Year one of Family Tradition Ornament...NOT as smooth as predicted

Saturday after the Jingle Bell Walk/Run I decided that we were going to start our new family tradition. Picking out Hallmark Ornaments. I want Stratton to have something for when he starts a family of his own. I know when my mom gave me all my childhood ornaments it was really special to me. We went to the Hallmark Store (my mom joined in on the fun) and picked out the perfect ornaments. Stratton had a few he really like but the one in the picture was the one he REALLY wanted. Of course it was one of the most expensive ones there was. But, anything for my little guy. Plus it's only once a year and I can handle that.

 

 Stratton really liked all the plus figures that moved and sang too. He kept pushing ALL of the buttons right after the next. All of them were going all at once. It must run in the family because my dad and I used to do that when I was little too.  

 Of course we had to open it as soon as we got in the car so he could play with it.

  And then my mom let him eat the cookie he won for the Tot Trot.

 Here are the three we picked. Mine on the left, Stratton's in the middle and Derek's on the right.

 Here is Derek's Dwight bobble head ornament. It talks and says a few different things. Pretty hilarious.

 Here is Stratton's ornament. It says a line for the Night Before Christmas. It also lights up, the blue wheel spins, and the little kids heads move back and forth. Stratton likes to pet the little dog on there and whisper that "shhh he's sleepin'."

 Here is the best part of all. I of course open mine last and this is what I find. I was crushed not as bad as my ornament though and immediately took it down to Derek with tears in my eyes to show him. He laughed at me. I called the store as quick as I could find the number and told them what had happened. They only had ONE left so I told them to put it on hold while I came BACK to Cape and exchanged it.

I got dressed again, packed the broken ornament back in the box, and trekked my way back to Cape. Mind you we live on the West side of Jackson where as Cape is East of us. It's a good 20 min drive. Lovely. I got to the store filled out all the paper work, put the ornament back in my purse, got in my car, and drove to my parents house to pick up Stratton so we can go home and put our ornaments on the tree. So far so good right? Wrong. I get there and notice I have a missed call on my phone. I listen to the message and it's Hallmark calling to tell me that they accidentally gave me the wrong ornament back and that they still have the good one there at the store. Ugh. Just my luck!!!  I asked my mom if she could run by there for me again and she said she could. Thank God! They felt so bad that they gave me a complementary gift bag. SCORE! I got a new coffee mug, a set of cookie cutters, a cookie sheet ornament, and a journal. I wasn't that upset but it was nice to get something for all the running back and forth to Cape. All three are now hanging from our tree beautifully.

Jingle Bell Run 2010

Saturday was our 2nd Jingle Bell Run/Walk for Arthritis! This year we got to have a 4 generation group of walkers. US! It was Stratton, Me, My Mom (Grandma Kathie) and my mom's Mom (Great Grandma Marge). My sister also came out this year again as well as my Step Grandpa John.Derek even came out for moral support. It was rainy and nasty outside so we wound up walking inside on the indoor track that Fitness Plus has on their second floor. Stratton had such a great time going around the track and tackling me, my mom, and Casey. He ran the ENTIRE mile! He stopped every time we went by the indoor pool as well as the gymnasium though so he could wave at the old lady's doing aqua aerobics. Here are some pictures from the day's events.

Grandma Marge and Casey getting the jingle bells put on their shoes.

Stratton and Grandma Kathie playing (Stratton throwing a fit and my mom blowing in his mouth to piss him off and forget what he's so mad about)

 4 generations of walkers!

 My grandma and step-grandpa John

 Walking around the track and my mom chasing after Stratton

 Trying to walk and take a picture at the same time. Not such a good idea.

 Casey was running around with Stratton and making him laugh SO hard. He was having a blast with everyone.

 This was after the tot trot! Stratton got a metal AND a cookie!

Right after we took his shirt off he started to make muscles at the old women in the pool and for the old guys in the gym that were lifting weights too. Super cute.

  This was another little girl that was walking that day. She was almost two and half Stratton's size. Her name was Lanie. She was SO adorable. Super tiny.

Stratton was Helping...

My mom bought a real tree for Christmas this year and Stratton really wanted to help put the decorations up with her. He is such a good helper. God love him. Here are some pictures.

 I seriously need to get a good camera so I can quit using my phone to take pictures of everything... My husband better be thankful for that new 42' t.v. he got for Christmas. That could have been a new camera.

Is Facebook the Root of All Evil?

I wish SO bad I could take credit for this post but I can't. I love it though. It's SO true and it happened to me just the other week. You can read JPo's hilarious blog here. I had a "friend" on facebook completely rip me a new one because of a stupid video that I put up on facebook. I'm seriously contemplating getting off facebook completely and just sticking with my blog. That way at least I have a reason to not get into all the stupid drama.
 
Is it just me or is there a constant cloud of drama hanging over Facebook? Do most of the arguments you get into start with, "I saw on Facebook that you've been....."?

I'm truly beginning to wonder if facebook is the Devil's mistress here on Earth. If Facebook was created in the pits of hell rather than a college dorm room. I've heard of people loosing friends, boyfriends, jobs and HUSBANDS due to the inner workings of this "social site" a.k.a. "festering pool of temptation".

Facebook is fun in a lot of ways....It's one less reason to call your friends on the actual telephone; you can join fun groups like, "I love Mac and Cheese"; you can brag to all your facebook friends by posting pictures of your latest dream vacation or your good looking kids; you can show that person in high school that would always turn you down how damn good you look now. It's fantastic.

But, oh how Facebook can be Satan in disguise. Things get twisted and turned around; people begin hating you for your political opinions; you begin to feel left out if you weren't included in a fun outing that you see the posted pictures of; people of the opposite sex seek you out; you unwillingly have to know the every move of that one fb friend who updates their status every few minutes even when it's "I'm now brushing my teeth".

I mean seriously? I don't want to know if your brushing your teeth, scratching your butt, taking out the trash or taking a poop! I don't care!

Too, often times have you asked your spouse, "Why did you say you 'like' Sally's post?" Is it because you like her??!
Or, why don't you update your relationship to include me? Are you ashamed of our relationship?

Today, I accidentally hurt a dear friend's feelings on facebook. I was so sad that this happened, but what I was most sad about was I had no idea what I did. Immediately, I hopped onto my facebook (which is conveniently located on my phone because, God forbid we go a second without getting our Facebook News Feed updates) to try and figure out what I had done wrong. Nothing, nada. I couldn't find it. After a few phone calls and further searching, BINGO. I found it. I totally see how it could have hurt my sweet friend's feelings. Not because what I said was mean or ill-willed but because it's typed and when something is typed you have no idea what a person's demeanor, feelings or meaning is behind it. It was not meant to hurt anyone just simply to make a joke about myself. But, what did it do? Instead, it hurt someone I love.

Sometimes I miss the good ole' days of MYSPACE, where bands constantly asked you to hear their music and you would search all Saturday morning for the perfect Profile background and Song List.

These Are A Few of My Favorite Things....

Sometimes I think I forget to appreciate the small things in life. So here is a list of all the small things that are my favorite. I could probably fill up pages and pages but here are a few.

• A great parking space at work
• Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
• Being able to not have to put make up on
• Watching Stratton try to put my make up on
• Spray Tans
• Taco's from Taco Bell with mild sauce
• Swinging on a porch swing
• Sleeping in Derek's
• My own bed with flannel sheets
• Pranks
• Rollos
• violets
• my Iphone 4 and being about to FaceTalk with my MIL
• the way baby puppies smell
• blogging
• 50% off at Hobby Lobby
• VictoriasSecret.com
• geocaching
• comfy jeans
• Dr Pepper
• McDonalds French Fries
• Avenged Sevenfold music
• Gelly Pens
• new earrings for my the gaping holes in my ears
• restaurants that let you color on their table cloths
• new mascara
• slow dancing
• spell checks little wavy red lines
• Ranch dip and hot sauce with Wibbs BBQ  sandwiches
• Chinese food from Pagoda Garde, China Palace, and Golden Gate
• True Religion Perfume
• my new glow in the dark bpa free nalgene bottle
• my planner!!!
• hot wheels
• Stratton waking me up on the weekend wanting eggs. I love the way he says eggs.
• taking pictures
• decorating my house
• the smell of christmas
• Stratton's hugs and kisses
• Stratton's smell when he has just gotten out of a bath
• DVR and not having to ever miss my shows ever again
• Twilight everything
• long warm baths 
• getting my nails done
• the feeling you get when you take off in an airplane

More about me

8 TV Shows I watch:
1. LA Ink
2. Terriers
3. Spongebob Squarepants
4. Project Runway
5. Life of Jenks
7. The Buried Life
8. Americas Next Top Model

8 Favorite Restaurants:
1. Cafe n' Me
2. Saffron
3. Ruby Tuesdays
4.Mediterranean on Broadway
5. Shogun
6. Taco Bell
7. El Torrero
8. Bella Italia

8 Things that happend to me today:
1. Woke up late
2. Freaked out because my face hates me in the winter and is breaking out
3. Picked up Stratton from D&L's then dropped him off with Mrs Lisa (love her)
4. Got to work 20 min late
5. Set up printers for the 2nd floor
6. Worked on the layout for the 2011 NAMM Show
7. Finished off my container of Hummus (sad face)
8. Checked out the new zit on my face again and plastered more make up over it...not helping my case.

8 Things I look forward to:
1. Getting this week over with
2. Finals next week and not sweating it because I've been staying on top of it! Score!
3. The Jingle Bell Run this weekend
4. Getting to hang out with my sister in laws next Tuesday
5. Getting Stratton to sit on Santa's lap for pictures (which probably isn't going to happen)
6. Making sugar cookies with my Steph, Stratton, Payne, and Mona
7. Catching up with old friends
8. The Future-it's lookin pretty bright to me!

8 Things I wish for:
1. An xterra
2. Stratton being potty trained
3. A shopping spree!
4. Snow on Christmas (I can't remember the last time we had a white Christmas
5. A maid
6. the power to fly
7. My hair to magically grow 8 inches
8. A stronger faith in the Lord

Starting a New Tradition

I want to start a new family tradition this year. I want all three of us (me, Derek & Stratton) to go to Hallmark and pick out our own ornaments for Christmas.I know when I moved out of my parents house it was really nice to not have to but a boat load of Christmas ornaments when it came time to put up our tree. My mom has saved ornaments (not just Hallmark ornaments) over the years and let me pick out a small box to start off our collection of family ornaments. (The sad part is that we are going to have to get a bigger tree because of all the ornaments we have now) Here is the ornament that my sister got for Stratton last year. I just love it.

It's the start of our Hallmark collection. I can't wait to go this weekend and pick a few more out for the entire family. Next year we might just have to invest in a new tree too.

101 in 1001

It's official...I started my 101 in 1001!

Random thought of the day...

I seriously CAN'T stop eating these two items!

 My sister and I went to St. Louis over the weekend to get my phone fixed. (Ugh, I hate when my stuff breaks) We stopped by our friends Dennis and Ambre's house and had a bite to eat then went to the Good Will. (Scored 4 pairs of pants for Stratton and it only cost me $8!) After that we went to Trader Joes and I got sucked into stopped by the sample desk. They had these awesome french truffles sitting out so I devoured tried one and they were amazing! They seriously melt in your mouth. Yumm! The only down side...I seriously can't stop eating them. I keep telling myself that the hummus is healthy so it out weighs the chocolate. It doesn't help that I have only had the hussus open for two days and it's already like 4/5 of the way gone. Oh well. I'll just have to go make another trip up there and get another container...of both. We went by the Alpine Shop and Casey and I both got some REALLY cute hats. Stratton got to spend the day with my mom and dad so it turned out to be a really great day. I even considered geocaching but since my phone was cleaned of all apps we didn't get to. Soon we will be out there again...soon.

Day 14 of 12 Day Christmas Blog Challenge

Day 14: Oprah's Favorite Things: What item(s) would you want if you were in the audience?

If I were to go on Oprah I would love to have the following:

1. my debt completely paid off

2. a pure bred puppy

 3. a designer hand bag

4. a new (paid off) car

5. a two week cruise for two

6. a trip to Australia or some other other beautiful location

7. an iPad or MacBook

8. MONEY!!!

ok that's enough wishing for one day. 

oh to be Oprah and have more money than I know what to do with...