2 great movies in less than 2 days

Last night Tom and I saw The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. AMAZING. Thank you Karyn for this recommendation!

And then this afternoon we watched Once. Loved the music and was sad when it ended. Not necessarily because it ends sad, I just didn't want it to end.

YAY! Jury Duty Postponed!

(til Wednesday)

So I have a few moments to tell you about another one of my Christmas presents...

Just a Drop

Anyone else heard of it? Without going into too much detail, I'll just say this stuff works. It's great for traveling, staying at friend's houses, restaurants, etc. If you're like me and only like to perform bathroom doody in the comforts of your own home, this little spray may open up a world of options for waste elimination. And it's small enough to carry with you at all times.

Oh, and if you're wondering who gave this to me and why I would receive such a gift, it's because my friend Rebecca and I like to outgross each other and really enjoy discussing our bathroom episodes. We have no shame. Little did she know I would find this product so useful. This year for Christmas I made her a scarf of bugs. I knitted in a bunch of fake spiders, roaches, beetles, and crustaceans. Truly a masterpiece. I must ask her for a picture to post on here.

Back to Nature

Our nature hike was supposed to be one of peace and tranquility but I tend to get a little spooked when I see stuff like this upon entering the first trail...


then a few feet over is this lovely warning...


I know that these signs have to be posted for safety reasons and the odds of something actually happening to us are slim to none but I still have a tendency to let my imagination run wild in the wilderness. Tom calls me Nervous Nelly when I get into "worst case scenario" mode. I was actually doing fine until we came upon this sign which was about 200 feet away from the campground barbeque...


I felt it was time to break out an adult beverage from the backpack but then I ran into this...


Drats. I trudge along trailing Tom and Wrigs and then we hit the next trail and are greeted with this...


I'm curious, does this mean NO DOGS at all or just no dogs that look like a Doberman? Although don't most Dobermans have short little nubby tails? I think they do. So we turn around and head back the way we came. We find another trail and now see this sign...


It's not the Doberman looking dog so then we start to wonder if they are just not allowing specific breeds of dogs on these trails. But I guess that would be discriminatory and I'm sure PETA (along with Jesse and Reverend Al) would be all over that shit so we figure the trail is off limits to all dogs.

So back down the trail we go. We decide to take a different route into more of a wooded area. It was sort of creepy because it was very desolate and visions of the movie The Vanishing danced in my head. But then I saw this sign and thought, "That's it! Hikes over."


If we can't gather wood I'm outta here.

I guess I should post some more pics...








Until next time...

Take a hike

All I do is clean this house. I can't just look past the dust, fur and crap. I wish I could but I can't. Tom doesn't want me to spend another full day of cleaning so we are going for a hike in the canyons. It's a gorgeous day outside and I guess I've just been taking these days for granted. I don't enjoy them as much as I should. So we're going for a hike and taking Wrigs with. I need to be outside more and enjoy nature. The hike will be a good start. I'll bring the camera and take some pretty pictures.

Just what I want to be doing on New Year's Eve...

sitting in one of these.
That's what I get for blowing off jury duty over the summer. Dumb stupid criminals. This really sucks.

Sea this Movie

THE SEA INSIDE

I saw it a couple years ago and just wanted to share it on here. It will change the way you view your life and the little things we ALL take for granted. And it's a true story which makes it even that more remarkable.

we received...

2 Christmas cards from people we have never heard of before. And yet, they wrote a shit load of stuff in the card.

I asked Tom, "Who are the ------'s?" He says, "Never heard of them." Then I show him the second card, "What about these people?" He looks, squints, shrugs then says, "No clue."

We're both completely gobsmacked.

tonight...

the hubby is out watching football with his buddy and I'm home alone still taking down the blasted Christmas decorations. I poured myself a glass of wine to unwind after a HELL commute (over 2 hours one way for a 10 second commercial spot) so I thought I'd check up on some emails and correspondence. Well one glass led to two and since I'm staying in tonight...hell, I'll have another. I'm starting to feel drunk a little. But it's ok. It's still holiday time, and the end of another year, and our house is freezing and... I live with a mean cat- who pees all over our house. Need I say more.

I don't like...

to drink alone so I just gave my dog a teaspoon of wine.

I wonder...

how much dog and cat fur I consume on a daily basis.

unimaginable loss...

The other day my mom received some sad news from back home. One of her dear friends lost her son from a sudden heart attack 7 days before Christmas. Then 4 days later, while getting dressed for his funeral, his mother (my mom's friend) has a heart attack and dies. What a devastating loss. How do you even communicate that to the rest of the family on the day of the son's funeral??? I can't even imagine. Makes you realize how the life that you know and live every day can forever change in an instant. Be kind to those in your own little world, love them while you have them and while they have you.

a GREAT film

I am always a year or two behind when it comes to watching movies because I don't like to sit for 2+ hours in a movie theatre seat. So this morning I watched Blood Diamond while putting away the Christmas decorations and WOW was this movie amazing. I'm sure all of you have seen it but if not, I recommend it highly. What made this movie so intriguing to me was that I knew NOTHING about it before watching it. I didn't look it up on IMDB until after it was over so every single scene was a complete surprise. Fabulous job, Mr. Zwick. Keep these movies comin'!

finally, something good

I had to watch something else after that cluster f*ck of a movie Catch and Release, so I switched to The Departed. I've already seen it and damn is it good. Especially the scene when grown up hot man Leo comes in from the rain to his psychiatrist's apartment. Here's a clip though in another language. French? Italian? German? I have no clue. Either way it's still Mmm Mmm good.

our favorite things...

Ok since I can't watch anymore of this ridiculously predictable movie I thought I'd blog about my favorite Christmas present...THE ROOMBA! This thing is FANTASTIC! I know I bitched about Tom's obsessive compulsion when it comes to vacuums but he really hit the jackpot on this one. This machine makes me want to sing. We set the timer on it so every other day at 9am it shoots out of it's docking station and goes to work in the family room. It takes about 45 minutes to clean the room and when it's done it finds it's way back to the station. I am so grateful to have one of these, especially with a houseful of fuzzy animals.

One of Tom's favorite Christmas presents is a remote control helicopter my mom gave him. He played with this thing ALL day yesterday and even let me try it out. We made up a game and would each take turns flying it around and landing it gently (not an easy task). I kept crash landing and instead of picking it up and placing it upright I would gun the motor on the remote to try and get it airborne. The thing kept flipping around on the floor and Tom was not happy about this. He says, "Stop doing that! If you don't pick it up you can't play with my toy!" He was completely serious. I don't think we would have gotten along so well as 5 year olds.

I found some footage on youtube of a similar helicopter. Though, the guy in this video needs to put down the toy and clean his place. He could even invest in a Roomba if he's short on time.

Catch and Release this movie

I am watching Catch and Release right now (about 45 minutes into it) and it is one of the STUPIDEST movies I've ever seen. Is it worth continuing to watch? It's so phony that I can't handle it. Plus, Jennifer Garner's top lip has been puffed full with too much collagen and some scenes it looks like she has an oozing cold sore.


Gross. Stupid. Gross.

Yes...another vacuum!

I know one of my Christmas presents this year is a Roomba. Tom has wanted one for YEARS and I'm pretty sure that he got one as a "household gift". This will now bring our household vacuum total to SEVEN. Tom has a serious addiction to purchasing motorized suction devices and I think I need to find him help.

I must get back to making dinner. Instead of turkey and all the fixins I decided to do a lasagna. We have no room in our fridge for anything else at this point so a tray of lasagna is easier to manage than a 20 pound bird. Ok I must put the lasagna in the oven before the guests arrive!

Oh, by the way...MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Peace, love and laughter to all.

Love,
Laura

sometimes only chocolate will do...

Last night I had one of the worst bouts of PMS. I was ransacking the freezer, pantry, couch cushions, old purses for anything that had a trace of chocolate. I wasn't having much luck then I remembered one of Tom's stocking stuffers was a big box of Hershey's Pot of Gold Caramel Assortment. Have you ever tried these? OH mY God are they good! So I brought the box over to Tom and asked him to please open one of his stocking stuffers early. He said he didn't want to, he'd rather wait until Christmas. I Begged PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE open it NOW and I started to rip the box open a little so he could see what it was. Tom is a certified Chocoholic so once he saw the Hershey label, he tore off the rest of the paper and we both couldn't get the plastic wrap off the box fast enough. We managed to eat the ENTIRE top row in a matter of 15 minutes.

Now I must brave the elements the weekend before Christmas and replace this box with another. Not looking forward to that. I am still looking for one more gift for my mom but am not having much luck. I'll try and update more later.

slow news day

So the news tonight featured a segment on airplane food and how most of the stuff we eat on the plane has more fat and calories than a Big Mac, fries and strawberry sundae combined. The field reporter was interviewing random people on the street asking them their opinions on airplane food. This woman ranted about how awful her tuna sandwich (or was it salad!?!) tasted...


Oh the HORROR!

And then I snapped a photo of this woman, who stated her opinion on airplane snack boxes. Read what's under her name...


Did they really just waste 12 seconds of critical news time with this??? I guess I wasted more than 12 seconds blogging about it and also capturing film and photos (thanks to DVR). But I'm sure we can all sleep better tonight knowing that Emma Davis likes snack boxes.

Aww, how sweet.

Brit's little sis, Jamie Lynn Spears is pregnant. Good thing she waited 'til the ripe old age of 16 to pop one out, and thank GOD she's got Britney for a role model on motherhood.

Good golly, studio execs! Settle this strike! We need the late night guys on this one.

have to make these...

I'm sure the men at our holiday gatherings will enjoy biting some bits off this cookie. Speaking of bits, perhaps I'll make a "boy" version for my lady friends. Oh, this could be dangerous...

Airborne Power Pixies

This time of year everyone is rushing and pushing themselves to the max, which often leads to sickness. If you start to feel run down, take these. They taste great and you don't need water, just pour the crystals onto your tongue and let them dissolve. I just bought the last 3 boxes at our local Target. Hopefully you'll find yours somewhere else.

really bad dreams

Lately, I've been having some really REALLY disturbing dreams. I won't get into that on here, but I just have to get the one from last night out of my head because it's been on my mind all day. Tom and I were buying a car, and we decided to get a used Cadillac Brougham which is what I drove in college. (And back then I could fit 10 people in that thing, sometimes when I was driving I'd look in the rear view mirror and see a whole bunch of arms and legs sticking out everywhere. Good times.) Ok, back to the dream...so Tom and I found a car we both liked and on the outside it was the exact replica of my college car but the inside was like an airplane cockpit, so many instruments and hi-tech gadgets to play with. We made the transaction with the sales guy and I don't think any money was exchanged but I left my current car there and also told him he could have all the clothes stashed in the trunk that I was planning on giving to good will. The sales guy seemed ecstatic about this. So Tom and I drive off in the new wheels.

We're going pretty fast along the coast and it starts to rain. I tell him he better slow down and he says he doesn't know how. He starts fiddling with the gadgets on the dash board and I tell him those won't do anything, just use the BRAKES! The road is starting to curve and we're headed straight for the side of the mountain at full speed. Tom looks over at me and I'm screaming "BRAKE! BRAKE! BRAKE!" and he screams back, "WHERE ARE THEY!?!?!" and then we SLAM into the mountain. We are now inside the mountain and it's sooooo quiet and peaceful and we both don't have a scratch on us. I say to him, "Tom...we just died." He smiles and says "No we didn't, we're fine." I say, "Yes we did- look at us." The realization hits us both and I start crying in the car because I'm sooo upset for our families. He hugs me and says that we're going to be fine and not to cry and then all of the sudden this heavy gray tarp falls over us. The tarp weighs a lot and is smushing us down and it hurts my head and neck but we continue to cling to each other. I can't see Tom anymore but I hear his voice and he whispers in my ear, "We'll be ok. We have each other." And then I woke up.

more Chum attacks

Here are some Chum attacks from last week that I forgot to post...

Boycotting Albertson's

(at least for the rest of the day)

Why? Because of today's shopping experience...

Today I had planned to finish Christmas shopping for my mom who is now visiting. She was the only person left (besides Tom) who I had to buy for and since I didn't have to ship her gifts I had a little more extra time to shop. So I got to the mall right as it opened and was finished with shopping by 10:30am. Next on my list were a few errands and then grocery shopping and my plan was to be back home by noon so I could spend the rest of the day baking/cooking for the week's festivities. We have something planned every night so I wanted to use today as a preparation day. I was going to make another Gingerbread spice cake, another batch of sausage/cheese balls and I found a recipe online for date/nut cream cheese bread that sounded so good so I wanted to try that. So I rushed through my errands, zoomed through the grocery store and was home by 12:04! For once, ON SCHEDULE! Well as I'm putting the groceries away I realize, hmmm where's the cream cheese for my cream cheese bread? Then...wait, there's no pork sausage for my sausage balls and Dag nam it! There's no cheddar cheese either!!!! I checked my receipt and there was at least one entire bag of groceries missing. All of my refrigerated stuff, including lunch meats and sliced cheeses I had waited in line for at the deli counter!!! Oh I was not happy about this. If it was just the stupid cream cheese I could have waited but it was the majority of my ingredients that I needed to use for baking!!! And I made sure that ALL the groceries were out of my cart when I brought it back to the cart return. I learned that lesson after leaving a case of beer on the bottom shelf of the shopping cart, not once, but twice. I shouldn't have just admitted that.

So, I'm back in the car, rush over to the grocery store and head to the check out girl that helped me. Of course there is no sign of my bag. They tell me just to grab the items that were misplaced. UGH!!!! So I waited BACK IN LINE for lunch meat and sliced cheeses at the deli counter, and Oh - My - God, the guy was S-O-O-O-O S-L-O-W. It was obviously his first time operating the slice machine because he had to stop every few slices and ask for help. After that, I got my cream cheese and shredded cheddar and then ran to the other side of the store for the pork sausage....which....THEY WERE NOW OUT OF!!!! So now, I'm really not happy about this, but I'm not one to make a big deal out of things (except on here) so I was polite and just asked to have the money refunded. Oh that was a cluster f*ck in and of itself. They told me that I could just drive to the other Albertson's in the next town over because they probably have more in stock. I said, no thanks to that and then they said they could check the shipment schedule for the sausage and see when the next truck load comes in. At this point I'm about ready to pop but I calmly continue to tell them that I'd just like my refund NOW please. I had called my sister in the midst of this debacle and she said that she will pick some up for me later in the day at VONS.

Of course I know in the big scheme of things this is nothing to wad my panties over but still, it was just a waste of time and energy. And unfortunately, this is not the first time this has happened at this store. I'm not going to make any remarks about the attention span of the baggers at the store but like everything, there is always room for improvement. So to end on a positive note I will plug another one of my favorite holiday items from Trader Joe's. I just ate 3 with an ice cold glass of milk and ahhhh, my anger is subsiding.

These guys have talent!

Straight No Chaser

I miss Chicago...

this time of year.

This picture looks like our old street on the north side...

And then here's a shot of the city decked out for the holidays...

I actually dreamt the other night that Tom and I moved back on a whim and found a gorgeous rehabbed brown stone in Old town to live. I was sooo excited to be back in the city and loved how I could walk to everything again. But then after a few days I missed California sooo much that it made me physically sick. I begged for us to move back and we did. Then when I woke up in my bed here at home I was happy. But I still miss it soooooo much right before the holidays. If I could go back now I would but we can't because of Tom's work schedule. Once Dec. 26th comes I'll be over it but between now and then it just doesn't feel like Christmas here! My mom is coming tomorrow for almost 3 weeks so that should help a little too. And it's been getting down to the 40's at night so when we walk through our neighborhood and look at all the Christmas lights it does feel a bit more festive. It's just hard during the day when the sun is shining amidst a bright blue sky and the grass is green with palm and orange trees everywhere!

POSH SPICE

Why the hell doesn't she EVER smile? It annoys me. From now on she should be called "Sour Puss Spice."

Grab-n-Bag Power Vac

Tom got this Shark Grab-n-Bag Powered Pooper Scooper for a few friends that have dogs and thought that we should have one too. Do the words Grab-n-Bag used together make you think of something else? Anyway, Tom is is OBSESSED with buying any type of power vac. It's seriously an addiction. That, and sponges. He can't even walk down the sponge aisle anymore at Target because he will go on a sponge buying frenzy and stash sponges in every cabinet of the house and garage. So anyway, tonight he puts the pooper scooper vac together and heads outside to "test" it on one of Wrig's piles. I'm sitting in the house knitting by the tree, listening to carols with a nice glass of wine when he comes barreling back inside holding the filled scooper SHOWING ME how well it picked up the poo! Was that REALLY necessary couldn't he have just TOLD me about it??? I guess I should be grateful that little things like this still manage to get him so excited but seriously, he could have keep that shit outside.

Christmas memories....

-snow days
-school plays
-trekking off to the woods of Wisconsin to chop down our tree
-late nights watching Christmas movies
-bringing up the xmas boxes from the basement
-the scary Elf ornaments with demonic expressions on their hard plastic faces
-closing the drapes in the living room to block out the sunlight while we put lights on the tree
-the Honeymooner's xmas special
-and of course Rudolph!!!
-shopping on Michigan Ave. with my best friend, having lunch at a fancy decorated hotel
-my old record player playing scratched up Bing and Anne Murray albums
-so many cocktail parties and late night singing parties around the piano
-sipping Manhattans out of my parent's friends drinks
-a mini tree with colored lights in my bedroom
-finding my presents in my parent's closet, playing with them for weeks before xmas
-putting a green dress back on my Wedding Day Barbie
-making Holly candies with my mom
-falling asleep to the choir at midnight mass
-opening just "ONE" present on xmas eve night before we go to bed
-waking up at 5am on xmas day
-the crackle of the fire on xmas morning as we open our stockings
-opening stockings then eating eggs and bacon before we dash to open the "big" presents
-the smell of plastic Barbies and my Barbie airplane on xmas morning
-laughing at our dog tearing into her presents, shaking her head like a maniac, growling
-playing with my presents until it was time to get cleaned up for xmas dinner
-stuffing my belly full of turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, rolls, pie
-back to playing with my toys before and during bed time
-feeling sad on the morning of December 26th
-at breakfast, my mom telling me there was one more gift Santa forgot to deliver
-opening the best gift of all (like a bike or a doll carriage) the day after xmas!

Extras Finale on HBO this Sunday!

I meant to post about this earlier in the week but forgot! My favorite show, Extras is coming to an end but they will be airing a Christmas special this Sunday on HBO! If you're up for lots of laughter, you must check it out! And if you're not familiar with the show you can read about it here.

Here is a clip from a typical exchange between Andy and his knuckle head agent, Darren. There is another one I'm trying to find that is sooo funny. Darren gets a bluetooth device and he can never answer the calls in time because it takes him forever to figure out the ear piece, hook it to his ear, and flip open the phone. It is soooo annoyingly funny. I'll keep searching for it. *update* FOUND IT!!! the other clip.

I really hope the Christmas finale is just as funny as the regular episodes. Sometimes though, season finales can disappoint (Seinfeld) but let's hope that's not the case with this one.

Chum bear update

So I went to click order on that bear I found for Chum and the shipping was $8.95 bringing the total to $25! I think that's a bit too much money to spend on one toy, one that he may not even like so I canceled the order. Then later that same day Tom and I ran to Tuesday Morning to pick up a bunch of silly gag gifts for our holiday party and we found this guy there for $9.99!

It's long and lanky like Chum's original bear although the color is not exact but aren't cats color blind anyway??? Oh I hope he likes it so I can finally toss his old smelly, crusty bear full of holes. Although I give him credit for making this bear last 13 years.

Unlike Wrigley, who after 5 minutes rips the face off of his teddy bear...

He will NOT be getting a new bear for Christmas.

Chum's new collar

With all sorts of people coming and going during the holidays, I have been having nightmares about Chum getting out of the house. Today I asked Tom if we could go to Petco and get him an ID tag and collar. Surprisingly he obliged so we picked out a fancy black collar with multi-colored hearts and found a simple round black tag. The engrave machine has the option of 1, 2 or 3 lines and we used all 3 for Wrigley's collar: the first being his name, the second line, our phone number and the third line: REWARD, all in caps. So I said to Tom, "We'll just do the same for Chumley, right?" He thinks about it and then says, "Nah, just do 2 lines. We can leave out the REWARD." And without hesitation, I agreed.

I must say Chum looks rather smashing in his fancy new collar...

Dumb stupid tree.

We just got our Christmas tree last week and it's already dying. We got it at Lowe's and I'm extremely disappointed so if you haven't bought your tree yet, I would suggest not going to Lowe's. You can't even walk by it without dozens of needles falling off. And, several of the branches have already started their downward descent so I've lost a few ornaments. One fell off at 2 in the morning while I was asleep. All of a sudden I hear a crash and shatter of glass which is just how I want to be woken up at 2am when the husband is out of town. At first I thought maybe Chumley was playing (or peeing) under the tree but when I saw that it used to be one of the smaller gold balls that I only place at the top part of the tree, I knew Chum couldn't have reached that high. So I'm not quite sure what to do about this tree. I don't want to have to take off all the ornaments and lights to return it but I don't think it's safe to even have the lights on anymore. I have to keep the dust buster hidden underneath the tree skirt (which is a bright red shower curtain by the way) because every time I walk into the living room there are more needles on the ground. Here's a pic of the tree. There were already some bare spots to begin with but it's gotten so much worse over the last few days. Bah Humbug.

The Holly Sisters & The Mistletones

On Wednesday night we decked the halls of the nursing home with our fabulous Christmas caroling. Oh what fun we had! Each year is a learning experience but we've decided that next year, we'll actually program ALL the songs we plan to sing in the i-pod for back up accompaniment. It was nice to see the smiles on the faces of so many and spread a little Christmas cheer to those who need it. And this year we tripled in size! We should really consider a world tour.

The Gingerbread Dance

This was from the Ellen show a couple years ago but it's worth seeing again. Be sure and watch all the way through because the dancing starts at 2:50 and I guarantee it'll make you giggle.

Chumley's Bear

Chum needs a new bear. This one is too banged up and is leaking stuffing out of multiple orifices. A few years ago I bought him a new bear that I found on a UK website (who, coincidentally was named CHUMLEY) so I thought it was meant to be but he would have nothing to do with it. And it wasn't an exact match to this one so that could be part of the problem. So I've been searching online for another one and I found this guy. It's the closest I can find to his current lover so I'm going to order it for him for Christmas. Although based on recent events, he doesn't deserve much more than a stocking full of coal.

does anyone else love this commercial?

I just adore it! And I love the song, Ordinary Miracle, by Sarah McLachlan but this version is sung by Kathy Fisher. And I think I like it better!

I want to go here.

It's a small Christmas town in Austria and in the heart of it is a family run bed and breakfast that sounds magical this time of year. The inn serves home cooked breakfast everyday, offers sleigh rides through the village with a glass of hot gluhwein and then presents you with a Christmas turkey dinner upon your return. How fun is that? I'm going to close my eyes and daydream for a while.

Kitchen fires can happen

Luckily I caught this in time before there were flames.

I was heating up some delicious Trader Joe's Tandoori Naan in the toaster oven to go with some delicious Trader Joe's Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato soup. The instructions said to heat the Naan frozen for 1 - 1.5 minutes. I think, "That's It? That's not long enough, they must be wrong." So I put it in the toaster and went about rifling through the christmas boxes in the garage. I headed back into the house after about 5 minutes and was overcome by smoke. It was EVERYWHERE. And the smell was nasty. I grabbed the Naan out of the oven and the middle was charred and sizzling. I turned on the intake fan in the kitchen which helped to suck up some of the smoke but it's been about 45 minutes and my kitchen still looks like this...



Speaking of Trader Joe's, I LOVE their ready made Chicken Lasagna meal. But take note, if you reheat it in the microwave the next day, it smells like baby diarrhea.

I HATE THIS CAT RIGHT NOW

I am TRYING to stuff the couch cushions back into the shrunken couch cushion covers and they don't fit! I've already bent my fingernail back twice and lost a ring in the stuffing of the cushion!!! ALL THE WHILE I KEEP YELLING OUT LOUD TO THE WORLD...

"I HATE THIS F&CKING CAT!"

I have one more cushion to stuff but I needed to walk away and take some deep breaths. I showered but now am all sweaty. I still need to bake my Christmas cookies too. Oh and I will be covering the couch with a clear plastic shower curtain from the stash that I keep in the linen closet for the beds.

Ok just needed to vent. Back to the blasted cushion covers!!!!"'

this %@^%#@^%# CAT!!!!!

What I need to be doing before the guests arrive in a few short hours:

-getting myself cleaned up
-baking holiday cookies
-vacuuming and dusting

What I am actually doing (besides blogging about this):

-washing not 1, not 2 but 4 of the couch cushions and covers Chumley peed all over.

Lord help me. I have refused thus far to cover our furniture in shower curtains, but what other choice do I have? Should I just find that clear plastic wrap that Ray Romano's mother uses? I don't know but this is the last thing I need to deal with right now. I have to stack the cushions away from the couch to dry otherwise he will pee on them again. As of now the covers are still wet so we may not have a couch for this evening's festivities. I love holiday parties at my house.

Christmas from now on...

It was around this time last year that Tom and I were stricken with a 2 week flu (actually his turned into walking pneumonia) so we weren't able to enjoy many pre-holiday parties and preparations of our own. But I intend on making up for it this year! From now until Christmas each post is going to have somewhat of a Christmas theme. So...

Right now Tom is putting the lights on the tree, carols are playing in the background and I'm getting ready to make my mom's famous sausage cheese balls for tomorrow's party. Tom just put in a special request for some Nog. Wrigley's playing with the ripped off leg of his monkey, and Chum is sitting on the kitchen counter waiting for me to roll the sausage balls. I'm enjoying this night. I hope you are too.

Bloggin' 'bout Nog

Tomorrow night I'm having a little get together at our house after a group of us go caroling at a senior home. I'm in the kitchen, preparing some yummies for the festivities and I thought I'd start with the nog (love that word- rhymes with everything too: log, hog, bog, frog, smog, cog, fog, what else...oh DOG duh and BLOG!!!) So I mixed a few different ingredients in a martini shaker as a trial run and it's absolutely SPLENDID! So I'll share it on here. I just made enough for one serving so I used about 1/4 a cup of each liquid (except for the Amaretto, used a whole cup. Ha! I kid.)

Laura's Nog
-low fat egg nog
-pumpkin spiced egg nog
-skim milk (to cut the fat of the nogs)
-shot of Amaretto
-crushed ice

Shake vigorously until the top flies off the shaker, and sticky goo splatters all over your kitchen counter and floor. Once you are done licking that up, pour remaining mixture over ice and enjoy! Cheers!

a quiet moment

-interrupted.


These two definitely communicate with each other via side glances and air sniffs. And then something sets one of them off and all hell breaks loose.

That does it.

I'm never having kids.

Children shot at bus stop in Las Vegas

Feelin' Festive

Nothing says Merry Christmas like a pair of Groucho Marx glasses and a giant sized beetle bug while dining at your favorite restaurant. (note the fart machine in the background too)

The animals are ready...

for Santa to come!



although Wrigley got to meet Santa in real life but wasn't too fond of him...

"I'm not sitting atop his lap. Smells like a sexual predator to me."