He Doesn't Know...

Sir: "Mommy! I got gogurt! I got gogurt Mommy!"
Ma'am: (wispering conspiratorily) "It's ok. He calls it gogurt but its really o-gurt. It's ok. He doesn't know."
Mommy: "He calls it gogurt but its..."
Ma'am: "...yeah, but its really o-gurt. He's so cute. He doesn't know."

Did I correct Ma'am and tell her that its yogurt? No. She's so cute. She doesn't know.

Christmas Parties Galore!

I love the holiday season and how we take the time to celebrate with those that we love. Friday night, we attended a party with a group of very special friends. When we moved to the home we are living in now, Ma'am started attending a brand new daycare that is around the corner from our street. She became fast friends with 3 other children and now 4 years later, The Henchmen (as I call them) are all still fast friends. And even better, all of the parents are friends too! The kids had a great time exchanging gifts and the parents had an even better time drinking Toasted Almonds!(Fill blender with ice. Fill 1/3 with Kahlua, 1/3 with Amaretto, 1/3 with vanilla ice cream, blend and enjoy!) We also had the pleasure of the daycare's old owners' company. They recently sold the daycare but we all still stay in touch. They are actually watching Ma'am and Sir right now while Mister is at the Bucs game and I'm home sick on the couch blogging.) I am so thankful that our children are all growing up together and my hope is that these relationships will continue to grow as time goes on!

Then on Saturday night, we attended a party in a beautiful Seminole Heights bungalow thrown by one of my employees. I've blogged before about how great my work is and one of the things that makes it so great is one of the team's I lead. I am so fortunate to work with such a great group of people who truly act and feel like a family. Unfortunately, the nasty cold that has me sidelined today started in last night and we weren't able to stay as long as I would have liked to but we had a great time while we were there.

So here is to all of my friends and my hope of a Merry Christmas for all of them.

Santa and Snow, Hold the Vodka

One of our favorite things to do at Christmas is to watch the boat parade down at place called Channelside. Several years ago, there wasn't much to do in downtown Tampa especially for families. Thankfully some developers invested money into turning our cruise port into a destination. There are restaurants, clubs, shops and a movie theatre built around a courtyard where they hold events. During the holidays, they have Florida snow (foam) falling from the sky (shooting out from the palm trees)and Santa. We have a lot of fun taking the kids down there to let them watch the lit up decorated boats,dance, drink hot cocoa and visit Santa.

Last night, Mister and Ma'am were cutting a rug on the dance floor and drawing such a crowd that the Santa photographer left his post to take pictures of them. The elf had to keep coming over to grab him back to take his Santa pictures. And then during a dancing break, before I could grab her, Ma'am grabbed my drink to quench her thirst. Unfortunately for her, what she thought was chocolate milk, was the last sip of my Kaluha and cream. In slow motion as I'm reaching for her; I see the sip, the frown, and then the look of disgust at the cup. And then I hear, "Mommy, your milk is yucky!". I guess I should be happy that she didn't think it was delicious! And that it was only Kaluha and cream with no vodka. A nice shot of vodka in my 4 year old would have really made me feel like mother of the year!

Beauty School Drop Out... Go Back to High School!

In these tough economic times, like many of you, I am cutting my costs. I haven't bought a new purse in months (ok, since the beginning of November but it was on sale therefore didn't count). I haven't been going out to lunch with the girls. And if you can believe it, I went to a private shopping event at Nordstroms Sunday night and did not buy one thing. Nadda! Zip! Zero! (Even though I really really need another tube of MAC Viva Glam V). I am very proud of my new fiscally responsible ways but I have to draw the line. And line is drawn straight through the cosmetology school I went to this week. For $55.00 I got a basic facial (not too bad; no steam, no extraction but over all not bad results), color (horror of all horrors... I can barely say it... I. Am. Going. Grey. There, I said it. The secret is out. I'm fine with it, I really am. Especially with my new cheap solution of the beauty school dye job.) and a cut.

Ah... the cut. This is where it all went awry. Up until this point, I was feeling pretty good about my frugal find. I should have known I was in trouble as soon as I sat in Tracey's chair and she had to call Ms. Ann, her instructor, over before she even picked up her scissors.

Tracey: "Um, Ms. Ann?"
Ms. Ann: "Yes?"
Tracey: "She (indicating me) has a lot of hair. And uh, from what she told me she wants, I need to do a 135."
Ms. Ann: "Well,that's great timing! I just taught you the 135 this morning. Isn't that funny?"

At this point, I'm starting to sweat. I did not expect perfection when I walked through the door however I also did not expect to be Tracey's FIRST 135!! (Whatever that is.) I keep my cool as Ms. Ann walks Tracey through the easy part, trimming my split ends in the back. Once that was done, the heat was back on. Tracey would comb a piece of hair and then wait for Ms. Ann to tell her it was ok to cut it. ON EVERY CUT! At one point, I went spider monkey on her, slightly raising my voice saying, "Cut it! Just cut it! Give me the scissors, I'll cut it!"

Needless to say, my lesson in frugality was really a lesson in patience. And what did I learn? That I have even less patience than I thought I had.

Facial? Color? Fine. Hair cut? No freakin way. You'll catch me at the barber shop before you ever see me back in Tracey's chair!

Cookies? Check!

Sugar cookies all decorated
Fa la la la la la la la la

Snickerdoodles and peanut butter
Fa la la la la la la la la

Chocolatechip cookies, six dozen
Fa la la la la la la la la

I am done with Christmas cookies
Fa la la la laaaa la la la laaaaaa!

(Note: These are not my cookies. No way in hell mine look this good; I totally bogarted the picuture.)

Dear Nice Lady...

...who rear ended me. While the hug you gave me was nice, what would have been nicer is if you hadn't had run into the back of my car. While I was stopped. Completely stopped. I know you're sorry but now I'm sorry too. Sorry that I can't stop being cranky about the whole thing. I know you didn't know that I had back surgery 2 years ago and still have numbness in my leg from the nerve damage. I know that if you knew that, you would have tried to hit someone else; someone perfectly healthy and in fine shape, someone who wouldn't be sitting here now all achy and sore. And while I'm sharing my feelings, new friend, I'd like to say how much I hate carbs. Yes, totally irrelevant to the little love tap you gave me, however it is totally relevant to my crankiness. I bet you also didn't know that the lady you bumped into is on a low carb diet; that I am an Italian (naturally predisposed to love all things carby) on a low carb diet. Yes, Dr. Garcia and his magical vitamin B shots are miracle workers but if I didn't have a weigh in tomorrow, I would be drowning my achy back, scratched up car, overall cranky ass sorrows in a Lovers Size Chocolate Devotion with a swirl of fluff (my own special touch).

The hug was a nice touch though. I felt your sincerity. But I'm too small a person to overcome all of this right away. I'm gonna hold a grudge. At least for tonight. And I pray that the iron fist of hate that is clutching my heart oh so tightly is gone tonight. Because if I see you tomorrow on my long drive in... your little hugging butt is mine! All mine! Muwahahaha! And then once I take you out, I'm knocking over the next Cold Stone.

Signed,
Hurting, Hugged and Hungry