I know you guys remember my talking about Lucy, my sweet little Chihuahua sister. She lives in Dallas, with my mom. Duh. Otherwise, why would I have a Chihuahua for a sister?! Haha! Isn’t she pretty, though?
Well, the little darling has gone and sent us a Christmas card. I know, for a fact, that this will thrill my big, tough redneck man. He loves little dogs. Loves them.

I am, as well, duly thrilled. The darn card is so cute, I can’t even stand it! How lucky for Lucy (sounds like a song, eh?) that she was able to find a festive holiday card with none other than a Chihuahua on the front!

Aww…how cool is that? And it is just a painting, no Chihuahua’s necks were put under undue strain for our holiday enjoyment!

I just think it was terribly thoughtful of Lucy (and Momma) to send us a card.

I need to buy gifts for them - I wonder, if I got Momma a wine of the month club membership, do you think I should get Lucy a ‘kibble of the month’ club membership?

I’m gonna have to Skype my momma so I can video chat with my sweet “Lucita”!

Isn’t she cute, ya’ll? Don’t ya think she should have her very own cooking show?

You can check out the awesome, wonderful, stupendously fun cookbook right here:

MyVeryOwnMail.com/halloween

Mark just got back from the store with Sammie and Shawn. They went to get groceries, but, they also went looking for Halloween goodies. The kids needed costumes and we needed a little more stuff for the house. Our decorations are a bit sparse. Neither of the kids got an animal costume, but, they did get neat ones! Sammie got a Vampire Lady dress that is so pretty and she got a pitchfork and some pointy teeth to go with it. Shawn got a black hooded robe and this very cool, and long, staff - that actually has a skull inside a plastic ball that lights up and spins! I can’t wait to see how it works! Patrick is not quite sure what he’ll be doing this year, if he is actually going to dress up or not. I imagine at the last minute, he’ll throw on some kind of ghoulish makeup and go like that. Whatever he decides, I know we will all have fun. This is the best Halloween neighborhood we have ever lived in! I cannot wait!!

Ya’ll probably know my favorite holiday is Halloween! I just love it! It is so cool to get to dress up and ‘become’ someone else for a night - and all of the festivities are so fun - especially haunted houses!!! Well, I was looking at this website with Sexy Halloween Costumes and I found some super cute ones! I really like this sexy country girl costume:
Isn’t that cute? I would love it if, by October, I had lost enough weight to feel comfortable in something like that! I just might get there! I think I might rather have a witch costume, though - I always loved dressing up like a sexy witch!

That would be my momma, not me! Yesterday when I finished crying, got myself all calmed down and ready to get the kids up and ready for school (and give them their Valentine’s presents) I realized that my dad would not be showing up sometime after school with presents for the kids from him and my mother. Unless he was traveling 700 miles to deliver Valentine’s goodies. I suppose it could happen.

My mom has always loved to buy stuff for the kiddos for Valentine’s Day and it’s just really sweet and it is just one of our traditions that has evolved over the years. And it was certainly not the gifts that I was worried about - it was the whole sweetness of it all.

Ut oh - gonna make myself cry again.

Ok, so anyway, I got kind of sad about it in the morning, but, I sucked it up, took a deep breath, and woke the kids up. We exchanged Valentine’s - they had gotten me some really sweet stuff.

And then they went off to school. And I came to the computer - to what? Let’s all say it together….”to blog!” Of course. So I’m working through my day, trying to just muddle on through, when ….there’s a knock on the door.

I glance out the window - and there’s a DHL van outside - a delivery? Oh shit. Did I order something and forget about it? Damn. Did Mark spend more money? (LOL)

I go to the door and pick up the box - and it is addressed to my monsters, and is from the mail box business that my mom and SIL go to.

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW…… times a million!

Her Valentine’s did come to the kids - just with the DHL guy instead of Daddy! I’d rather have Daddy, but, awwwwwwwwwww….

I almost started crying all over again! My mom freaking ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I put it on the table and left it for the kids to open, I figured it was all wrapped up in bags and stuff, but, it is so much fun to open your own box, you know?

Love her or hate her, Angelina Jolie news is very sought after! We all seem to want to know what she is up to all the time!

I used to be a giant fan, and I am still quite obssessed with her, although I’m not sure I’m still a fan. I suppose I probably am.

Anyway, she and Brad Pitt spent Christmas day without their children.

They were in Costa Rica with Columbian war refugees, spreading her own personal message that, “the world has not totally forgotten them”.

I am not sure how old Maddox is, her oldest child - oh, wait - didn’t he start school this year? So he would be at least five, right?

I was going to say maybe the kids - her kids - are too young to notice that Mommy is gone on such a special day. But - Maddox would definitely know it!

I am not quite sure how I feel about this - I have known plenty of ‘do-gooders’ - or at least read of, who spend so much time ‘doing good’ that their own family is ignored.

I’ve been known to fall into the trap myself with PTA goings-on. It is indeed a slippery slope - everyone is praising you, and you really are contributing so much, and you don’t quite know when to say ‘No’.

So I don’t know - I think this could be one more smudge on my ‘I’m not really sure if I’m a fan’ decision.

Hmm…

….through my first ever Christmas without her!

I’m 36 yrs. old and my mother and I have never been apart on Christmas…..

It was pretty rotten, except for the morning part and celebrating with my kiddos - our little family unit stuff - that was just as nice as always.

But then, when all the hullaballoo died down, and I realized that the rest of my day would be quite different than usual….it took me quite a while to pull myself together.

But, I did. And the inlaws came over…and we had a nice time. It is kind of hard entertaining with very little furniture, but, apparently everyone prefers the gatherings to be at our house.

See, our ‘living room setup’ is in the basement, and the two rooms upstairs are just empty and waiting to be remodeled - I finally got fed up at one point and brought up a camping banquet-style table so that we could at least have a table. So we have that table and a hodgepodge of chairs.

So, anyway, we got through the day, and although quite different, it was not completely unbearable.

I definitely miss my momma and my daddy and my brother and my sister-in-law and my precious nephew, though. And Buddy and Scruffy - two of the Dallas menagerie!

Swiped from my good friend, Super-Mommy:

Dear Santa,

I’ve been a good mom all year. I’ve fed, cleaned and cuddled my children on
demand, visited the doctor’s office more than my doctor, sold sixty-two
cases of candy bars to raise money to plant a shade tree on the school
playground. I was hoping you could spread my list out over several
Christmases, since I had to write this letter with my son’s red crayon, on
the back of a receipt in the laundry room between cycles, and who knows when
I’ll find anymore free time in the next 18 years.

Here are my Christmas wishes:

I’d like a pair of legs that don’t ache (in any color, except purple, which
I already have) and arms that don’t hurt or flap in the breeze; but are
strong enough to pull my screaming child out of the candy aisle in the
grocery store.

I’d also like a waist, since I lost mine somewhere in the seventh month of
my pregnancy.

If you’re hauling big ticket items this year I’d like fingerprint resistant
windows and a radio that only plays adult music; a television that doesn’t
broadcast any programs containing talking animals; and a refrigerator with a
secret compartment behind the crisper where I can hide to talk on the phone.

On the practical side, I could use a talking doll that says, “Yes, Mommy” to
boost my parental confidence, along with two kids who don’t fight and three
pairs of jeans that will zip all the way up without the use of power tools.

I could also use a recording of Tibetan monks chanting “Don’t eat in the
living room” and “Take your hands off your brother,” because my voice seems
to be just out of my children’s hearing range and can only be heard by the
dog.

If it’s too late to find any of these products, I’d settle for enough time
to brush my teeth and comb my hair in the same morning, or the luxury of
eating food warmer than room temperature without it being served in a
Styrofoam container.

If you don’t mind, I could also use a few Christmas miracles to brighten
the holiday season. Would it be too much trouble to declare ketchup a
vegetable? It will clear my conscience immensely. It would be helpful if you
could coerce my children to help around the house without demanding payment
as if they were the bosses of an organized crime family.

Well, Santa, the buzzer on the dryer is ringing and my son saw my feet under
the laundry room door. I think he wants his crayon back.
Have a safe trip and remember to leave your wet boots by the door and come
in and dry off so you don’t catch cold.

Help yourself to cookies on the table but don’t eat too many or leave crumbs
on the carpet.

Yours Always, MOM…!

P.S. One more thing…you can cancel all my requests if you can keep my
children young enough to believe in Santa.

*Santa has asked that this gets passed on to all the mommies you know
——————————————————————————–

I remember reading that last year - and I just love it!!!! One of the ones that is definitely worth repeating! Especially the P.S. - we could use some of that around here…reference this post to see my point!

And the purple legs - aaaaaggghhh!

Or, as they say around here: Hotlanta! I’ve even heard it called, “the ATL” Haha!

The sixth grade class took chartered buses to Atlanta this morning to go and see “A Christmas Carol” at the Alliance Theater.

I had to get him to school by 6:30am - was that hard? NO! Silly boy was so excited he woke up at 1:52am!! He said he dozed off and on after that…crazy kid!

My alarm went off at 5am, as it usually does…and I am wandering through the dark house with Puppy at my side, as I usually do….when WHAMMO! I run into a kid!

Geez Louise! I never, I mean, NEVER, see kids up at this hour! Scared me half to death!!

He’s totally awake, no sleepy-kid-face, and happy and grinning, “Hi Mom! I woke up at 1:52am!”

Well, bless my bippy! Let your poor ol mom get a hold of herself there, son! LOL

Mark had given him a little cash to buy some snacks, so we left a few minutes early and stopped at the Grub Mart to buy some junk, and then went on to the school, where we find, waiting in the parking lot - two Trailways buses. And you know that’s an exciting site for a kid. I remember those moments as a kid - excited and happy butterflies in your stomach just at the site of those behemoth buses! Very cool, indeed!

I walked him in, sat with him and his friends for a few minutes, and spoke with his teacher for a bit. They actually had photo ID cards for every kid! How cool is that? I was really impressed with that!

As I was driving home, I recalled that last year, as we were thinking about our move here, and looking up everything online, we noticed that the 6th graders went to Atlanta. And we thought that was really cool. (I was so hoping that they had some cool stuff for 6th grade here, as Patrick had an excellent sixth grade year in Texas, and you know how they compare and get sad when they think one of them had it better!) And I realized that somehow, someway, we’ve fast-forwarded to now…and we’re here…and Shawn is going to Atlanta with the sixth graders! And I started to cry!

And then I immediately changed the subject in my brain - I was not in the mood for any crying - this week has been hard enough!

And I don’t know if I’m getting used to their going off without me, or if certain events seem to be handled with more care and concern for each child - but, I really haven’t felt the typical fear that would go along with an event like this for me.

That’s refreshing. That fear can be nauseating. Sort of odd, but, the absence of that fear makes me afraid that I’ll become, or have become, too detached from it all, and that I won’t have enough of the fear to keep my kids safe.

Man - just plain motherhood can be nauseating sometimes!

Well, the songstress was at it again! Only this time she sang in the town square before the Christmas parade!

Man, I keep making typos - my fingers are still so cold! The backspace key and I are getting really friendly! LOL!

I am telling you - it got SERIOUSLY cold out there!

She sang around 5:30, I think - just a few songs..and it was sweet and we had fun hanging out in the square and the kids ran around and played tag with a bunch of kids once the singing was through.

But then….the parade took fooooooreeeeeveeeeer (that doesn’t look right, but, you know what I mean!) to start! It was due to start at 6:30, I’m not sure what time it actually started - I’m sure the cold slowed the minutes down considerably!

And it sure didn’t help that the bank across the street had a clock and temperature sign - and the kids exuberantly announced every single digit drop….”Mom! Now it’s 26!” ….. “Mom! Now it’s 22!”

It finally started, and it was kind of nice, nothing too thrilling - but, I’m used to our parades back home and the chronic over-doers that enter! Hahaha! (Like my silly husband!)

We finally gave up out of sheer FREEZINGNESS!! with about 10 or so more floats to go - we just couldn’t take it any more!

I’ve got some good shots of my superstar choir chic - but, the camera software won’t cooperate…maybe the camera got too cold, too!

I’ll try again tomorrow to upload them.