Christmas Cookie Exchange, etc.

Ms. Susie has invited me once again to join her Cookie Exchange festivities. I am honored to attend, and will be sure to take my shoes off at the door. I have cute warm little sockies to wear instead.

I don't have the time nor the energy to upload new pics, so old pics must suffice.

Our Christmases are filled to the brim. When we first got married, for the first several years both LP and I worked either Christmas Day, Eve, or both. We were flying in every different direction. Some years we did our celebrations on the 24th, the 23rd, even the 26th. Once Rug was born though, both he and I had non holiday working jobs (me being a SAHM for awhile anyway). So for the past 10 years our Christmases have looked like this:

Christmas Eve Day: Baking cookies

Christmas Eve evening: Trek over to my Mother in laws, LP's mom and stepdads.

(if LP and I got each other something, we usually open it after we get home when the little ones are snug in their beds)

Christmas a.m.: Open our gifts from Santa, then off to LPs dad's for brunch.

Eat way too much.

Go home, unload, nap.

Around 4 p.m. head off to my parents' house 1/2 hour away for one more go at it.

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Needless to say, it's exhausting. Now, last year and this year, I have to work. Just 3 hours, and I get time and a half, so it's not too big of a deal, but basically replace that nap with working. Bummer, right? Plus this year, Christmas falls on my day OFF but we are all required to work. Double bummer. But still, it's not a big deal, cuz I'm at home in my PJs surrounded by my family. It's all good!

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I love dips and appetizers, I could literally eat them all day long. I just went recently to a party and one of the attendants brought these delicious meatballs along. They were so yummy, that she was hesitant to give me her secret recipe. But fortunately she did, and I will be making them for New Year's this year. Enjoy:

YUMMY DELICIOUS MEATBALLS

Frozen Meatballs
2 12 oz jars Heinz chili sauce (or BBQ sauce)
1 32 oz jar grape jelly
1 bag meatballs (about 80 in a bag)

Put chili sauce and jelly in a large pot, heat until jelly is melted and sauce is smooth, stirring often. Add frozen meatballs; heat until meatballs are thawed and then simmer for 3 hours.

Hey, if you want to make your own meatballs, go right ahead. I'm just making your life a little less stressful.

MY HOLIDAY TRADITIONS:

We read Twas the Night Before Christmas every Christmas Eve before the kids go to bed. We all pile into our bed, snuggle up and LP reads it. This year I got one of those recordable editions, so his voice will be reading it forever. I love that.

We also go to look at Christmas lights and crank up the Christmas music and then make cookies afterwards. It's the best tradition ever, really.

One last tradition we have is more of my husband's, that is, he every year will promise that next year we will have the best Christmas light display on the block.

We have not had ANY Christmas lights up in 5 years. Gotta love him. And I do! LOL

Have a very Merry Christmas and enjoy every moment, smell, sound, and taste of the season. It truly is magic.

And thanks Susie, again, for making me blog and for your friendship. I love ya.

(PS, that was last year's Santa picture, but most definitely a classic)

Someone should call Blog Welfare Services

This pic cracks me up. I was really, really drunk. First time I'd ever had sake. Have you ever had it? It will knock you out.

Well, I guess my blog is on my New Year's resolutions. I'm really gonna try in 2010, I promise.

No, really.

See you January 1st.

Janasayqua's Book Club*

*not to be confused with that OTHER book club.

OK so a few posts back I told you I was gonna read a book about cancer, which I thought I'd hate, but actually did enjoy, it was called "Middle Place" and when I finished it, at the end of the book the author described a piece she'd written and BAM it hit me. A few months ago (years?) someone emailed me a woman speaking from You tube, about women and relationships, and it had come at a time in my life where there had been drama with friends, as well as a loss of parents, as well as drama with our kids. It hit HOME, and the fact that the author of this book was also the person in this video, make me respect and appreciate her all that much more.

Here is that video:

TRANSCENDING

So after i was done, I promised myself I'd read "Pride and Prejudice", by Jane Eyre, as recommended to me by the women in the book I read about the potato peel pies.

This deemed far more difficult that I'd originally planned.

"Pride and Prejudice" is, in a simple description, NOT a summer read.

It is to be read on cold winter nights in front of a fire when all the kids are sleeping and you have nothing else to do.

NOT when it is beautiful outside and you have 8 million other things you could be doing. Oh my gosh. While I was reading this book, at least 4 people saw it and said, "Oh! One of my FAVORITE books!" Upon which I replied, "Yeah? When did you read it?" and the response was ALWAYS "in college".

Did you remember what you were doing in college? No-thing. Nothing. Therefore, you had time to fill your head with the 18th century prose that is far more difficult to decipher when you have a 2 year old shoving a sippy cup in your face saying "More mommy" and the sound of the Instant Messager from your 12 year old in the background as well as your 9 year old dancing to Lady Gaga...do you see my point here?

So it was nice when we went on a short vacation and I could sit by the pool and read it, without interruption. I was finally 'getting into it'.

Then we got home, and the book went missing. Hmm. I mourned for about 30 seconds.

I went right out and got Danny Evans' book "Rage Against the Meshuggenah" (from DadGoneMad) and will start it posthaste!

Oprah's got nothing on me.

winery

1. Must find out the name of that Riesling of which I finished entire bottle.

2. Must always remember to NOT eat cheese, even if it's Swiss, even if it's with crackers. Does not negate my lactose intolerance.

3. Must go to this winery more than once in my life.

Blog lest ye be blogged

Susie reminded me today what started all of this, my poor neglected blog. But right this second I am being reminded also of why I stopped. Trying to get through a blog post while working is almost impossible. There is always a CT brain scan or MRI to type. It ain't like it used to be, the carefree days I had of babysitting and making my own schedule, which was exactly what I was doing when I started this venture in 2005. But I refuse to shut er down, no way. I still have to keep my little place in the universe.

Why not blog when you're done working one might ask. Well, the summer has been a good one, and with a backyard that looks like this one does not want to be inside for any millisecond longer:




So what has gone on this summer? Well, the whole family went to Greece leaving me and Mo behind. We had fun without them but also missed them terribly. The review from Greece: Food was OK, the Acropolis and ruins were amazing, and they totally took their tops off at the beach, Mom!!!

Seriously, that is all I got. Some good pics though:



I had a 'cool mom' moment and let Al dye her hair pink:



I only consider this a success because I was able to do it without staining my floors, cabinets or walls. For me, this is a huge success. I rarely succeed at much.

I also succeeded in pissing off a lot of moms, cuz everywhere we went, tweens were squawking, "OMG! That is like, sooo cool. Mom, I want to do that to my hair!" Stink eye, everywhere I went.

We took the girls on a float trip, which was wonderful and lame at the same time, because my family is just NOT outdoorsy as I'd like them to be. Mo absolutely LOVED it, so maybe I'll just take her with me. Mo is a natural knee slapper, and will find any way at all to make people laugh. Her favorite way to get out of trouble:

Mo: Hey Mom guess what.
Me: What Mo.
Mo: Chi- wow wow.

This goes on and on and on. I'd say it never loses its humor, but, yeah, it sorta has. She loves chihauhuas, and now I can't say that word without saying 'wow wow'.

Finally, the reason that precipitated this blog post, was a conversation I had with LP last night. Bera in mind, I chose "LP' as his alias several years ago based on a conversation he and I had. He kept calling me his Life Partner, insisting to his uncle (involved in the conversation at this particular time) that he and I were meant to be, and that I was the yin to his yang. It was a bit tongue in cheek, but still nonetheless true. So LP was a good moniker for him, so I thought.

I was talking about something, and he quipped something in return last night. I laughed, and said, "Oh, I am SO Twittering that."

He became defensive.

"Now wait a second, I'm going to have to start charging you for stories, like Kramer did to J. Peterson. These stories and my witticisms are gold, and you can't just go and twitter them."

"Take it easy there pal," i said. "I believe in giving credit where credit is due. I always say you said it.

"Do you use my real name?"


"No."

"Well, I know you use Janasayqua or Vajana, what do you call me? I hope it's not ridiculous."

"I call you LP. You know why."

******silence******

"REALLY?"

"Sure. Why?"

"Well, I know you said you sometimes you and your internet friends were no-holds-barred, but I can't believe you call me that. That's great!"

"wait....uh, what do you think LP stands for?"

"Large Penis?"

...............

OMG. I am on the floor laughing so hard that I could barely type ROTFL if I tried.

summer time

sometimes i really hate living in the Midwest. just an observation.

Last year we went to Pere Marquette for a weekend and it was such a great weekend.

We went again this year, only it was COLD and the pool was crowded and the food was expensive and it just wasn't. the. same.

but Rug got her first horse ride, and she had some issues with her horse really liking to stop to eat and our guide, Enos, yes, his name was Enos, just had little patience with her and her inability to stop a horse from eating. I mean, really.

I did the Tour de Cure, not a lot of miles but 15 anyway. I could have done 30 but the girls wanted to go to the water park.

I have pictures but i need to get them developed first, as i forgot my camera and had to buy a disposable!! :)

this is a lame post and i should probably delete it. but i wanted to post some pics so endure please.




Rug singing take me out to the ballgame in the dugout at Busch Stadium. How cool is that? We had a great day, touring the stadium and hanging out.





Al has a boyfriend. There, I said it. He has been instant messaging her for months, and finally admitted it last week. I would freak out, but, my first boyfriend was in 5th grade so whatever. I asked her why she likes him, and she said, 'he is funny, smart, and the most honest boy i know.'

what more could I ask? :) Thank God it wasn't, "he is always in the hallway and I love how he talks back to teachers."

Then again, let's wait and see what happens with Rug. I don't even want to think about Mo dating. Yikes.

Daily Assignment

I started blogging in February of 2005. I started mostly so I could be a part of the comments section on Dooce, and that is where I found a gaggle of ferocious personalities, many of whom I still consider internet friends.

Somehow, through that venture, I met Deb.

Not sure how or when, but I know that when I found her blog, it instantly went into my bookmarks under 'Favorites'.

Deb was soon thereafter diagnosed with leukemia, and I saw her through her first round, kicking its ass along the way, up until last week, May 18th, when Deb succumbed to the disease she fought so valiantly against.

I was always amazed at how upbeat and positive Deb was, regardless of her circumstances. She was frank, and honest, and held nothing back. I always left reading her blog feeling empowered to take on anything that stood in my way.

Many days, Deb would give her readers an 'assignment'. This assignment could be simple, like saying hi to a stranger, or more in depth, like taking your mom/dad out to dinner, or forgiving that one person you've been denying forgiveness. Deb set out to let us see the power we possess, and the choices we had daily to do good in the world.

When she passed away, many of her blog friends, including myself and Circus Kelli, wanted to do something to pay tribute to such a 'fabu' lady.

Since many of us have Twitter pages, we came up with the idea for a Twitter page for Deb's Daily Assignments. That way, Deb's idea of helping others find the good in themselves would continue, in her honor. CK designed the page, and I will be posting the daily assignments, with anyone who wants to suggest and post assignments to happily do so as well.

I decided to start with the very first Daily Assignments that Deb herself suggested, taking them from her blog and follow them as closely as possible. Once they are done, I'm sure we will be inspired to come up with many of our own!

We hope that this Twitter page will be a great place to discuss how we each interpret and 'complete' the assignments, as well as a lot of Chuck Norris jokes, because as you may know, Deb really enjoyed those.

Finally, as Deb asked us to do, we will have a link to the fund set up for Zoe, Deb's daughter, because Deb's last assignment was for all of us to take care of her. She is a special girl and deserves nothing but the best. Plus, she's awful cute.

I hope you will find the time to follow this Twitter page and help us honor Deb with her daily assignments, and we can continue the Queen of the Universe's reign.

Debutant's blog:

http://www.debutaunt.com/archives/000847.php

Twitter Daily Assignments:

http://twitter.com/dailyassignment