Another Year Around The Sun

I managed to make it to 39.

Show me some love.  *preen*

And YES! I *did* buy the jeans that have glitter in them.  I'll try to post a picture soon....

My family already gave me my gift -- a digital photo frame.  It even has a remote control.  Ha!  Who knew?!

And tonight, I'm headed the hockey game.  Stars are playing the Flames.  I didn't get my zamboni ride, but that's okay.  It will happen someday -- I just *know* it.

And RR -- thank you for the daily birthday cards.  You'll neverEVER know how much they mean to me!  You'll neverEVER know how much YOU mean to me.  Muah!

Love to you all from me.  You are a gift to me every day, especially today.

Whoosh! x

Shizzle N Da Hizzle

Lots of stuff going on, many changes.  Some highlights include returning our beloved Sammalammabambam to the family that allowed us to care for him.  That was a hard trip to Austin, which included me locking my keys in the car at the gas station on the way out of town.  Poor Sammy Boy was antsy.  Luckily I left the window cracked enough for me to slip my finger tips in there and put my lips close enough to speak words of comfort to him.

Another big change is that my mother-in-law has moved into my sister-in-law's house.  I know this was emotional for all of us.  I also know we'll all be fine.  My daughters are going to have separate rooms, and their school days will be longer than they were.  We're all growing up....

My father-in-law is receiving hearty therapy and seems to be responding favorably.  My Husband and Our Family don't go see him as often as we used to, or as often as we should, but he's always with us.  I'm sure now that my mother-in-law isn't living with us anymore that we'll be going more often, which again, is a good thing.

My mom's been challenged health-wise, but seems to be working toward a remedy of sorts.  She's going to help take care of My Little One after school.  My Mom had lots of bonding with My Eldest and has in the past expressed that she kind of wished she had a similar experience with My Little One.  Now's their chance.  :)

My birthday is coming up.  I'm going to the Dallas Stars v. Calgary Flames hockey game.  The Stars aren't playing worth a damn right now, but I love the game, love the Stars and am really looking forward to a fun night out with the family.

Lent is coming up.  It's my favorite time of the liturgical year, but I confess that my heart just isn't in it this year.  Maybe once it's here, I'll be more excited, but for now, I feel pretty far away from God and while it scares me, I also expected this time to happen.  It's the natural progression of relationships, human or spiritual, to be closer than close, then at other times be ohsofar apart.  I don't feel distant or aloof from My Father, but am definitely sitting on one chair while He's in the other.  I'm close enough to feel His love, but am resisting crawling into His lap like I so very much love doing.  

I've caught up on several blogs that've been looming in draft form.  I posted them per the dates they occurred for the most part.  You'll be able to see what a fun time I've had since the beginning of December.  Now things are slowing down a bit.  It's kind of nice to have things slow down, though.  I'm enjoying spending my weekends at home, working around the house, hanging out with my kids, and generally resting.  That holiday season mumbo-jumbo is suffocating at times.

So....Wednesday...PARTY!  It's my birthday, dammit.  Make it a good one for me AND you!

Music Minute: Hope For Haiti's J.T. & M.M. Sing "Hallelujah"

 My prayers are many for Haitians and all the support staff that are in that broken region of our world.  I cannot get my head wrapped around the shocking number of deaths, a crumbled country, the rubble, people rotting, the hunger to follow and the horrific deficiency of the simplest physical gift from God:  water.

I choose not to read or watch the news.  I can barely handle the blurbs I hear about on the sports talk radio station to which I listen.  I don't really miss the information, and my mood is lighter as a result of the negativity being eliminated.  But Haiti is the kind of news that can't be un-watched; that kind of news shoves herself to the front of the line and stands nose-to-nose with me, challenging me to ingore her. 

I don't ignore her.

The Hope For Haiti concert was televised, but I didn't watch it.  Later, I went to check email at MSN and its homepage had a video of Justin Timberlake, so I clicked on it (I like J.T., -- what can I say?!).  And I watched it.  And I hurt.  But I hoped.

The song I have playing on my page is the song that J.T. sang with Matt Morris.  It's called "Hallelujah", and is not an original of Justin's.  He and Matt together sang it beautifully.  Though it's slow and somber, I felt uplifted.

I hope you feel hope, too. 

Brown(ie) Christmas

I've been neglectful of my blog and for you that are loyal readers, I apologize.  I continue to be humbled and grateful for anyone who takes a little peek at these passages and pictures.

On to the topic....

My Eldest is a Brownie Scout, which is a branch of the Girl Scouts.  I believe in other parts of the world, they are referred to as Girl Guides.  In any case, My Eldest is in her third year of serving as a Brownie.  We're in the throes of cookie selling now, so be sure to support your local scout troop and buy, buy, buy or donate, donate donate!

For Christmas, My Family took a road trip to Savannah, Georgia.  Savannah, Georgia is the birthplace of Juliette Gordon Low.  It was our last day in town.  We were going to leave in the afternoon so that we could make it as far as Atlanta, Georgia because we wanted to take the tour of the Coca Cola plant.  On the way out, we toured my sister-in-law's salon which is in the romantic and historic section of Savannah called Forsythe Park.  After the tour, she wanted to take a deposit to the bank.  As we were winding through the streets to the bank, we saw a giant sign that read JULIETTE GORDON LOW'S BIRTHPLACE with an arrow pointing toward the house.

The Brood ventured to the house.  It was my intention to have My Eldest hop out of the car, stand in front of the house, I'd snap a quick photo, we'd hop back into the car and head to Atlanta.

Yeah.  That sooooo didn't happen!

We parked, walked over to the house.  The house was open, so we ended up taking a tour of her home!  It was very informative and actually kind of fun.  Supposedly the house is haunted by Juliette's grandmother.  My Eldest and I learned a lot (like did you know that back in Juliette's day, pink was for boys and blue was for girls?), and we both left slightly sad about how her life ended.  So instead of one quick photo, I thought I'd share some of the ones we took.  Look how sweet My Girl looks.  *preen*

Buy Samoas!

Whoosh!

Indian Princess Damn Cute

When My Eldest was younger, I'd hoist her toddler body to my shoulders.  Her legs would hang in front of me as she'd clutch my hair, laughing uncontrollably.  I would stomp like and Indian through the apartment chanting like an Indian (well, maybe?  kinda?  sorta?):

Hoya Hoya Hoyyyaaa.  Indian Princess Daaaamn Cute!  Hoyahoyahoya HOW!

I did this until she got too heavy to put on my shoulders, and until she knew that "damn" was an On The Bad Word List.

Earlier tonight, My Eldest represented the Cherokee Nation as a part of her school's multicultural night.  She asked me to make her an Native American dress, so months ago, we picked out a pattern and material.  I worked over the holidays up until the night before multicultural night to sew the dress.  I would not have completed it without the tenderness, patience and expertise of My Mother-In-Law. 

My Little One felt neglected.  The best way I could assuage her sadness in a hurry was to make her her very own head band. 



Not bad, huh?

*Passing you the peace pipe*

She Did It! She Did It!

That girl FINALLY gave me that bottom incisor!

*whew*

~Tooth Fairy

Anatomy of An Unexpected Early Birthday Gift

A ticket to the game.

The Dee.

The Painter.

The Irish Sweetsweet.

An Arlington hotel room.

A handicapped shower.

Texas Land & Cattle Company.

Mushroom-Swiss burger & water on the rocks.

Sundance Square.

A visit to The Library.

Men in white boots.

The raven haired bi-curious.

Game day breakfast.

Cowboys apparel.

New, sleek, black Sarahs that zip on the inner ankle.

My palm has been itching all day....and we all know what that means!

OH!  And the Cowboys won!
Dancing to Drums.
Two too many strawberry margaritas.
Commemorative glasses with THE BEST straws!

Thirty-nine ain't lookin' so bad....

One Girl's Loss is A Tooth Fairy's Gain by The Tooth Fairy, Guest Blogger

I've been expecting the bottom incisor for over six months now.  I've grown weary of waiting for it.  Even her parents have been trying to coax her to surrender that tooth that is 'floating there', words used by her orthodontist who offered to professionally and tenderly remove it just before Christmas.  I overheard her parents on their trip to Georgia telling her to pull the tooth on Christmas Eve so that both Santa AND I could visit her.  What kid wouldn't love THAT?!

But no.

No incisor yet for me.

Good news arrived for me today, though!

Instead, today, she gave me GOLD, baby!  A molar!  Yessssss!  She ripped out a molar for me.  Who needs a chumpy incisor when I could do so much more with that giant molar?!  Sure, the baby incisors always come in handy, so I never turn them away.  But a molar.....  oh joy in Heaven!

She told her mom that no other kids in her class have lost a molar yet.  She loves being the first at everything it seems.  Such a sweet child....

Tonight, she lay sleeping.  It seems she forgot to take off her glasses.  I bet she kept them on thinking she'd get a clear glimpse of me.  Silly girl.

I searched under the pillow for that molar.  I was afraid I'd wake her with my squeals of excitement.  When I reached under the pillow, NOTHING!

*gasp*

I began to panic at first, but then heard the wisdom of my mom:  breathe.

*deep breath*breathbreathbreath*deeeeep breath*

I fluttered about, checking under her hair, then I wriggled in her hand, afraid the tickle on her palm would cause her to freak out and inadvertently throw me to the wall in fear that I was a bug instead of the Tooth Fairy.  Luckily, she didn't flinch an inch.  I flew a little higher hoping the aerial view would be kind to me.  As I neared the ceiling, I noticed this cute little tent with a cracker inside.  I landed on the dresser and peeked inside the tent.  Not only was there a cracker (way too big -- too much for lil ole me to eat!), there was also a refreshing cup of water.

I look down to watch my footing and see I am stepping on a note.  It's a note for ME! 

Look what the note says...tee hee hee

She's left me a note pointing out a list she's placed to the side of the tent.  It looks like it was her Christmas List, but I think it hangs up all year 'round.  Anyway, this girl knows what she wants.  And clearly, she knows the value of a molar.  She drives a hard bargain.

In case you can't read it, the notes say:

Dear Tooth Fairy,

I want a bag of fairy dust.  If you want to see what else I want, please look at the list pages 1 of 3.  ~Eldest

P.S. Just take the tooth.  It is in the creme color {sic} pouch.  ~Eldest  page 2 of 2

P.S.S. Take a tour of the house. 

P.S.S.S.  I left you a snack.

Okay.  That's all pretty cool.  No kid has ever made me my own house complete with gift ideas, foodies AND a tooth!  Gotta love this girl!  More kids should take notes from her....(like my pun?!  hahaha)

I read over her Gift List.  I hope she's not disappointed in what I've left her; it's not on her list.  I left her a new Nintendo DS game.

I'm feeling pretty sleepy after gnawing on that cracker.  When I sipped the water, it made that cracker bloat up in my belly and now I'm stuffed!  But not too stuffed to have at least responded to her note:

Since I'm so small (she's right!), I know my handwriting is probably hard to read.  Here is what I wrote back to her:

Dear Eldest, 

Thank you for the snack and shack!

I hope you don't mind a new DS game instead of the list you left me.  xo ~Tooth Fairy

P.S.  Give me that other tooth!

I love my job!

'10

The aught years are behind us, and we're heading into the wild blue yonder, full speed ahead.  What better way to encapsulate the attitude evoking confidence and perserverence than "Brass In Pocket" by the Pretenders?

*strut*