Trim the Tree & String the Lights!

This week, post-Thanksgiving, sure is a BUSY one! My goodness! K, enough said.

This coming Friday, my friend Ry-Ry is going to come over and help me dig through all my storage boxes full of christmas decor before the angel boy-O flies in that night! I can't wait to decorate like mad, I tell you!

And Saturday evening [drumroll going in my head], we'll be shopping for a Christmas Tree! WOO-HOO! And Sunday [drumroll firing up again, with greater intensity], it'll be time to trim the tree and string the lights and to turn our home into Winter Holiday Central! [CLARIFICATION: In no way, will we be reaching 'Griswold Family Christmas' heights of holiday decor, however!]

Gobble-Gobble in L.A., Man!

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Gobble-gobble to all fellow bloggers, family and friends! We spent Thanksgiving in L.A. again this year! We had a wonderful, most delicious spread ~ Most of the pictures taken include a family member, so I can't post 'em for all to see, sorry! However, Wendy gave me permission to post this beauty of a shot!

I so love it - makes me crack up every time!

And do you think we had enough dessert options?

""Everything Comes Down to Pooh" or "We're in Business, Baby"

Time for a Health Update: The latest is that they're really not sure whether or not I have a spastic colon, considering my pain is almost always localized in one area, among other things that all basically amount to a "No, it can't be a spastic colon." The general gist: They still don't know what's wrong, and so, about 4 weeks ago, I was scheduled for a colonoscopy late next month (geesh, not too fast people, come on, eh?). And for the most truly up to date info, as of this afternoon, I've gone to the bathroom more in the last 24 hrs than I had in the last 2 months combined = 9 times?!? Yeah. And I'm pretty sure I'm not supposed to be doing that either.

But time for some truly good news (and then we'll get back to the poo)! Today, I saw my gyno and after checking out 'clear' for a full year, and now officially off 'The Pill,' despite ovarian cysts galore on both the left and right, my doc told me today that I'm ovulating without issue. We could soon be in the business of making a wee baby! Yay! Not right now, not right away [SIDE NOTE: We can't with my colonoscopy scheduled first.], but relatively soon [TRANSLATION: 'Soon' being some time this next year, which ain't that far away.].

But Back to Poop: Considering I've got a colonoscopy around the corner, I think this video on YouTube from the TV show, Scrubs, is rather appropriate, don't you think? Wendy had told us we should seek this one out...

Purring Like a Motor

Both of our sweet kitty-boys, Otis & Owen, they're happy little purrers, but Otis is particularly loud at night, and while lying in bed before falling asleep, we often make comments to each other, amazed how loudly Otis can purr like a lil' motor.

Here was last night's conversation:

My honey-man: "You hear him?"

Me: [Pausing a few seconds to listen first, before answering] That's a motorcycle.

And bed-shaking giggling ensues...

Googling for Cranberry Fluff

So, I get the site meter report for this blog emailed to me once a week, k? Well, normally, it just gets checked off for 'Trash' without my ever opening it for even a mere glance, UNLESS, in the subject line, I see an unusual surge in the number of my average daily site visits. One of the last times it'd happened (and it's been a long time), it was because of my "I Hit a Cow" story. And one of the times before that, it was because I wrote a post about my Popa-sahn and Katherine McPhee.

So yeah, the average daily number of visits to my blog this week? There's been a definite surge.

And this time? Apparently, I'm the #3 Google search result for Cranberry Fluff [RECIPE HERE]!?!

How appropriate.

And how cool is that?!?

(I am such a nerd, I know, I know.)

All the 'Strip' Shows I've Seen

I first began this post a lil' more than a year ago, after having gone to see Mamma Mia, but for some unknown reason, I forgot to post it. After we recently were given tickets to The Producers at The Paris, it occurred to me that this was still sitting in my Drafts folder. There's a good number of shows I've seen here on the Strip since I moved to Las Vegas in 1999 ~ Anything with an asterisk, I scored the tickets somehow at no cost, and those shown with a double ** were comped through work! I'm still hoping to someday see the Beatles-themed 'Love' at the Mirage, and Mystere, Ra would be cool too, along with Spamalot, and the Bodies Exhibit! UPDATE: Daly just suggested I somehow highlight my top 5 or 10 - so, using rainbow order (red, most preferred)!

The Producers** at The Paris - 11/2007
Everclear** [what a horrible show] at House of Blues - 01/2007
Mamma Mia* at Mandalay Bay- 10/2006
Hall & Oates* at the Mirage - 11/2005
George Clinton & the P-Funk** at House of Blues - 5/2005
Avenue Q** at the Wynn - 2005
Hairspray** at the Luxor - 2005
Dinner with The Sopranos - 2005
Celine Dion** at Caesar's Palace - 5/2005 [this was for a 2nd time, sitting at the center sound booth]
'Le Reve' of Cirque de Soleil** at The Wynn - 2004
Jason Mraz at the House of Blues - 6/2004
Freddy Perez at the House of Blues - 2004
Celine Dion* at Caesar's Palace- 2004
'Zumanity' of Cirque de Soleil* at NY, NY Hotel & Casino - 2004
Sarah Brightman* at MGM - 2004
Excalibur's Tournament of Kings* - 2004
'O' of Cirque de Soleil** at The Bellagio - 2003
Tim McGraw* at Mandalay Bay - 2003
Michelle Branch* at MGM - 2003
Dixie Chicks** at MGM - 2003
Buddy Guy* at the House of Blues - 10/2002
The V Show* at what was then the Aladdin - 2002
Paul McCartney* at MGM - 2002
Bjorn Again* at The Palms- 2002
Cranberries* at The Palms- 2002
Marilyn Manson at the House of Blues - 2001 [a big shocker for most]
Kid Rock at The Joint - 1999 [took my uncle Loren who, I knew, wanted to go very BADLY, but wouldn't ever go by himself]
Poweman 5000 at The Joint - 1999

Why I Love Mah Honey-Man ~ Reason 17

I've been working kinda late this week, every night this week. Well, one particular night this week, my honey-man called to see if I would soon be on my way home. I then told him about the annoying last minute 'I-gotta-do-it-now-before-morning' task I'd been given...

He said he'd be right over with dinner, and to help me out! Once he arrived, he inhaled his food (as he almost always does), and then he did 30+ tri-fold brochures for me while I finished my dinner. What a sweetheart, eh?

I told him he'd be paid for his time in kisses.

Time for Cranberry Fluff!

About a month ago, when I'd gone to Trader Joe's for some of our grocery favorites and I saw that they had fresh cranberries in stock, as soon as I was home, as I walked in the door, I excitedly announced to my honey-man "THEY HAVE CRANBERRIES ALREADY! CRANBERRY FLUFF, HERE WE COME! I CAN'T WAIT UNTIL TURKEY DAY!!"

So far, though, despite three different trips to Trader's since the discovery of their fresh cranberry stock, I've picked up a package each visit, tempted to throw it in the cart and run home to make me some Cranberry Fluff right now, before Turkey Day...and each time, I've put the package back down. Three strikes yer out!?

Well, ya know what? This is my chance for Cranberry Fluff [RECIPE HERE], man! Next trip to Trader's, I'm gunna throw a package (or two) of fresh cranberries in the cart and make us some Cranberry Fluff, whether it's in time for Thanksgiving Day or not!

Guilty Confession #5

So far this week at work, I've been living on handfuls of snap peas and carrots sticks with spinach dip... and several snack size Snickers bars leftover from our Halloween candy. Oh and one granny smith apple yesterday afternoon!

I'm hoping this confession will help me feel the shame of it (and not deny it any longer) and finally knock it off for the remainder of this week!

OR - - I do have another package of snap peas and more carrots, with over 1/2 of the spinich dip container remaining... and at least a dozen Snickers bars left!

Just Call Me 'Red'

Me and my dear friend, Daly-girl, now also my private colorist!

All the blonde highlight "lifts" released - - still waiting on the "intense dark red" to get as much time as we can give it...

Okay, so it's really not all red - - not enough that anyone could call me 'red' - - but it's certainly different for me! I don't yet have a picture that truly shows off the end results... Turns out my hair is dark enough and naturally shiny enough that unless well lit with some overhead lighting, but not too bright, you can't exactly tell what was done. I'll probably toddle off to the bathroom in a sec to take some pictures in the mirror.

Okay, about 15 pictures later, most of them too bright and too close, etc... these are the best I got. This was the first time I've ever had my hair highlighted before, unless you count my personal affair with hydrogen peroxide at the tender age of 12 in 1987 - ?

Daly's already planning her strategy for thicker chunking, next time around.

Why I Love Mah Honey-Man ~ Reason 16

Because in the passing of one day over a weekend, I can delight in the fact that I'm married to a man who wanders around the house happily singing little french songs to himself, who may have been a noisy pirate in a former life (arrgghh!), who also doubles in the evening as an italiano cinema voice over pro, who frequently whistles christmas songs all the year-round, to which the latter, many can attest to this. The rest of it? I think I may be the only one privy to these moments of his - - well, all except the year-round x-mas whistling and the pirate thing = He can be quite the grump when he's working on his geeky tech stuff, and the angel boy-O sure loves The Pirates of the Carribean, so Daddy's had a lot of practice fine tuning his inner pirate!

I'm Sorry, I missed that... you were saying?

Too many times to count, sadly, this was me today: "I'm sorry, I just wasn't with you there - - what were you saying?"

Man (heavy exhale).

The last couple weeks have been mentally and emotionally exhausting. Can't got into detail, sorry. (Dooce has provided more than adequate 'what will happen if you blog about work' warning for us all).

Hopefully, once everything settles down (and my next French exam has come and gone), I'll be in the right mind to post. I'm going to go home now -I plan to gorge myself on all the leftover Halloween candy we have. We didn't get a single trick-or-treater last night?!? = NOT ONE :(

(just kidding about the gorging - - kinda)

Why I Love Mah Honey-Man ~ Reason 15

Because the other day, when I was in a downright foul mood, dealing with work, my honey-man came by my office for lunch (or was it dinner?), and like a giggling kid, he ran ahead of me, down the hall and out into the lobby, through the closing doors of a elevator about to leave... and then, as I was about to catch up, wondering why the heck he'd ran off like that, I saw my honey-man begin to frantically push the "Close Door" button over and over again, trying to close the elevator doors before I could get there - - ?!? And when I ran into the elevator, he squawked at me like a kid and tried to push/wrestle me (gently) out of the elevator - - !?!

No, he was not trying to race me to the first floor or anything like that - - he was only trying to make me laugh. And it so worked.

One Year, Today: New Meaning Given to the Words... "Holy Cow!"

Well, well... So it was a year ago today, less than an hour from now, that I'd hit a full grown, black cow's broadside, straight on, when driving 70 mph on a country road in Bear Lake Lake Co., Idaho, with my grandma in the passenger seat and my cousin's wife and 2 year old son in the back.

And the outcome? It could have been the very worst for us all, but it wasn't.

And even though I could bitch about the fact that it took until 3 weeks ago to receive my final reimbursement check, nearly a year after the accident, it all could have been far, far worse - - can't forget that fact.

Sleigh Bells Ringing, Already?

I went to Michael's to take advantage of their 50%-off sale for all wall frames (cuz we got wedding pictures to hang, baby!). All of their Halloween gear was on sale too, but I was a very good girl and bought none of that stuff... the frames, however? Anyhow, they also had their Thanksgiving holiday displays set up in full glory, ready for the next major winter holiday... along with Christmas and Hanukkah -?!? What the?

At some point, a woman standing in the same framing aisle turned to me as Bing Crosby began to swell over the store intercom system, and she said she couldn't believe they were playing Christmas music already - - and I agreed, and told her it's totally freakin' me out too. Then, another woman, much older than us with a high class, well put together look, with a very Better Home & Gardens magazine-like appearance, who we hadn't noticed standing just behind us both, she spoke up next to say the following: "If you ask me, it's just f***ing absurd."

Um, yeah - what she said...

I'm Okay, Really!

OH MY GOODNESS! I got to work this morning and found a handful of 'are you okay' inquiries since last night's post. I'm okay - - much better. Don't worry - - I am fine. Life is difficult - - that's no secret. And there's A LOT of good stuff out there! There are reasons to go on, despite the pain and loss. Life is good.

I'm okay, really! But THANK YOU for your words of concern, comfort, reassurance and love! Now let's all have a good day!

Real Problems

Things have been so hectic since we got married - - [BEWARE: This begins as a whiney post, that turns quite serious.] It's really been an ongoing struggle -- admittedly, a minor struggle, yes, but a struggle, nonetheless; [Here begins the big run-on list.] Trying to keep on top of my French studies amidst two different weddings scheduled barely one month apart from one another, so that I don't have to pay back the pre-paid tuition (which is what I'll have to do if I get anything less than a B ~ and by the way, I got an A- on my midterm last week, a miracle in itself!); catching up at work since our return from our honeymoon; and things at my work and more stuff at work; and WAY, WAY too many cupcakes devoured from the Cupcakery after work; and a lot of crap at work; trying (and failing) to workout regularly; and two weekend trips to LA in a row [SIDE NOTE: Although greatly appreciated, I never knew how my honey-man could drive back and forth from L.A. to Vegas every week for months at a time over the last 3 years!]; and trying (and failing until last night) to get our wedding announcement website up and running so we could FINALLY send out our wedding announcements to everyone who hadn't been a part of our big day, who were already feeling left out enough as it was; and calling and running around to a gazillion different locations to get my blasted name change final; and trying repeatedly (and failing repeatedly) to help my honey-man feel connected and complete in the absence of his angel boy-O, since the lil' guy's return to his Moma's in Burbank; and a lot of stuff going on at work; and trying to personally catch up with a gazillion different people since the wedding; and trying to do all that personal connecting with the crappy 'upgrade' cell phone I'd had for the last 3 weeks (which I finally returned to AT&T last Saturday); and waiting and waiting (and failing and failing) to experience some normalcy in the bathroom for the last several months; and a lot of shit to do and deal with at work; and waiting and waiting for my appointment with the gastro-intestinal Doc this coming 30th [SIDE NOTE: I keep telling myself it can't be serious, cuz they wouldn't have made me wait this long if they'd seen something in the CAT Scan results, right?]; and worrying that I'll have difficulty getting pregnant with all my female issues; and have I mentioned things are difficult at work? Can't say much more than that though, about work, of course.

Now listen: None of the aforementioned is big, terrible stuff - - NONE OF IT! - - All mere inconveniences really, in that all our needs are met and then some. Now, indeed, some of these 'inconveniences' are extremely painful ones, but real problems involve things like, oh, not having a roof over your head, losing one's livelihood, having no food to eat, the diagnosis of a terminal illness, a death in the family, etc. - - those are real problems. And this fact, that I still can't seem to find a balance, even with so little on my plate right now? I already knew that with one exception only, all this is rather pathetic, even in terms of any excuses I could muster. Well, all this was made to feel supremely pathetic come last Friday morning... and I am ashamed of myself.

A friend of ours lost his 19 year old son late last Thursday night to a horrible, dreadful freak accident. His son had had a condition, prone to seizures. His son had gone outside to sit in the backyard near the pool for better cell phone reception, and his son had an epileptic episode and slipped into the swimming pool and drowned, found by the eldest son, hours later.

Friday after work, after my honey-man had covered that entire workday for our friend, we walked to our mailbox together in silence. And on the way back to our home, we discovered that we were both thinking the very same thing: We both were wondering [not for the first time in either of our lives], if we could somehow comprehend all that goes on in the world at any one given moment -all the accidents and all the crime, all the personal, individual loss, all the neglect and wrong-doing, all the hurt and all the pain- if we could somehow have it all come into consciousness, how could we even function? - - how could we function at all?

My Grammie Joanie lost her youngest son to a tragic car accident when he was 19 years old - - and my step-mum's mother lost her eldest son when he was 22 years old, also to a car accident. And my Grams lost her 2nd eldest daughter, my own mum, age 33, to Hodgkins disease.

How does one go on when they've lost a child? Parents aren't meant to outlive their children.

Why I Love Mah Honey-Man ~ Reason 14

Because as he was walking out our front door this morning, backpack loaded, his travel coffee cup in hand and water bottle dangling off his thumb, closing the door behind him with his free hand, Owen ran towards the door and gave a cute lil' pleading 'Where are you going, Daddy?' meow, and my hubby-man stopped and reopened the door to sweetly say "Goodbye Owen."

Our Mornings with Otis, Minus the Bat

Found this via CuteOverload.com (love this site!)

Until Daryl or was it Uma? Yeah, Uma

Your results: (I have no idea why this won't format correctly!)
You are Poison Ivy

Poison Ivy 57% Mystique 56% Riddler 46% Catwoman 39% The Joker 37% Magneto 35% Mr. Freeze 30% Apocalypse 30% Dr. Doom 26% Dark Phoenix 25% Green Goblin 24% Lex Luthor 20% Juggernaut 16% Two-Face 16% Venom 15% Kingpin 14%

You would go to almost any length for the protection of the environment including manipulation and elimination.

Click here to take the Supervillain Personality Quiz

(I did this BlogThingy back in August for Kati, but had problems with its publishing format, so it was forgotten in 'Drafts' along with a lot of other forgotten posts that month - - the same for the month of September!)