I Leave You and 2010 With This:

When we come into contact with the other person, our thoughts and actions should express our mind of compassion, even if that person says and does things that are not easy to accept. We practice in this way until we see clearly that our love is not contingent upon the other person being lovable.


-Thich Nhat Hanh (with thanks to Mandy Closs Dalrymple)

Jolly Old Saint Nicholas...

blah blah blah blah blaaaahhhh...tell me what you'll bring to me...tell me if you caaaaan...


well....I will bring you a fat kitty, a Lightning McQueen pillow, and other joyful material things...

That tongue means, 'HOLY CRAP MOM OPEN FASTER I NEEEED THOSE CARS.'

All the pics from Christmas morning are blurry. Motion. 

There was candy in there!!!!

Santa and Mommy and Daddy were very generous to the little one. 

At the risk of sounding cliche; celebrating Christmas with a little kid of your own is just out of this fuckin world. I mean....I LOVE gifts. LOVE THEM. Love to give them, love to get them...pretty sure they are my love language. 

And seeing the fruit of my loins (haha) beam with joy at the badass stuff he got makes my heart explode. With EMOTION. 

This particular Christmas didn't feel too Christian,  and for that I am a little regretful. I worked A LOT this holiday season-well a lot for me. And I think I felt like there was no time for church, or I was just too damn exhausted to go. As the matriarch of my family, I want to incorporate the actual reason behind the season. 

Hm, maybe I should find a way to incorporate the Yule traditions as well. Yeah-I celebrate Christ's birth (wooo!!!) but there are OTHER reasons for the holiday too...

HM. 

The all-too-reflecty part of me is  now making the effort to use the generosity. The gifts...

Like...does anyone need anything hot glued? Cause I TOTALLY got a hot glue gun for Christmas. 

On The Way Home

We left our friends in the Dells and headed home last Wednesday. Mr. Smith had seen a billboard for some restaurant where your food is brought to you by a train. 
Now-this is just the sort of thing that my former self would have dismissed as cheesy. Unless I went in there with a girlfriend and drank a lot of beer. 


I am no longer my former self. 


This was the coolest damn place ever. They have homemade POP, dudes!!!! And not just root beer! Grape AND ORANGE too!!!!!
The interior of the place was incredible. Taxidermied prairie animals, cowboy boots, FAKE COWBOYS...antler chandeliers, soaring log ceilings...it was dope. 
No, I didn't take any photos of these beautiful things. 

waiting for the train

There were so very many interesting things on the walls. I enjoyed the illustrated lists of the illustrious folks that had attended Wild Bill's show. Like...HRH the Queen of England. 
I friggen love cowboys. So badass. 

here it comes!!!!

it brought us HATS

and waffle fries!

and...and BUBBLES!!!!!!

holy shit greatest time EVER!!!!

the train was stopped by some little kid that kept trying to eat the bubbles. pretty hilar. 

our sweet server kept trying to get a photo of us with the train

I like her facial expression. Cowgirls are the dopest. 

So...this place. Love it. The food was great-their barbecue sauces especially. Mr. Smith had this crazy burger with pulled pork and bacon ON IT...incredible. 

And now I have to go work out because I have literally put back on all the weight I lost. 

The cookies are going somewhere else today. NOT in my tummy. I need to STOP listening to the voice in my head that says, 'Have a cookie.'

BAD VOICE. 

Cookies....eeeew....right?

Our Pre-Christmas Getaway

The last real vacation that the Mr. and I took was to Punta Cana before we were married. 

This year we got a chance to go to an indoor waterpark and resort with my bestie and her family. 

They are like family to us,we love them. And I THINK they love us. 

Okay. 

SO...we stayed at Kalahari Resort in the Dells. I really have to say that they do it up rather nicely. The theme of the resort is 'African Safari', which is different. They had tiger cubs in the lobby (which I am pretty morally opposed to, but I don't know the whole story), African fabric on the walls, and a giant elephant over the fireplace. 

I am a bad blogger and do not have photos of any of this. I really just wanted to relax and have fun with my family. Go look on the website. 

In addition to the indoor water park, the resort had go-karts, a ropes course, a ferris wheel AND an arcade. 

The Frenches tried the ropes course. Not as easy as it looks. 

I did not try the ropes course, even though I said I would. Big liar. 

I swear I thought I took more photos, but I totally didn't. Bah. 

We even had a grownups night where I got to wear high heels! We left the kids up in the room and went for dinner and drinks. THEN the ADULTS got to play in the water park! We went on water slides with our spouses and then sank into the hot tub. UH MAZ ING.

Milo was not such a huge fan of the water. Granted it was really loud and big in there. We took him on the lazy river and he screamed the ENTIRE time. AH well. There's always next year :)

The view out my window. Farmland. Snow. Mostly flat. That's Wisconsin.

My driver. 

We are licensed to carry living cargo. 

Milo and this little girl spoke the same language. This photo was taken inside the only game I got into at the arcade. You swam around and shot those guns at sea creatures. I totally WASTED the Kraken! YEAH! Woo woooo!!!

Mr. Smith REALLY got into this racecar game. He looks all concentratey in all the photos I got. Milo is actually not watching the cars on the TRACK, he is watching the screen displaying the cars on the track. 

Speaking of Milo, he is calling for me. I KNOW that he has the ability to get out of that crib. He just won't. I think he's a little more cautious than he lets on.

I also have to go do some sort of fitness DVD because I SO have not been disciplined this week. There will be more fun anecdotes and adorable photographs to come. 

Just what brings you here...heh heh. Heh. 

Fecundity

Yes, I realize that I have been writing blog posts about promising to write blog posts. 
And I WILL. I promise. 


We just came back from an amazing three-day getaway with my best friend and her family.  We have basically adopted each other. 


So...I have tons of laundry to do (thanks for helping last night hunney) and a crapload of grocery shopping. Milo will be bribed into a good mood throughout the THREE stores I need to get to today. 


This made me smile today. 
In my rushrushrush to 'get things done' and not think about the unpleasant side of Christmas, it is nice to see how other families celebrate the season.


Peace out. I'm going to go try and keep my brain inside my head. 

But, Was It the Wind?

These past few weeks have been busy for me with my paying gig. I am part-time, and the shifts I work are always closing ones. 
Which doesn't really become an issue in the least until the mall goes to holidays hours to accommodate who-all-I-don't-know.
Then I'm not home until well after midnight. Which is past my bedtime and well past my husband's. 


Usually when I get home, I crawl right into bed. My husband has warmed it nicely, and there are flannel sheets. My body is crying for rest.
But my brain?
Hah. No. My brain says that I am finally done processing information for the day and that is confusing. My brain says that I need to wind down with a book or some On Demand. 
So I try to think about things to get me to fall asleep. Sometimes I tell myself bedtime stories, other times I just let my brain do its thing while I try to relax my face. 
I have a face I make. Like, all the time. Its weird. Tension, perhaps. 
Last night there were sounds of an owl coming in through my crappy bedroom window. 
And I thought about owls. I respect them. Predatory birds are my favorite. I really do think my spirit animal is a hawk. 

But owls are like the schoolteachers of (my version of) the bird world. 
And if you think it is odd that I have an imaginary personified version of the bird world, well then...you can go ahead and go fu*k yourself. (name that movie)
Yep, owls. 
Love them.

I Didn't Have to Use My AK

....today was a good day...


Do you know that I cannot think one of those phrases without immediately thinking the other?




Oh, Ice Cube, how you've changed. 





I just spelled tryptophan correctly without assistance. Good omen.
Staying as gangsta as possible,
a.

What I Thought

....and what really happened were two entirely different things...
I stopped into my favorite thrift store to find a something for my bestie's Christmas gift. In this particular shop you have to walk past the shoes to get to housewares. (thrift store housewares are my favorite. more so than clothes, i think)
I never really look too closely at the shoes, mostly because most of them SUCK at that particular shop-Wings on Higgins in Schaumburg if anyone wants to hit it up. 
But this time I saw these:

And I knew they were special. My initial thoughts were: 'Those look cool, nice stitching. I might be able to wear those to work.'

Then as I got closer I noticed the bumped-up toe and the heart-shaped heel. 

Could they be?

Yes-they were John Fluevog boots in VERY near-mint condition. 

FOR SIX DOLLARS. 

I tried them on quickly. I crammed my foot in, thinking that if they didn't fit, I would either give them as a Christmas gift or sell them. 

Well,they do not fit (me or any of the gals I would've gifted these to), and my hopes of selling these for some large-ish profit (I am a greedy person, let's be honest)

are somewhat dashed by the shitty economy. 

And selling them for a teeny profit only makes me have to think about what my time is worth and that just makes me depressed. 

SO!

Check out these Etsy shops! These people know how much their time is worth!

If I could afford a number of these wigs, I would be ALL OVER THAT. 

Saw these at Renegade. GIFTS!!!

Just...wow....

And my mommy's shop-of course. 

Have a sweet-ass day, interweb friends. Pray that I can fix my sewing machine by myself today. 

I'm Still Here

No, I've not pulled a Joaquin Phoenix and begun a rap career. 




I've just been working a LOT. Holiday mall hours suck. That's all I'm going to say. 


Will hopefully have a gifty post or a link roundup here for you someday. 


Soonish. 


There is now another cup of instant Folgers calling my name.  

Hello? Santa? You there?

I have been a very good girl this year. 
Can you please stash this somewhere on your sleigh?

Unique Vintage.I also love their swimsuits, which I will buy once I am a rich lady. 

These Days

Pretend Nico just sang that title melancholily into your ear. 




I found the most incredible noodles yesterday, look:

Long fusilli (which always makes me think of Kramer) with this incredibly sad girl on the bag. 

Sad, or her legs cramped up from squatting behind those tomatoes?

Oh yeah, AND...

The Smiths are going on vacation!!!

Not right NOW. But soon. And to a waterpark! In the winter! 

I have wanted to do that since I moved to MN and would drive past the Dells on my trips home. 

Wow. 

Ha...Ho?

I do NOT see well without a visual aid of some kind. Usually glasses or contacts, with the occasional monocle. Or my hands held up in front like binocs.

ANYHOO. I'm doin' the lotion after shower thing. I've been recently applying said lotion to my feetal areas as well. So, if you start at the feet and work your way up; and if your bathroom rug has a flat weave and crap on it...said crap will stick to your feet and hands when applying said lotion. 

(don't get me wrong here, my bathroom isn't GROSS, but there's the inevitable minuscule crap on the floor)

aNYHOO. I'm doin' the after-shower lotion thing - and I'm wiping the minuscule crap onto a hand towel (that I will WASH) and, in my blindness, I see...

a friggen piece of tinsel from the obnoxious pink wreath. that is DOWNstairs on the FRONT door. 

Ha...ho?

If I Ever Get Super Motivated

Or if someone I love reproduces...I am SO MAKING THIS

Wanty, and Havesie

Don't get me wrong, I am trying to go as handmade as possible this year, but I really think I could have these. Size 9 please. They are on sale online for WAY cheaper than in the store. 


I can say these things because I know that you aren't all going to rush out and buy these boots, thus making them unattainable for me. 


Heh. 


NARS Cosmetics are some of my favorite things. They just do color SO WELL. 
Their Orgasm blush is truly an amazing thing. I've had mine for a million years (gross?) and will SO replace it if it ever becomes depleted. 
A dear friend gave me an early Chrimas (that's what she calls it) present of NARS Nail polish in Schiap. It is the pinkest of shocking pink pinksersons.
Yes. If I had cute hands or fingers I would snap a photo, but you can just Google it because I have ugly hands. 


Now I am going to go try and attempt to hope to half-assedly do something to get it crossed off my to do list. 


Keeping my expectations LOW.