Our plans for the evening consisted of Vaughn, Adam & I playing the CSI dvd game that Santa brought me. However, Adam informed me this afternoon that he had other ideas and is now spending the night at a friend's house. So, Vaughn has gone to pick us up dinner, I'm in my jammies and we'll be watching more 'Sopranos'. Sounds like a fantastic evening!

Happy New Year to you and your families, and all the best in 2009!

woke up this morning, got yourself a gun....

So, Santa was great this year - I got the complete series of 'The Sopranos' and have had serious dreams of organized crime for 4 nights. I never watched the series - not even one episode. But, when the commercials used to come on, I'd always say that I wish I had started watching it. I'm enjoying it so much.




Christmas was great this year - My Mom & Dad flew up and are staying until 14 January. Notice the normalcy of what is my family. Once again, another 'licking' picture to circulate the web.

Porkchop on Christmas morning - She's not so crazy about the insanity of the holidays. But she loves treats.











I love having my parents here - I love it even more that they're staying at my brother's.

Adam wore this under his sweatshirt on Christmas Day & told his friend, Katherine that he had something to show her. He lifted up his hoodie and she said yes! It's amazing to think my son would have been a stylish gangster - the suit he picked out for his graduation has been worn by just about every mobster in 'The Sopranos' - black, double breasted with pinstripes, and the hat with the feather to top it all off. So cool.

no man is a failure who has friends....

This is the one thing I look forward to most every year - watching this on Christmas Eve. As I have for the past 20 years, I swear every time I won't cry, and every year it moves me more than the year before. (Can you believe it, Kare? I actually cried. hahaha) We watched it this evening instead because Amy managed to get tomorrow off work so she's flying up in the morning!!! I'm so happy.

Here's wishing you and your families a very safe and happy holiday. May you be blessed with love, and much happiness.

Okay, so it's not a hurricane, it's not a tsunami, it may not even be the end of the world. But, believe me, it's a disaster for me.

I was getting ready for work this morning, and, as I always do, I dry my hair, put on my makeup, and as I'm sectioning my hair, I turn on my flat iron. However, this morning, it would not work. After about 15 minutes of panicked attempts of pressing the 'reset' button, Vaughn woke up & my eyes were filled with tears. When I told him what was happening, he immediately took out his tools to try and fix it. Poor guy - he took one look at my head and knew he had to perform a miracle. When that didn't work, he took out the soldering iron to try and make a connection in the wires. Nope. Nothing.

When I say I have naturally curly hair, its kind of an understatement. I mean, if I had intended on wearing my hair curly today, it probably would have looked great, because I have corkscrew curl - but it takes a LOT of work to make it look good. I have to use a ton of product and a diffuser. When I'm intending on wearing my hair straight, I just turn my head upside down and wait until the hair dryer does it's job. The result is that I look like a mixture between Gene Simmons and Don King. That's when my flat iron does it's magic.

So, here I am, having had to use a bottle of shine and a curling iron to straighten this nest on my head - all so I can look presentable enough to make it to the hair salon to purchase another straightener before I have to go to work.

Just to give you an idea of what my hair is like, allow me to share a few photos of my childhood. When my mother took me for my 1st haircut, the hairdresser couldn't even get a comb through my hair. She had to grab it in clumps and cut it right to the skull. I looked like a little boy for years. Needless to say, I have total hair issues.

decorations & dogs.........

I got this ornament at Liberace's museum in Las Vegas in July - it doesn't matter where I go, I'll scope out ornaments anywhere. It's my Christmas 2008 favorite.

Porkchop's friend, Winston came over with his human for a visit last week. As you can tell by the photo, Porkchop was not too impressed with the visitor. He likes to sniff her bum and she wants nothing to do with it.

This was taken after Winston finally left. She was exhausted, having to dodge his nose for three hours.

Our Charlie Brown Christmas tree this year.

Have a wonderful weekend!!!!

urinetown

at the makeup table

in costume

Adam & Luay aka Mr. Cladwell & Officer Lockstock

I'll be the 1st to admit that I was a little skeptical about Adam's drama club performing this musical. I figured, if anything else, the name alone would turn people off from seeing it. Boy was I wrong. It was absolutely fantastic. They performed 'Cats' last year, and while I appreciated the professionalism and the talent of the play, 'Urinetown' totally blew it right out of the water. It was the most entertaining show I'd ever been to.

Adam's character, Caldwell B. Cladwell, was the token 'bad guy', and I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing, but my son was the best asshole (his interpretation, not mine - okay, maybe mine too) in the history of high school musicals. It was phenomenal. They had 7 performances and I made it to three. I even bought out an entire row last Friday for family & coworkers. I'm so proud, I can't even stand it.

picture this....

I saw this painting in a store back in September or October and was instantly attracted to it. I knew it was probably too big for my dining room, so, as always, I sent a picture to Kare and anxiously waited for her opinion. She liked it, told me I should buy it (yes, she's a terrific influence), so I did. I brought it home, Vaughn hung it on the wall, and from that moment on, it gave me the creeps. I don't know if it was the fact that none of the people had faces, but it was giving me nightmares. Seriously. I didn't know what to do.

Then one evening while I was in a furniture store with Vaughn, I came across another painting. I swear, angels began to sing when I looked at it. It was much bigger than the already too big creepy painting, but I loved it right away. I made myself comfortable on a couch while Vaughn went looking at big screen tv's and once again sent the picture to Kare. We had a long, wonderful conversation while I laid on the couch, and I contemplated whether or not I should buy it. I mean, it had only been a few weeks since the creepy painting episode, so I figured I'd lay off the impulse buys and give it some time. I walked in about 3 weeks later and there it was. I took it as a sign.


I'll be the first to admit that I have a shopping problem, but I kind of blame Kare. Even living 8 hours away, she still helps me feed my addiction. I miss her every day.