Mommie Dearest Strikes Again...

Today...

2012-02-15T18:51:00.001-05:00

Guess who got her learner's permit?

And guess who asked her older brother, when he was driving her to Dance, "So...how do you do the turn signal thing, anyway?"

(I think Mr. Wonderful and I have our work cut out for us.)

Congratulations, Princess P!

Miscellaneous Monday: Chili, Jabba, and Memories of Friday the 13th

2012-02-13T08:41:00.005-05:00

How can it be Monday, already? It seems like it was just Friday and I was all excited about it being the weekend. Weekends go by much too quickly!

It was a nice weekend, though. We didn't do anything very exciting. We all slept late which was indulgent and delightful. The Princess had rehearsal for Giselle. The kids went to youth group. We visited with my mom. The Princess played around doing front and back walkovers in the yard.

Those of you who have young children, I'm sorry to tell you that the "Mommy, look at me!" stage never ends.

At least thus far. I still have high hopes for the future.

************************************

I amused myself by taking photos of Jack, our cat, lying around impersonating a famous character from the movies...

And then I further amused myself by sharing the photos I took with the family...

Truly, sometimes I amaze myself with my powers of observation and my incredible wit.

Sadly, my family wasn't as impressed with me as I was. They think I need a hobby. Or to get a life. Or something.

Whatever.

*******************************

You may remember that I keep commenting on how warm it has been this winter and how everything has been blooming here - the redbuds and azaleas - and there has been pollen coating my car...

A cold front blew through here over the weekend. We had temperatures well below freezing. The weather forecasters kept changing the forecast for the temperatures and I was in denial that it could or would actually get that cold. As a result, we didn't bring all the plants in from outside and so I think I killed all the pool plants. Boo.

But the cold temps were a great excuse for a big pot of chili!

I recruited a sous chef...

And we made a big ol' pot of chili. I saw a recipe on Pinterest which used corn in the chili and so I decided to dump a can in there along with all the beans. It was good - and I liked the little burst of color it provided.

**********************************

Twenty-two years ago today, Mr. Wonderful and I were married. It was Friday the 13th and it was a snowy, blustery day in Boulder, Colorado. Happy Anniversary, Mr. Wonderful!!

**********************************

"Going somewhere, Solo?"

(Hee Hee!!)

Hello...Is it Me You're Looking For?

2012-02-09T23:50:00.001-05:00

I'm back, y'all.

I apologize for the long absence...the ugly, creeping crud/virus knocked me off my feet last week. And then, just when I started to feel better, I got what I thought was a sinus headache but which turned out the be the migraine from Hell. Six days of the worst, most heinous migraine I've ever had.

Anyway, moving on....I haven't blogged because, really? What on earth did I have to say? I hadn't done anything except sleep and explore the wonders of Pinterest and watch The Tudors.

I tried texting the BFF and had an "autocorrect" moment. I was taking advantage of the BFF entitlement of whining and was complaining about the migraine and a bad day with the teenagers. I typed in, "Calgon, take me away." But my iphone changed it to "Calhoun, take me away." Which made me giggle. Then I tried to say, "Jeesh!" and my iphone changed that to "Jewish!"

At that point I laughed so hard that I snorted.

Luckily, the BFF has the same (wonderful and wacky) sense of humor.

The next day, The Princess texted me...

And I had a fit of the giggles all over again.

I know, it's probably really not all that funny.

But after six days of the migraine from Hell and the fuzzy, weird, head-stuffed-with-cotton-reaction to the medication...well, honestly, I laughed until I almost peed in my pants.

TMI?

I'm sure you'll be pleased to hear that I am getting much better at imitating "normal" though, since I have finally recovered from the creeping crud virus and the evil, heinous, debilitating migraine from Hell. I ventured out of the house for the first time in almost a week and discovered that spring has sprung...

Mother Nature appears to be a bit confused after the warm and mild winter we've had here - everywhere you look there are redbuds and dogwoods and azaleas blooming.

Hooray!!

Anyway, I really have nothing else to say. (Please refer to the aforementioned repetitive viewing of The Tudors and Pinterest addiction and strange and juvenile sense of humor at only mildly amusing autocorrects.)

But I wanted to let you all know that (a) I'm alive and (b) I really, really, really appreciate the calls and messages checking up on me.

Really.

I'll leave you with this photo I took this morning. Aren't those clouds cool looking? I love ripply clouds.

PS. I know that there is a technical term for those clouds. I'm sure Mr. Wonderful will enlighten me. I don't care. To me, they're ripply clouds. And they're pretty.

This is my life:

2012-02-01T12:48:00.002-05:00

I don't have anything to say today. That's because the past few days can be summed up by these images...

THE Best Commercial Ever.

2012-01-30T14:33:00.000-05:00

Have y'all seen this? It's a sneak peak of Honda's Super Bowl commercial - so if you like to watch the Super Bowl for the commercials, skip this post!

If, you don't mind not being surprised on Sunday, however, watch this video!

It's my favorite commercial - ever.

A look back...

2012-01-30T08:51:00.000-05:00

The other day as I was deleting old photos from my memory card, I came across the photos I took at the beach at Thanksgiving time. I was trying to get a photo of the kids for our Christmas cards. I did, finally, get a great picture...

But it wasn't easy!

The first time I tried to get the perfect, sunset shot Mr. Wonderful suggested we go to a beach further away. As we were driving there, the sun was rapidly sinking lower and lower and I was getting more and more antsy. I fussed and fussed and the family giggled at my consternation. Which, frankly, wasn't very nice of them!

And...I knew it! By the time we got to the beach, the sun was almost gone and it was too dark for photos. The kids and Mr. W. had a great time mimicking my irritation.

I gently and calmly explained to the precious angels and the love of my life that it's not nice to laugh at Mommie Dearest...

And then I pouted.

Anyway, the next evening we (meaning me) decided to try again. The kids, naturally, felt just terrible about making fun of me the day before and so were quite eager to cooperate.

Yeah, right.

Mr. Wonderful kept sighing and acting like a martyr because I was keeping him from the hot tub and a beer.

Guess who doesn't believe in shaving while on vacation?

Anyway, I turned my camera towards the kids and just kept shooting and hoping for the best...

I decided to let the kids get the silliness out of their systems...

I kept waiting.

And waiting

While I watched them cavorting around on the sand, I was nervously watching the sun sinking lower and lower in the sky...

The hilarity showed no signs of letting up. They were clearly very amused with themselves.

Finally, I sternly told them to "C'mon! Act serious!"

And they did. They looked like their best friend had died.

So I gave up. I just let them be and I kept clicking.

And when I got home and reviewed the many, many, many photos I had taken, I discovered that while I HAD gotten the perfect Christmas card picture...

I had also managed to capture some wonderful photos that just captured the essence of The Boy and The Princess.

Even though they are "out takes", they're also treasures.

Thursday and Friday: The photo edition

2012-01-28T17:13:00.000-05:00

The past couple of days have been busy and crazy. There has been lots of running around and hustling and bustling hither and yon. The Boy and his BFF worked on a project for school...

And The Princess had a dance concert at school, which meant lots of rehearsals and driving back and forth for moi. The concert was a children's concert called "Fairies and Friends" and involved dancers from the three art magnet schools in town - kindergarten through high school. The dance the Princess was in was inspired by The Hunger Games and was really cool...modern and kind of funky.

The hair and makeup was kind of funky also!

Naturally, I thought The Princess was the best one.

To be fair, though, I didn't even look at any of the other dancers when she was on stage. I rarely do. I'm just always so amazed by my daughter!

Her grandmother came to the performance with us on Thursday night and was, I think, also amazed by The Princess.

No that we're biased or anything.

Then Friday evening The Boy invited his BFF to come along. We picked The Princess up from school and had a quick bite to eat...

The three teenagers realized that there was free wi-fi and promptly pulled out their cell phones and began to surf the web and text and otherwise ignore the ~~old middle-aged~~ hot mama who was paying for their dinner.

Whereupon I decided that if you can't beat 'em, you should join 'em and pulled out my cell phone and began annoying them by taking photos...

Why do teenaged boys think that smiling, rather than sneering, at the camera makes them uncool?

We returned to the school to drop The Princess off so she could do her hair and makeup and warm up for the performance. The Boy bought his sister a magic wand, which made me forgive him for not smiling for the camera.

Please notice what a good sport the BFF is...she ALWAYS smiles for me. And isn't she beautiful?

While we waited, we strolled around the school and visited the sculpture garden...

And then we went back to the theatre to wait.

The kids decided to whip out the cellular devices once again. I was bored and so decided to whip out my cellular device as well.

When in Rome...

Finally, after forty thousand yawns and checking the time twenty thousand times, the doors opened and it was - almost - time for the show...

When he thought that I wasn't looking, I caught The Boy being nice to the BFF. I thought this photo looked so familiar...

And I was right!

The photo on the left was when The Boy and the BFF were 5 or 6 years old...

Some things never change.

Isn't it great?!

We went into the theatre and waited.

I yawned a few more times and we waited some more.

The show finally began and, as I expected, The Princess was amazing again.

And the best part is that this is the last performance she'll be in (I think) until April. Which means we can slow down a bit and breathe.

Which is good.

While we were running around on Thursday Jack was busy doing this...

On Friday morning, while I was vacuuming and mopping, Jack did this...

When we left for the dance concert yesterday afternoon, Jack was doing this...

Then when we arrived home he informed us that he was hungry.

It's a tough life, apparently.

Making a post out of nothing at all...

2012-01-26T08:39:00.000-05:00

* Is it January? Really? Because it feels like May here. It's been really warm and the redbuds and azaleas are starting to bloom because they think it's spring. We've had all our windows open and have been enjoying the lovely weather. I'm not complaining - it's been really nice. It just doesn't feel like January at all!

81 degrees!

* I hear so much about Instagram...everyone seems to use it and everyone seems to love it. I decided to load it on my phone and give it a try (see above photo). At the risk of being attacked by insulted Instagram fans, I've got to tell you - I don't love it. I'm sorry. I just don't get why you would want to make photos taken with nice, new cameras and all the technology available today look like old, faded, foggy photos.

* But wait! I did discover a fun photography app which I have been playing with constantly (Thanks, June!) It's called OldBooth and you can put faces of people onto old photos...

Like this...

And this...(hee!!!)

Mr. Wonder-fro.

Or this...(HA!!)

The Geek

Ha Ha Ha!

The Perm-cess.

I love this app.

It's just so doggone entertaining.

No, I didn't play with any photos of myself.

What fun would THAT be?

* I went to the dentist yesterday and my chipped tooth is all repaired. Hooray!

* I also started tweeting about the realtor that stood me up the other day. The corporate office of the real estate company contacted me and shortly afterwards the realtor also contacted me to explain that, coincidentally, she had JUST received my messages yesterday morning. Right after the corporate offices contacted her is apparently when she received my messages. Anyway, she apologized and blah de blah blah, yadda yadda yadda.

* Tonight is the first night of The Princess's dance concert.

* This is my 983rd post on this blog. Almost 1000! Should I do something to celebrate that milestone? Suggestions, anyone?

Ten Things on Tuesday: Mommie Dearest and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

2012-01-24T08:55:00.002-05:00

1. I had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad yesterday. A realtor had contacted us over the weekend. We took our house off the market a few months ago and have been sort of half-heartedly trying to sell it by owner. This realtor said that she was showing waterfront homes and would like to show ours too. We set up a time and I spent the entire day feverishly cleaning the ~~pigsty~~ house. I'll be honest - I haven't been keeping up with the house the past few months. It was not looking good. So I spent the entire day trying to make it look like nice, normal people live here rather than a herd of stinky buffalo.

2. In the midst of my cleaning jag The Princess texted me to tell me that she had to stay after school for a rehearsal and would need to be picked up...right about the same time as the showing. I fretted about how to accomplish everything while I cleaned.

3. The Boy offered to pick up his sister. I reluctantly agreed - it's a long drive and it was in rush hour traffic. I fretted even more while I waited for the realtor to show up.

4. I waited. And waited. And waited. And guess what? She never showed up! And she never called, or texted, or emailed, or even sent a flipping owl!

5. I was NOT happy.

6. Seriously? In this age of instant communication she couldn't even manage to let me know that she wasn't coming, after all? I hate realtors.

7. The Boy and The Princess arrived home safely although The Princess walked in the door looking like a hoochie-mama with all the stage makeup and rhinestones on her face...

The hair was supposed to resemble a mohawk. I can't wait to see this dance - it should be interesting!

8. And then we ate dinner. And during dinner I apparently, somehow, managed to bang my teeth together and chip a tooth.

I am marred. Disfigured. Hideous.

And really annoyed.

It's all the dadgum realtor's fault.

9. I ate some chocolate ice cream to make myself feel better. It DID make me feel better. But my tooth is still chipped and I still keep looking in the mirror and wanting to cry. Another realtor is supposed to be coming by this morning to look at the house so that "he can better describe it to clients" but I know that I'm really going to have to sit through a spiel about why HE will be able to sell our house, blah de blah blah.

Unless he takes one look at my hideously grotesque chipped tooth and runs away screaming in fright. I can dream, right....

10. Anyway, as you can see, I was in a really rotten mood and feeling sorry for myself. But then this morning, I saw this...

I grabbed my camera and shuffled out onto the dock in my bedroom slippers and took a deep breath...

I listened to the birds chirping...

And I let the peace of the new morning envelop me...

I sat at the end of dock, listening to the world wake up. I watched the mullet jumping and I felt serene.

Things could be worse.

And as problems go, mine really aren't so bad.

Don't worry, Be happy

Saturday Night's Alright, Alright, Alright....

2012-01-22T12:04:00.000-05:00

Last night I was lying in bed reading a book and Mr. Wonderful was sitting outside by the pool reading a book. Yes, sadly, this is "Saturday Night Fun" for us these days. This is what happens when you've been married forever.

Anyway, as I was saying, Mr. Wonderful was outside reading his book when I heard him start laughing. And keep laughing. He walked into the house, still chuckling to himself. "What's so funny?" I asked him. He, still laughing, explained that the neighbors (we're not sure exactly WHICH neighbors - sound carries over water, so they could be anywhere) were fighting. And it amused him.

He said that the female was raking the man over the coals. "You're not supportive enough!" "Yes, I am!" "You don't do anything around here!" "Yes, I do!"

And apparently there were some "F-bombs" being thrown around along with a few other choice words. And all of this was done at full volume. There was shouting and screaming and cursing and tears. It was, apparently, quite the drama.

The Princess - who has been enjoying being an only child this weekend while her brother is away at a church function - overheard her father recounting the story and she began giggling. "Really? Right outside? You can hear all this?" She grabbed her laptop, giggling to herself, and went outside to listen to the dramatic breakup.

I, of course, scurried outside right behind her.

Not to eavesdrop on the drama - but to document the moment for YOU!

I know, I know. You can thank me later.

I grabbed my cell phone to take photos, since it was sitting right there. Unfortunately, the results were less than stellar.

I was mumbling to myself trying to figure out why the photos were so awful, while The Princess was shushing me so that she could hear the argument...

Then I figured out how to turn on the flash.

I decided to leave The Princess to her tawdry pasttime and go inside. This decision had nothing to do with the fact that I couldn't see anything and was a tiny bit fearful of falling into the pool. Nothing at all.

When I walked back inside I saw that The Princess was documenting her fun-filled Saturday evening.

We're party animals around here.

Do we know how to have fun, or what?!!

Saturday Night's All Right for Fighting

The one about multi-tasking, allergies, hot husbands and a happy mama.

2012-01-20T09:42:00.002-05:00

It has been a busy week. The Princess has been busy studying for the last of her midterm exams and writing critiques of a dance performance whilst attending dance classes and learning new choreography for an upcoming performance. This resulted in a bit of multi-tasking...

The Boy was constantly online doing research for a debate...

His team won!

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In case you've been wondering what amuses a car full of high school freshmen, I thought I'd enlighten you. A man wearing a ketchup costume or dressed up like a clown by the side of the road waving a sign? Amusing. Passing a pub named the Barking Spider? Amusing. And this car's license plate? Amusing.

I realize that the picture is fuzzy and that you cannot read the license plate. Blame The Princess. It reads "FXY MAMA" and once the carpool kids spotted it they giggled. A lot.

And if you've been wondering what makes this mama happy...

It's this. A man who cooks dinner.

This makes Mama VERY happy indeed.

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Lucy went to the vet this week, where we discovered that she (a) has a very bad ear infection in both ears and (b) that she is most likely allergic to the expensive dog food we've been buying her which has resulted in her constantly scratching and licking herself annoyingly and is probably the cause of the ear (yeast) infections and her smelliness as well. Now she in taking antibiotics and we have to find another even more expensive dog food for her. We also have to put drops in her ears twice a day - which is neither fun nor easy, since her ears hurt and she whips her head from side to side whenever we attempt it.

Jack has been beside himself over poor Lucy's problems...

****************************************

And finally, I spied this page torn out of a magazine pinned up on the refrigerator door...

Let's take a closer look...

Do you see it?

Someone (who shall remain nameless, but whose initials are M. W.) saw this article in a magazine about the hottest husbands in America. And someone printed out a photo of himself and glued it to the article. And then someone pinned it up on the refrigerator so that we all may enjoy his amusement. And his, err...hotness.

You know what? A husband who cooks dinner and wakes up early to take his daughter to meet her carpool so that his wife can sleep in and who makes his wife laugh - all the time, every day? That IS pretty hot!

The One About a Pet Peeve

2012-01-18T09:33:00.002-05:00

I'm going to tell you about one of my pet peeves today. This is a big one...it absolutely drives me bonkers. Sadly, I have a lot of little pet peeves such as rude drivers who cut in front of me forcing me to slam on brakes or loud cell phone talkers in restaurants and stores or store employees who answer the phone and then proceed to answer the phone caller's questions while ignoring the LIVE PAYING CUSTOMER standing right in front of them.

But today's pet peeve is brought to you by the bullseye store. You all know the one I mean...the store where you have to walk in front of your cart in order to pay and the employees pile all of your bags on the tiny little shelf behind you and then wait for you to put them in your cart whilst they stand there idiotically holding the receipt rather than helping store the bags in the cart. It. Infuriates. Me.

Does this bother anyone else?

And yes, I did take a photo of the situation and yes, the idiotic cashier with the huge gauge stretching his earlobe looked at me curiously (still standing there holding the receipt waiting for me to scurry around to load the bags) as I told him, huffily, that I had to take a photo to send to the bullseye store.

Is huffily even a word?

Anyway. Whew. I feel so much better now that I've gotten that off my chest. Mr. Wonderful listens to me rant about this issue and then raises his eyebrow and asks, "Why don't you just stop shopping there? WalMart is right down the road."

Men.

*sigh*

They just don't get it.

UPDATE: I've been tweeting the bulleye store all morning, letting them know of my displeasure with (a) their rude employees and/or (b) their store policy. They responded, finally, with this:

Target @Target6m

@mommydearestlvk We're always working on improving your shopping experience so thanks for sharing your comments.

I'll continue to tweet obnoxiously. Obviously, it won't do anything to change their condescending store policy...but it makes me feel better to know that I am possibly (but probably not) annoying them as much as their employees annoy me.

Miscellaneous Monday: A rambling, incoherent cornucopia of nonsense

2012-01-16T17:17:00.001-05:00

I was all set to blog this morning but our internet was out. We're in the process of switching from one provider to another. I won't name any names but the old internet provider, whose name simply consists of a few letters, started raising rates. And charging us for all sorts of services which we didn't order. And generally being a royal pain in the butt. So...we switched. And now our internet is kind of a mess and only seems to be working in a particular area of the house.

Anyway, I was all set to blog but then I couldn't. So I went to Target and refreshed the household's supply of deodorant and shampoo and laundry detergent and then went to the pet store to refresh the household's supply of dog and cat and bird food. When I came home I realized that I had forgotten what I wanted to say.

So, I'm winging it.

Hmm...I guess I could captivate you with how I'm making a Pinterest inspired dinner this evening. We're having lemon garlic chicken kabobs and a potato casserole and a nice green salad with garlic-herb vinaigrette. (All the recipes are here.)

Ooohhh...I could also mesmerize you with the story of how I'm trying to eat a bit healthier (other than the above mentioned potato casserole) and have been making green smoothies. My friend Theresa got me hooked on these and I love them. They're a bit different every time I make them - depending upon what we have in the house.

This one had spinach, kale, a banana, grapes, pineapple, watermelon, apples and orange juice.

Not surprisingly, the kids turned up their noses at first.

"Ewww...gross! That's disgusting, Mom!"

I insisted that they close their eyes and taste it.

"Hey! This is pretty good!"

Now they're hooked. So is Mr. Wonderful. So am I.

Those ugly green smoothies are really yummy.

This morning I saw an ad for this new show on Fox. My first thought was, "What is Cardinal Wolsey wearing and why is he at Alcatraz?"

Sam Neill was so perfect as Cardinal Wolsey in The Tudors...it's hard for me to accept him as any other character.

Do you ever do that?

For example, I'm sorry, but I don't care what other television shows or movies Christina Applegate makes - she will always be Kelly Bundy to me.

And George Clooney?

He'll always be Falconer from Sisters.

James Spader is another one...

At first, no matter what he was in I pictured him as the snobby, obnoxious, good looking jerks he played in Endless Love and Pretty in Pink...

And William Shatner was always, always, always Captain Kirk...

But then, one of my favorite shows of all time changed my perception of them. I no longer think of them as Captain Kirk and the spoiled, preppy, mean guy from the 80's.

Now they will always be Denny Crane and Alan Shore.

BFF's forevermore.

Forgive my rambling. It's the mad cow disease.

The one about a sunrise and more otter nonsense

2012-01-13T08:47:00.000-05:00

It s a cool, crisp, beautiful morning. The sunrise was beautiful.

But it's COLD!

For Florida, this is really cold! And tonight it will be below freezing. I stood outside trying to take photos but my fingers and toes were frozen and I was shivering.

I persevered, however.

The birds were all waking up and calling to each other (probably complaining about how cold it is) and flying overhead (probably trying to warm themselves up!)

As I reveled in the glorious, albeit chilly, morning...

I spied something in the water.

Do you see it?

Several months ago The Boy spied a family of otters frolicking by our dock early one morning. For ~~weeks~~ months I woke up early and tiptoed outside at the crack of dawn, hoping to see the otters. I never did. They were playing hard to get, I guess.

And then this morning...

I saw this little guy.

I began jumping up and down (partly in excitement and partly in an attempt to warm myself up) and I must have frightened the cute little fellow because he swam away.

But I saw him - and my poor, frozen fingers managed to take a couple of photos before he swam away.

I drank in the peace and tranquility of the morning, feeling the excitement of the gift of a new day.

Or maybe that was just my shivering.

The one about, well, nothing.

2012-01-11T12:53:00.000-05:00

The past couple of days have been filled with...Well, I had a long list of things I wanted to accomplish.

I've been doing a tiny bit of this...

And a little bit of this....

(minus the dog and the kid - thank goodness!)

to get this...

So that I could do some of this...

Which made the family very happy.

But before I could finish doing this...

I somehow got sidetracked and started doing this...

And I may have possibly gotten a bit carried away and created a whole new board filled with this...

and this...

and this!

(I told you I got a tiny bit carried away!)

So this morning I had really good intentions. I really meant to get up and get going and finish up with this...

But somehow I got distracted again and ended up looking up stuff about Sweden...like, you know, flights and trains and whatnot.

And I saw images of the area where my friend Mie lives...

And then I started reading about

this and that and then I looked up and saw that it was already noon. I'm so depressed that I haven't accomplished everything (or anything) that I had planned to that I think I'll head back over to Pinterest to make myself feel better.

How's YOUR day going?

Catching Up...

2012-01-08T18:55:00.001-05:00

The past week has been a busy one. School started back up...and so did dance classes and mandatory concert critiques and carpool duty. The kids had homework and waking up and getting going so early in the morning - after sleeping late and having leisurely starts to the day for the past two weeks - was not easy.

In spite of all the hustle and bustle and rushing to and fro, we managed to sneak some fun in.

A long, long time ago when I was just a naive little 15 year old, I had THE best year of high school. I attended a high school named for a famous Confederate General (this IS the south, after all.)

10th grade was the best. I had wonderful friends and just loved high school. Then the following year we moved...and it just wasn't the same. But I digress - this is about 10th grade at Lee High School where I met a Swedish exchange student named Mie. We became good friends - and then she went back to Sweden and I moved away and we lost touch.

Luckily, Facebook appeared on the scene and 30 a few years after we lost touch, we found each other again through the miracle of the world wide web (and a little help from Mark Zuckerberg).

32 A few years after we last saw each other, Mie is in town visiting her host family. We got together the other evening after The Princess's dance class to visit and reminisce and laugh...and share a bit of chocolate too!

This afternoon there was a little get together with a few of Mie's (and my) ~~old~~ really, really YOUNG friends. Mie introduced my husband to everyone as "Mr. Wonderful" which cracked me up!

There were lots of photographs...

And hugs and smiles...

And laughter.

I remembered why I loved my sophomore year of high school so much. These people - these friends - are fabulous.

And Mie? Mie is the best. I am so happy that I got to spend some time with her. And now I am trying to figure out a way I can hop on a plane and fly to Sweden for another visit!

Goda vänner är ovärderliga!!

Happiness is...

2012-01-02T20:11:00.003-05:00

Happiness is a houseful of teenagers.

Happiness is having teenagers that like having their friends hang out at their house...with their parents around.

Happiness is cooking dinner while 6 teenagers sit around on the barstools and talk to you...and eat.

Happiness is knowing that your children have wonderful, life-long friends who feel comfortable enough in your house to just get up from the dinner table, walk into the kitchen and get themselves something to drink.

Happiness is children who make good choices - in their friendships and in life...whose biggest vice is being addicted to fishing.

Happiness is knowing your teenager's friends and having them ask to be your friend on Facebook and Pinterest.

Happiness is when your teenagers and their friends don't mind being blog fodder. Extreme happiness is when they ASK if they can be on the blog.

Happiness is being a mom to these kids.

Most of the time.

Flashback Friday: 2011

2011-12-30T17:58:00.000-05:00

2011 was a year filled with events both sad and amazing. We've witnessed everything from the final space shuttle mission and the death of Steve Jobs to the "Arab Spring" and a tsunami in Japan. There was a royal wedding, a debt crisis in Europe and the death of Osama Bin Laden.

A busy year. As I looked back on 2011 through this blog, it was clear that things were busy here as well - although perhaps not quite so dramatic.

There were some breathtaking sunrises...

We enjoyed hosting Maria from Spain over the summer...

The kids had a great time at camp!

The Princess was...well...

And The Boy...

Right...well, the kids were just themselves.

Silly, crazy, wonderful.

I did notice that there always seem to be girls around The Boy.

Jack and Lucy made a few appearances in the blog...

And so did Mr. Wonderful.

Plus, of course, there was the usual assortment of wildlife.

Well, truthfully, some of it was rather unusual.

There were super soaker fights in the pool, waterskiing, pumpkin carving and stingray stings.

And I even managed to capture some moments of sibling bonding which made Mommie Dearest very happy indeed.

And there were a lot of "firsts." The Boy was allowed to take the boat out by himself and started driving. By himself. All alone. Without Mom or Dad to keep a wary eye on the other drivers. (Yikes!) The Princess got highlights to begin her first day of (gulp!) high school.

All in all, it was just life as usual.

A mom, a dad, two teenagers, a few hairy, shedding pets and a lot of laundry. We veer from the ridiculous to the sublime...and I wouldn't have it any other way. Well, possibly I could live without the laundry...

Happy New Year to all of you. I wish for you a year filled with peace, love and happiness...here's to 2012!

See ya' next year!

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig...

2011-12-29T17:31:00.002-05:00

We had a wonderful Christmas and a delightful time visiting family in Michigan.

Although, to be honest, the fact that Mother Nature decided to wait until the day we left to grace the area with a nice, big snowfall rather than indulging the Florida folks and allowing us to enjoy our yearly exposure to a bit of snow and sledding is pretty lame. Also, driving home in snow and then rain and sleet the first day was...well...also pretty lame. And a bit challenging.

Mr. Wonderful and I both saw the building from WKRP in Cincinnati at the same time and yelled out, "WKRP!!" The kids looked at us blankly and then looked at each other and shrugged. Which kind of made us feel old. I know of two teenagers who will be watching WKRP on YouTube in the very near future.

Kids these days. They just don't know anything!

This is pretty much what our drive was like.

And this....

and this.

I won't name any names, but someone might have periodically gotten a bit bored and whipped out the camera and taken pictures of nothing much at all.

The random photography didn't bother the family at all.

Really.

Anyway, after about a gazillion hours in the car we made it safely home and it is great to be here. For one thing, sleeping in our own beds is awesome. The pets were happy to see us. It's warm...and green. I savored my fabulous cup of coffee made in our Keurig.

It's great to get away once in a while...but it's also great to be home!

Before we left for our adventure in snowless Michigan, I downloaded Season One of The Tudors onto my i-phone. I confess that I am now addicted. I will shortly be loading Season Two and watching it as well. I LOVE this show.

I'm also in love with the book I am reading right now. I'm about 1/3 of the way through it and I cannot put it down.

Seriously, it's good.

If you don't believe me, just ask my friend Gigi. She read the whole thing and she loved it too.

That's all I've got for today. I'm signing off now...I'll either be watching the end of episode 8 of The Tudors, or reading more of my book. I'm completely ignoring the huge pile of laundry in the laundry room.

I have better things to do!

The one about a big horse, old friends and a Christmas Miracle...

2011-12-24T10:57:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was a fun and busy day. We visited Meijer Gardens to see the Christmas tree and holiday traditions exhibit. It was beautiful...

The trees representing each country were beautiful and it was fun to read how traditions vary around the world and how different cultures celebrate. The ornaments were exquisite...

and were from Russia, The Netherlands, China, Mexico, Brazil, Greece, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, Ireland, France...and many other countries which I can't remember.

There were also beautiful nativities and we walked through tropical gardens and strolled past indoor waterfalls surrounded by fabulous orchids and Staghorn Ferns...

We saw the largest Christmas Cactus I've ever seen...

and a wreath created from succulent plants...

Then we walked outside into the brisk and snowless day to gaze upon the lovely sculptures in the sculpture gardens...

We saw "Mad Mom"...

And a big bear...

The Princess was really getting into the spirit of things...

And she let her inner child have free reign!

While Gramma relaxed and enjoyed having The Boy push her all around!

We saw a giant, towering neuron and then we turned a corner and saw...

The Big Horse!

I believe the actual title of the piece is "Homage to Leonardo" but everyone just calls it the big horse.

Probably because it is a very, very BIG horse...

After the tour of Meijer Gardens, we went to a favorite establishment of Mr. Wonderful's and had one (The Princess and I) or two (Mr. Wonderful) or three (The Boy!) of these delicacies...

The Princess even found the spot where Mr. Wonderful had carved his name a long, long time ago when he was just a young, almost wonderful, whippersnapper...

And then we drove past the hospital where The Boy and The Princess were born...

Finally, the kids spent the evening with their cousin making cookies, playing games and watching movies while Mr. Wonderful and I went to a Christmas party and caught up with old friends...most of whom Mr. Wonderful has known since he was a wee little boy...

It was a fun evening!

But that's not all that happened yesterday.

The Princess has been praying and praying for snow. She has kept her fingers crossed and tried to do a "snow dance."

And last night...

her wish came true!

It SNOWED!!

May the miracle of Christmas fill your heart with peace and love.

Merry Christmas!

I'm dreaming of a gray, dismal, drizzly Christmas....

2011-12-23T10:39:00.000-05:00

The kids always look forward to their annual visit to Mr. Wonderful's family in Michigan. It is their chance to see snow. It's exciting and different for us Florida crackers.

I mentioned in the last post that there isn't any snow here. There isn't any snow in the forecast either. It is just cold (but not cold enough!) and gray and drizzly and foggy and depressing.

The kids, however, have ben vastly entertained by the enormously fat squirrel which lives in Gramma's yard.

Seriously, this guy is a porker. He waddles when he walks and he jiggles when he tries to climb a tree.

Are all Michigan squirrels this fat or is he an anomaly? All I know is that Florida squirrels don't look like him.

We've had nice visits with Mr. Wonderful's brother and his family and with Gramma. The kids enjoy visiting with their cousin - whom they only get to see when we make the trek up to this barren, snowless cold, depressing state once a year.

And guess who we saw yesterday when we went to Costco?!

SANTA CLAUS!!

He was out of "uniform", but there was no doubting who he was. We spoke to him in the store - he asked us if we knew where he could find brandy. I'm guessing that he likes to stock up for after the big day. He is probably in dire need of a bit of medicinal succor by then.

The Boy checked out the contents of his cart while we were exchanging pleasantries with the jolly old elf. He reported that, in addition to the therapeutic aforementioned brandy, Santa was also stocking up on Raisin Bran, bananas, and coffee. Which all makes perfect sense when you think about it...

It may not be a white Christmas, but we've had two Santa sightings - which is pretty exciting!

Happy day before the day before Christmas, everyone!

Santa Claus drives a Prius!

2011-12-21T09:56:00.001-05:00

We're in Michigan.

The drive took 17 hours.

I don't really have anything to say about the drive except that we saw Santa Claus. Yes, we did! Santa was in full regalia. His white beard and hair looked freshly combed. He was smiling softly to himself as we passed him in our rented minivan someplace in Ohio.

Sadly, I don't have a photograph of this momentous event. We didn't realize that we were passing Santa until we were already past him, you see. As we glanced next to us into the light blue Prius with the "My Other Car is a Sleigh" bumper sticker, we all gasped in surprise and shouted, "It's SANTA CLAUS!!"

Santa Claus drives a Prius. Isn't that just great?

Santa is awesome!

That was the highlight of the long, long, long drive to Michigan.

The kids have been excited about seeing snow. And guess what? There's no snow. It's cold and brown and dreary here. And there is no snow in the forecast.

The kids are bummed.

But still...we saw Santa Claus! And THAT was pretty special!

Me and you and a dog named Boo

2011-12-16T09:46:00.001-05:00

The title of this post has absolutely nothing to do with anything. It's just been running through my head for some reason so I thought I'd share the love. You're welcome.

I am going to try to get this post up before my internet connection flakes out on me again. Since yesterday morning, I get about 3 minutes online before it freezes up and I lose my connection. On my laptop, I can't even connect at all.

In case anyone from ATT is reading this, let me assure you that you were skating on thin ice with us anyway. This? This is beyond frustrating. Methinks there will be a change with our internet provider in 2012.

Grrr....

Anyway, please forgive any typos and randomness in this post. I am typing very, very fast and trying to get everything in before I lose my connection and have to restart the laptop to try to eke out another 3 or 4 minutes. And then I will be calling ATT to complain.

It has been a busy few days filled with shampooing the stinky dog, the dog continuing to smell like dead fish, googling remedies for stinky, dead-fish-smelling dogs, creating a concoction of dish soap, hydrogen peroxide, baking soda and water and trying that. And then trying that again. The smell does seem to be fading, but it's still there...faintly. I suppose eventually it will go away. (I hope!!)

In addition to the stinky dog dilemma, there has been a lot of exams and studying for exams ( The Boy) and dance and ordering new pointe shoes (The Princess) and cooking (lentil stew) and baking (cookies, of course). There has been packing and cleaning and doctors appointments and prescription refills and grocery shopping and lots and lots of errands and running around.

I did manage to squeeze in a couple of hours to get my hair cut and get highlights and I feel like a whole new woman. It's amazing how a simple haircut and a bit of pampering can renew your outlook! Even though I didn't do anything different. I'm not usually one to take photos of myself, because I am usually the one taking the pictures and because I hate the way I look in photos, but I thought I'd make an exception today. Now that I have a camera in my cell phone, it makes things a bit easier.

The same old cut, "the bob" from the back...

The side

And the front

This picture makes me giggle because it makes Mr. Wonderful's head look humongous.

I may have possibly gotten a bit carried away with the picture taking. It's also possible that I may have annoyed the male members of the family. It could be that I would have annoyed The Princess as well, but she was safe at dance.

Blech.

But Mr. Wonderful has been nagging me about being in more photos. So...there you go, I have finally posted a photo of myself. It took annoying Mr. Wonderful and The Boy and 3 restarts (thus far) of the computer to get them posted, but now there is photographic evidence of my existence.

Blech.

The *&#@! dog

2011-12-13T07:38:00.000-05:00

I love my pets. I really do. But when I am annoyed with them, they become generic animals. For instance, when Jack is being sweet I call him Jack. But when he is being obnoxious and whining to be fed I refer to him as "the cat." When Buddy is being cute and saying "pretty bird" and "kiss kiss" I call him Buddy. But when he starts screeching and being shrill in the mornings, he becomes "the bird." Ditto for Lucy/"the dog."

Sometimes, when the animals are particularly annoying, I even refer to them as "the *@*# dog/cat/bird."

Let me tell you about the *@*# dog.

Last night we all noticed a foul odor in the house. Really foul. Disgusting, even. It was terrible. We were all walking around with our noses wrinkled up in disgust trying to determine what the foul stench was and where it was coming from.

It was coming from THE DOG.

You see, we live on the water. There are a lot of ospreys and eagles around. Occasionally, the birds drop fish in our yard. Guess who apparently found one of the dead fish and rolled in it?

Can you guess who slept outside last night?

Can you guess who whined and barked and carried on like a big, hairy baby all night long and kept me awake?

Can you guess who will be shampooing carpet and mopping and spraying Febreeze everywhere today and who is not happy with the *$%# dog and if the freaking *$#& dog doesn't stop her whining and crying before she gets a bath and is allowed back in the house will pinch her stupid, shedding little head off??!!!

Raindrops keep falling on my head...

2011-12-12T09:59:00.001-05:00

I have 5,347 things to do today. I have a list a mile long.

And it is raining. A lot.

It's supposed to rain all day.

I'm guessing that I'm not going to get a lot accomplished today...

Instead of running all over town in the rain to run errands, I think I'll try to finish up my Christmas project for the grandmothers...

I think I'll put some Christmas music on and wrap some gifts.

And maybe I'll bake some Christmas cookies.

It's dreary here....

And I finished my book and don't have anything to read...

(This was a really good book!)

Book recommendations? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

I suppose I COULD tackle the laundry. Or clean the house...

But I probably won't. I'm feeling kind of blah today. The house is quiet and the sound of the rain is quite soothing and hypnotizing and....

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..................