Nooks, Frackin' and Jank

My two favorite words right now are "frackin'" and "jank." Frackin' is the equivilant of freakin' and friggin' and I plan to use it alot in 2011. I'm not really sure what jank means but I sure do like saying it. You can also use "janky" and "janked" (i.e., "OMG! That is just so janky!" or "if she keeps using a passy at 4 years old, her teeth are going to be janked.").

Cosmo & The Girls gave me a Barnes & Noble gift card for Christmas to put toward the purchase of a Nook or toward some books. I had been on the fence for a while about an e-Reader and did some research on both the Kindle and the Nook. Last night KJ, Cosmo & I went to Barnes & Noble and got a demo on the Nook. And ended up walking out of there w/ the Color Nook. It is too frackin' cool. I haven't bought any books yet but I have been searching for titles and adding them to my wish list.
Last night was the season premiere of Toddlers & Tiaras. Holy cow what a hot mess.
http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2010/12/toddlers-tiaras-makenzie-and-her-ni-ni-steal-the-spotlight.html This little girl, Makenzie, is totally and completely, absolutely, positively out of control. And I love every minute of it. She is a train wreck waiting to happen and I can't look away. This kid is 4 going on 44. She has the thickest, heaviest Southern accent I have ever heard and has an adorable raspy, smoky voice. She sounds like a 3-pack a day smoker. And in the middle of all her melt-downs, her mother remains pretty frackin' calm. She's either on horse tranquilizers or some heavy-duty quaaludes. The other little girl they featured, Danielle, is going to have some serious insecurity issues when she gets older. She must have mentioned how pretty or beautiful she was at least 10 to 15 times. If genetics are a factor, she's going to be in for major disappointments in life. Her mom was gigantic. This is also the 8-year old girl who said she is going to trash her hotel room if she doesn't win and also carried on about another child "stealing her spotlight." Sheesh

Post Christmas

Two days after Christmas and I'm totally dreading de-holiday-tizing the house. I love putting decorations up; hate taking everything down. So much easier to unpack stuff than it is to pack it back up. Each of the girls have their own ornaments and I think this is the year they are old enough to box up their own ornaments off the tree.

We had a nice, relaxing, kind of quiet Christmas. Believe it or not we actually got some snow on Sunday. It snowed/sleeted a bit on Saturday and then snowed until 1 or 2 PM on Sunday. It was SO nice. Kind of felt like home there for a minute. KJ, of course, loved it. We all just kind of loafed around all weekend in our jammies and watched some movies and watched the snow. Cosmo woke up kind of early Sunday morning and ran out to get the essentials in case we were snowed in . . . bagels and peppermint ice cream. I really like a man who plans ahead.

The girls have had a good Christmas break so far. KJ spent the night w/ a friend last night and they went to the movies today. T met Cosmo for lunch and then worked at the lax store for a bit. She's out to dinner and a movie with friends tonight. KJ's enjoying the new phone she got for Christmas and T's wearing her new boots tonight. Both girls got lots of clothes and several gift cards. They LOVE gift cards.

Scariest week of my life

"Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one." -- Jane Howard

So Christmas Eve is finally here! I've already got my breakfast casserole made so I can pop it iin the oven tomorrow morning while we open presents. Tonight's dinner is shrimp scampi and tomorrow we will have a spiral ham. KJ & I plan to make snickerdoodles today, red velvet cupcakes and Muddy Buddies. I still have some present to wrap but all of my Christmas cards are out. I haven't mailed my brother's family presents yet or my friend Lisa. I feel bad but I think they will understand.

Spent last week in FL and it certainly wasn't a pleasure trip. My dad had a heart attack, or, I should say a series of heart attacks late Saturday night/early Sunday morning and my brother and I were able to rush down there Sunday afternoon while he was still in surgery. Not gonna lie. It was rough. Don't want to bore everyone with the details but he did have emergency double by-pass surgery and came thru with flying colors! The staff at the hospital was amazing and my mom & dad's snowbird Florida friends were incredible.

So, we have a lot to be thankful for this Christmas and I'm looking foward to being with my family. I wish my folks could be here too but given the circumstances, I'm glad they are in Florida!

GEICO Tour

GEICO Tour
Only a week after double-bypass surgery, my dad's playing a full 18 wholes in Naples!!
Nah!!! JK. This was taken the day before his heart attck.

The lighter side of Stephen King & Some Questions

“You can’t deny laughter; when it comes, it plops down in your favorite chair and stays as long as it wants.” -- Stephen King

What an interesting quote by Stephen King. Who knew he had a nicer, fluffier side?

Really looking forward to the weekend! Other than taking the girls to see some of their friends perform in the Nutcracker on Saturday and a lax clinic on Sunday @ the high school, this family has NO major plans. No Friday night football games! I know T is so stoked. She hasn't a free Friday night since school started. And do you know what this means for me??? No Buccanette boots to clean!!!! Whoop! Whoop!

Got a lot of shopping done last night. My mom has selected a Vera Bradley pattern so I went to Wrapsody to find it. Unfortunately the Hoover store was out of it so they are getting it from their Auburn store. T's sweet, sweet friend Molly helped me. She is such a lovely young lady and it has been a pleasure watching her grow up. KJ bought me my annual Vera Bradley ornament while we were in the store and Molly helped her pick it out and wrap it up. I also went to Dick's Sporting Goods, Justice, Barnes & Noble and Wolf Camera. KJ & I met Cosmo for dinner and had a nice evening.

T had some friends over last night after the high school basketball game. So glad she feels comfortable having kids over and it's so important to know who her friend's are. Cosmo & I were snuggled on the couch when they all came in and a couple of the boys were laxers. I think it was weird for them to see Coach in his natural habitat.

A friend sent these random questions for me to answer on my blog so here goes:

1. What do you order at Starbucks?
I don't drink coffee but whenever I go into Starbucks during the winter season with the girls, I get a peppermint hot chocolate.

2. Where is your favorite place to eat breakfast?
I haven't been to a good brunch in a long, long time (Cosmo & I used to go ALL the time when we lived in NY) so I guess Panera would be my best answer.

3. Are you on Twitter? Why or why not?
Yes! I love Twitter! @AlabamaValerie

4. What is your favorite Christmas movie?
I have a couple (who can choose just one???): National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, Elf, The Polar Express, Christmas with the Kranks and Christmas Story.

5. Are you a good gift giver?
Um, I think so. No one's ever complained.

6. Do you like your handwriting? Bonus points for posting a picture.
I have extremely large handwriting that tilts to one side. It's very unique and so large that my husband says I write for the blind.

7. Is your signature legible? Bonus points for posting a picture.
Yep.

8. Have you ever been to New York during Christmas season?
Yes!

9. Are there any items that you are completely brand loyal?
For 9 years I worked for the company that made Lysol products so I usually stay with what I know. I only buy Woolite, Clorox bleach, Heinz ketchup, Breakstone's Sour Cream, Philly cream cheese, etc. I usually don't buy the store brand of anything. One day the hubby brought home some crap brand of pepperoni and the girls & I FREAKED and refused to eat it.

10. Who is your favorite public speaker?
This is going to sound really cheesy but I really enjoying listening to Champ when he talks to kids/parents about lacrosse. He's very knowledgeable and very passionate and really loves what he's doing. And the girls & I are very proud of him.

Sicko

Got a sicky home w/ me today. KJ's been complaining about a sore throat and a headache since Sunday night. She had a slight fever this morning. I've been filling her up with liquids and ibuprofen and hope to nip this in the bud.

The next couple of weeks are going to be super busy. We've got a bunch of holiday parties to go to this year (fun! fun! fun!) and my folks will be here for Christmas. We've also got some mini-vacations planned over Christmas break that we're really looking foward to.

Getting a lot done the last couple of days. The house is decorated. I went with a minimalist look on the mantle this year and did a modern red vase and mismatched crystal candlesticks with white tapers and tons and tons of tealights in various crystal and red votives. I also added a large cylinder vase with river rocks and white branches on the marble hearth. It's different than what I've done in year's past, not sure if I like it yet. It's growing on me. I also bought a new dining room tablecloth this year (red w/ white snowflakes) and crisp white linen napkins. Large lidded vases on the dining room table filled with candy. Both trees are up and decorated and Cosmo and KJ did all the outside lights and wreaths.

Monday night the girls & I met Cosmo for dinner before he met up w/ his buds to watch the Jets vs. New England (Jets lost BTW). The girls & I got some shopping done. Not much but I've got some good ideas. I am at a total loss this year. T is always super easy to buy for. We have similar tastes in some things . . . we both love good handbags, expensive perfume, accessories, shoes. KJ is at a very difficult stage. She's not a little girl anymore, not a teenager yet. She's had one of those "go" phones since the summer but would like to upgrade to a "real" phone. She'd also like a Flip video cameras. I'm also have a hard time w/ Cosmo this year. I used to be able to buy him cool lacrosse stuff. Well, that's kind of hard to do when he owns his own store and can order whatever he wants.