Mama’s Holiday Wish List MemeTodaysMama and Provo Craft are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.
1. What 5 items are on your holiday wish list this year? Really, I don't think I have five, but here goes. a) books b) chocolate c) earrings d)books e) chocolate

2. What is your favorite handmade gift you have received? A knitted scarf

3. What handmade gift have you always wanted to tackle? Something knitted

4. What was the best Christmas gift you received as a child? A hippity hop
5. What items are on your kid’s wish list this year? The better question is "What is NOT on their wish list".

6. What is your favorite holiday food? Voortman's Almonette Cookies
7. What will you be hand-crafting for the holidays? Ornaments

8. What is your favorite holiday movie? I like The Holiday

9. Favorite holiday song? Carol of the Bells

10. Favorite holiday pastime? Going out with my family looking at Christmas lights.

So just go to the above referenced site, and you too could enter to win.

Don't you just hate it when, you find something you really, really like and when you try to go back to it, you either can't remember it, or it's gone.
I prefer to think that it's gone, because no way would moi not be able to remember something.
Last week, I was tripping around bloggy world and came across a fairly simple craft idea of making a christmas door wreath out of christmas ornaments. Guess what, came back today and can't find it.
If any of you lovely people out there have any ideas where I can find these directions, please be so kind as to leave the information here. After all, I need all the help I can get.
Thanks. Y'all have a blessed week.

I'm still stuffed from yesterday. Hope all you folks had a great day filled with love and laughter and food. We certainly did. I don't have any pics to post because I forgot my camera in the car.
Tonight, we will be returning to my home town to attend the annual Christmas parade. It is actually going to be cold this year. I'm so excited to see even more of my family.

To all those people who were brave enough to go to Black Friday sales, I hope you got what you went after and that no one was trampled this year.

Everyone have a great weekend. Blessings to you all.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone (a day early). I am posting a day early because tomorrow most of us will be chillaxin with our friends and family (i.e. - passed out from too much food).
I just wanted to wish everyone a safe and wonderful holiday. And say, "Can't we all just get along?"
My long time friend is here with me now and will be going back home after dinner tomorrow. In another life we were roommates for years, then marriage and children separated us, but the friendship is still strong and we can pick up where we left off each time we see each other. I'm blessed to have her in my life.
My aunt and uncle and their grandbaby will be arriving this afternoon to spend the night and dine with us tomorrow. My cousin and her husband will arrive tonight to stay over and dine with us tomorrow. My mom and dad will be here tomorrow to dine with us and then spend the night.
All of my family mentioned here, will be joining my MIL at her home (she has graciously agreed to host us all). My BIL and SIL and their kids will be there along with my SIL's sister and her family. So there are going to be plenty of us around. I feel so sorry for that turkey (LOL).
Then on Friday, I will be returning to the city of my birth (WOOHOO) and attending the annual Christmas parade. I know it's just a parade, but it's a tradition. We always go to the Christmas parade together in my hometown.
Thanks for listening to me ramble. I sincerely appreciate you all. Send me some love. I'm sending you all love and blessings for this Thanksgiving.

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood.....

Hope everyone is having a great weekend. My DH and my middle child have gone to the Swamp to watch the Gators. Apparently, it wasn't much of a game. But, the tickets were free. GO GATORS.

Anyway, we had a wonderful time playing BUNCO last night at MIL's house. And I have signed on for the next fourteen months to play. I can hardly wait till the next one. It is so much fun to laugh and eat with friends.

Tonight, we will be going to a friends' house to celebrate her daughter's birthday. Lots of food, fun, and fellowship there, I can hardly wait to get there.

Have a great weekend all.

Saying Goodbye is hard to do.....

My daddy called me today. That doesn't happen very often. Usually it only with news that I really don't want to hear. So, it threw me for a loop when I got two calls in the same day.

First time, he let me know that Uncle J.B. had passed at around 3:00 pm this afternoon. Uncle JB was an old timer. 87 years young. He knew a lot of stuff. And I am grateful that I had time in the past to sit with him and listen to what he had to say.
He is dancing with Jesus tonight, no more sickness for him, no more pain. And he got to be reunited with his lovely wife, my Aunt Punkin (who passed last year).

Then daddy called me again tonight. My Aunt Verma Lee has got to have some major surgery tomorrow. And my daddy asked me to come and sit with him at the hospital. Pretty much unheard of. So, I will spend my day with my daddy, waiting to hear the news on how his sister's surgery is going.
My father came from a family of 15 children. Now there are only 5 left.
Please keep my aunt in your prayers, her surgery is supposed to be at 9:30 am 11/19/09.
Please keep my entire family in your prayers, especially the children of my Uncle JB.
Thanks for being there, my bloggy friends.
Good night.

Estrogen Extravaganza 2009 is over...................

Actually, it was over Sunday evening at about 10:45 p.m. when I walked back into the front door of my house. But I have been trying to get caught up on the rest I missed. I am so tired, y'all. That staying up late business must be for younger people.

From the time we left out of here Thursday morning, till the time we got back Sunday night, I had a blast. I'm not saying there weren't some rough spots, cause leaky toilets tend to cause a rough patch, but all those unpleasant things were overcome to make Estrogen Extravaganza 2009 a huge success.

To Angie and Shannon, you guys ROCK IT!!! What a fantastic location and you both are great hostesses.

To all the ladies that were able to make it, I loved meeting each of you.
For those of you unfortunate enough not to make it this year, here was our roll call:

Angie - one of our two hostesses and a great gal
Shannon - the second of our hostesses and I envy her camera :-)
Lula - what can I add, she is the one and only Lula.
Denise - an incredibly strong and beautiful woman whose story just brought me to tears.
Brandy - you totally rock everything girl.
Melissa - Driver extraordinaire and great gal. Sorry about your grandmother's passing, but I learned so much from you this weekend.
Lizzy - you are so stinking hilarious. I love your girls. You kept me smiling.
Kat = Okay, seriously, you are one of the smartest people on the planet, why aren't you on Jeopardy or Who Wants to be a Millionaire. Your smile is beautiful. And I know that I will never look at foam the same way again.
Angela - what a beautiful woman. Your gracious attempt to teach me to knit was fun and hilarious all at the same time. You truly are a darlin.
Jane - I didn't really get a chance to know you this trip, but what I did learn, I respect and admire a lot. I love your accent, it soothed me and made me want to sit down and just let you talk.
Heather - I am so totally glad that I got to meet you. What a down to earth person you are. I love the fact that you shared the story of your father with me and took the time to explain a little about scrapbooking and card making. Also, thanks for talking me into going out with the girls to Gatlinburg. It totally rocked.
Cara - Your monkey bread if fabulous. I enjoyed talking with you and I'm totally loving that you drive well. That trip to Gatlinburg was da' bomb.

As you can, see our group was very diverse, but we all laughed and laughed and ate and ate and I think we wound up bringing home more food that we left with (if that is possible). Mexican night was a hit.
Thanks to all of you for making my life a little richer. Looking forward to EE10. (Oh, can we please change the name. My body doesn't need the extra boost, know what I mean?)

Kori - Your blog is private, so I won't post the address here. I'm sorry that you were unable to attend. I think all of us missed you. Thank you so much for the breakfast you surprised us with. How very gracious of you to do that even though you could not make it. I'm sure we all wish you the best of luck with your move and look forward to seeing you happy after all the tragedy that has befallen you in this past year.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

Right now, as I am typing this, the time left on the counter for Estrogen Extravaganza (you see it, right there on the right). Yeah, well I have been waiting many, many moons to post this.

Only 23 hours 48 minutes left until we go to Estrogen Extravaganza. Myself, and 14 other of my nearest, dearest blogging buddies (of whom, I have only personally met one) will be driving, flying, walking (not really) carpooling, etc to a predetermined location in a beautiful mountain town to spend a glorious weekend terrorizing said beautiful mountain town.

In the last few days, everyone has begun to get a little excited. Emails have been flying fast and furiously between all of us worried if we are gonna have enough of eats or toilet paper. Believe me, we will have enough. I am having to borrow a car topper just so we can get all our luggage and food there.
I can hardly wait to meet all you super ladies. And if it works out, maybe we could go even bigger next year, just sayin'.
See you girls on Thursday evening.

Okay, here is a little about me, Kat (Sunshine and Lemonade)



rain or snow? I prefer snow (until it actually does, then I'm a house bunny)
apples or oranges? I love apples, but I love oranges too. Decisions....
Crayons or colored pencils? I dig crayons the best
Favorite John Hughes' movie? Sixteen candles
scented or unscented? depends on the scent
What toppings do you put on your burger? mayo, must, ketchup, pickles and onions
gift bag or gift wrap? who cares as long as I get a gift
print or cursive? love beautiful cursive writing, however, I have been known to become entranced by some really nice print as well
corn chips or potato chips? Okay, I like both, but if I must choose I would go with the deliciousness that is a salty, fat laden chip any day.
Favorite soup? Tater and bacon.

How about you? Visit Kat and link back to her. Y'all have a good day and it's only three more days till we whisk away to all the fun that is going to be EE.

Uhm YAY or EEEWW.....you decide.
We're all friends here, right?


Have you ever…(?)
co-opted toilet paper from a public washroom as a temporary measure
planned a vacation around your period
avoided white pants for that one 'special' week of the month
done a supplies hand-off with a girlfriend while the dates weren't looking
cautiously tucked the telltale string into your bikini
accidentally pulled a mystery object from your purse in front of a curious male audience
scuttled to the washroom to survey the leak damage after a sudden 'surge'
clogged your toilet with "flushable" feminine products
left a party with a jacket tied around your waist...?

I kid you not. I found this little gem while surfing around the net. It was on the mouthy-housewives website. It is http://www.divacup.com/ I'm not sure what my feelings are about this method. Anyone ever heard of this??? This looks like a little more "hands on" than I am comfortable with. I'm not a tampon gal and I'm not sure I could get used to a glob of silicone poked up my lady bits either. Not judgin', just sayin'.

Although, I could probably save a bundle on stained undergarments, huh?

What a day.....what a day......

Man, this has been the day from he....someplace bad. Here's my schedule today....

Got the kids off to school. Had an appointment with an endodontist to determine if I needed to have a root canal on my throbbing tooth. Good news is, NO, I don't need a root canal. They are just going to remove the filling and put in something called a sedative filling. Sedative? Anyone? Then I rushed home from there to pick up some paperwork that I was gonna need at my next order of business. I rushed to the elementary school and picked up the princess. No problemo. Rushed next door to the high school to get the two boys and off we go on a whirlwind trip down the interstate to the dermatologists office (our insurance covers once a year skin checks, it is a blessing). We get there and they call us all back at the same time. YIPPEE!!! My daughter checks out okay. My oldest boy gets a few samples of acne control medication (he is after all in that prime time of his life now). Middle child has four warts they freeze off. But otherwise they are all good to go. Now it's my turn.....I have two places that have to be cut out. YOW!!!! And six places on my neck that have to be frozen and one on my right boob that has to be frozen off and one on my right leg. I have never been so glad to give somebody my money and get the heck out of there. Then back on the interstate for another 45 minute trip to the orthaepedic doctor so my oldest son can have his check up on his broken hand. It is healing nicely and he got a new cast that didn't smell like rotten butt.

While we were waiting for his cast person to show up, I had to leave and rush middle child to Sylvan to tutoring. It is a couple miles from the ortho. Screeched up into the parking lot, booted him out and screeched back to the ortho just in time to finish watching my son get his new cast. I talked to my hunny by direct connect and he was gonna wait for the one in Sylvan so I could go home. Here's the great wife and mother part, as I was sitting in the drive thru of the local Lil Ceasars pizza. I see his truck at the 7-11 next door. We had a pizza picnic right there in the parking lot. He was so exhausted that I decided to let him come home with the other two and I waited for Sylvan to be over. Then, child two and I screeched our way home.

I am so blessed that we have the insurance to cover the cost of all this work that my family and I had done today. Blessed that we all have the health to screech here and there. Blessed to have friends to share a day with. Thanks, friends.

This whole world has lost it's mind, it's not just America.....

You see that? Over there, on the right hand side... It is a bronze statue of Bill Clinton. You heard me, Bill Clinton. The former president was honored as a hero by the ethnic Albanian population in Kosovo.

Okay. When I read the headline, "Former President Clinton receives statue in his honor", (before I read the complete article) in my mind I was picturing him sitting back at his desk in the oval office with Monica Lewinsky's shoes poking out the other side.

Hey, don't be hatin', just sayin'. This world is a messed up place sometimes.

Have a great week everyone.......