Winter is here!

I knew it was cold outside last night when Penny came in from her nightly "duties" and did this:

Poor little thing had to sit by the fire to warm up her Phoenix fur.


Then, this morning I looked out my window and saw this:

SNOW!!!! 

It hasn't "stuck" yet, but it's snow, kids! Real, live snow!

All my plans for the day have just been thrown out the window. I'm staying in, drinking hot tea and wrapping Christmas gifts. It's officially the first snow day of my life!

It's Hereditary!

My folks came in to town to celebrate Thanksgiving with Husband and me.  We were having a lovely visit when all of a sudden my mom's socks started ice skating on our wood floors and she took a bit of a fall that landed her with a broken wrist. We ended up at an urgent care, where Mom of course commented on the nice shade of gray on the wall behind the desk while she tried desperately to sign her name on the papers. She was a trooper! She had her wrist set and back home she came in a GIANT splint. Luckily, the wine had been opened so we started in on that right away.

The strange bit about all of this is that 11 months ago to the day, I broke my wrist. AND, my grandmother broke her wrist. If you are a female in our family and it's around the holidays and you can pick a paint color in less than 2 minutes, and love to make meatloaf, there is a 99% chance you're gonna break your wrist. It's hereditary!

So, it's Mom's turn to take it easy for 4-6 weeks. Here's my advice to Dad her:

1. Buy a Kindle and download all the books on the First Ladies that you want
2. Re-watch Downtown Abby Season 1 & 2
3. Order take-out and go and pick it up have Dad pick it up
4. Use Flossers from Wal*Mart - floss is too hard with one hand
5. Sit on the sofa and have someone bring you a cup of tea glass of wine
6. Leave your Christmas gifts for The Elves Dad to wrap
7. Don't even think about putting up Christmas decor - Santa will know where to stop - he's been there before
8. It's ok if you wear the two shirts that your cast fits through all 4-6 weeks - no one will judge (publicly)
9. Have your driver Dad take you to get your hair done at the Blow Dry Bar
10. Get a 1/2 price manicure with H!

Chef E Turns 5

The whole reason I flew home to Phoenix last weekend was to attend Miss E's Birthday Extravaganza! What a fabulous party! Miss E loves to cook and has always asked to help her Mom and her Grandmothers in the kitchen. This was the perfect party for her. She and 12 of her closets 5 and 3 year old friends made little miniature pizzas with sauce, cheese, and pepperoni. Then they each decorated their own cupcakes with frosting and sprinkles!

My two favorite kid moments:

1. One little girl would not put just any color icing on her cupcake but waited patiently for the pink icing to come her way and then when at it full throttle!

2.  Another little girl didn't wait to eat the icing off the cupcake, she just squirted it right from the tube into her mouth.

My kinda kids right there!

I loved being at Miss E's party. I knew going into it that there was a high chance of being "ignored" at the party while Miss E played with all her school friends. It would be natural. She is just 5. At one point though during the party, Miss E walked up to me, grabbed my leg and hugged it tightly. It was her little way of saying: I love you, Meya. Thanks for being here. 

That little girl makes my day  life!

Here are some fab pictures of Miss E's 5th birthday bash taken by my talented friend, E, who's sweet little boy, Master L was at the party too!

Everyone got heir own personal apron and chef's hat!

Even Meya!
Obligatory Side Note : beer was for adult party-goers only.

Mr. P making his pizza with LOTS of cheese!

Miss E and Master L chowing down.

Cupcake Shinanigans!

Miss E and Meya making laughs!

Miss E and her haul of gifts. . . 

 . . . and off she goes to open them up!

Auntie Time

On Veterns' Day I took Miss E and Mr P out for a little morning of fun. We started at the park and we swung on the swings, slid down the slides, hung from the monkey bars, and did some good ol' fashioned digging in the sand with sticks. Then we took off to LGO our favorite sweet spot for "lunch". We each ate one entire cupcake and then we all shared one grilled cheese and refused to eat the fruit that came with it on the plate. Damn near perfect lunch if I do say so myself.

I can get him higher, Meya!

I'll catch ya!

Mr. P and the Blue Cupcake

Miss E and the Pink Cupcake

Man, I love being an Aunt. You just want to help them get as high as they can on the swings, be there to catch them at the end of the slide and make sure they pick out the perfect cupcake for lunch and get all the frosting off of it before they even think about taking a bite of the cake portion. Being an Aunt is God's way of letting you be a kid again even if it's just for one morning.

You Know Where You're Going

I got home late last night from a wonderful trip to Phoenix to help my niece, Miss E celebrate her 5th birthday. More to come on that fabulous party later . . .

The trip home was good fun. I saw all my family which was just what I wanted to do. Mom made meatloaf Sunday night which was to-die-for. I swear she could package those and sell them and make millions! I partied all day Saturday with Miss E and stayed late at her house to play Zingo and put together her new LEGO Beauty Shop (extra hair for LEGO ladies included). I spent two gift cards that were burning holes in my pockets. I was able to see a few friends and we picked up where we left off - not skipping one beat! And of course, I ate an entire bowl of chips and salsa at my favorite Mexican food restaurant and didn't regret one bite of any of the 72 chips.

Lots of people asked, "Is it weird to be home? You're not driving your car or sleeping in your bed, but your home.  How strange."

It wasn't strange. In fact, it was the opposite. It was home. Home is never strange because you know where you're going. You know how to get places. You know where things are. You know where people will be. You know where to find what you like to wear, to eat, to drink, to be. It's easy because you know.

That's what I think is hardest about moving to a new place (besides missing your niece and nephew!). You never know where you're going. You never know what you're going to find or not find. You're always looking at a map or asking Siri for directions. You never know who you'll meet. You know what you like but you're not sure where to find it. Not knowing is hard.

Home is comfortable. It's where you see all the people you love. It's where you eat all your favorite food. It's where you drive to all your favorite shops and do your favorite things. Even without your bed, your car and your house, it is still home. It's what you know with all the people you love.

via www.pbase.com

The Candy Scare

I saw this on line and laughed out loud watching every minute of it. Here's the scoop. Every Halloween Jimmy Kimmel asks his viewers who are parents to tell their kids that they have eaten all the kids' Halloween candy. The reactions of these kids are absolutely priceless, some are a bit scary but most are just hysterical and a few are darling. WATCH IT!

I'm off to see my favorite 2 Rascals in Phoenix this weekend. Let's see if they'll share some of their candy with me?!

Aqua Tone

Last week I joined the YMCA. It has a beautiful pool with lots of classes that looked awesome.

Yesterday morning I walked into the pool area to look for my class. I wasn't sure I was in the right place because everyone in the pool, EVERYONE, was 70 years old +. I asked the Lifeguard where the Aqua Tone class was, he pointed to my white-haired friends and said "right here ma'am".

At this point I was already in my swimsuit and all wet because I did as instructed and showered before getting in the pool.

I had no choice, so I hopped in  . . .

I thought the instructor had started class but I couldn't listen when all the ladies around me were talking about their bridge clubs, how they voted, the cold weather, and their kids. I quickly came to realize that Aqua Tone was Senior Social Hour in Your Swimsuit.

I kept trying to follow the instructor and do what 5% of the class was doing but I was easily distracted.

Some of the ladies got a little disgruntled once we got the water weights out. Betty #1 looked over at the clock 15 minutes into class and said, in a very matter of fact tone, "The clock must have stopped running because no way have I only been doing this stuff for 15 minutes". Betty #2 agreed and moaned that the exercises were too hard and the pool was too cold (82 degrees) and she was finished. She walked faster into that locker room than she did any lunges in the pool! Betty #3 complained that the swimmer practicing her freestyle in the lane beside her was getting her hair-do wet every time she swam by. While all of this was going on, the one male in the class was making his rounds around the pool talking up the election results with all the ladies. Meanwhile, I'm still trying to participate but it so hard with all this going on around me.

The lifeguard was laughing at me. I knew it. But I gotta say, I laughed the whole time and I felt really good the rest of the day. I don't know if it was the great exercise routine or that my spirits were high because it's the first time I could do everything the instructor showed me in a gym class twice as fast as everyone else.

But hey, kudos to those ladies for showing up and putting their swim suits on! At 70! That's awesome! I might have to just go back and make sure the Bettys keep their hair from getting splashed during class.