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.

My Little Elf and Bama Belles

Have a few minutes before I head out the door to go watch T perform at halftime of tonight's basketball game. I can't wait! Tonight they are doing their Christmas dance and it was one of my favorite costumes when she was on the Freshman Dance Team. They look like Rockettes. I think the Bnettes costume is a little different than the FDT but still red velvet with white furry trim. They will also be doing this dance at Thursday's pep rally in preparation for the big championship game Friday night in Auburn.

Just saw a promo on TLC for a new reality show titled Bama Belles. I didn't catch the whole commercial but it airs Sunday night. All I heard KJ say was "Oh jeez." In all honesty, I've heard of Dothan but have no idea where it is. I don't think I could find it on a map of Alabama. http://popwatch.ew.com/2010/11/12/bama-belles-tlc/ I like reality TV but I don't like when people make a career of it. For instance, one of the women on this new show has also appeared in another show (I think it was the Great American Road Show -- maybe families traveled across the country in RV's???). If you've appeared in more than one reality show, you obviously crave the spotlight.

KJ's been packing for the last several days for her trip to Dauphin Island with her class. She is so incredibly excited it's not even funny. She's rooming w/ one of her friends from her class and I think they're going to have a good time. Hope the weather improves for them. She's given T strict instructions on how to feed her fish. Which is really kind of ironic because she only has 1 fish left.

Monday's gonna come fast and hard

Tomorrow is going to hit me like a ton of bricks. I've had the most wonderful 5 days off and can totally get used to working a 2-day work week. Don't get me wrong, I luv, luv, luv my job but it was very very nice being home.

T usually attends lax tournaments w/ Champ but this week was KJ's turn. We switched kids so to speak and I got in some quality time w/ T which is very rare. The poor kid literally hit the ground running this week and has a crazy couple of days. She flew to FL w/ Cosmo last Friday and played a bunch of games in Naples on Saturday and Sunday. She heard about Natalie's accident at the airport on Monday and went straight to the studio Monday night. Tuesday she spent the day collecting photos from friends and made a couple of collages to take to Natalie's service on Wednesday. Wednesday she was at the church a couple of hours before the service and afterward she & Caroline went out for a bite to eat. Thursday was Thanksgiving and Friday morning she worked at the lax store for the better half of the day and watched some of the Iron Bowl with friends before heading to the Met for the Hoover vs. Mt Brook game.

Yesterday we did a little shopping, had a late lunch at California Pizza Kitchen, did some more shopping and then she went out with her friend James for the evening. He always calls her when he comes home from college. The mall was positively PACKED and the shoe department at Belks looked like a BOMB went off. It was a disaster area. Shoes every where, boxes every where. Whew. I would not like to clean up that mess! T bought a hot pair of brown booties at Belk, a sweater and handbag from Francesca's and a cardigan and scarf from Aeropostle. I also bought my nephew some Star Wars Lego stuff and T & I had so much fun in the Lego store. Our store clerk was waaaaaayyy too into his job and was really goofy.

Thanksgiving Recap

Quote of the Day: "The best thing to do with the best things in life is to give them up." -- Dorothy Day

Had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday. As I always say, I love having "all my chicks in the nest." Even though Cosmo is not a "chick" I'm talking about him, too when I say that.

This year's turkey was magnificent. I think each year just keeps getting better and better. Everything was timed PERFECTLY and the girls were a big help. KJ washed the potatoes and T peeled them and then KJ mashed them. The crescent rolls were in the oven while Cosmo was carving and our dutch apple pie was baking while we were eating. Just a wonderful, very relaxing day.

Today I plan to take down all my Thanksgiving decorations, wash everything, move furniture around, clean, etc. and then Saturday & Sunday I'll decorate for Christmas. KJ & Cosmo are going to ATL for a lax tournament (duh. I mean really. What else would he be doing on a weekend???) so T will be hope to help (although she doesn't know it yet!). She's up at the lax store working w/ Cosmo today and then has to get ready for tonight's game.

In case you've been living under a rock, or don't live in the state of Alabama, today is the big Iron Bowl match-up. I'd really like to see Alabama beat them this year. Although we don't necessarily dislike Auburn, I'd like to quiet some of the Auburn fans this year. After the Alabama/Auburn game we'll be heading to the Met for the Hoover vs. Mt Brook game. Round 3 of high school state championships.

T went to Natalie's services on Wednesday and came home positively drained....emotionally and physically. She thought she could handle it alone and sat with her girlfriends from the dance studio (we jokingly refer to them as the Dance Mafia). She called me afterward and said, "Mom, I'm just cried out. I don't think I have any more tears in me."

Sad, Sad day in Hoover Yesterday

(written on Tuesday):

Yesterday was not a good day at all. One of T's good friends from the dance studio was killed Monday morning in a HORRIBLE car crash. T & Natalie have been dancing together about 4 or 5 years now.

There are still some missing pieces to the story and a lot of rumors and speculation but somehow Natalie and a friend were out driving in the early morning hours, lost control of the car and hit a telephone pole. Natalie was pronounced dead at the scene and Sydney was found outside the vehicle. She is at the hospital with burns but they do not think her injuries are life threatening. To make matters worse, Sydney’s dad is in the fire department and was one of the first responders. Natalie was only 15 and Sydney, the driver, was 16. Both girls were sophomores.

The accident happened about a mile from the hotel so I passed by the scene on my way in Monday morning and mentioned it to some of the folks in my office. Cosmo & T were at the Ft. Myers airport coming home from a lax tournament and she was getting tweets about some Hoover girls in an accident but didn’t have any names. Someone at the hotel has some connections and made a couple of discreet phone calls. He told me the two girls names but not to say anything because it wasn't official. Recognizing Natalie's name, I instantly called my husband and told him what I had heard. I thought he had told T. Instead, he was “preparing” her and told her it doesn’t sound good. T called me from the airport and said, “Mom everyone’s saying it was Natalie.” I told her yes and thought she understood that Natalie had passed away. She was under the impression Natalie was still alive and called Ms. Shannon @ the studio. Ms. Shannon was the one who told her the bad news and T basically collapsed to the floor in the middle of the airport. It was bad. She was inconsolable. She was a total mess. I actually told Cosmo to buy a nip of brandy on the plane to calm her down a bit. She was that bad. Some sweet little old black lady whipped out an entire roll of paper towels and held T's hand and let T sob all over her.

T got off the plane in Bham and went straight to the studio. Ms. Shannon, the dance teacher, opened the studio for the girls last night and there were a lot of tears but also some nice memories of Natalie. It was very, very sweet to see the girls from all different area schools come together in honor of Natalie. They wrote letters to Natalie's parents to let them know how special Natalie was. Every parent, every teacher, every friend who has posted something about Natalie on Facebook has commented on how sweet she was, how she always had a smile on her face and was a generally happy-go-lucky young lady. T said she had never heard Natalie say a bad word about anyone.

I just keep thinking of Natalie’s mother. She sent her daughter to a sleep-over, never in a million years thinking she’d never see her daughter again. I guarantee you, last night every parent in Hoover had a talk with their kids: “Do you see why I’m So tough on you? Do you understand why I ask you to call me when you get there?" I know we did.

Christmas is in the Air

Today I finished up our Christmas cards. And by that I mean I finalized the photo(s), layout, font, wording, etc. Now they just have to be printed. They turned out awesome if I do say so myself. This is one of my favorite photos from our photo session but didn't use it in our card. I love the way the sun is highlighting the girl's hair and faces and KJ was actually smiling in this picture. She was a total pain in the rear that day.

Found out today that my folks are coming for Christmas. My brother & his family will be with them for Thanksgiving so they decided to come here for Christmas rather than fly home to PA. This way they get to see both of their children and grandchildren for the holidays. It's a win-win.

KJ & I are watching Buddy The Elf and cracking up. We've seen this movie HUNDREDS of times and can repeat it word for word. Will Ferrell cracks me up and James Caan is perfect as the straight guy. There are so many classic lines in this movie, "Buddy the Elf. What's your favorite color??"

I'm really looking foward to cooking on Thursday. My menu is set and most of my grocery shopping is done. I'm in full-on Thanksgiving mode and don't undertand how people can decorate the house for Christmas when we haven't even had Thanksgiving yet. I really don't get it. I luv, luv, luv Thanksgiving and need to keep my holidays seperate. No overlapping.

TSA

Bunch of hoopla this week about the TSA, body scans, searches, etc. On Saturday, a would-be passenger refused a body pat-down with the now infamous phrase: "if you touch my junk I'm going to have you arrested." Also in the news recently, a 3 or 4 year old little girl set off the alarms twice at security checkpoint this week. I forgot which airport but Hoda & Kathie Lee talked about it this week. I guess the pa-down got a little aggressive and they (Hoda & Kathie Lee) mentioned something about her stuffed animals being molested.

That story reminded me of the time we were traveling home to Bham from our niece's wedding in NY. KJ was still in pre-school; it was the April before she started kindergarten. T must have been 6 or 7th grade. Anyway, she's had this stuff dog named Biscuit since was a toddler. My friend Carol bought it for her and Biscuit has gone EVERYWHERE with us. So, the four of us, the typical All-American family, are going thru the security check at JFK. Seriously, I think we were the only ones on line who spoke English. We were surrounded by foreigners. It's JFfreakin'K. Guess which travelers get cherry-picked for a pat-down? Yup. TSA pulled the four of us off the line, went through all our bags, the girls backpacks, everything and did a body search. KJ got very, very upset. They were actually prodding Biscuit and at one point I really thought they were going to cut him open right in front of us. KJ started crying "they're hurting him!!!" Honestly, when we were finally buckled in our seats on the plane, I told Cosmo that Biscuit totally got violated.

As a side note: To avoid a MAJOR melt-down in case Biscuit was ever misplaced or God forbid, STOLEN, I purchased a duplicate dog years and years ago. It's hidden in a ziploc baggy in my closet perfectly preserved. Recently at a friend's baby shower we were discussing "loveys" and what to do if they get lost or raggedy. I mentioned the duplicate Biscuit. T was shocked at this revelation and had no idea I was so duplicitous. hahaha