Ever get the feeling that it's gonna be one of 'those' days? I miss Amy today. I miss Kare today. I want to call in sick & drink coffee all day, but there's no Amy or Kare to play hooky with.

and the winner is.....

Seriously, people - I can't make this shit up.

Since I had a whole bunch of Partylite, I figured I'd draw 2 names. So, I put all the names in my bucket - every time you made a comment since last week, your name went in the draw. I drew the 1st name:

Netter

This lady has won every draw I've ever had, so I chuckled. Then I drew name 2:

Netter

Are you seeing a connection here? ahhaha That woman has a hex on me.


Congratulations!!!!!

I Do.....Again

Every young girl fantasizes about her dream wedding. You know, big poofy gown, lots of people, jillions of flowers.... My dream was a little different. I always wanted to be married by an Elvis impersonator in Las Vegas. Because I got married quite young and my parents paid for everything, they totally dissed the idea, so we settled for a semi-traditional wedding which I despised (read a previous blog-rant here).

With our 20th anniversary in 2009, Vaughn suggested that I finally make my dream come true. We're taking the kids to Vegas and we're renewing our vows at Graceland Wedding Chapel!!! Finally, I'm getting my dream wedding....and I get to marry my dream man all over again.

Oopsie....

After I picked up Adam from school today, I went into the drugstore to get him refills for his toothbrush, on account of the fact he's using a new brush tip every 2-3 weeks because his braces rip through everything. Adam waited in the car. He knows never to go into the drugstore with me because 'I'm just going to pick up one thing' is never the case. I smell the new perfumes, check out the magazines, buy some makeup, etc, etc, etc.

I do my Almond M&M check as I'm walking by the candy aisle & I clean the store out of the 9 bags that are there. As I'm walking back to the car and fumbling with the m&m bag, trying to get it opened, I grabbed the handle & yanked the door open. I think it was the man's scream that prompted me to look up. I had walked to the wrong car, opened the wrong door, scared the crap out of the poor man waiting for his wife & lost 1/2 bag of my m&m's onto his lap in the process.

Thing I learned today - ALWAYS WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING.

CONTEST!!!!

Have any of you ever been to a Partylite party? Well, let me just tell you that I've hosted many and have been to more than I could even count. I have blanket chests that have so many candles that there is no room for blankets.

I over-indulged at the last party I went to about a month ago, so now I'm going to have a giveaway! Every person's comment for the next week will be added to a jar & I'll draw the name next Friday!

happy halloween!

This was me at work today - I swear, I'm game for dressing up anytime.
Notice the 'Hitmen' hockey jersey - a Calgary team owned by the man himself, Bret Hart. *big sigh* I painted on the black eye, but Vaughn offered to give me one for free. All I said to him is 'Go ahead, but you'd better pray that I don't get back up'. I guess I didn't think this whole costume up so well, because I realized too late that hockey pants aren't meant to be worn while driving a car. It felt like I was wearing armor, which would probably be a good thing if I were a real hockey player.

It's almost 4:30pm & I'm expecting the kids to start showing up pretty soon, so I'd better get the treats ready by the door.

Have a Happy Halloween!

my latest read....

My favorite niece, Kaylee (my brother's daughter) is sleeping over for 3 nights, along with her dog, Sparkles. This is her absolute favorite book so she brought it to me and insisted I read it. I've seen a few trailers for the upcoming movie in November, and it looks pretty interesting. I'm a sucker (pardon the pun) for love stories and vampires so I figure I'll start it this weekend... Has anyone else had a chance to read it?

'What will your obituary say?' at QuizGalaxy.com

Desperate Housewife & Peter have been having some fun at my expense. See if I ever lick something when there's a camera around again....Who would have thought my tongue would become this famous?

this one's for rue as well....

How adorable would netter's niece look in this? Enter the contest, and if you don't know a girl that would enjoy it, I know netter does!

size does matter....

When I'm with Amy, every situation is a photo opportunity....even in Costco.

Imagine my surprise when I notice I'd been tagged on Facebook.... I forgot about this picture - I wish she had too.

Oh well, with all the jumbo sized items, I guess this really could have been worse.

Really.

who's the boss....

Every morning I wake up at 5:20am (over an hour before everyone else), just so I can shower, make coffee, get ready for the day, in peace. I'm not sure if I do this every day for the safety of myself or others, as it's been clinically proven that I will bludgeon anyone who comes into contact with me before I've showered and had at least had 4-5 gulps of caffeine. Anyway, back to my story.

Anyone who knows me knows my love for Miss Porkchop. However, I've come to terms with the fact that I'm not her favorite human. Sure, she loves me, but in a different way than anyone else. We've discovered that she thinks she's Adam's mother, as she protects him, sits on his lap to 'help' him with his homework, wakes him up in the morning, and nags him by burrowing and licking until he finally gets out of bed.

As for Amy, well, she's her wrestling buddy. When she and Amy 'play', there are sounds that come out of my little Angel of a dog that are more resemblant of a rabid hyena than the little princess that I claim she is. I always yell, "Cut it out! She's just a little girl!" But, there Porkchop is, jumping on Amy's lap, waiting for more.

My role in Porkchop's life is her companion, aka, her pain in the ass. You see, I'm the one who can't stand it if she's just sleeping there. I have to go up and hug her, kiss her, scratch her, pick her up, and just basically, piss her off. Sure, she loves me to death. When I come home, she cries with joy and rolls instantly on her back so I can maul her. I still tell her every day (about a million times) that I love her more than anything, and that she's the greatest part of every day. However, she usually lays there, taking it all in, giving me the stink-eye the entire time.

And then there's Vaughn. To Porkchop, the sun shines right out of his ass. She follows him wherever he goes, whether it be to the kitchen to get a drink, or to the bathroom. Sometimes at night, he'll wake up to go downstairs and if she wakes up and he's not there, she'll start to cry. When he comes back to bed (about 30 seconds later), she jumps on him and kisses him like he's a long lost soldier that came back from 30 years at war. As you can see from this picture, he is sitting on the couch and she's buried herself right behind him. She sleeps directly on top of him, and I know that if it were up to her, I'd be sleeping on the couch. I know this to be a fact, because when I get out of the shower every morning, I tiptoe into the bedroom to kiss her good morning. There's never any glee or joy to see me. Want to know what I walk into? My darling dog buried under the blankets laying on the pillow peacefully sleeping - on my side of the bed. Heaven forbid if I was ever considering getting back in.
I couldn't possibly ever get mad at her. I still love her to the point that I can't stop picking on her - no matter how cheezed she gets at me. She was and will always be Porkchop the Wonder Dog - Princess of Greatness. My little angel right from heaven.

Who doesn't need a quilt? At Pigtails and Snails, she's giving away an absolutely beautiful, original, handmade quilt! Check it out & enter your name!

happy thanksgiving!!!

We had our Thanksgiving dinner yesterday, and, as usual, I overloaded my plate and smothered everything in gravy. If you look closely you'll notice one thing missing from my plate and that's turkey. I love everything about a big dinner, but there's always so many other things to eat, I never have meat until the big sandwiches on Vaughn's famous homemade bread the next day.

It was a quiet day for us - Amy couldn't come home & I had been battling a migraine all weekend, so Vaughn got up and prepared the turkey (which, to me, is the most disgusting chore of all time), so all I did was peel the veggies and make the stuffing. It was much smaller in scale than it usually is, but, with only the 3 of us, it was just right. I left the fancy dishes in the cabinet & it was pretty laid back - we all ate dinner in our jammies and watched movies.

Happy Thanksgiving !

these are a few of my favorite things....

Amy's friend, Jamie (and my guinea pig for the nail course) dropped over last week on my birthday, while I was at work. Amy called me afterwards...

Amy: Mom, when are you coming home?
Me: I'm on my way. Why?
Amy: Jamie brought you a present.
Me: A present??? Yay! What is it?
Amy: I'm not telling you. Come home and see.
Me: Can you give me a hint?
Amy: Okay. It combines 2 of your favorite things.
Me: Almond M&M's and Ricky Martin?
Amy: Goodbye, Mom.

It wasn't either of those things....It was a Christmas ornament of a lighthouse - two of the other things that I love.

karma...

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2008/10/04/sot.oj.verdict.ap

Now there's a shock. Nobody saw this one coming. I think that this alone is the reason the media drives me crazy. I guess this is what you sign up for when you decide to become a celebrity...or whatever it is you'd call Clay Aiken.

*note the sarcasm in my voice* Thank you, desperate housewife. Since I saw the flip flops she purchased this summer, I have become L.L. Bean obsessed. The new catalog came on Friday and I ordered 5 sweaters, 2 pairs of slippers, a pair of jammies & toys for Porkchop. Please make it stop.

I finally found a vanity & sink for our bathroom - however, because we apparently live in Russia, there wasn't any in stock (huge surprise), I have to special order it. They say there's a possibility it could be here by next week, but by the tone of the salesperson's voice, I'm assuming it's probably closer to sometime next year. Looks like I'll have to take a trip down the highway to get anything quicker. Besides, there's a new exhibit coming to the Space & Science center that Adam is going to die for, so we'll have to get to Edmonton anyway:

Stole this quiz from lucy - Have a great day, everyone.

What Darlene Means

You are balanced, orderly, and organized. You like your ducks in a row. You are powerful and competent, especially in the workplace. People can see you as stubborn and headstrong. You definitely have a dominant personality. You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection. You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic "Type A" personality. You are wild, crazy, and a huge rebel. You're always up to something. You have a ton of energy, and most people can't handle you. You're very intense. You definitely are a handful, and you're likely to get in trouble. But your kind of trouble is a lot of fun. You are relaxed, chill, and very likely to go with the flow. You are light hearted and accepting. You don't get worked up easily. Well adjusted and incredibly happy, many people wonder what your secret to life is. You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone. You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together. At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together. You are very intuitive and wise. You understand the world better than most people. You also have a very active imagination. You often get carried away with your thoughts. You are prone to a little paranoia and jealousy. You sometimes go overboard in interpreting signals.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

I'm so excited that this is coming out on DVD on Tuesday! I do, however, hate Big & think she should have ended up with Aiden, but, aside from that, I was a huge fan and never missed one episode. I haven't found a show like this one since.










Update: Checked this out on Kare's blog. I think I drink too much coffee...

a quick read & a movie

I read this book about a week ago - a quick read, but so humorous. I love Billy Crystal's interpretation of his family and his upbringing. However, it was much more enjoyable when I was visualizing his family speaking in their Jewish/New York accents.

Adam is at a friend's for the day, and I had recorded this on the PVR awhile ago, so after shopping for a new vanity for the bathroom (story about this to follow....), we had a few hours to kill. Depressing, heartbreaking, and, I'll admit, when it finally hit Halle Berry's character that her husband was gone, her breakdown brought tears to my eyes. And Benicio del Toro? Well, he's just amazing in anything he stars in.

Now...to the new vanity in the bathroom.... Amy came up to surprise me last Sunday, because her birthday was Monday & my heart was broken. We had a ton of kids here (and by kids, I mean, her 21-23 year old friends that will always be kids to me)... Anyway, I always have a candle lit in the bathroom on the corner of the vanity. I have for the 12 years we've lived here. One of her friends (of course, nobody went to the bathroom) washed their hands and dropped the towel on the candle and set my bathroom on fire. Thankfully, it was caught early and the only major damage was the vanity. Once the shock wore off, I realized it was time for a bathroom overhaul anyway.

Have a wonderful weekend. :o)

acting, singing & other bodily functions....

I'll admit, I was a little surprised at the high school's choice of musical this year, but nonetheless, Adam auditioned for it, and guess what? He got the lead!!! I don't know who was more excited!

Rehearsals start today, and for the next 3 months, it's going to be insane for him. It's usually about 15 hours a week (after school & on weekends) up until two weeks before the play, and then it's 30-35 hours a week. On top of that, they then have 8 performances. Isn't that crazy?

My son is a natural performer. He claims to be a shy person, but when he gets on stage, he shines. He's definitely found his calling. I'm so proud of him. :o)

I walked into Ikea last weekend to get these:

And, I walked out with this:
After almost 19 years of marriage I finally was able to rid myself of the very last 'hand-me-down' piece of furniture that we owned. I'm not quite sure as to why we hung onto our old china cabinet for so long, as I can honestly say it was the ugliest eyesore EVER. Geez, I've been through 5 dining room tables, 4 living room sets, and at least 12 sets of dishes since we got that cabinet from my parents. Since we threw out the old one, I've come to the conclusion that I don't actually hate my house anymore. I'm not in love with the new one, but, with the amount of stuff I have, it was the one that held the most and kept everything semi-hidden. Like I said to Vaughn, anything was better than what we had.

when did this happen???

There are certain things that were cool in the '80s, but, at the same time, they were styles that should be kept in the '80s. One of them is the legwarmer. Don't get me wrong, I had pairs of these in every color. When I opened the Sears sale catalogue yesterday, I see these. When I mentioned this to Kare, she basically told me to save my money & she would knit me some. Parachute pants, legwarmers, lace ribbon in the hair & Michael Jackson gloves are all things that are to be left in our memories & in bad twenty year old photos.

my guilty indulgence

Okay, so I'm not a fan of reality television at all and it seems that every channel you turn to has nothing but these days. While I do like the show "Greatest American Dog", I'm assuming it's because I always like to think that Porkchop would win hands down if she were ever to get a chance to be on the show (which is a bold-faced lie, but a girl can dream, can't she?)

I missed the beginning of "Gossip Girl" when it premiered last September, but when the season ended in May or June, they proceeded to start from the beginning for the entire summer to lead up to Season Two next week. I haven't missed an episode (and, even though he'll deny it under oath, I've caught Vaughn watching as well). I'm so excited for Monday, I can hardly contain myself. In case of emergency, TiVo is on standby.

You know you love me.
XOXO


;o)

Yesterday was full of activity - the day began with school registration for Adam. After much emotion this past week, everything ran smoothly. I can't believe that, aside from college, he's getting ready for his last 1st day of school. I've spent quite a bit of time going through old baby pictures and his baby book ("Holy crap, Mom - you save EVERYTHING!"). Once we made our appointment to fix his schedule, he had to pick out a locker. He settled on this one:

As well, it was little Miss Porkchop's 4th birthday yesterday!!!

She got loads of toys & chewies for her birthday - She took a liking to the stuffed bird that's laying right next to her (we haven't decided if it's a turkey, a duck, or a goose, so we call it the 'stuffed fowl'), until she bit it & it squawked. It scared the crap out of her, and she ran as far away from it as she could.

So...about me living in a world of denial

Ricky Martin is now the proud father of twins, via surrogate. Hands down, he's the best looking man on the face of this earth (well, in my top 5, at least). When I die, I wish to be reincarnated as a gay man.

RIP

I did a post a while back on Randy Pausch. I guess I haven't kept as up to date with current events as I normally do, because as I was sitting at the salon today, waiting to get my nails done, I grabbed People magazine and read that he passed away on 25 July. My heart broke.

If you haven't already, you absolutely must read his book. It will completely change your outlook on life. Here's a link to his site. What a phenomenal man, and an inspiration to us all.

Below is the last speech he made at Carnegie Mellon University on 18 May:

The Bookshelf

I read this book a few weeks ago - picked it up in a sales bin. Not terribly amazing. Just alright.

Before Kare moved, she gave me a bunch of books - This is the one I'm reading right now. I'm about half way through & I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

Won't you be my neighbor???

So I'm sitting in the living room this evening, playing with Porkchop on the couch. It's a beautiful warm day & I have the patio doors open. All of a sudden the smell of skunk comes wafting in. It's so strong that even Porkchop starts to get antsy. I start yelling, "Holy shit, what in the hell is that stink? Did a skunk die in our backyard???" Vaughn silences me quick by informing me that it's our neighbors, sitting on their deck. Smoking weed.

I felt so old - I remember a time when I could spot that smell a mile away. In a sense, I'm happy it was them smoking all the dope - I would have hated having to pick up rodent carcass.