It's so boring I have had nothing to post....

Ha ha! Or just the opposite. . . Have a few free minutes on a Sunday morning so I will try to sit still and get a blog post completed.
May - June - July - August - September - October . . . is it really November?

WOW! Will play pictorial catch up . . .

Kids attend A-Kon again. Helen made costumes - awesome as always.

Brunch at Craft with Mary, Junie & Lauren...the burger was delish. . .
Lauren enjoyed the heavy cream a little too much.
AND - We got a tour of the kitchen! Great day!


Maribel's birthday dinner.

Random ham....

Fun out and about. . .

Lauren returns from Japan!

Vegas baby!!

Above catches up up through July...whew. I know there is so much to tell and lots of great stories, but I can only sit still so long....

August... I know more happened, but photo proof is hard to come by.
The kids started school - L in 8th grade and M in 3rd grade. They are both my little Einsteins . . . scary and true!
Keri moved up here. We had a long and interesting day getting her moved up here. I am so very happy to have her this close and in my life more. We tend to have some fun AND stay out of trouble...and she makes me a happier person.

Moving day...a flat tire, a police rescue, a long haul and some rain...

Lauren and I go to a play. . . she is growing up too fast!

September...

Paula and Nick's wedding. Beautiful weekend!


Final game of the season at home...
went the night before with mom, dad,
the kids and Keri and had a blast.
Had to go for the Saturday afternoon game....
beautiful weather and great seats.
I am going to have to get the tickets again for next year.
I love baseeball!!!

Cowboys at home with Brad.
Our friend James has season tickets and
tail gates before every game.
We joined the tailgate and had a great time
then went in for the game.
Amazing stadium and the team is even doing
a decent job this year.

This concludes pictorial story time for today...I have a Cowboys game to watch! We are caught up through September which is about 4 months more than I thought when I sat down...so that is good, right? I will work on October and maybe even some more detailed stories the next time I have a quiet afternoon.

Currently looking forward to another live Cowboys game on Nov. 22nd, Thanksgiving, a big meeting in Columbus in December, Christmas....etc... you know, all the boring stuff that makes my life what it is and why I love my life!

XO

Spring to Summer

No time no time no time for a blog these days.

Between kid activities, work, social life and facebook . . . who has time?

Here are some photos and I may get back in to add some editorial if life doesn't get away from me again!

April 2009

Matthew learns to ride!
Thank you Helen!!

Easter fun with family and friends!

04-18 Rangers game with mom, dad and the kids!

Rangers game with Daddy!!
Rangers win against Kansas City in a pretty exciting game.


An occasional night out with Brad and friends is always good times.

May June and likely the next several months will be posted here in the future . . .

Spring Break 2009

Some things will take getting used to. This was our first Spring break as a divorced family and after 8 years of planning things around school schedules and spouses, it was unusual to find myself without a vacation planned 3 months ahead of time with timetables and logistics to fit everything in!

Wes went to the house in New Mexico with the kids, his mom, his girlfriend Christi and son. They got some skiing in and a trip to White Sands – I am looking forward to Wes’ update on his blog for pictures. L & M had a good time and probably didn’t even have to do any chores! I thought about the kids a lot and wondered what they were up to. I imagined it was mostly fun with a little trouble thrown in for good measure.

I did manage to keep myself busy and ended up having a really great Spring Break.

Keri and Eric came up for the first weekend of Spring Break. We ate, we played Wii, we ate, we slept, we ate and we just chilled out! Saturday and Sunday were all about food! We cooked all weekend and ate like kings!

An impromptu dinner was created when

we let the day get away from us

A late Greek lunch on Sunday before K & E head home

I worked all day Monday and Tuesday morning- got some things done around the house (still on the market!), read a lot and let myself be a little lazy. Then went to Bliss Spa and had a facial and a generally relaxing time being a spa bum. After my treatments were done I met Brad in the hotel bar and watched the crowd file in to the AAC for a mavericks game. St. Patrick's Day and basketball - highly entertaining. After a few cocktails we wandered over to Victory Tavern for a relaxing dinner. Wednesday I had a list a mile long of things I wanted to do. . . I got laundry done and then the day was shot.

I called Jay (who was also on vacation) to see if he wanted to grab lunch. Of course – a guy has got to eat! We landed at Twin Peaks and enjoyed a leisurely 2 hour lunch. I DO go there for the food and the incredibly cold beer. They also have no less than 20 TVs with sports and news and it is highly entertaining to have a meal with any man with that much going on around you. We ended up at Vickery Park in Dallas for happy hour with Cristi. It was great to catch up with Cristi and spend a little time reminiscing about the olden days at Express. I need her in my life more, she makes me happy. Cristi had to go and Jay and I were still on vacation – so we went back to TP to have a drink and hang out.

Brad & Todd came out and joined me so I wouldn’t have to sit there alone when Jay had to go home. I can’t say that I have ever had an all day happy hour, but this day was very relaxing and enjoyable.

A happy Happy Hour with Jay & Cristi

Thank goodness for drinking buddies!

Let’s see….Thursday I woke up bright and early and was all set to go for a 30 mile bike ride. I got the bike off the trainer upstairs and out the front door when I realized both tires were low and I had not been outside on it in months. I decided to take it to the bike shop and have them make it road ready for me. I didn’t get it back until Friday afternoon, so no ride. I did Wii Fit for an hour and ½ though. That was fun! I did a little shopping and chilled out. Met Brad, Todd and Amy for dinner and salsa dancing. . . we did not dance, we watched. It got me interested in learning though. Looks like quite a workout!

Friday was one of those run run run days that you don’t expect or plan for, but that keep you super busy and then all of a sudden the day is almost over and you realize you never stopped to pee… Ok, it wasn’t that busy. I got to do one of my favorite things Friday. I had lunch with my mom. Lunch with just mom is one of the most relaxing and grounding things I get to do. It does not happen often, we need to work on that mommasan! After lunch I settled in to the chore of packing for a weekend in New York City. Hard to pack for 30 degree weather when it is 80 degrees outside…it took a while, but I managed to get it done and didn’t even forget anything (write that down…it is actually a miracle).

Friday night I met Brad for dinner at Cool River. It was pretty busy and they had a live band. We stayed for a few drinks and some dancing before we had to get some sleep for our 8 AM flight. What were we thinking?!?!

So – off to NYC after a flight delay- we had boarded and they kicked us off – a circuit breaker wasn’t working and while they were fixing that they found another problem. Turns out the tires were not fit for landing – glad they caught that one before we took off. We had not really planned anything specific while we were up here. Brad had meetings Monday – Wednesday so this was just a little escape weekend for both of us. .Made it to NYC, checked to see if our room was available at Tribeca Grand (not yet), had a champagne toast and wandered off for a late lunch while they finished getting our room ready.

This is where you will either check out of this blog or read on. . . I am about to talk about food. . . lots of food…so if you are hungry and staying with me- go get a snack.

Lunch at 3 in the afternoon in NYC was incredible. We ate at a little Italian place called Petrarca’s. The walls were lined with wines from all over the world – too many choices! Brad picked a good one to compliment our choices. We ordered a salad that was so refreshing – frisee with Bosc pear and toasted walnuts; it was dressed in a sherry / honey vinaigrette and had shaved parmesan. Then we had a margarita pizza- the crust was thin, but not to thin and had big crunchy bubbles from being wood fired. Entrée was spinach cannelloni – fresh handmade pasta and the cream sauce was out of this world. I could eat that meal every day for the rest of my life and be happy! We were at a corner table with a view of the street that made it hard to leave when it was time, the people watching and sun shining on us was very relaxing.

We checked in to our room, unpacked and took a nap. Somewhere around 7 we decided to get moving. We met Brad’s friend Jeff downstairs for drinks at the Church lounge in the hotel. After a cocktail we walked over to Macao Trading Co. for dinner. Met another coworker there and spent time downstairs waiting for our table. The bar downstairs had a DJ, a really cool bartender, small crowded tables and the scene was amazing. I could have people watched here for the rest of the weekend. Jeff had a friend that was eating upstairs and reported that Jay Z and Gwyneth were eating nearby. Our table was ready a few minutes before midnight. . . it was well worth the wait. The food was Portuguese/ Chinese eclectic fare. Everything was delicious. We had crispy sea bass with ginger & scallions and Portuguese grilled steak with blue cheese butter and shared sides of fennel & artichoke salad with spiced chickpeas, Swiss chard with currants & pine nuts and jasmine rice. OMG! Yummy yummy yummy! After we ate we joined back up with Jeff and Ryan and listened to the music and watched the crowd.

Sunday was a lazy day. We slept in until 10 and wandered downstairs to ask where a good brunch/ lunch place was. We were directed to a few different spots but ended up at The Odeon. This was a kind of cafeteria style eatery. Jam packed at noon on Sunday, but it only took 10 minutes for us to get a table. We got there right in time – between the breakfast and lunch crowds and got a little (I mean very little) corner table near the front. Again – the people watching for both of us could take up the day! I got the French onion soup and herbed chicken salad sandwich and Brad got the warm goat cheese salad and tuna burger. Everything was so good. Even the French fries were better than French fries should be! The tuna burger was what I should have ordered though. It was cooked perfectly and had a really good wasabi mayonnaise. I could have had breakfast lunch and dinner here – the menu was extensive and very comforting. There were a lot of locals here and it was fun to watch the families and friends gather for brunch/ lunch on a lazy Sunday. The service was outstanding, there were a ton of wait staff and they worked as a well oiled machine. They worked as a team to make sure every diner had everything they needed, we never had to ask for anything-it just magically appeared at our table if we thought it. We stayed and enjoyed a couple extra cups of coffee just to observe the whole experience.

After our lunch we wandered around the TriBeCa/ SoHo areas and did a little shopping and sightseeing. The weather went from cold and sunny to cold and windy with dark clouds, so we wandered back to the hotel. I needed a nap after big lunch and shopping, so we watched basketball and I fell asleep for a couple of hours… isn’t that what vacation is for?!? Woke up, cleaned up and went out for dinner. We ended up at MEGU after getting a little turned around on our walk. New Yorkers really are quite friendly and we were quickly put back on track. MEGU is amazing modern Japanese cuisine. Cocktails were really good, wine was perfect. The atmosphere and the food were out of this world. I don’t know if I can do it justice! We started with edamame – it was so fresh, they must grow it on site and soy marinated chicken which was fried, there was a sweet soy dipping sauce that I could just drink. We had green salad with a ponzu dressing, entrée was Chu Toro black pepper tuna and Kobe filet with a Hennessey flambe (both were served on hot stones to continue cooking), with Jasmine rice and asparagus in a balsamic soy dressing. We did eat everything! And then I ordered the Green tea crème brulee – which was a perfect ending to one of the most incredible meals I have ever had. We spent close to 3 hours enjoying our meal. Then promptly took a cab back to the hotel so we wouldn’t get lost again!

A fun weekend

Monday – Brad had to get up early for work and I needed to pack so I could head home later in the afternoon. It was a sunny day, but quite chilly. I took my time packing and had a couple of cups of coffee before heading out to find my friend Lauren. She works at a swanky furniture store in SoHo, so I walked a few blocks to see if she was there. I had left her # at home and was hoping like heck she was working! My lucky day! Lauren was there and we spent a little time catching up. I had not seen Lauren in almost 6 years. We worked together at Express. She was 16 or 17 when I hired her and was on two of my favorite Express teams. Lauren is one incredible young lady. She has lived and worked in NY for 6 years now. She worked for a fashion designer for 4 years and got to travel all over the world – she has some really fun stories. After standing in the store catching up for about 30 minutes we decided to grab lunch. We walked a couple of blocks to Café Cubano – down some steps into a small door and WOW- a whole Cuban restaurant you wouldn’t know was there unless you went with someone in the know or stumbled upon it as you were walking down the street. It was really good! I had a jicima, green apple and manchego cheese salad and a Cuban sandwich. Yum! We walked around for a little bit and then she needed to get back to work and I had to leave for the airport.

Beautiful, young and energetic Lauren!

All in all a very relaxing and adventure filled week. I don’t imagine every Spring Break will be so unplanned and carefree, but I am happy that my first one on my own after all these years was something I wanted it to be. Stress free and filled with really good company and amazing food.

It was good to come home and get the kids on Tuesday. I missed them more than they know, more than I imagined I could. We are settling back in to our routines and work and school are the norm again. No more ski slopes and sand dunes for the kids . . . no more all day happy hours and walking around the big city for me, but always good food. One thing I need in order to be happy…one thing that I can do that makes the kids happy - good food!

Happy Spring to everyone. I am looking forward to the start of baseball season next week and Formula 1 just kicked off. I think it will be an interesting year in both sports and am looking forward to getting to a lot of games this year. No F1 trip this year, but something to look forward to down the road.

Off and running. House full of kids and I smell something burning…or is that pancakes?

Happy Almost Spring!!!!

Year at a glance? Not if you’re talkin’ to me darlin’!!

I let it happen again. I would say I have good reason, but I say that every time…I guess it is that thing they call life. It has been moving at light speed as far as I am concerned, but that is not such a bad thing.

I honestly can not believe it is March already. My sweet baby boy will turn 8 this year. AND my beautiful little girl will enter her teenage years. I am looking forward to the adventures, trials and tribulations and sheer joy of watching her grow into a young adult. So far it has been an experience I would not trade for the world.

Trouble....?

Nah. . . sweetest girl ever!

Heart breaker for sure!

Matthew loving on Ya-Ya!

Lunch is always fun when hugs are on the menu!

Both kids are doing well. They have had a tough year with the divorce, but have been surprisingly resilient. They are both still as optimistic and lovable as ever. I believe my relationship with each of them has become much stronger over the past year and I look forward to what lies ahead with both of them. They are such unique and intelligent individuals that I rarely have a day that goes by without a laugh . . . or a complete blank stare when I attempt to understand the wit and wisdom that they have.

I don’t know where to start with my life . . . not sure you even want the whole story…

I will just start with current events.

Over December and January I had a rather interesting incident. I had a man in the building that was twice my age decide he wanted to be my friend, my very close friend. I suppose I over reacted, but when I came in to the office one day and found a 4 page handwritten note explaining his desire to be with me. . . I flipped out! I asked Dan down the hall to walk me out of the building, he did post haste. Made a call to my boss and within a matter of hours we had HR, LP and ½ of home office involved in making sure I was safe! Everything turned out ok. My amazing boss had a conversation with the man and that was the end of it. You know, I like a guy that will tell me how he feels, but NOT LIKE THAT!!!

As far as work goes, we are finally in a new office. No longer in the Glass Tower that we have been in since May of 08. We should be settling in over the next week or so and I will finally feel like I can give 100%. Although- I would say I have been giving 200% . . . I know, I know…impossible! I feel like I have been working 2 jobs – one as an assistant to my boss and one as a real estate agent looking for this office!!

New Office!

I did have the unsettling job of closing down an office last week. Toughest thing I have done in my 19 year career in retail. I have fired plenty of people, put 16 year old girls in jail for shoplifting, had a guy try to hold me up at knife point (killed the moment when I laughed at him…) and cleaned up more human messes that I can count. Working with Angie to shut down the office she put together and took so much pride in was truly the worst experience I could imagine. We did enjoy each others company, but to know that I was there to help her end her career with us, killed me. To know that we will remain friends and go to a Depeche Mode concert in August . . . makes it a little better.

Soul Sista!

On another note. . . I have met a truly wonderful man. I met him months ago, but was otherwise occupied and not really paying attention to the world outside of my very limited bubble. Somewhere near the end of January he asked me to happy hour, I couldn’t go and figured he was just asking because he felt sorry for the single girl that never went to eat lunch. He had asked me to lunch a few

times since I started working in the building, but I was never able to go. He did bring me lunch a few times when he was coming back from his lunch, which always surprised me. I do eat! I really do, just not at normal times on Mondays or Fridays. After a couple of attempts, he finally got me to go to dinner with him. Since then we have had a lot of fun and I am enjoying dating and trying new things. I have found that I am able to balance life – work, home, me - and that was not something I was so very good at a few month ago.

Stars Game 2-11 - Stars lost, but we had a great time anyway.

Just a little dinner and some dancing.

I cooked dinner for the crowd then we

hopped in a limo and went out on the town.

Thanks mom for watching the kids!!!

Think that is all for now. Oh, no wait! I have fallen back in love with cooking. I have always enjoyed it, but I have been cooking more lately. I think it has a lot to do with the guy in my life. He really liked the Tequila Lime Chicken Tacos, lasagna, blueberry wheat pancakes with an apricot syrup. . . we will see what else. I am just getting started. Going to cook dinner for him and friends this weekend. . . had to try out a new recipe.

Mom does not seem to mind. I utilized her as a test monkey for a Sesame Seared Tuna recipe. . . two thumbs up from mom and the kids! I even liked it and that is crazy talk if you know me!!

Sesame Seared Tuna. . . turned out rather fantastic!

I was lucky enough to get to spend a little time with Keri from Detroit when she was in town for a meeting. She is perhaps one of the brightest and most fun people I know. I only wish I could have known her my whole life. She has a truly uplifting spirit about her and it just energizes me!!

Matthew and Keri play a game while we wait for dinner!

Really looking forward to baseball season. Been watching Spring Training closely and I believe it will be an interesting year. Can not wait until April 1st!!!

Will catch up with you again soon. . . I say that, but you know better!

Love you all.

Wrap up and move on

Happy New Year!

I look to this new year with hope and happiness. I wish all of you (the three or four that keep up with me...) all the happiness and love that you desire and deserve.

Now to the task of wrapping up the end of 2008 . . . if only it were as easy as wrapping a gift with a lovely bow and calling it done. I will take the easy way out and have lots of pictures with words.

Thanksgiving was one of the most relaxing I had had in a long time. There was no rush to get food on the table and everyone helped and the kids were even little angels. We ended up having two Turkey Days with everyone coming and going. Thanksgiving day was just my little family and mom and dad having a very relaxing and filling lunch and of course we made enough food to feed a small army. Dad makes the best mashed potatoes - I had never let him help in the kitchen before - my days of playing kitchen martyr are OVER!

Turkey Day Light

Thanksgiving Saturday we made enough food to feed 3 small armies. . . Mom, Dad, Keri, Eric, Kim, Ryan, Jay and Ruth were all in Saturday to enjoy lunch. Junie and her beautiful son Casey popped in for a hello and I wish I could have kept them here for a few more hours! As usual we ate too much, but Wii Sports got us all off our lazy rears. I think I was 86 in the fitness challenge on Saturday. . . I have redeemed my age and and down to a flattering 28. If only my waist were so lucky!

Mom brought over three quilts that grandma Ruby had made for us. My most cherished possessions are the handmade quilts that my gifted family members have entrusted me with over the years. Every quilt tells a story and a gift of love and time that I hold dear. Grandma knows us so well and made each of us a quilt in our favorite color with patterns that are from memories of our childhood. Patterns that I remember from quilts that great Grandma Ida made. I still see them in my mind and can feel the softness from the years of love and use that they had. Those are some of my favorite memories from Grandma Ruby's house, getting to stay with her and snuggle up under a quilt. To fall asleep and know how safe and loved I was. Amazing what a quilt can do for me when I am having a bad day. . .

Ruby's Beauties . . . and her three cute grand-girls!

To say the time between Thanksgiving and now is a blur would be an understatement. Work has been relatively easy. I have been searching for a new office for about 10 - 15 hours a week and then just making sure my boss has everything in order for his travels. Time has flown! I took Christmas Eve through Jan 2nd off work. I am not certain I could NOT work for a living. Oh, I am sure I would figure it out, but I do miss being at work and being busy.

Matthew's piano recital day. Aren't we festive?

I have been to a few Mavericks basketball games with my friend Matt. I miss live sports, is it baseball season yet? It is fun to hang out and his seats are great - platinum level half court - they have a dinner that is to die for and it has proven to be some of the best sports venue food I have ever had. We saw Sir Charles Barkley the first time we went to a game together. Well, I saw him pretty close up because I almost ran in to him as the traffic pattern where he was entering was screwy and I wasn't really watching where I was going. Go figure...

12-15 Mavs game with Matt.
Icy night in DFW made for an interesting drive.

Christmas snuck up on me. I generally have 90% of my shopping done by Thanksgiving and then just a few little things to get before the holiday. THIS year I saved 90% of my shopping for the 23rd. I am not sure I thrive on that type of experience, but it all worked out in the end. We didn't plan a shopping day, but Matt and I were both in the same boat so we met after work at Starbucks and relaxed over coffee while we hammered out a game plan to get all of our shopping done. We got everything done in about 3 hours. It was almost 9 by the time we were done shopping. We decided to grab dinner at Cheesecake Factory which was an excellent idea. Best service I have ever received anywhere. So much so that I wrote a letter when I got home. Of course- the company and food was just as great.

Finally got the tree up December 20th!

Christmas Eve was fondue-mania. How can anything so simple taste so damn good? Lauren and I decided that we are going to do a quarterly fondue event. At first we thought weekly, but that is too indulgent . . . I guess we will see how it goes.

Christmas was quiet and relaxing. I love having my family here with me and it was nice to have Keri & Eric, Kim, Ryan and Jay stay over instead of having them run in and out on a holiday. Matthew would like Kim here every morning - she made him eggs for breakfast the morning after Christmas. She has a follower for life! The amazing Jay hand washed all the dishes that didn't fit in the dishwasher. . . for that I am eternally grateful. I would still be cleaning up the kitchen if not for him!

Keri's gift to Matthew was her extensive collection of Life on Mars Legos. I know it was difficult to part with her impressive collection, but they are in very caring and appreciative hands.
You can visit them anytime Keri!

Opening presents!

Nap time gone awry!

Matthew and Eric ham it up at lunch the day after Christmas.

New Years Eve was a quiet evening at home with the kids. We celebrated with New York at 11:00 - Matthew passed out at 11:05. I guess there is a little more in sparkling cider than I thought! Lauren and I played Mexican Train and celebrated midnight with a toast and a kiss. She was asleep by 12:15. I stayed up and read for a couple of hours. One of our presents from the Christmas Bunny was the Twilight series of books. I read all 4 of them in 8 days, I love to read!

Party like it's 2009!!

New Years Day was a bit of an adventure. Lauren and I had been watching the Travel Channel marathon of Man vs. Food and saw a show on "Austin" - one of the places was a BBQ place. L said she wanted some Lockhart BBQ and I figured we didn't have anything planned for the 1st - so we would go have some BBQ, tied in with a trip to see Keri & Eric and Mario! We ended up at the Salt Lick in Driftwood, TX after discovering that not all BBQ places are open on New Years Day. YUM! It was the BBQ place from the show we had seen the day before. I would rank this in my top 2 for BBQ joints. The food (we got it to go as the 1 1/2 hour wait to be seated was unbearable) was excellent. I would like to go again to experience the sit down relaxed atmosphere. It was an absolutely beautiful almost Spring-like Texas afternoon and perfect for sitting outside enjoying BBQ. Next time my loves. . . we will make a day of it. I would say my New Year has started on a very good foot and I am looking forward to more days like that. More spontaneous fun and amazing food with my beloved family and friends.

Relaxing at Keri & Eric's

Salt Lick BBQ - YUMMY!!

Here is to a year that I am sure will be full of surprises and fun. A year of less tears than 2008 and more laughs than ever before. Even more blog updates as I am finally settling in to my single mom life. No promises though. . . life changes so fast now that I am almost older than dirt....

Love and Joy to you all.

Looking Forward to the Holidays

Ok... not so good at the updates lately. Here is some random stuff to tide you over until my brain cells are all in the same zip code...

Let me see . . . a lot can happen in almost two months. Not that I remember much of it as it all went by so fast. So I will update as much as I can, focus mostly on the future and give you guys a few pictures to enjoy.

I can not believe Thanksgiving is next week. I am usually more prepared mentally for the holidays. I suppose with all that has happened this year, you will forgive me. I am looking forward to having a house full of family over for the whole weekend. Well, at least until about noon on Sunday. . . that is my official nap time.

I have put a lot of miles on my bike in the past two months. I have had some really good days and a couple of interesting days. Longest ride to date is 42 miles. I hope to work on my stamina over the winter and get up to 50-60 mile rides in the spring. Brandall helped me pick out some good cooler weather gear so I will be out on the roads scaring people until it is just too miserable to ride. We all know my tolerance for cold... so possibly this weekend was my last to ride? Nah, I enjoy it too much and even though it can wear me out, it makes me feel like I did something good for myself. It also helps clear my mind. It is really hard to think about all the "crap" in life when you are trying to avoid minivans and pick 'em up trucks. I do need to find a riding partner in this neck of the woods, preferably someone that can tell really bad jokes and make me laugh at myself when I get too serious looking. For now, I am learning to ride solo. Probably for the best, no one wants to hear my trucker mouth when I feel like I screw up.

This past Sunday I met up with Junie and Mary at Craft in Dallas for brunch - we wanted to stay through dinner for the gnocchi, but I don't think we could have eaten another thing. The food was excellent. The service was incredible. The company was stellar. Two hours with my beautiful friends and I felt like I was on a mini-vacation. I got my fill of happiness , food AND ice-cream. The 12 flavor sampler was irresistible. OH! and then a bite of Junie's fancy s'mores - I just needed a wafer thin mint. . .

on that note... This week I have every intention to go to the gym at the office building I work in. Seems as if we will be moving January 1st and I have yet to use their state of the art facilities. Ask me next week if I went or not. . . I have been telling myself this since we moved there in June or July.

ok... a few pictures to tide you over.

Ms MySpace photo...not really.
I got a new small digital camera and he tested it out for me.

He caught me as a passenger on the way to the air show.
I know. . . pick your jaw up off the ground.

Possibly my favorite picture ever!
Thank you for the photo Brandall.

ok . . . can I have two favorites?

L & M decorate Halloween cookies.


You know LOLCats?
http://icanhascheezburger.com/

I made you a cookie . . .

but I eated it...

M and Grandmom ready to go see a show.

Mr. Cutie Pie hamming it for the camera.

One of my best and oldest (I couldn't resist)
friends in the world joins us for lunch
...and does not run screaming!

All for now from the peanut gallery. I have two beautiful kids that need to be tucked in. . . after an appropriate amount of tickle torture. Mwaaah!

Oh. . . if I get lazy again... I wish all of you a safe and peaceful Thanksgiving Holiday. I know that I have so much to be thankful for this year. I am thankful for my family that has been by my side during what has proven to be the toughest year of my life. I am thankful for my old friends for being in my life after all these years and reminding me where I came from and where I need to be headed. I am thankful for my new friends as they remind me that I have so much more to learn. I am thankful for the men and women who serve our country and keep our freedom a reality. I am thankful for all the blessings in my life and for each of you that keep up with us and have held us in your thoughts. Happiest of Holidays to all of you.