Adios!

I'm off to Orlando to celebrate New Year's Eve in style with my boys The Dukes of Swagger! Hubby and I are catching a flight out tomorrow afternoon and head to our hotel downtown to prepare for a night of non-stop partying. I've got to pack my party dresses, comfy heels (I know, that's an oxymoron), and don't forget sneakers to walk around Disney World on Saturday!

I hope you all have a wonderful New Year's!!!

Resolutions

With New Year's Eve rapidly approaching and every news source ranting and raving with suggested resolutions, I've taken some time to decide what my resolutions will be in 2009. I've also spent some time thinking about the resolutions I won't be bothering with. For example:

1. I'm not vowing to lose weight (I'll be skinny on my deathbed)
2. I'm not going to be a better phone friend (I prefer emailing)
3. I'm not going to work on not complaining (hell, I'm really good at it. Ask my hubby)
4. I'm not going to get in touch with old friends (If I haven't talked to you since college,forget it)
5. I'm not going to work on my occasional procrastination (I'm okay with pushing things back)

However, I will work on the following:

1. Saving money for my girls trip in September
2. Getting more facials and massages
3. Eating healthier and avoiding foods that make me feel crummy
4. Enjoying time with my hubby (in whatever activities we plan)
5. Mastering the Medium level on the drums in Rock Band

Christmas Has Come And Gone....

and I have to admit I'm a little sad about that. I had such a great 4 day weekend I wish it didn't have to end! Christmas Eve found out joining T and her family for a wonderfully relaxing dinner of steak and crab legs (YUM!). Even after stuffing ourselves at dinner, we managed to find time to play a rousing game of Taboo (we'll beat those boys next time!).

Christmas Day we slept in and opened our presents at a luxuriously lazy pace. My hubby surprised me with a massage gift certificate and a Wustoff knife collection! I actually had a very hard time finding presents for my hubby this year. We usually buy whatever the heck we want throughout the year which tends to make gift-giving tough. I did buy him a fog-free mirror for the shower so he can quit missing spots while he shaves. I also got him some cd's and clothes.

Shortly after we headed to his parent's house down the road and had Christmas morning there. Our big gift from his parents was cash for our honeymoon trip. We were so shocked and surprised, but we learned quickly it came with some conditions: They want us to come back pregnant! Of course I told them they could keep their money and we'd do a honeymoon on our terms, lol. No, we were very happy at their generous gift and we've decided to take our honeymoon in Mexico for Valentine's Day. Oh, and I won't be coming home preggers, I can guarantee that.

Later that afternoon a bunch of family piled into the motorhome to head to Marble Falls and do the "big family" Christmas. We played a rousing game of White Elephant and chilled out. Only minor drama ensued with some drinking issues (I'm not naming names) later in the evening. The male cousins continued to party late in the night while my lame ass was sleeping by 10pm. A girl needs her beauty sleep!

The rest of the weekend was spent shopping, eating, relaxing, and visiting with friends. Now that all the festivities have passed it makes me wish Christmas lasted a bit longer. However, I'm not sulking too much because I have to get ready and pack my bags to spend New Year's in Orlando!

What To Get The Holy Roller in Your Family

Why not get them the Holy Toast Bread Press?!!

I picked this up for my hubby's maternal grandparents, but somehow I think they will be ticked off if I actually send it to them. They might not get the joke. Or they could absolutely love it. What can I say, it's a crapshoot on sending it to them!

Wii Had A Great Weekend!

This weekend was definitely a busy one for hubby and me. Our cousin threw an "Ugly Sweater" party on Friday and it was too funny! I'll post a picture documenting just how horrendous we looked. We had matching men's sweaters on, dark blue jeans, and Adidas shell toes. I even added some ugly 80's earrings to really take it up a notch.

Saturday we joined some friends for a birthday bash where the birthday boy called it an evening by 9pm due to heavy amounts of shots and little food. Afterwards, we headed to C.'s house to play some Guitar Hero:Rock Band and jam out for a little bit. It turned into a 5 hour jam fest and we didn't leave their house until 3:30am! I finally convinced my hubby the Wii was awesome and he decided on the spot we need a big screen TV. Boys and their toys! We slept in the next morning and had an open house breakfast at hubby's parents house where we laughed with neighbors for a few hours.

I'll post some pics tomorrow, including my new washer/dryer and the bitchin' coat I got!

All Partied Out

Last night was our girly Christmas party and I need the longest nap to recover from staying up so late! Our hostess with the mostess opened her lovely house to the gang and the place was beautifully decorated from the tree with "spermies" to the giant nutcraker that greeted you at the front door. To keep things easy we ordered dinner from Olive Garden and had quite the selection with a ton of leftovers.

Each girl brought a wrapped present for the white elephant and it was a cut-throat game to say the least! Popular gifts that were stolen included a pitcher/glass set, cute hat and earrings,and a calendar with pictures of the girls throughout the year. Trust me, there were some nasty faces being made as presents were stolen (yes, mostly from me and T!). After a few hours of non-stop gabbing and bonding, most girls called it a night and headed home to their warm beds.

For the few of us that crashed at the house, we watched Sex And The City and made it about halfway thru before we started checking our eyelids for cracks. We called it a night around 1am and headed to bed. I would say it took a good 30-40 minutes for us to stop laughing and causing a raucous to finally pass out.

It was a wonderful party and so glad to see so many girls could make it. To the girls who had to miss it, you better make the party next year! Merry Christmas Lucky Chicks!!!

Girly Christmas Party Day!!

Wahoo!! Finally it's time for the Girls Christmas Party! The presents have been purchased, food and drink selections made and now it's time to get together and party. I think it's safe to say we've all been anticipating today and that we're all ready for some relaxation and to see everyone. It feels like it's been forever since the group got together!

A few of us are spending the night (who doesn't love a sleepover?!) and watching Sex and The City after the party winds down. I am so looking forward to stuffing my face with Olive Garden, stealing presents and chilling on the couch with a great girly movie.

Love you girls and see you tonight!

Wednesday Funny

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Early Presents!

How I love getting presents early!!! Ok, so I knew the first two were coming, but who cares?! We're finally replacing our washer and dryer that was a loaner from friends in our neighborhood. They helped us out by lending their older set until we got on our feet and found a new set we liked. Three years later and the fact the dyer doesn't turn off by itself, we decided to get a new set. So excited, because I'm pretty sure our electricity bill will go down now.

Also, our TV is on the fritz, so it looks like we need to get a new one. My hubby is so upset, NOT! He's been eyeing a flat screen for so long, it's ridiculous. Luckily, with the shiteous economy they are a really good bargain right now, but we're holding off until after Christmas. We really expect the prices to plummet then.

And last but not least, my hubby is taking me to Disney World! Since we're already going to be in Orlando for New Year's and he knows how much I LOVE Disney, he surprised me with tickets. Now if only I can convince him we need to be at the gates right when they open and we're not leaving until the last fireworks display is over!!!

WTF?

As I'm driving back to work from an appointment this afternoon, I notice a "homeless" man. Usually no big deal because you see them all the time at the intersections. What was so weird was this man parked his car on the median, got out, went to the opposite side of the intersection, pulled out a homeless sign that read " Please help" all while he was on his cell phone!

I mean, really, if you're going to pretend to need money, put your cell phone away and hide your car better!

Weekend Wrap-Up

I am so tired of baking! I spent all day Sunday making pizzelles, cinnamon rolls, and date bars. Lord help me, if I never see another cookie again, that would be okay! Nonetheless, it did make my house smell delicious all day so I guess it was worth it.

Friday my hubby and I went to dinner at the Belmont with a cousin and his girlfriend to celebrate the weekend. I had a wonderful Flounder dish that was perfectly seasoned, so yummy. We hit up a bar called Madison, which was very cool.

Saturday we got up around 11 and had a late breakfast and then we went home and took a three hour nap, it was awesome! Seriously, the nap was the best part of the day. Besides the fried potatoes at breakfast. We went to a neighbor friend's gymnastics competition and finished the evening off by doing some last minute Christmas shopping. Then we went home and I became engrossed in the movie Narnia. Loved it!

Overall, it was a laid back weekend, but boy and I ready for the Girls Party this week!

Something For The Twilight Fans

Do you know someone who was or is addicted to the Twilight books? If so, give them the gift that speaks volumes.... an Edward Cullen doll!

Come on, you know you want one!

Another Test Down

I had yet another test today to see what is causing my recurring stomach issues. Today was a funny Gastric Emptying Test, where you fast and they feed you scrambled eggs with a little bit of radioactive elements and then they take pictures of your stomach every hour for 4 hours. My doctor is trying to see if the food I'm eating is hanging around in my stomach longer than it should which may be the cause of my pain. I'm keeping my fingers crossed this is the issue because it's treatable with dietary restrictions and medicine. And quite honestly, I'm tired of being poked and prodded and still feeling like crap.

My hubby wants to take me out to dinner to celebrate some good news at my work, but honestly, I'm really tired of eating because I feel gross and bloated immediately after eating. It's totally not worth it. And I've got to be honest, you'd think I would be loosing weight, nope, not happening! I actually think I've gained two pounds from all the rice and bread I'm eating to absorb the acids in my stomach! So boo-hoo for me.

Ok, I'm done ranting. Please keep your fingers crossed that the test shows something!

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!

Don't you just love this weather? We go from humid and 78 degrees in the morning, to windy, rain, sleet and 30 degree temperatures by dusk! It started sleeting in my neighborhood around 7pm and it continued well into the night. I even saw some snow flurries!

Here's some pictures of my car after about an hour of nasty weather.

You can even see some snow flurries in the photos! I asked my hubby to write "Brrrr" on the hood of my car in the top picture so it would be cute. He replied okay, and wrote "Burr." I laughed my ass off for about 5 minutes. He was quite perplexed because he thought that was the right way to spell it.

Are You A Victim of DVR Guilt?

If you're like the majority of the world, you pay the additional $6 to have TIVO or a DVR on your television. Ah, the ability to breeze past annoyingly loud commercials, stupid movie trailers, etc. While this amazing machine has made it possible to watch an hour long show in only 40 minutes, it is also a cause of guilt.

How you ask? Because people committed themselves to recording whole seasons of multiple shows and quickly realized that time is unlimited. If you are recording 8-10 shows a week, most of us aren't able to watch them all in the week they were recording and slowly but surely your DVR gets backlogged. Why not simply erase them?! It seems no one likes to be a quitter and they force themselves to watch shows they may no longer care about just because they recorded them.

Case in point, myself. I used to tape Ghost Whisperer and multiple other shows. Over the past year, television is loosing its appeal to me and it's not the end of the world if I don't know what's going on with the most popular shows. So I've erased all the crap I no longer watch or care about. My hubby on the other hand, it addicted to his shows and watches them all, no matter how long it takes. He appears dumbfounded when I tell him I've grown up and don't let the TV rule my life anymore. Then he gets sad because I don't care for the shows we used to watch early on in our relationship.

So my friends, this is my PSA for DVR Guilt. You too can move past your addictions and experience a whole different world where the TV doesn't reign supreme. I'll get off my soapbox now.

Weekend Wrap-Up

This weekend a few wonderful girlfriends of mine and I volunteered some time at Coats for Kids. Basically, this charity collects gently used and new coats for children and then has a big distribution day where those in hard times can pick up new coats for their kiddos. This was my first time working this event, and I was very impressed with the efficiency of the promoters and that they didn't micro-manage, they just told us to only give the number of coats they were qualified to receive.

It was hard to comprehend the long line that snaked around the building and to see the people wrapped up in blankets to fend off the chilly weather. At 8am, the doors open and people flooded the qualification tables. Once they were qualified, you were introduced to a family and walked them around to pick out new coats. The children were so happy to be able to pick their own coats and help their little brothers and sisters make their choices. It was heartbreaking to see the excited look in their eyes, because it made me realize they probably wouldn't of had a coat at all without this charity.

We donated three hours and it went by in a flash. The parents and children were so happy and polite. Many mothers thanked me countless times and told me they got in line at 3am to ensure they could find coats their kids would be happy in. We all decided to donate our time again next year and maybe even get our hubbies involved. The whole experience really made me grateful for all that I have and to realize how blessed we all truly are.

How Much Is The Most Expensive Vibrator?

Ah, I do love my neighborhood bunco group. Forgoing the traditional night of eating and playing bunco, we decided to eat and do a bottle exchange. Pretty much it was an excuse to give and get a bottle of wine, champagne, port, etc. Who doesn't love that?

After a rousing game of white elephant where the best bottles were stolen repeatedly, we settled in for some womanly chitchat. Someone remarked they were taking their prize and going home to get frisky, and I mentioned if they had come to my Pure Romance party they would have had a hell of a night! The topic of conversation (thanks to my mother-in-law) then launched into what was the most expensive vibrator they offered at the party. Most of the women guessed $50, and their mouths fell open when I said it was actually $150.

My MIL asked what the heck that thing did for $150, to which my spitfire friend sitting next to me replied "It damn well better clean my house for $150. Because that's the only reason why I would ever pay $150 for something." Hilarity ensued as we fell to the floor laughing our asses off.

Like I said, I do love my neighborhood bunco gals!

So A Camel Walks Into A Bar

On my way home yesterday I noticed a group of camels on the side of the road. I hate prostituting camels(just kidding). I pulled over into the church parking lot to see why there were camels on the side of the road. Turns out they are advertising for a Living Nativity play they are doing this weekend.

They had four camels and you could pet them and take pictures. Hence this picture of Sheba, a 17 year old camel who was preggers.

I asked a bunch of questions and found out the following:

1. They only spit when they are mad

2. They live to be around 40 years old

3. They swing their bodies around with the gracefullness of a ballerina, and they can knock you on your ass!

4. Their fur reminds me of a shag carpet

5. Their top hump consists of fat only

6. They are very stubborn animals

7. The pregnancy lasts 13 months!

I'm Normal...

well, at least my gallbladder is. I just got a call regarding my gallbladder test from yesterday, and everything looks good and normal. Now, I know I should be happy about this, but I'm really tired of having abdominal pain. I kind of wanted it to be my gallbladder so they could say they finally pinpointed the source of my pain.

The doctor is going to review my charts and scans and figure out the next step. I just hope the next step doesn't include IV's and needles!

You Want To Put That Radioactive Dye Where?

Oh, in yet another painful IV in my arm and inject me with that stuff? Awesome. I had a test on my gallbladder today to see if it's the culprit behind my abdominal pain and digestion issues. I had to arrive around 7:45am, which meant I had to wake up earlier than normal, and I wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything. Boo.

The technician puts an IV in my arm and informs me that she's going to inject a radioactive dye into my arm where it will filter into the liver and light up the camera that's above my head. She informs me the dye won't hurt (hmm, then why the hell is my arm burning?) and that I can watch the progression of the dye into my liver on the camera. I have to admit, it was pretty neat. The camera screen is blank for about 5 minutes, and little by little, a hazy blob shows up, and eventually my whole liver is lit up like the fourth of July. About 45 minutes in, a smaller blob shows up, which is my gallbladder. The liver is doing it's job and passing the dye into the gallbladder. After an hour is up, the tech inserts a reactor dye into my veins that will force the gallbladder to start pumping the fluid into the small intestines.

What the doctor will be looking for is how fast the fluid moves into the intestines, how much of it moved, and if there are any gallstones blocking the fluid, etc. All very fascinating to see on screen. I'm just hoping I don't have radioactive pee for the next few days!

Now it's just a wait and see game. It takes around 24-48 hours for results. Hopefully they will figure out the cause of my pain, because I'm really over being stuck with needles!

Randomness

1. I'm locked out of my accounting system at work today. I've looked at every gossip column possible and I'm really bored now.

2. I saw John Paul DeJoria at the movie theater this weekend. You know, the Paul Mitchell haircare guy.

3. I finally got my hair cut on Wednesday and I got bangs!

4. I'm totally in love with the Finnish band "Apocalyptica"

5. I'm over Thanksgiving food. Go away leftovers.

6. I'm ready for all the holiday parties to start.

7. While in Best Buy this weekend, I wanted all the snot-nose little kids to stop playing the Guitar Hero demo so I could play the drums.

8. Saving Sarah Marshall is a freakin' hilarious movie. Kristen Bell was fabulous!

9. The new Indiana Jones movie was terrible.

10. I finally got some Wustof knives. Totally awesome present!

Thanksgiving Wrap-up

What a long and lovely holiday weekend! I have to admit, I absolutely love getting to sleep in until 9:30 am for four days. Turkey Day was fairly tame this year, no family drama. I decided to cook a turkey at our house for my hubby and I as an excuse to stay home. I woke up around 9ish and got to work. My only fiasco of the day happened early, so I was thankful for that. As I'm stirring my coconut cream pie filling, I see these little brown seed looking things floating. I wracked my brain trying to think if I accidentally put anisette in the mixture, but upon a closer look, I realized I had weevils. The bugs had taken up residence in my sack of flour! I had to scrap that pie and went to three different gas stations in search of more coconut for another cake.

The rest of the cooking was uneventful and around 2pm my hubby informed me we were having guests for dinner. A musician friend of ours who is in town was surprised by his girlfriend and we couldn't let them eat fast food!

After dinner, we had an invitation to head to Willie Nelson's ranch to hang out. Willie was in NYC, but our musician friend had made friends with the main ranch hand and his nephew. I was feeling a bit under the weather, so the rest of the gang headed out. They ended up getting a tour and playing pool until 4am! My hubby also came back with a cooler full of buffalo, elk, deer and pig meat!

Saturday I convinced my hubby to take me to see Twilight. I loved the books and knew it would be difficult to fit a 600 page book into a movie rated PG-13 that was only 1 1/2 long. Overall, I liked the movie. I didn't love it because they left out some good parts and down-played a lot of important and strong features from the book. In my experience, the movies are never as wonderful as the books because of time constraints, budgets, etc. My hubby and I were really digging Edward's (main vampire) pea coat and his hair. I'll see the sequel, but I'll know what to expect the second time around. Afterwards, we hit up Marshall's, my hubby's favorite store. I scored this awesome ski cap for only $3! I know it doesn't get cold enough here for this hat, but maybe if I ever go skiing?!

Sunday we did some shopping and found a few more presents to knock off our list. We also decided to go to Orlando for New Year's, so I had to find a dress. I wasn't looking to spend a lot of money in case it got ruined by dumb bitches with cigarettes. I ended up finding this fun party dress at Dillard's, and it was marked down to $17 from the original price of $80!

We also put up our little Christmas tree and other decorations. It was so nice to not have to rush around and see tons of family and try to please everyone. I loved laid-back holidays! How was your Thanksgiving weekend?