Aunt Debra Comes to Town

We just finished a nice visit with Aunt Debra flying all the way in from Omaha to see us. She brought lots of fun things for the kids to enjoy. I was impressed that she was up for taking Zumba with me. I don't think she broke a sweat, but she sure gave some people in the class a good laugh. Give her a ton of credit for sticking through the whole class, and hopefully she will do it again.

It was nice to spend a good part of both days shopping. We trekked to several consignment shops and made it over to the Macy's that was closing. Debra found several items to take home, including a pair of supercute jeans for $14. She even surprised me with a shirt that I thought she was buying for her, but she bought for me instead. Thanks, Deb!! I was able to find a White House Black Market dress for under $25 to wear to my nephew's wedding this summer. I love it when people wear something one time and then consign it, that way I get a great deal. A few other purchases...

This adorable cashmere sweater I snagged for $12. I like finding things I know no one else will have.



Also got these Clarks shoes at Macy's for $14. I thought they were 60%off, and they ended up being 80% off! What a deal!!


Debra also helped with the kids so I could look for a new mattress for our guest bedroom. Now, all of you that come visit (hint, hint) will have a nice, new comfy mattress to sleep on. It is being delivered tomorrow.

Mattress shopping is hard work.




We like this one.

Ham for the cam.

Thanks for visiting Debra. We had a great time and hope to see you again soon!!

And, Here I Sit

I have been patiently waiting since 7:30am this morning for Laclede Gas to get here. They are supposed to be replacing our gas meter. Apparently, they do this every ten years and ours is up for replacement. I think they are replacing it because they think it is not reading our gas usage correctly. Since our gas bills are well below the norm, they probably figure the meter is broken. What they don't realize is that we keep our thermostat set at 66 degrees. Anyway, I am guessing they will still say the meter is faulty and try to back bill us. Why? Because the water company replaced our meter three years ago and said the meter was faulty and back-billed us over $100.

So, here we sit waiting for them to show up. I love the "they will arrive anytime between 7:30am and 5:00pm." Thanks for narrowing that down. Maybe I will pay the gas bill sometime between January and December.

We did manage to get some cookies made, read some books, play several games of Candyland, listen to Rush, read more books...

A few sprinkles please...

Ready to bake...

Lick the batter clean while we wait...

Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches... Yummy!

Netflix Pix

Here are a few good and not so good from the Netflix queue as of late...

God Grew Tired of Us-- Documentary following the lives of Sudanese refugees who make their way to America. Could have spent some time explaining they were Christians forced out of Sudan by Islam, but it is definitely worth renting.



Ghosts of Girlfriends Past-- Awful. Don't waste your time. Worst Matthew McConaughey movie ever.


Psych-- The best show available right now (except Burn Notice- still waiting on Season 3). Slacker Shawn has acute powers of observation and pretends to be a psychic as he and his best friend, Gus, help police solve crimes. Hilarious. Start with Season One.


The Time Traveler's Wife-- Has anyone seen this? I haven't and am debating whether or not to add it to my queue. Your thoughts are appreciated.

Shut Your Trap, Mullet Man

Some people are just sore losers. Case in point, Yevgeny Plushenko's complete lack of class and grace in winning his silver medal in last night's Olympic figure skating competition.

"For someone to stand on top of the podium with the gold medal around his neck with just doing triple jumps, to me it's not progress, it's a regress because we've done triples 10 or even 20 years ago," Plushenko said.

"You can't be considered a true men's champion without a quad," the 27-year-old told Russian state television RTR.

Questions for Yevi:

Did you even watch Lysacek skate? Do you understand the new scoring system? Do you think the Japanese skater who landed the quad should have come in second even though the rest of his performance was lackluster? Lysacek not only skated beautifully, but performed the majority of his jumps in the second half of his program. Each jump is given bonus points because it is extremely difficult when fatigue is kicking in. How many jumps did you do in the last 1:30 of your performance? Zero. Yes, you did a quad on your first jump and landed it. Bravo. Three or four of your other "triple" jumps (which you deem regressive) were sideways in the air or executed poorly. Maybe you should practice those more. It was obvious from the look on your face at the end of the program that you knew you hadn't done your best performance. To criticize instead of congratulate is just poor sportsmanship. One more thing... if you want progress, cut off your mullet. We haven't seen those in 10 or even 20 years.

Congratulations Evan, you deserved it!!!

Fat Tuesday (aka my birthday)

We had a great visit with Grammy and Pawpaw for my birthday. Their generosity never ceases. They took us to O'Charley's for my birthday dinner. I try to pick places where "kids eat free" because I think restaurant kid's meals are way overpriced. Anyway, our server brought us an ooey gooey caramel pie dessert. Not that we needed it since we would be having cake in an hour, but that's what Fat Tuesday is all about, I guess. The pie was fabulous.

The loot didn't disappoint either. I'm pretty fortunate to have siblings that never forget the birthdays and stay in touch. I say that because when my mom and I were at Costco, our checker was talking about her mom and how no one in her family ever calls her or her mom (who is 88 and quite ill) to see how she is doing. They basically never talk. That's weird to me, but unfortunately becoming more and more common in our society.

Anyway, we are gearing up for a visit from Aunt Debra next weekend. Then preparing for the big trip to Chicago to celebrate Carlie's 6th birthday, American Girl style. Fun times ahead. Now, I just have to squeeze in some time to fill out my NCAA brackets. It's all about priorities. If you need help with your brackets, here's a tip. Don't pick UNC to go all the way. It won't happen. They may not even make the tournament.

Purse/Tote from my parents. Love it. So cute.

Someone grab a fire extinguisher!!!

Carlie wrapped up blue bunny for me to "sleep with the month of my birthday."

Noah being Noah.

The party planner extraordinaire passing out presents.

I'm So There

Vegas called to let me know that Celine Dion will be returning to Caesars in March 2011! Gasp! Scream! I cannot miss it this time. Supposed to be a show with all her classic hits backed by a full orchestra. Sounds AMAZING!! Who's with me?? (Because I know Mike is just dying to go :-)

Olympic Excitement

The Olympics begin in just a few short days. I think I am one of few people who actually enjoys watching the Winter Games. My favorite is obviously figure skating, but I also love watching half-pipe snowboarding, alpine skiing, and speed skating.

Men's figure skating will be telecast on Tuesday, 2/16 and Thursday, 2/18. Thankfully, this is supposed to be LIVE. That means you can't go online and see who won the event before it is on television (like you could during the Turin Olympics in 2006 which completely ruins it.) My hope is that American Evan Lysacek wins.



Unfortunately, it will probably be this guy. Yevgeny Plushenko from Russia. The 2006 Olympic Gold Medalist. Russia always wins. Well, not always. I don't know, something about him, maybe because he won 4 years ago, maybe it's the not-so-manly hair, just don't want him to win.



All I can say about the ladies is that it will be the battle of Asia. The Koreans and Japanese pretty much have a lock on the medals. The two American skaters just don't have the difficulty or artistry the Asian girls have. Granted, they could fall or get hit in the knee with a baton, but otherwise, they are a lock for G,S,and B.

Ice Dancing. Mike hates ice dancing, but I think he will still watch it because he loves me. It's on 2/19, 2/21, and 2/22. I really, really hope Tanith and Ben win. I hope the Canadians are nice to Tanith since (even though she is Canadian) she is competing for the U.S.A. You remember the whole citizenship controversy in '06, right? Anyway, even though they lost the U.S. championships to Davis & White, I still want them to win. D & W are impressive though and display a great Indian dance which I think will be done on 2/21. Once again, the Russians (Maxsim something and some girl) are favored. Maybe they will fall.

Daddy Daughter Dance

Carlie has been anticipating this for the last several weeks. Finally, the day had arrived. The YMCA we belong to hosts a Daddy Daughter Dance, and this is its second year. Once again she was not disappointed. I remembered to send the camera with Mike so he could take pictures at the actual event.


I had to make the indoor pics black/white because we don't have enough natural light coming in to make them look good without a flash. Our next house will definitely have more than five windows total
.

Energy Food for lots of dancing...

YMCA dance

Daughter Loves Daddy

Meanwhile at home, Noah was doing his best impersonation of Hugh Hefner...

Show Us Your Life--Beauty Tips

It's another edition of Show Us Your Life at Kelly's Korner. This week we are dishing on our favorite hair & beauty products and tips. Let's get started.

For hair there is nothing I like more than Aveda Shampure hair products. They are wonderful and smell fabulous. Unfortunately, they are quite expensive.



So when I don't have the money to splurge on the indulgences, I have found that Aveeno Nourish is a very good shampoo and conditioner line. I get my hair highlighted so it does a nice job of keeping it soft and shiny.



I started using Bare Escentuals makeup last year, and it definitely is a keeper. It figures that is what I end up liking because Dr. Oz just had an episode this week that mineral makeup is the worst thing you can wear. According to him it gets in your lungs and coats them and can cause breathing problems. None of this has been proven, of course, so I will continue to tap, buff, swirl away.



I love, love, love MAC products. There mineralized blush is awesome. It leaves a very nice glow to the cheeks.



False eyelashes are another must have. Again, MAC has some excellent ones. Although they recommend wearing them only one time, I have worn mine more than that. Just be sure to peel the glue off after you wear them.



Before applying those false eyelashes, be sure to curl and mascara your lashes. One tip I learned from a friend is to take your eyelash curler and blast it with your hair dryer for about 5 seconds. The heat will help curl the lashes and keep them that way while you are applying mascara. It works.




If you haven't signed up to be a Beauty Insider at Sephora, you are missing out. They send coupons and offers all the time through email. At Christmas they sent a $15 voucher with no minimum purchase, and for my last birthday I received a voucher for a 3-pack of their lip gloss. It's great because it has a slight flavor and is not sticky or tacky.

How I Am Spending My Day...

Scoping Out the Grout

Yesterday, I spent a good portion of the morning cleaning the grout in our bathroom. I had done the grout in the basement bathroom last week and figured it was time to do our bathroom. It's a little embarrassing to admit it got this dirty, but it definitely gives incentive to not let it get this way again.

BEFORE

AFTER

Now I find myself looking at the grout wherever I go. The Y really needs to clean their grout in the women's bathroom. It is gross. The tile leading to the gymansium is also quite dirty. I realize I have some "Monk" tendencies (OCD) to focus on things like this. The past several weeks I have had incredible difficulty focusing on the sermons at church. They have these giant circles hanging over the stage area that form a cross. They have four going down the middle, then one side has six circles to form one arm of the cross, and the other side has five circles to form the other arm. I constantly stare at it and wonder why there are only five circles on that side. It really bothers me. I guess I have issues.

Birthday Wishes

In case you have been banging your head against the wall trying to figure out what to get me for my birthday which is quickly approaching (two weeks from today), here are a few not so subtle hints...

Despite the fact Season 4 has the WORST angel ever in Shelley Hack, Farrah makes her final appearances, and this season has some of my favorite episodes.

I could really use some new undergarments. Since I usually by them at Target, a gift card would be very useful.

I also like these...

Loft Gift Cards

And these...

Chocolate Riesens

And these...

Bissinger Bear Claws