Settin' the place on FIRE!

It's a guarantee that when my girlfriends and I all get together, we have a good time. We've got story after story, and those stories have led us to nicknames and many inside jokes.

This past Friday, my mom & I hosted our annual cookie exchange and the usual gang of girlfriends came over.

My BFF, Melissa, came in bearing gift bags and asked us to open our special gifts. We knew it was something she made, but you could have never prepared me for what I was about to pull out....



She made us each a pair of slippers.....pad slippers. Pad as in Maxi-pad. They were custom to each of us. For instance, mine said "Snarky".

We howled with laughter, and didn't pay much attention to the candle on the table and the over abundance of tissue paper. Look closely in this next photo .... you'll see the glow of the flame and some tissue which appears to be much too close.



This is the photo I caption: DANGER WILL ROBINSON!!!!

Yes, the tissue caught on fire.

And yes, the flames were probably a good 12 inches high.

And yes, it burned straight thru the tablecloth.

And while we're at it, yes, flaming tissue came at me and singed my shirt AND my hair.

No joke. I have some evidence:



After we extinguished the flames and calmed ourselves down, we went on to have a fabulous night.





I really couldn't ask for a better group of friends. I love you gals.

Merry Christmas to each of you!!

1 week til the big man cometh down the chimney

It's hard to believe in just a week, families will be gathering and children will be placing out cookies & milk and waiting in anticipation for Santa.

The holiday season never slows it's pace, and before we can blink it's time to pull down all the twinkle bulbs, pack away all the sentimental keepsake ornaments and chalk it up as another year gone.

I look forward to Christmas immensely. I always have, but I do so even more being a parent. Yet, I think about how close the holiday is, and already feel the little nag of depression that it's all going to be over with much too quickly.

This year I started everything just a little bit earlier; the shopping, the wrapping, watching the holiday movies... Yet, I still feel like I haven't gotten to truly enjoy it. I don't understand why. We've sat around in our jammies, by the tree, watching movies or playing a holiday Wii game. I've sat with the kids and colored in their Christmas coloring books. We've gone out to look at Christmas lights. We've read a few Christmas stories. We've baked a gazillion cookies. We've donated to the local food pantry, and attended the town tree lighting ceremony. We've visited Santa, sang along to Christmas carols, and helped out a family in need.

And that's not all. There is still plenty of festiveness to be had. Our cookie exchange, the holiday light show/Santa visit on our block, getting together with family, my holiday work luncheon, and a girl's night holiday dinner.

I'm truly blessed with what we've been able to do. Able to enjoy. Able to give. I just wish it was more....

New Site

Where I work, I'm always hearing stories of crazy tips the employees receive from customers around the holidays.

I've always joked & said I was going to compile it into a book. Well, I don't know the first thing about having a book published, so instead, the idea went the virtual route instead.

And so a new website was born!!!

Be sure to check it out, and share your story if you have one! Pass the word along! Can't wait to see what sort of crazy tips are occurring outside of my place of business!!

People of .... Or should it be Creatures of

Have you been turned on to this little gem of the online world? It's People of Walmart.com and it's worth taking a look at it. Trust me.

Now I shop at Walmart with a whole new attitude - with my eyes peeled and cell phone ready. Sadly I can't say I've witnessed anything website worthy. Yet. But I know the time is coming.

It's been so long, I forgot my password to sign in

At the rate I'm going, I really don't know if I'll ever get my blogging mojo back. There have been several times I thought "I should blog about this!" or said to myself "That is total blogging material". Can I remember any of those things now? Ha. Not a single one.

So, I think I may just recap what's been going on with a bullet post. I know, I know. Lame.

• We got rid of an employee at work. He blamed me for his being let go & had some pretty rude things to say to my boss. The week after his last day, I bumped into him at the mall. Can you say awkward?
• Mom & I threw my dad a surprise 60th birthday party at the beginning of the month. His birthday isn't until next week, so he didn't expect it at all. It was really nice. I've realized that I LOVE planning parties, but I become pretty high strung because everything must be. JUST. RIGHT.
• The holiday season is here, and once again, life is busy. Shopping and decorating and wrapping and planning get togethers. Not to mention dad's birthday & my son's birthday as well.
• First up, however, is Thanksgiving. I can't wait to stuff myself silly with turkey & all the trimmings. I've got Black Friday off work too, so I'm very much looking forward to a short work week and 4 day weekend.
• Other than that, I'm looking forward to the holidays, traditions & spending time with those who mean the most to me.
  

Jalapeno .... on a Steek

The Things Kids Say

The other evening (coincidentally, on our way to Red Lobster for dinner the other night), we stop for gas and when we pull up we see that there's a police car and the officer is arresting someone.

Now, it's not everyday you get to see someone cuffed and shoved into the back of a squad car.

My daughter pipes up from the back seat in a sing-song voice "Someone's getting arrested"....

There's a pause and next thing I know, she's singing:

"Bad boy, bad boy, whatcha gonna do.....whatcha gonna do when they come for you...."

The Things Kids Say

While out eating at Red Lobster the other night, the waitress was very attentive and great with the kids. She took them over to the lobster tank, scooped one out and let the kids "pet" it. Afterwards, she herded them over to the restrooms so they could go in and wash their hands.

I went in to the ladies to help my daughter, and when we came out, my son was already done and speaking to our waitress and a woman dressed up (I'm assuming she was upper management/owner).

I heard him say "You know...the thing you don't sit on". I'm wondering what on Earth he's even babbling about.

The waitress then explained that he came out and said
"Excuse me, but you might want to know that your bathtub is leaking"

We all had a good laugh and let him know that it's called a urinal.