39 Candles and Happy Hour New Year's Eve

If you've been hanging around for a while then you know that Otie and I host a Happy Hour every Friday. Otie has the Mr Linky at his site (yeah, I let him have control of it, kinda like the remote, you know the guy has to hold it to feel manly).

Don't freak out on me here, it is only Thursday. However since it's a) the last day of the year and b) my birthday and c) my blog,  I'm taking the liberty of posting early. Otie will have the linky up eventually, so be patient.

I'm really happy that although I haven't been posting or commenting much the last couple weeks it seems as tho most people have stuck with me. Thanks for that, really. Hopefully once the world gets back to normal I will once again have time to leisurely read all your posts and leave witty comments, as well as write my own intriguing and thought provoking posts.  What? I do leave witty comments. I make myself giggle, that's witty, right?

I think I mentioned before that Spud did a post on 39 things to do before she's 40. I think it is a fabulous idea and so I am stealing it. Although I've known for a while that I was going to it, I haven't actually figured out what I want my 39 things to be, so that will have to be another post. Just know that I'm gonna do it damn it. Really.

I'm so happy Julochka started her own 365 in 2010 flickr group. If you want to join contact her and tell her you heard of it thru me. I think it'll be a great way to improve my skills as well as be a motivator for me to actually use my new camera.

It may be hard for you to believe this, but I am one of those people that will just come over unannounced. I know that some people abhor this, but I don't care. I don't care if you're not dressed or if the sink still has breakfast dishes in it. In fact, it's nice to see that people actually *live* in their houses. I know mine usually has dog hair dust dinosaurs in the corners and dirty laundry piles. I figure if you aren't going to like me because I have too much of a life to spend the majority of it cleaning, then that's your problem. However, if I do pop up at your house, I don't expect to be invited inside. Usually I'll only do that if a) I'm stopping by to see if you want to walk the dogs with me or b) dropping off a gifty or c) I am visiting my mother in another city and know where you live but can't remember your phone number and we are on that side of town anyway so we decide to do a drive-by and see if you're home.  Luckily Sara is one of those people let will graciously let you in when you arrive...

I got home from my mom's house and found not one but two wonderful gifts waiting for me. Both were actually goodies from winning stuff from other bloggers. Spud sent me a wonderful snowman ornament as well as one of her fabulous post cards, and Iasa sent me this cool little wicker basket with a necklace inside and some chocolate! Thanks so much ladies! I totally heart you both.

I guess that's enough happiness for me today. Plus I have lots of things to do before the big event tonight. Okay, maybe the not-so-big event, but I still have places to go and people to see. Be sure you go by and see Otie and click his linky so that we will all know who is playing.

Oh and by the way, have a wonderful, safe, and Happy New Year!! xoxoxxo

Happy Hour - Christmas Style

If you've been hanging around for a while then you know that Otie and I host a Happy Hour every Friday. Otie has the Mr Linky at his site (yeah, I let him have control of it, kinda like the remote, you know the guy has to hold it to feel manly).

•  I am so happy that it is perfectly acceptable to drink alcohol after spending the day with your PIA sister... and I don't mean Barb. This is not gonna be a rant, but I'll have plenty to talk about on wednesday! 
• Bacchus we thank who gave us wine
  Which warms the blood within our veins;
  That nectar is itself divine.
  The man who drinks not, yet attains
  By godly grace to human rank
  Would be an angel if he drank.
  Pierre Motin
  French drinking song (source)
• I'm happy my mom seems to be handling the chaos of a full house. Usually it's just her and her kitty, but now it's also the three daughters, the SIL, and four of the grandkids. Loud and crazy would be an understatement.
  
• I'm happy Barb is here with me to take some of the slack from the other sister. Seriously. She makes me nuts. But this is not a rant ( I know, I'm repeating myself).
• I am so excited about the turkey! I used a Nigella Lawson recipe for brining the turkey and it's soaking right now. I just stepped out to check on it and it smells soooo good. Thank you Julochka to turning me onto her. Doesn't it look amazing:
  

• I was so happy to get to spend the entire day with my friend Schmecky (the pseudoblogger) yesterday. We had such a good time. I was going to add some pictures from our day, but I think that'll be a whole other post. I chronicled the whole day. You will like it, I promise. 
• Today Barb and I got out of the house and walked down to one of our favorite coffee shops (shhh!! don't tell Starbucks). It's about a mile or so down the mountain and we always walk there at least once to get dough for scones. Yes, I know I could make my own dough, but we love this stuff. Anyway, we had some great photo ops along the way:

A gaggle of geese

One tough guy got scairt...

Barb discovered some really cool 'eye' trees for Julochka...

and we saw a pretty little Mallard and her hubby out for a swim in the stream...

at last we found our way to the promised land...

• I'm happy I got to open my present from hubby early. It's a new camera! I was shocked, I wasn't expecting it at all. There's kind of a funny story that goes along with it. The camera I ended up with is not the one I unwrapped. But it's over and I love it. Its a Canon D50 and I'm so so pleased. I still need to read more of my manual (yes Spud, I blame you for this) but so far I'm amazed and in love.  
• Well I think that's about it for me. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas edition of Happy Hour yourself. Be sure to check in with Otie and play along. 

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Open Letters

Dear Time,

I understand that it is your job to march on. I was hoping, however, that you could please stop marching across my face. You are making creases near the corners of my eyes, and one near my lip. This is very distressing to me. Please find somewhere else to make your mark. You are dismissed.

much thanks,
youthful bambi

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Dear Cellulite,

I don't understand what your fascination is with my gluteus maximus. I workout several times a week, I run, I walk dogs, I do lunges and bridges and squats and dirty dogs until I can barely walk. I appreciate your loyalty, however I think it is time you find someone else's ass to dent. The hail damaged look just does not do it for me. I think you would be happier on a man's tushie. Really. Please cease and desist.

kisses,
skinny me

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Dear Southwest Airlines,

My daughter and I will be traveling soon to spend Christmas with Grandma. It would totally suck if we crashed. Please make sure all planes are in working order, terrorists are held at bay, and pilots are ready for work. I will handle contacting the google weather gods, you take care of everything else. 

hugs and peanuts,
bams

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Dear Google Weather Gods,

My daughter and I will be traveling soon. Please do not cause any of our flights to be canceled due to inclement weather. In addition, I would be much appreciative if the airports are not snowed, iced, or fogged in. Please do not send an ice storm to the area in which we are traveling. If the roads are too bad, I will be forced to stay indoors with my entire family for a full week. I do not think there is enough alcohol in Reno to overcome a situation this dire. 

However, in this same vein, we would love some wonderful, powdery snow at the ski resorts near Lake Tahoe.

Amen,
bambalance

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Dear Wine,

Please be at my mother's house when I get there. I am sure that within minutes of my being near my sister I will need you. A lot of you. I love you so much. Please be there for me. If your friend di saronno amaretto were there as well it would be wonderful. I will sleep with both of you every night.

fermented grapes full of love,
bambina

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Dear Dust Bunnies,

I think it is so sweet that you love to congregate under my bed and in the hall closet, as well as in any corner you can find. I understand that there is a great deal of discarded dog hair in your cult. I think it's wonderful that you will take in anything you find worthy... even my own hair. I would greatly appreciate it tho if you would remain out of sight when neighbors come to visit. Although I personally find you adorable, I feel that some of my less-than-neighborly neighbors will only find fault with me and my lack of housecleaning skills and place no blame at all on your pervasiveness. Please feel free to inhabit the basement storage areas as much as you desire, as well as any bedroom belonging to a child.

soft bunny blessings,
bambi (and thumper)

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Happy Hour Friday

If you've been hanging around for a while then you know that Otie and I host a Happy Hour every Friday. Otie has the Mr Linky at his site (yeah, I let him have control of it, kinda like the remote, you know the guy has to hold it to feel manly).

• I am happy that it is only one week til Christmas. This is my favorite week ever. I love the excitement in the air and the good will towards men. People tend to be a little bit nicer. Okay, that's not always true, sometimes they are grumpy and bitchy and whiny and annoying, but FOCUS PEOPLE it's Happy Hour.
• Actually I love October, November, and December. Best three months of the year if you ask me.
• It is just 2 weeks until my birthday. What are you gonna get me?
• At first I was a little annoyed about the plans for my birthday. We share season tickets to the St. Louis Blues with Barb and there is a game on New Year's Eve. Now let me just tell you that I don't entirely feel that the world revolves around me, but I think that since it's my birthday we should do something that I want to do. I like going to Blues games, but seriously. Not on my day, okay? Well, it turns out that we are going to the game. Why is that okay? Because we are going to leave early and head 2 blocks down and see Erin Bode and have dinner. Then we are staying downtown for the night in the Westin which is right next door. If you're not familiar with Erin be sure to check out her website. She has the most amazing voice I've ever heard. In fact I'm listening to her Christmas cd right this very minute.
• Only 3 days til I get to see my momma. Yep, that outrageous older woman.
• Hopefully I'll be able to check in with some of the fabulous bloggers I met at Blog Camp Reno in September. I just came across this post and it made me giggle again... go check it out. I'm sad that Ali won't be there this time, but Barb will be there to pick up her slack. Plus I'll for sure get to see my friend Schmecky (aka Zena, pseudoblogger), Sara and I are gonna try to make our schedules mesh so we can play, and I have a friend from college that I haven't seen in several years and we are going to try to play also. If you're in the area let me know and we can play too! Unless you are an ax murderer. That would totally suck to have my family hacked to bits at Christmas time.
  
• I haven't worked all week. This is an okay thing, not great as the money would be nice to have, but it's not a horrible thing either because I've been doing stuff this week that I wouldn't have had time to do if I were working. BUT I got TWO calls today for me to work TOMORROW. Unfortunately I haven't figured out how to clone myself so I can only work one of the places. Although in all honesty, if I did figure out how to clone myself I wouldn't have all of my selves working. Several of them would be on vacation. All the time. All over the world. It'd be great.
• I've gotten several new followers in the last couple weeks. Thank you thank you and welcome to my little corner of cyberspace. I hope I don't bore you to pieces.
• December 17th is my daughters 17th birthday. Yep, it's her golden one. The one that is supposed to be the best. I always feel sorry for people who have their 'golden' birthday when they are young. How the hell are you gonna know if it was your best year ever? I can truly say that mine was indeed the best year ever, mainly because I fell in love with hubby (gak I know at least one of you just threw up in your mouth a little bit... but it's true).
• Both Jenny and Juneau got to go to the spa today and they look and smell wonderful. Hey, doggies need spa days too. Don't judge.
  

• Okay I think that's plenty of stuff to be happy about.
• Oh wait, update: I was, in fact, not the drunk spouse at hubby's work Christmas party. I don't think there was one that really stood out this year. However, people were still talking about the drunk spouse from last year. I felt kinda sorry for her... but she was under tight control this year. And, ps, I looked fabulous. Except my ankles. Really. The dang hose I was wearing kept trying to bunch at the ankles. I had to adjust several times until the room got full enough that people weren't looking at my ankles. It kinda pissed me off, but then I just had another glass of wine so I was okay. Besides, I was one of the younger ones in the room last night so I doubt that anyone noticed my ankles.

That's it for me. Go see Otie and see who is playing along with Happy Hour Friday!

Update: this afternoon while I was counting to 333 I was also thinking about my post and realized I made a grievous mistake. Our Christmas trip to Reno will also be down one fabulous blog camper: Shannon. She lives over the mountain and far away and will probably not venture the pass (Donner's pass, you know the early settlers that resorted to cannabalism while stuck in the mountains). Anyway, Shannon, sorry for my oversight. And if you do venture over the pass please come play with us!

Rant and Rave Wednesday

Little Ms Blogger is the awesome chick who came up with this baby for getting out your rants and raves. Go see her, she always has some funny stuff.

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Rant: I got three (yes 3) certified letters today from that ex chiro that I'm not wasting my energy on

Rant: Step-daughter signed for all 3 certified letters while I was at the spa

Rave: I marched my happy ass up to the post office and told the lady that my child signed for these letters and that I did not want anything to do with them. She had me write "Refused" and my name and date on them and took them back. Today, the USPS is freakin awesome.

Rave: I have no idea what was in those letters, but I don't really care either

Rave: pas de touche sucka!!

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Rave: I spent the last two days at the spa

Rave: I got my hair did yesterday and had a mani/pedi today

Rave: I look fabulous! And I feel fabulous as well. And my toes are freakin awesome

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Rave: We have hubby's work Christmas party tomorrow

Rave: It's at a fancy schmancy country club, and it's actually a pretty good party

Rave: I've never been the 'drunk spouse'

Rant: I hope I'm not the drunk spouse tomorrow

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Rave: Hubby agreed to take me to go see Up In The Air

Rant: It's not freakin playing in my stupid ass town and that freakin pisses me off

Rave: So we thought we'd watch The Hangover on PPV

Rant: It's not freakin showing on PPV and now I'm pissed

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Rave: Hubby just told me it's time for bed

Rant: Seriously? Ummm, none :D

So What's the Point?

The following is a text message between my 17 yr old daughter and me. Or is it myself?

Background: I grew up Catholic and therefore have all the guilt associated with it. I'm not so much Catholic anymore because I have a lot of issues with some of the doctrines. My daughters are both baptized Episcopalian (or Catholic-Lite), but we don't consider ourselves Episcopal either. Basically we are nothing. I believe in God. My 17yo believes in Wicca, or is a Wicca, or whatever is most grammatically correct. I've had a lot of issues with this, but in the last 6 or 7 years have come to accept it.

Here is our text conversation a few days ago regarding that ex chiropractor that I'm not talking about anymore:

me: So... what do u know abt hexing?

her: Uhhhhh why?

me: I think someone needs to b hexed. U know who it is.
me: Hubby gave permission.

her: lmao. that's very blacky black

me: yeah and...

her: yeah and ur on your own with that :) I'm a good witch :D

me: Oh come on Glenda. It's just a little payback

her: Karma karma karma

me: Oh fine. What good is it to be a witch then if you can't give someone some warts or something?

her: If your magick comes from a place of darkness, then your mind is in a place of darkness. You have to be self aware and conscious of your actions for magick to work its best. It's hard to be self aware and not realize that hate is a pointless emotion from where no actualization can come. Also, it'll slap you a good one.

me: Ur no fun chickie

her: Ultimately he is hurting himself. Is spending that much energy really worth the few moments of satisfaction? There are better places to direct your efforts :)

me: Oh ok. I agree.

her: Rnt u glad to know I'm not in league with satan?

me: yes, of course I am. But then what's the point of having a witch for a daughter?

her: I'm still a teenager. I could go teepee his house

photo source

While I have to admit that I'm proud of her responses, I find it a little hard to believe that this is the same teenager that is upstairs right now pissed off that we aren't going out to dinner tonight for her birthday. The same teenager that speaks to me with scorn every time I ask her to unload the dishwasher. The same teen that will fly off the handle if I ask the wrong question. It amazes me that she can be so mature, yet so immature at the same time. While I'm still not completely comfortable with this whole witch thing, at least I don't have to worry about her hexing me.

I do wonder tho, how come she can't cast a spell to make her room clean??

Happy Hour Friday

If you've been hanging around for a while then you know that Otie and I host a Happy Hour every Friday. Otie has the Mr Linky at his site (yeah, I let him have control of it, kinda like the remote, you know the guy has to hold it to feel manly).

• I never thought I'd be a three-a-day poster... but here I am. My first post today was the letter to the asswipe ex chiropractor. My second post today was the one where I said that since it was my hubby's birthday I took down the letter to the asswipe ex chiropractor because he was afraid we'd get sued. And now here is post #3 today. Sorry I'm overloading your Google Reader, it's not like me. 
• It's my hubby's birthday! I let him choose dinner (pasta con broccoli and garlic bread) and I made my extra-super-duper-ultra-fabulous pumpkin cheesecake. It's his favorite dessert. I meant to take pictures while I was baking it but I didn't. Sorry. 
• He likes the gifts I got him. 2 books: Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives  and 1000 Places to See Before Before You Die. I also bought him 3 pairs of reader glasses because he always breaks his or puts them in the wash or whatever. 
• When we were flipping thru the 1000 Places there were several that I had already visited
• I bought my neighbors' Christmas gifts today. If you were my neighbor I'd buy you one too. Unless you are that shit ex doc I was talking about. Who, fyi, is also my neighbor. Yeah. 4 houses down. Niiiiiiiice.
• I'm done talking about it. Really. 
• My birthday is 3 weeks from today. Or yesterday. It depends. Thursday. What are you gonna get me? I like diamonds. And sparkly stuff. Well, sparkly diamonds. 
  
• Tommy is doing A.W.E.S.O.M.E. Go check him out at Barb's site.
• This weekend we are making Christmas cookies. A lot of them. And I plan on eating a lot of them. Actually that's not true. I plan on eating a lot of the dough. Raw. It's what I do. 
• Okay, I think I'm done here. Besides, Otie hates it when I have too much wine at Happy Hour.
• Go see him if you haven't already, and be sure to check out the other bloggers that are playing along. 
• Cheers!!
  

For My Husband

Since today marks the 52nd anniversary of the birth of my favorite person in the whole wide world (present company excluded of course),

I have taken down the post regarding the ASSHOLE THAT USED TO BE MY DOCTOR

because my wonderful hubby is afraid we will get sued.

Although since the ASSHOLE THAT USED TO BE MY DOCTOR also shares a lawyer with me, I'm kinda curious at who would get to have her as our attorney. Any thoughts? Would it be first-come first served? Or who had the better case? I certainly would never want to be on the opposing side. She is one tough lady, and that's why she is my lawyer.

Oh well. Thanks for all the words of encouragement from those that commented.

ps- he really is a douche.

pps - not my regular MD, he's a great guy. Unfortunately he works for a douche, so now I have to get another MD. Which is fine, cuz I called his friends office today and will become one of their patients.

Rant and Rave Wednesday

Little Ms Blogger started airing her Rants and Raves on Wednesday, be sure to check her out and see who else is getting it all out in the open today.

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Because there is nothing better than starting out your post talking about poo...
Rave: Jenny poo'd twice on our walk this morning.

Rant: Then she came home and did the boot-scoot-&-boogie on my rug. It's cream colored. Now it has brown streaks too. I am not pleased.

Rant: It was butt-cold out there. Actually, it wouldn't have been so bad if the wind wasn't howling through my soul.

Rave: We did it anyway and can now sit in the warm kitchen with a cuppa joe.

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Rave: I am a bingo ROCKSTAR.
Yes, that's right. I had a great time at the ol' nursing home last night. Actually tho, it was the "retirement community" that had the bingo/Christmas party. It's a graduated community and starts with independent living and goes thru assisted, nursing, to alzheimers.
I was the caller and I had a great time with it. I made jokes and did a little "stand-up". I had those old people rolling on the floor. And not just cuz they had those little rollators. Really.

Rant: Whenever I called out I-17 I'd say "I am 17 years old" and those old people all laughed and said 'yeah right' and 'so am I'. No one believed that I am 17. Kinda hurt my feelings. (hahaha)

Rave: I was home by 8:45 feeling good and warm-hearted. Hubby had the fire going and we shared a bottle of wine.

Rant: He thinks I'm a bingo dork. You probably do too. But that's okay, when you are old your kids put you in a home maybe someone will come and make you laugh one day and you'll think of me.

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Rave: I am almost done with my Christmas cards.

Rant: I ran out of stamps

Rant: I also ran out of cards

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Rave: My scale isn't stuck anymore :)

Rant: Absolutely none. It even went in the right direction. Of course I've been working my patootie off at the gym so it's about time it went down a bit. Still needs to drop some more tho.

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Rave: If you're an artist, or want to be an artist, or want to pretend to be an artist, take a look at Mr Toast, he's got a great project going on. I know many of you will be interested, it looks cool.

Rant: I have absolutely no talent, but I am going to give it a shot.

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I guess that's it for me. What are you ranting and raving about today?

Random Tuesday

• Don't you hate it when you look all hot and sexy and you've been parading around town feeling confident then that evening your daughter comes up to you and says "Your pants pocket is hanging out"?
• McGillicutty made me LOL - literally - with this post. Did you?
• My birthday is in 25 days. I'll be 39... at least for the first time. Maybe next year I'll be 39 again. I haven't decided yet. 
• Spud did a post on 39 things to do before she's 40. I think I should revisit that and perhaps do the same.
• Why didn't Jenny poo on our walk today? I hope she doesn't do it in the house. 
• I couldn't do the December Challenge at the gym today. I'll have to try again tomorrow. But that's okay, failure is good for you -- sometimes. It builds character. Right?
• Does anyone use Jane Iredale make-up? I just started a month or so ago. I'm a bit undecided about it. I usually use CHANEL or Lancome. 
• How come when teens learn to drive the criticize every move you make? "You're speeding" "Uh, blinker, mom!" "Go! The light's green!"
• But then the first time you tell them not to run over the pedestrian in the parking lot they get pissy and say they don't want to drive anymore. Sheesh. 
• I'm having a good hair day. Curly. I should take a picture. If I can get off the couch maybe I will. 
• Tonight I'm going to a nursing home and having a bingo Christmas party. It's kinda fun, but I wish the kids were coming with me. 
  
• "Software is like entropy. It is difficult to grasp, weighs nothing, and obeys the second law of thermodynamics; i.e. it always increases. "Norman Ralph Augustine 
• The same is true for my kitchen. Seriously. I haven't done anything in here and days, and it's a mess. I think kids add to the increasing entropy of a room. 
• My favorite equation: delta G = delta H - T delta S. The way to remember it: Goldfish are Hell without Tarter Sauce.
•  Okay, time to clean my kitchen and finish my Christmas cards.    
•  Go see Un-Mom for more Random Tuesday Thoughts!
  

Monoword Manic Monday

Go check out ACE at Dancing with a Full Deck to find out her MMM.

Mine is this:

AGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

A very belated Happy Hour Friday

Oh my gosh. I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date. I have no excuse for (almost) missing Happy Hour Friday. I'd tell you, but I don't think you care anyway so let's just get to the good stuff.

• I'm happy I have friends like Otie that don't get mad even tho I fail to show up to our  own blogger party.
• I am super happy that although my stinkin' scale is still stuck on the same number, two (yes, 2) people told me today that I looked like I was losing weight. I'm not, but the complements were awesome.
• I'm happy that I've made it thru the first 2 challenges at the gym where Barb and I work-out. This month the challenge is the 12 Days of Christmas, so on day 1 we had to do 1 challenge, then day 2 we do the first one plus another, and so on so it builds everyday. Every month they have a new challenge. October was doing the plank for 5 minutes... I didn't even try it. I can do it for about a minute. November's challenge was biking 1.5mi, rowing 1000m, and running 1mi in under 20 min. I only tried it once and got 21:12. Grrrr. 72 seconds between glory and shame. I would have tried it again, but I didn't get around to doing it at all until Thanksgiving, so I didn't have time to try again. Hopefully I'll be able to do all 12 challenges this month and get the glory of seeing my name on "The Board!"
• I'm happy I'm writing my Happy Hour with my hubby by my side, a fire in the fireplace, Christmas Vacation on the tube, and a bottle of Estancia Cab.
• I'm happy that hubby is happy that I've worked 3 days this week. I'm comfortable with 3 days, that means I'm bringing in some money but still have time to do stuff like laundry, errands like the bank, some light housecleaning, etc.
• Well I think that's about it. It's not, but Christmas Vacation is one of my all time favorite Christmas movies (next to Scrooged and It's a Wonderful Life) and I want to watch... and catch up on all of your blogs!
• Hope you all had a wonderful Happy Hour Friday! Go see Otin, click his Linky, and check out the other players too!!!!!

The Favorites

Do you remember in my last post where I said I was a doer but not a creator? Well, that goes for this post as well. I think McGillicutty started it, then Barb and Open Heart followed suit, so I decided I needed to copy them. Plus I have some pretty good favorites. So here are some of my favorite Christmas ornaments.

These are Mr and Mrs Bambi, they were one of the first ornaments hubby and I got as a married couple.

This is another on that we got that first Christmas. It has the names of all the kiddos. I couldn't find an ornament big enough to have all 8 of our names on it.

 

This snowman is a favorite of mine because my mom made it. I have several others that she made as well; lollipops, presents, Christmas trees, Rudolphs, etc. 

   

This carousel goes in my favorites list because I've had it since I was a wee tot. It has 'Susie' engraved on it. I'm not sure why it doesn't say Bambi. 

I love this ornament because it has a picture of my sweet little girlies in it. Who wouldn't love that?

I love my Scottish Santa. He's in a kilt.

Although these last two aren't ornaments, I love having red bows and candy canes on my tree. I love how the colors pop.

How about you? Do you have favorite ornaments?