when cups get cold

Just one picture today and a quick blurb. Been super busy. Not sure with what, though. It's not like I've been shopping. Crap, I haven't even starting thinking about shopping. Yeah, I'm gonna pay for that one.

This is a real cup in our office, all hooked up with its own polka dotted cozy. seriously? it's not like it even has liquid in it. Just standard ole candy canes. But it's ready for the blistering cold of an Arizona winter. All 50 degrees of it.





It is stinking cute though, and it does make me smile. kinda a lot actually :)

m

Etsy stroll

Took a little Etsy stroll tonight. Something I like to do to find more stuff I don't need but convince myself I can't live without. Like 3D metal M's. Sometimes I just can't help myself.

Today's search was simple. Turtles. My all time favorite animal. I love many animals. Elephants, hippos, penguins, bunnys, pandas, manatees, polar bears pigskittensbabybirdsgiraffesrhinossnowleopardslkajsdlfjasldkfjljasld YOU NAME IT. I've probably wanted to start a collection. But from a very young age, as far back as I can remember (HEY! shut up now..don't go there!) I've loved turtles.

This search was fun for me. Some made me laugh. One even made me blush. So I thought I'd blog about it.

Meet Dilbert the daydreaming turtle
I love him. L.O.V.E. I might have to buy him just so I know he's got a good, loving home to keep his lampwork beaded self warm.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Next is an entire cast of sea creatures. Hard to say which is my favorite here. History would say it's the turtle for sure. But look at that crab. and the octopus. Are you kidding me??? CUTENESS. But that whale. ah that whale...in all his uber big round head and short, skinny tail. I think I love him best. If my kids wouldn't destroy these creatures in minutes flat they would be living here!

------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm going to take it easy with This guy And by guy, I mean GUY! Holy crap is this show PG???

------------------------------------------------------------------

Now bear with me on this one. I don't mean to poke fun at any artist. We all have our place in this glorious world, but this guy kinda makes me panic. He's cute n'all, what turtle isn't? but it's kinda like he's got a killer whale chasing his ass and he's swimming for his life. wow! and that's all I can say about that, I can already feel myself hyperventilating.

------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm so glad I put myself on mini album probation before I found this adorable little thing. Had I not I'd have a dozen of these guys lying around...not being done.

------------------------------------------------------------------

And finally, the cross collectible of all time. A turtle on a box. This is the best of both worlds for me. BRILLIANT! This combination marries my two deepest loves - boxes and turtles. Just looking at this makes my mouth water and my hands shake. seriously, I wish I was kidding. Put a slice of pizza, a chocolate bar and a beer in that box and I am in heaven people. HEAVEN! And wust wook at wis wace...so woveable and swuggly. *SLAP* oh sorry about that, momentary loss of self control.

This guy I might really have to buy.

m

well that didn't take long

Today started out great! I love it when everyone, including me, wakes up with a smile on their face. Who am i kidding, If I'm the only one in a good mood it's a good day.

After everyone else was gone, and I knew Sarah was awake enough for company, I snuck in her room and whispered, "good morning." She smiled back, "good morning" she replied with that cute little Sarah smile. Good, I think to myself, she's in a good mood. Not always a given, especially in the morning! So I go back to my routine when I hear her calling, err bellowing, from her room. Great, I think to myself, she's not in a good mood. I peek my head through the closed door - expecting the worst - to find her sitting there, still with that huge smile, anxious for my arrival. "Good morning Master" she says.

That's from Kung Foo Panda. Now, ask yourself, Is that too much TV? or just the right amount???!!!

Speaking of Sarah, that cuteness balances out her naughtiness. Remember
this post by Beth about her sneaky, candy stealing boy? I called it in my comment to her. I said (in part), "Mine aren't that clever, yet, though." How well do I know my girls?

Last Saturday, only one day after Beth's post, my adorable girls and their little friend Ethan got into the Advent calenders. when I say got into them, I mean they opened every window on every calender, not leaving a trace of chocolate. I gotta give it to them. They might have done it in plain sight, but they were stealthy as all get out while doing it because no one heard a thing. They actually made the exact right amount of noise the entire time. None of those something-must-be-going-on-it's-too-quiet-in-here moments for the entire day. Just perfect children, or so we thought.



We hadn't even done the 4th day yet, so between the 3 of them they ate 66 candies!!! little shits.

I wish I'd gotten a picture of the calenders on the walls, with every single door open, barren of chocolate, but I was so ticked off I pulled them down all in a huff. What really got me is one of them wasn't even theirs! Noah was with his dad and they ate his too. little shits - have I said that yet? Noah's often complained that they raid everything of his while he's gone, maybe the boy has a point.

So we are getting noah a replacement. The girls aren't getting another one. We are still going to all get together and watch noah open his window, see what's behind the treat, and enjoy his sweet goodness. All while the girls stand there watching. I'm a meanie.


m

what not to eat

I read somewhere that one should never blog about her lunch. Or any meal for that matter. No one cares about what anyone else had to eat, no matter fascinating or funny they are. I'm neither of those things so blogging about food would be like a triple whammy no-no for me.

so, nah. This post isn't going to be what I did eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner, but of what I didn't eat. You see, this not eating everything in sight is semi-big for me because I'm not as much semi-big as I am gigantic-big, And. Well. Something. Must. Be. Done! Pronto!

I'm on day 7 of my new found don't-have-dessert-after-every-meal way of life. yes, I said, "way of life" because I'm like freaking old now and am thinking I've got so much to lose that it'll take the rest of my life so might as well just go with the flow. Calling this a diet just wouldn't be doing it justice, ya know?

anyway, day 7. It's been pretty good. I've twittered about some of the harder moments. I could have burned that place down today with complaints though. Christmas is officially here. I can tell because only at Christmas do the treats overflow from the break room to their own full sized TABLE. A TABLE PEOPLE!! not a measly counter. A full size fold up table - full of crap. Right now there's an abundance of choices, here on this forth day of December:
A dozen donuts,
a Costco sized fruit pie, apple I think,
a rather large tin of assorted cookies from home cookies.com,
half a plate of double chocolate brownies
a cup of starbursts (okay that's random!)
and a coffee cup full of candy canes.

THIS IS ONLY DAY 4 PEOPLE!!!!
OH! And what's already kicked the bucket?
a Costco lemon bundt cake - the stuff heaven is made of.
half a dozen specialty muffins
the first half of the plate of double chocolate brownies.

But what have I had, you ask? 1/2 a brownie!!!! that's it!

Oh shit, I did eat some circus animal cookies they other day. But they are like irresistible and I had to get them out of the house. I was cleaning. What? I couldn't just throw them away, they are starving people in Africa.

aw damn, I started this off by saying that no one should talk about what they ate for lunch and here I did exactly that. Shame on me. Let's change gears to what I might have eaten this week had I lived with my old too-much-is-never-enough-you-know-you-won't-puke-so-go-ahead manta.

A quarter of everything in the lists above, minus the pie. oh and the brownies and lemon cake. I would have finished off at least a half of those bad boys! for reals!

m

just cuz

I've done this one but thought I would do it again and then maybe compare.

Where is your mobile phone? desk
Where is your significant other? work
Your hair colour? dyed
Your mother? shelf
Your father? shelf
Your favourite thing? laughing
Your dream last night? wacked
Your dream goal? fit
The room you're in? cubicle
Your hobby? scrapbooking
Your fear? heights
Where do you want to be in 6 years? living
Where were you last night? driving
What you're not? thin
One of your wish-list items? laptop
Where you grew up? Northern California
The last thing you did? ate
What are you wearing? clothes
Your TV? big
Your pets? gone
Your computer? slow
Your mood? clear
Missing someone? yup!
Your car? parked
Something you're not wearing? socks
Favourite shop? target
Your summer? standard
Love someone? many!
Your favourite colour? pink
When is the last time you laughed? lunch
When is the last time you cried? yesterday





And this, just for fun, cuz noah hasn't had much time here cracking us up. but that doesn't mean he's not funny as hell.



Noah with his fauxhawk and rockstar hands (his hair has been cut since this pic) and Sarah being a cheese ball. Heaven forbid I snap a picture that doesn't have her in it :)

m

Anniversaries and Angels

I've been sitting here staring at a flashing cursor and mocking keyboard for nearly an hour. I don't know what to say about today, December 1st. I have these thoughts bouncing around my brain - wanting to come out, but, at best, colliding with each other and multiplying. Is that fusion? fission? either way, it's compli-freaking-cated up in there.

anyway. a year ago today my brother and I became orphans after our father passed away. It's been a year of firsts, that essentially ended last week with Thanksgiving dinner. Even though he died many days after last Thanksgiving, that day was pretty much the last day I remember thinking he was going to be okay. The next day everything changed and I knew he was going to die. It marked the beginning of the end.

It's been a crazy year. Mostly good. Some bad. A little bit very bad. But really, mostly good. And we've stuck it out. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? I've found, though, that in my dad's passing, I've missed my mom more. He was my conduit to her. He was the only person who I talked to every day who really knew her. I took for grated that I could always ask him when I wondered what Mom might think.

I leaned on her a lot, more and more as I got older. She was an amazingly diverse person and I learned as a young adult to never assume what she was going to say or believe on any subject. She was full of surprises and always made me really think about things. We agreed on many things, which was always cool, but there were so many times she surprised me with a different point of view. Once she was gone I realized quickly how much I missed discovering her thoughts on any myriad of subjects. She was always educated, passionate, well spoken and sincere about everything, big or small.

You see now why I've been sitting here so long? These thoughts flood my mind. I start with my dad, and everything quickly swings to my mom. That's not because I wasn't close to him. Shit, I am him. We were super close. Everything I love, and hate, about myself I got from him. As soon as I was allowed to stay up late, you could find us in the living room well into the night, talking about life, and God, and nothing and everything. I knew him because I am him. So when I miss him a mirror isn't too far away, and there he is.

One of the cooler things that's happened this year is my mom started visiting me again. I thank my daddy for that. I'd told him the story of her (and my mother in law) visiting me right after Sarah was born. Neither of them were able to meet her, but I could feel them there, watching over her. Racing past my bedroom door. At first it scared me and I finally asked them to stop. And they did. He knew how much I regretted asking that. I believe he convinced them it was okay, that I wouldn't be afraid this time, and that they should come back to see the kids, because once again I can feel them here. And this time, I say HI.

He doesn't hang around much. Not the manly thing to do I suppose, be the lurking angel! HA! I like to think he still up there asking all these questions, getting all the answers, that we'd talked about all those late nights. And besides, he doesn't have to stop by. My house is covered in mirrors, so it's not hard to see him any time I want.

m

how YOU doin?

this isn't nearly as good ad the "who's bill" conversation, but I still want to get it written down while I remember it. This convo happened in the car this weekend.


Me: Sarah, what cha'doin?
Sarah: good.
Me: No, WHAT are you doing?
Sarah: GOOD.
Me: Sarah, that's the answer to how are you doing. I am asking you what you are doing. Like, are you playing basketball? Or sleeping? Or driving in the car? get it?
Sarah: Yes.
Me: So sarah, what are you doing?
Sarah: Sitting.
Me: cool. and HOW are you doing?
Sarah: Sitting.

The girl totally cracks me up!

m