Dear Santa, I can explain

Well it is that time of year again.  I am on Santa's naughty list and proud of it. :)  LOL One of my sorority sisters told me last year that she would be so disappointed in me if the day ever came when I didn't make it on Santa's naughty list. :)  Funny.

My sister left yesterday.  My SD left this morning.  My brother-in-law leaves tonight.  My dad leaves Wednesday.  My Mother In Law comes Friday, and my mom leaves next Tuesday.  So the holiday is winding down.  But the dahling Bey stays here.  :)

Tonight I am watching my saints with all the saints lovers in Phoenix.  Who dat?  Tomorrow it is back to business as usual I guess the festivities are over for a short time. 

Thanksgiving Day comes, by statute, once a year; to the honest man it comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow. ~Edward Sandford Martin

Have a happy Thanksgiving from my family to yours!


A homemade card from my darling Bey.  He made it for me while he was gone.



From One Who Stays

How empty seems the town now you are gone!
A wilderness of sad streets, where gaunt walls
Hide nothing to desire; sunshine falls
Eery, distorted, as it long had shone
On white, dead faces tombed in halls of stone.
The whir of motors, stricken through with calls
Of playing boys, floats up at intervals;
But all these noises blur to one long moan.
What quest is worth pursuing? And how strange
That other men still go accustomed ways!
I hate their interest in the things they do.
A spectre-horde repeating without change
An old routine. Alone I know the days
Are still-born, and the world stopped, lacking you. 
-Amy Lowell 

If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you," that would suffice. ~Meister Eckhart

I have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.  I have a beautiful family...a happy healthy family.  A lovely new home filled with brand spanking new furniture.  My husband and I are happy and in love and ecstatic to be reunited after a long stretch of geographic separation.  My husband got a fantastic new job that was a promotion in one of the worst economies this country has seen in a generation. 

So on this time of thanks I have found many reasons to be grateful.  My cup literally runneth over.  I am so lucky to have my loving parents here to share this very special thanksgiving with me.  We will be celebrating Thanksgiving on Friday with SD.  It feels surreal that we are finally together as a family! 

I have been so naughty I am putting myself in timeout.

Ok I am just being funny.  I haven't been that naughty.  Maybe just a little.  Mostly I have been working my little tail off.

However here are a few pictures I have been meaning to share...note I have some better pics but these are the ones I have handy.    These two pictures prove once and for all why I am not a photographer by trade.  Actually I just took them with my Blackberry and although my phone takes outstanding pictures these turned out grainy.  This is SD's first cheerleading game.  :)  She is the one I circled with the big black oval.  I promise that I will put some better pics up.  My mom, dad, aunt and uncle all went with me to cheer on the fabulous SD at her first game. 

These next two are scenes from Tortilla Flats and Canyon Lake.  The boat needed to stretch its propeller yesterday so I had to give in to the urge and take it for a spin.  I couldn't resist snapping some pictures along the way it was just so beautiful there! 

Probably the most exciting news is Bey is destined to be here TODAY.  Which is fantastically exciting!  I can not wait to see him.  Let the festivities begin!

I have signed up to participate in a gift exchange. If you are interested you have to respond by November 25, 2009.  I am excited about the prospect.  You are supposed to describe yourself to help your exchange partner shop for you.  I have modern tastes and like neutral colors.  I love flip flops, New Orleans, Auburn, and football.  Hope that helps. :)

I pledge allegiance to The Saints, and to the great city of New Orleans; and to The Super Bowl, for which we will win; One city, below sea level, under God; with Mardi Gras & alcohol for all. AMEN!

"Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and celebrate the journey." -- Fitzhugh Mullan

Bey is in the car. Packed up and driving towards me as we speak. Oh let the count down begin. My precious man is IPGZona bound. We are so very blessed. I can't wait to welcome him back to our beautiful home.

Walk carefully in the beginning of love; running across fields into your lover's arms only comes later when you're sure they won't laugh if you trip

Today in the mail...
I received a package of letters. A journal really.

A chronicle from my husband spelling out the days he has spent this past five months with out me, and why he never wants to do it again.

He had written an entry every single day. I was amazed.

So blessings come by mail as well...

“I can't do literary work for the rest of this year because I'm meditating another lawsuit and looking around for a defendant” Mark Twain

Bey and I are going to court!

I can't believe I wrote that whole long post, and forgot to mention our law suit. Now neither Bey nor I are particularly Litigious. I do have a daddy that is an attorney, but that doesn't mean I run around suing folks. However I am going to take on Maricopa County.

That is right. Bey and I are going to take Maricopa County to court. :) It sounds much more dramatic than it is. But we will be fighting in small claims court that our tax assessment in too high. For the cost of 142 dollars I can argue that my house was overvalued by the tax assessor's office and the value needs to be lowered for taxing purposes. I am gathering all the evidence I need...most notably my closing papers. I believe that proves quite handily what the fair market value for our home is. Since that is what we paid. :)

Who is wise? He that learns from everyone. Who is powerful? He that governs his passions. Who is rich? He that is content. Who is that? Nobody. Ben F

Pics of my sister meeting Stephen King...whoops I accidentally cut the KING out now I am going to have to ask my mom for the pic again. Sigh.

SD's first basketball game was tonight. They cheered for the boys and the girls team, and she looked so great out there cheering! She looked happy! It made my heart hurt that her daddy is not quite here yet. I took my mom, dad, aunt, and uncle, and of course myself to see her so she had quite a turn out.

It is so awesome having my parents here. I don't think we have spent this much time together since I lived at home when I was 17! I am having such a fantastic time. WOW! Really a lot of fun.

So the count down is on for Bey he only has 3 more days of work until he heads west. I am so excited. I don't ever want to spend another second apart.

I have cheer pics, but am too tired to get them up tonight. I will get them up in the morning.

“Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air…”-Ralph Waldo Emerson

I want my money back. It has been cloudy 4 days in a row. I moved here for the sunshine. :) Actually I moved here for precious SD, but some sunshine would be nice as well.

Darling Bey leaves the great state of Mississippi a week from today. They are throwing him a large going away party that is is a secret I believe. He will have a great time, and I am glad they are honoring him this way. I don't know what his poor boss is going to do with out him.

My sweet daddy is spending the night in my old stomping grounds...El Paso, TX. He should be in Phoenix either tomorrow or Sunday. I am so grateful that we are going to have such a large group at Thanksgiving. I am also excited that I will be able to share my new beautiful home with my family.

My sister met Stephen King today. I am VERY jealous. I love him. He is one of my most favorite authors. It is pretty exciting that she got that opportunity.

Work has been washing over my head like waves. I am so over worked it seems. Now is the last big push until the end of the year. This is not a problem, but I would just like a break.

I saw the movie 2012 with SD and mom this evening. During the movie I realized I have burning desire to go to Tibet. So I will probably be planning something along those lines in the next year or so.

The car search has stalled. Mostly because I have been in mad preparation for family. Hubby has gotten a much better position and a substantial raise so I may bump up my desires a bit more.

I believe I have blogged before on our desire to live a debt free life. Other than our mortgage Bey and I are debt free. So I won't be buying a car that we can't pay for outright. If I were to sit tight for a month or so more I could afford a bit more. But I don't really care what I drive. Mostly if it has four wheels, an automatic transmission, and cranks when I put the key in I am pretty happy.

My dissertation has stalled. My advisor emailed to find out if I was among the living. Thankfully I had something to report and could answer in the affirmative.

What the world really needs is more love and less paper work. ~Pearl Bailey

Did I mention my hubby found a job? Did I mention the 5 month long separation that has been my life for the last 5 months has come to an end? Did I mention that I am ecstatic?

My mom is here for a one month visit. My dad is on his way realizing his dream of driving across the country. The house is beginning to look like a home. OH and the 12,000 dollars of mine that Bank of America lost…has been found!

Interesting TIDBIT they ran a background check on hubby. He had his identity stolen back during his tenure in the Marines. Apparently while he was stationed in Kuwait munching on camel meat he was ALSO being arrested in Denver. It didn't affect his job offer because we had documented the theft, and had his orders from the Marines.

What a great day here in IPGzona! SD’s first cheerleading performance is next week. My mom and I intend to go and cheer for her!

Freedom is not free, but the U.S. Marine Corps will pay most of your share. Ned Dolan

Happy Birthday Marines



(this is for all the Marines, but mostly my sweet dahlin' Bey)

BIG TIME UPDATE

HUBBY GOT A JOB!!!!!!!
Turned in his two week notice today. So he is AZ bound as soon as his notice is worked out.


SO EXCITING!

Ah, Joie de Vivre! (The Joy of Life)

Mon français est pourri, mais je reconnais la grande nourriture cajun. Et nous avons eu un temps fantastique à la cajun Cookoff à Phoenix aujourd'hui.





(My french is rotten, but I do recognize great Cajun food. And we had a fantastic time at the cajun cookoff in Phoenix today. )

Sorry about the crappiness of the pic with SD in it. She was busy scarfing down Gumbo. :) So I had to get my snaps in when I could.


I also got some great shots of her on Halloween last night. :) I have more but these were sent to me by SD's BFF's mom.