about compared to some. I am relatively healthy and just needed a quick venting session.
I just have to say thanks to such wonderful women in my life. The other night I was feeling completely awful. My sweet friend called up and said it didn't matter what I had to say, she was bringing me dinner and that it was final. It made me smile, because she knows me so well to know I would probably not want to inconvenience anyone,and tell her not to worry about it. She brought me dinner and heaven knows I needed the help. Others reached out and called me out of concern and offered to help in any way. I can't tell you how much it meant to me. My heart is grateful for the thoughtfulness and service of amazing friends.

I've Been tagged by Lindsey!

Okay, so here goes......6 facts/habits/random info......

1- I think people already know this, but I'm in a golf video game for Xbox called Links 2003. I was hired by Microsoft my Senior year of college to work in the same studio where Tiger Woods does all his videos. I was hoping to spot him but had no luck. They dressed me up in this Velcro suit with little tiny cameras attached all over me and they tracked my golf swing and mannerisms to a fairly precise level on the computer. It took 3 days to get all the shots but it was a blast. It took an entire day for me to mimik Annika Sorenstam's swing. I'm not an actress so it was hard for me to not just crack up laughing. For example, the main computer/ camera guy told me to swing the club and pretend I just hit the ball in the water and have a huge temper tantrum. He told me to shout and throw the club and slap my leg, etc. I thought this wouldn't be too hard, I mean I've done it before in real life, but acting it was tough. I just kept laughing. Finally we got it right. So, long story short, if you ever play links 2003, click on any female golfer (including Annika Sorenstam) and that will be my golf swing and actions.

2- I'm not sure my son knows his real name because I have this habit of calling him all sorts of nicknames, some of which make no sense and I'm not even sure where they came from. Here's just a few: DooDee, Mr. Sir, bubby, Mr. Wiggles, baby, Jax man, sweetie, sweetness, handsome, mister, goofy, smiley, .......
Oh man I think this needs to stop. His name is cute enough. Now that I think about it, I don't call Jared by his name either.....hm and my oldest brother Lance, I call Lance man, or "brother". My brother Jason is either just "brother" or "Jay Buddy." Tyler is "ty" or "brother". Chase is "Chaser" or"brother". Preston is "bunky" or "brother". My dad is pops. Mom; well, she's just "mom".

3- I am a clean freak. I am an anti-clutter type person. I don't like trinkets. Holiday decor doesn't count, but I just like a clean look, you know? I also have to leave an absolute spotless house whenever I go out of town. I mean it has to be totally disinfected and perfectly clean. I don't know why I've just always felt it must be done.

4- I have 2 toes that are stuck together (again, I think most people already know this). My brother Lance named my two stuck-together toes iggly and piggly. This goes way back to our childhood. If I was annoying him, he'd threaten to cut iggly and piggly in half with a kitchen knife. Scary, yes? I thought so too. To this day he always asks how iggly and piggly are doing.

5- I really want to be on the Amazing Race. Wouldn't that just be a BLAST!!!! I would love traveling all over the world doing crazy competitions and stunts. I'm very competitive, usually in a nice way. I would do it with either Jared or my friend Jeny.

6- Okay, I'm having a hard time coming up with another one. hmmmmmmmm, let me think. Well, I'll just share my most embarrasing moment just because I can't think of anything else at the moment. If you need a laugh, here ya go.
I was on a first date with a really cute guy in high school. He and I ate at a Mexican food joint and then went to a movie. Well, let's just say I've always had stomach "issues" and well, I could definitely feel the Mexican food coming alive. So, at the end of the date we were on my front porch and he had his arms around my waist, and we were just sort of flirting/talking, you know how it goes in high school. All this time I felt the "urge" and I had to use every muscle in my body to avoid a "release". So anyway it was time for the goodbye, and he leaned into me and his arms wrapped snuggly against me, and then, just being goofy, he suddenly tightened his arms around me, pushing my stomach against his and lifted me off the ground.

Well, that's when I lost it. Yep, I farted. It was not "silent but deadly". It was a loud and horribly un-lady like phenomenon. He dropped me instantly because he was laughing so hard. It was hilarious to him and humiliating to me. We both started laughing and couldn't stop. I joked and told him it was his fault for forcing it out of me. He told me it went down as the best date moment in his book. It goes down as the most embarrasing in mine. He was a real gentleman.


I tag you Kari :) 6 facts/habits about YOU!

All I can say is....

His speech was so amazing! Did you guys see Romney's faith speech? Wow. I can't really say anymore.

Little black dress

My brother-in-law is getting married over the Holidays and I have never owned a fancy black dress. What do you guys think about this one? It's from Shabby Apple and I quite like it. I'm a little worried about short sleeves in the winter. Do you think it could work? Has anyone found a little black dress that they love? Please share.