Meowy Christmas!

"I sure hope Mommy has kids someday so she will stop dressing me in these stupid costumes! This is ridiculous. I'm a freakin' cat, not a clown! The dog is laughing at me. I'll never live this one down. Oh well. Meow-y Christmas everyone!"

Family Pic

Here's a great picture of my mom & cousins (well...my cousins' kids) at our family Christmas party today. So, 2 of these kids are driving now. Seriously?? How can I possibly be old enough to have cousins that have kids that old??? I should note, my cousins are MUCH older than me. Haha! But still....

Headband Woes

I got a couple of really cute headbands in my stocking this year from my sister. There is one in particular that I love - it's plaid. And I love me some plaid. In fact, my sister used to call me "The Queen of Plaid" because I used to be so into it. But I digress.... Today is a family Christmas event, and I had planned on wearing this super cute sweater that matched my super adorable new headband. But, here's the problem - it doesn't fit my head! Well, it does, but it hurts like crazy! And slides around funny. Just doesn't look good at all. This is because I have a freakishly large head. Seriously. A huge noggin. No one really comes right out and says it, but my friends know it's true. (Well, except for my friend Katie who once said, "Yeah...you do have a big melon".) I long to wear cute headbands and lust after stylish hats. Last year I got one of those scarf, hat, mitten combos, but the hat shot off my head like a rocket after about 10 seconds. I have to just resign myself to the fact that I will never be able to wear a super cute hat. If I want to wear a hat, it needs to be a baseball hat or nothing. I don't really know where I get the huge head from because no one in my family has a really big head. My sister has flat feet. I think she got the better deal.

Cutest. Baby. Ever

I am tired. Exhausted with a capital E. Spent. There is nothing left. My feet are killing me and I'm a shell of my former self. Yes, I work retail. There is nothing like dealing with the throngs of last minute shoppers to suck the Christmas spirit right out of you. This week started off well enough. Santa waved at me yesterday on my way to work. Well, it was the Santa advertising for Eastpointe Apartments on Broad St., but still....Santa waved at me. Then, I got a free Salted Carmel Hot Chocolate at Starbucks! Things were definitely looking up. I even tuned my radio to Christmas music. Then I got to work. That's where things turned ugly. A woman called me a "stupid fat bitch" because we didn't have the Nerf Vulcan that she wanted for her kid. Seriously? It's 3 days before Christmas and you have the audacity to ask me, "What am I going to tell my son on Christmas Day?" SERIOUSLY??? Now, I'll give her fat. And I admit, I can be a bit of a bitch at times (even though I was being so nice to her). But I am NOT stupid!! Unbelievable. But when I checked my BFF's blog today, she had posted pics of her new baby, Jacob. Isn't he the sweetest?? So cute it just about killed me! If that doesn't get you in the Christmas spirit, I don't know what will!

1 White Chocolate Mocha

Okay, as you may remember, my sister has been training for months now for a marathon. Every week she runs an insane amount of miles. No one should put her body through what she goes through to run. Seriously. You should see her feet - ick. But, when I think about why she's doing this, I am SOOOOOO proud of her. Amanda is running in the Walt Disney World Marathon in January as part of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Team in Training. My cousin, Sarah, was diagnosed with a rare form of Leukemia 5 years ago at age 12, and has been fighting it all the way ever since then. I wish I could explain to you what a cool kid she is. So polite and smart and funny. What amazes me the most about Sarah is how she is just so positive about everything. She really is an incredible young lady. It's a horrible disease, but especially unfair when a child gets sick. (By the way - I can't believe she's going to be 18 in January! I am getting so old! I still remember her as a 5 year old...) Anywho, Amanda needs to raise $3000 to run in this marathon and she's only about 1/2 way there. So I'm hoping that some of my friends will losen their purse strings and give to a good cause. I know it's Christmas and everyone's spending lots of money and times are tougher.... But it doesn't have to be a lot of cash to make a big difference. 1 grande White Chocolate Mocha from Starbucks costs $4.03. And you might as well go ahead and round that up to $5 because you're just going to throw the change in the ashtray of your car. So, this Christmas, give up 1 White Chocolate Mocha and help the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (and my sister....and my cousin.....)!

By the way.... I can't figure out how to post a link on my blog.....so you'll have to cut and past the web address for Amanda's fund raising site:
http://pages.teamintraining.org/soh/wdw09/ahiltonpsq

Thank you!

Random Thoughts

I've been out of the loop this week. Literally. The movers came to my house on Tuesday, so I've been without cable and computer until tonight. Also without furniture (I've been sleeping on an air mattress!) So...guess what it did today on my last day in Erie??? It snowed, OF COURSE! While I was at work today, it snowed a good 5". I left Erie around 2:30pm, and the roads were so bad, it took me nearly 30 minutes to go 2 miles. Ridiculous. I drove in snow for most of the trip....it didn't really let up until I was about 70 miles from mom & dad's house. How exhausting!

The day wasn't all bad, though. I stopped in Cleveland to see my friend, Katie, who just happens to be the cutest pregnant woman ever. Seriously. She's freakin' adorable. So that was a highlight to my afternoon / evening. But I'm here at mom & dad's now. I closed on my house in Erie today. I'll be spending most of the day tomorrow unloading my car and getting caught up on stuff since I'm off. Then I start working in a new location (another temporary one) on Sunday. It's mildly annoying that I don't have my permanent assignment yet, but that's okay because I'm in Columbus!

So, as I'm driving through my neighborhood this morning, I noticed a house with 2 (life-sized) white ceramic cats sitting in the window. Hmmmm... I wonder what was going through that lady's head when she placed them there. Surely whoever put them there is a cat owner. And, based on how much Mollie likes to look out the window, I figure that the real live cats that live in that house are pretty pissed off that they can't get a good view because of those ceramic cats. It just made me wonder.....

Near Death Experience

So, I thought I could make it out of Erie okay this afternoon. Mother Nature, however, had other plans for me. I was on my way to my good friend's mom's house for her baby shower. Even though the Erie weatherman was calling for snow from 1pm on, it seemed like all was well in Cleveland, so I decided to go for it. My neighborhood streets were virtually un-drivable (is that a word??). I thought I-90 would be better, but it really wasn't. I finally decided to turn around about 3 miles from the Ohio border. This was after going through a white-out and nearly sliding off the road. But I'm warm and safe at home now...and very thankful that I made it home in one piece! But I'm so sad I'm missing Katie's shower. I had baby Reilley's gift custom made and was sooooo looking forward to seeing Katie open it. I know she understands, but it just sucks that I can't be there! I think I may take a nap to settle my nerves.....