Aloha Rocky Road

Okay, I know I'm not supposed to eat mass quantities of candy but it's New Year's Eve and the ending of a crappy year so I bought this "Aloha Rocky Road" at the store -- basically rocky road but with macadamia nuts -- and I have to say it was one of the best frigging candies I've ever, ever eaten. I ate the whole package. It was about the size of 1.5 decks of cards.

Daaaaamn good stuff.

HAPPY 2010!!!!

new year's eve has arrived!

welcome 2010... goodbye 2009.


may the new year for all of us be bright and happy!

icons of the 2000s

This NYT chart of icons for all the trends of the 2000s is kind of cool.

2010 Resolutions

I haven't made new year resolutions in years but, I'm making one this year. I have friends that I've known for years who, based on depth of friendship, are more than acquaintances but who never contact me. I'm always the one to initiate contact to get together, etc., and while they're always happy and receptive, they never initiate.

So, my 2010 resolution is to stop contacting them. If they're interested in maintaining the friendship, they'll contact me. If they don't, then it's for the best.

Any of you making new year resolutions?

2010

Now that Christmas is behind us, we all have 2010 ahead of us.
Of course you already know that. :)


So, what are your plans for New Years Eve?

Me.... Bigjoe and I stay in. We buy a steak and lobster tail. Maybe some shrimp and prepare the feast. A bottle of wine and a movie. Nice and safe.

Addiction

I have to say, the concept of addiction has always puzzled me. I've never been able to fathom not being able, or just not wanting, to live without something. I mean, don't get me wrong, there are things that I really, really, really don't want to live without but they're things like a washer and dryer, electricity, clean water, etc.

But, tonight I had an incident where I felt a twinge of what it must be like to be an addict. As you all know, I'm diabetic. The single worst problem I've struggled with have been severe leg and foot cramps which are so painful that I had stopped doing a lot of things because of the fear of these cramps. Unfortunately, curbing the activities that I KNOW cause them didn't make them go away completely, it just reduced the incidents.

Then, several months ago I started taking a daily multi-vitamin which claims to be formulated specifically for diabetics. I started taking them because I figured that as I'm getting older, it couldn't hurt to supplement my vitamins, didn't even think about the cramps. But within a few weeks of starting to take them, remarkably, I noticed that I was no longer getting the cramps. At all. Ever. As a result, for the first time in my life I take something faithfully. I'm better about taking the vitamins than I am my diabetes medication.

The vitamins are kinda hard to find so when I find them, I buy everything they have. Well somehow, with work being crazy, the holidays, etc., I ran out on Tuesday. They've been on my list of things to do all week but I kept forgetting. So, tonight I thought of it and ran out to get them before I forgot. I got to the drugstore that I know carries them and . . . went up and down the vitamin aisle four times and . . . they weren't there and, I started having a little bit of a panic attack. I started feeling this crazy anxiety about not being able to find them and how will I get through the rest of the week without them, etc., and about two heartbeats from being really upset I thought I'd check the diabetes care aisle and . . . there they were. Apparently they just moved them. They ahd six boxes and I bought all of them.

Whew. Crisis averted.

Addition stinks.

Punishing good deeds

my story isn't as good as Spidey's, but here goes:

I was at the store earlier getting last minute "oh crap, i forgot that!" stuff. The store was packed. The lines started at the front and went all the way back and the whole place looked like a bomb went off. Everyone was polite and helpful though. At one point, Mandolin started shouting "Santa Clause! Santa Claus!" and poiting at an older gentleman. The man smiled really big and puffed his chest up, and walked towards Mandolin like he was about to make her day (bless his heart). Little did he know of her complete fear and utter hate of all things Santa. Mandolin screamed bloody hell and attempted to climb my body like a cat climbing a tree. I don't think I'll ever forget the look on that man's face.

angels from heaven

this morning after getting my food prepped for this afternoon, i had to go outside. the shoveling was not an option. lots of snow in the driveway and lots piled up at the end. there would be no getting out. so bigjoe and i grabbed the little snow blower(the big one broke a belt) and the shovels and headed to the end of the driveway to dig our way out. a few shovels later i looked up and coming down the street was a snowplow. behind the wheel a smiling face. the man drove up and said, do you want me to clean that out for you? wow, i said.. that would be great! so we stepped back and he took a few swipes, clean as can be! bigjoe said.. thanks! what do I owe you? he smiled and said... nothing, just take a business card and call me if you need some work done. he was a carpenter! (jesus was a carpenter!)
bigjoe said.... nope, you just saved us lots of work. have a tip!

and so i say... angels appear in all different forms. especially at christmas!

Merry Christmas friends!

Merry Christmas

The weather here is crappy--icy and all.
I hope where you are it's nice and pleasant.
Happy Christmas to you and yours.

Brazil Boy

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34583825/ns/world_news-americas/
This "Brazil Boy" story is heart wrenching and I'm glad the Brazillian courts finally did the right thing and returned the boy to his father.
I hope the boy adjusts and he and his father have a great relationship.

Festive Holiday Music from Juniper Creek!

For your holiday pleasure, the musical stylings of Roman and Adaleen Grant and the whole Juniper Creek gang (and don't miss the best song--"Silent Wife"):

http://www.hbo.com/biglove/junipercreek/

Opinion, please . . .

When my nephew turned driving age, my brother stupidly bought him a brand new Nissan truck and, within a week he had hit my brother's car. Within 45 days he had hit a couple of other things so the passenger side of the truck is just all scraped up. My brother has since taken the truck away from Crash (as I now call him) and he is having it fixed and then he is selling it.

When I got the MB from my aunt, my brother asked if I wanted to sell my other car to him for Crash since the car is 5 years old and he doesn't want to get Crash a new car. Made sense so I said okay.

I looked up the value of my car and, given the mileage (which is significant -- 140,000) and the condition, the low KBB is $8K. So, I told my bro I'd sell it to him for $4K. I decided that I would take it in and have it serviced -- oil change, etc. -- before selling it and the garage just called and said that it needs new catalytic converters. Without them, it won't pass smog for the sale but, it's $2,100 to fix them.

So, the question I have is do I:

1) Tell my bro that he can still have it at $4K but he's going to have to pay for the repair since he's getting a good price;

2) Offer to still give it to him for $4K and split the $2K repair with him; or

3) Sell it to him for the $4K and pay for the $2K repair myself.

When I mentioned to the repair guy that I was selling it to my bro for $4k (he knows my bro, our whole family take their cars there) the guy said that was such a great deal for the car that Bro should pay for the repair and be happy.

What do you think?

New Marketing Slogan?

Why is it that I can have area rugs all over my house but if I put one in the bathroom, Jack will poop on it? I can have a rug somewhere in the house forever and nothing . . . move it to the bathroom and within a day, poop.

The interesting thing is, the only rug he hasn't yet pooped on is one that I bought from Orbie. I had it in there alone for a month, no poop. Thinking (stupidly since he's been doing this for the 8 years I've had him) that maybe he had stopped, I put another rug in there with the Orbie rug, poop. But not on the Orbie rug. I took the other rug out and threw it away and the Orbie rug has been in there alone for about a month and, no poop.

It's nice to know that Jack has good taste and the decency not to foul the lovely Orbie rug but, it's curious.

So, I don't know that you'd want to use it as a slogan but a couple of phrases come to mind:

"So nice that a cat won't poop on it"
"It's cat poop proof!"

Or something . . .

Good News

I got a Christmas Card from Ded, he's doing well and wonders how I got Ed Bear to dress as Santa. Having met Ed Bear, I know that if I'd asked him to dress as Santa for my daughter, he'd do it in a heartbeat. Thanks to everyone who sent me a card and I hope Bert turns up soon.

Wedding video and pictures (so Urbles can see;)

So here's a link to our video which Sean uploaded to YouTube and it also has a slide show of all the pics:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZftxjt4KAA

Enjoy! ;)

Name Calling . . .but not to her face. . . In search of a Christmas Post

"Granted I know that calling the Two Faced Backstabbing Cunt Bitch isn’t very Christlike, but I don’t call her that to her face. I try to act civilized when I’m around her because she is having a hard time being civil toward me and I am a better person than she is."
---

I checked out the other site for the first time in awhile and this made me laugh.
I don't see how being "civilized" to someone's face while calling her a Two Faced Backstabbing Cunt Bitch behind her back is being very Christlike (if being Christlike is the aim here.) Someone please explain the logic.

santa

left me a present in my mailbox today. it is a lovely scarf that someone made. thank you jilly. :) lovely and thoughtful. also, thank you for the card and picture.

I'm hitched!

So I am an old married lady! The wedding was actually really nice including the dinner. Everyone seemed to have a good time and we had around 20 people including us there. I wish my mom could have been there but most of my best friends made it so I am happy :)

Here's a pic of me before the wedding:







]
And one of Sean and me after:

Guilty Pleasure

I don't watch a lot of TV it's mostly background noise to me, and usually set to something like Sesame Street. However, there is one show I love to watch if it's on when I'm the one flipping the channels. I love Shatner's Raw Nerve on Bio. Today I saw some of his interview with Rush Linbaugh. Shatner asked that man several questions I've been wanting to ask him for years. For example, at one point Shanter said "Well, how do you know you're right?" Then later, he put Rush on the spot and asked him why he had to yell, curse and threaten people. Shatner asked Rush why he couldn't just be academic and intelligent and calmly present an argument without being a snake-oil salesman. It was fantastic. After a bit I just couldn't take Rush anymore, so I had to turn the TV off, but if you get the chance, watch this episode, it's a good one.

Sanity Check

I think it's safe to assume you should doubt your sanity when you find yourself singing to food. As y'all know, I'm diabetic and, as you may not know, there are certain foods that I can't trust myself around. They are: orange juice, blood orange soda, and sparkling apple cider. So, if I buy them to take to a function, I have to keep them locked in the car or I will drink myself into a coma.

I currently have a four pack of sparkling apple cider in the car and when I was getting out of the car just now, and getting groceries out of the back, I spied the four pack sitting there on the floor and a Beatle song popped into my head . . .

I want you.
I want you so baaaad.
I want yooooooou.
I want you so bad it's driving me mad.
It's driving me mad.

So I was, in essence, singing to food.

An observation

If Barbara Walters is right and Lady Gaga, Sarah Palin and nutjob Glen Beck are among the most fascinating people of 2009--then this country is going down the crapper.

twas 2 weeks before christmas

give a day or two. are you ready?

me..... no

thank you

to those who have sent me a christmas card. a sweet surprise in the mail box. :)

There's Always an Exception

I don't like long hair on men. In fact, I have a thing for balding men but . . . there's always an exception. This guy is: a) beautiful; and b) the only man who should be allowed to have long hair.

Santa: Terrorizing kids

since 1881

Beautiful

I have to say, I love this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2C6HiSOlquc

It makes me like Jeff Fisher.

For those of you who don't know who this guy is, he's the Head Coach for the Tennessee Titans. When this was made the Titans were 0 - 6, hadn't won a game. Since this video they won their next 5 games but that winning streak came to an end today when the Colts beat them for the second time this season.

Oh, and the Colts are undefeated this year.

Gotta love a man with a sense of humor.

poop bear

we were sitting at the table eating together yesterday when Mandolin pointed at a picture of winnie the pooh on her yogurt and said "look daddy, it's poop. I like that poop bear." I started laughing, because it's funny. My guy decided to deal with it by insisting that she said it right and then they got in the "pooh bear" vs. "poop bear" fight. A long time ago I decided that I refuse to fight with a baby/young child. If she wants to call it poop bear, more power to her. She's 2, if you get into a power struggle over something like a name, you've just become two yourself. I have other things I'd rather do, like laugh with her about someone naming a bear poop. It is a funy name for a bear after all.

Tiger's Old News

Meredith Baxter-Birney (Elyse on Family Ties)
at age 62 and three marriages has come out of the closet. She said she finally realized a few years ago that she was a lesbian.
Do you think she didn't know all this time, or that she just finally met someone who she loved and who gave her the courage and strength?
Do you think someone can live their whole life without actually knowing their sexual preference?

Listen up, Tiger:

A few notes to married celebrities who screw around on their wives:
1. The news is going to get out--next month or next year--but it will get out.
2. The mistress/girlfriend is going to save your voice mails and texts and sell her story to a tabloid or gossip magazine or tabloid tv.
3. They will not erase said voice mails or texts just because you ask them to do you a favor.
4. If the actual mistress doesn't squeal, she'll have told her mother or sister or or brother or girlfriend and they sell the story--those stories pay more than most people earn in a year.
5. They owe you no loyality, after all you show no loyality to your wife and family, why should any be shown to you?

tiger... tiger

what are you up to?
not too smart to leave voice messages on your hoochies cell phone.