An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves. ~Bill Vaughan

I need to do a wrap up of 2009 but I will probably do just one great big resolution/ wrap up post over the weekend.  I have been enjoying my time off, and will get around to those chores this weekend.  :)

In the meantime here is a collage of my statuses in facebook for 2009.

"Please let me be. Please go away. I am NOT going to get up today!" - Dr. Suess

I have a lot to do to recap 2009 in the next few days.  However I did want to mention that my blog secret Santa gift came and I love love love it.  I love to cook so the book will be helpful.  The card was kind as well.  I will be updating pics directly.  I had to give credit where credit is due.  Props for the gift secret Santa.

I am sick.  :(   This happens when I travel.  I am also giving Bey dirty looks because I feel like being a whiney baby, and he is not giving me the proper amount of attention.  I guess I should be kinder though he did already buy part of my valentine's day gift today.  I won't pull his nomination for hubby of the year yet.  ;)

To the Black and Gold

Here’s to the boys in black and gold,You’re nothing like the “ain’ts” of old. You showed us grace, you showed us style You showed your hearts, to make us smile.You changed our city, You changed our lives You changed football widows Into football wives.Yes, we know you are thirteen and one But we also know that you aren...’t ......done. Geaux Saints…..Bless You Boys! WE STILL BELEIVE!!!

Dear Bey,

People think a soul mate is your perfect fit, and that's what everyone wants. But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that is holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life. A true soul mate is probably the most important person you'll ever ...meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake

Mail your packages early so the post office can lose them in time for Christmas. - Johnny Carson

I participated in a secret Santa via the mail this year.  I am excited to see what my secret Santa will send.  I am still sick, and that is unfortunate because I have mounds of things to do today.  But the show must go on.  I have just been feeling so grateful for all the wonderful blessings in my life lately.  My handsome man, and all that we have been blessed with.  We are starting our next big adventure, and that is so exciting!

And now I am sick....

It has been such a busy busy week.  A friend of mine had surgery, and hubby and I have been settling in for a our routine.  We leave on Friday for the ATL so there can not be too much settling.  The house is not in order yet, but we are getting there.

We had a slew of holiday parties this weekend Thursday, Friday, Saturday.  We also went out last night enjoying spending some quality time out and about enjoying each other.  It was our weekend to not have SD so we enjoyed being kid free.  It is something that we will have to get used to now that we live in Phoenix.  In Mississippi we either had SD or we didn't, and when we had her we only did family stuff.  So now we are planning dates and one on one time on our other weekend.  It is a lot of fun, and we had quite a long talk about how happy we are in a our new life on the other side of the country.  (I could do with a bit warmer weather though...I move to Phoenix and it is freezing and overcast everyday).

Then this morning I woke up sick as a dog.  Head cold from the looks of it.  SIGH.

Dashing through the Dome, on a 3rd and 1 pass play, See ol' BUSH run, TOUCHDOWN all the way!! HA!HA!HA! Sharper intercepts, Defense gets a sack. Bush flies in the air! Oh what fun it is to see their QB on his back! OH! 13 &0, 13 &0, Undefeated all the way! Oh what fun it'll be to watch the SAINTS Sun-day! Have a Happy ......Saintsmas! WHO DAT NATION .. Good Job!!!

“But I, being poor, have only my dreams. I have spread my dreams under your feet; tread softly, because you tread on my dreams.” William Butler Yeats

I try to spend a lot of my time volunteering to help those that are less fortunate than I am. For example, I work in soup kitchens or visit nursing homes. So lately I have been doing a study on Poverty. In reading the research on poverty I ran across this quiz. I know I have a lot of bloggy buddies that follow. I would be interested in hearing some of your thoughts on this quiz by Dr. Payne. Call it my academic mind or whatever you like...

Please take the “quiz” in Dr. Payne’s book, Could you survive a day in poverty? by reading and thinking about the following:

• I know which churches and sections of town have the best rummage sales.
• I know which rummage sales have "bag sales" and when.
• I know which grocery stores' garbage bins can be accessed for thrown-away food.
• I know how to get someone out of jail.
• I know how to physically fight and defend myself physically.
• I know how to get a gun even if I have a police record.
• I know how to keep my clothes from being stolen at the Laundromat.
• I know what problems to look for in a used car.
• I know how to live without a checking account.
• I know how to live without electricity and without a phone.
• I know how to use a knife as scissors.
• I can entertain a group of friends with just my personality and my stories.
• I know what to do when I don't have money to pay the bills.
• I know how to move in half a day.
• I know how to get and use food stamps or a government debit card for benefits.
• I know where the free medical clinics are.
• I am very good at trading and bartering.
• I can get by without a car.

How did you do?

I did miserably by the way. I would be hard pressed to survive a day of poverty apparently.

Having a Happy Who Dat Day!

"On the twelfth game of the season Coach Peyton gave to me 12 Romped Redskins, 11 Punked Patriots, 10 Battered Bucs, 9 Ragged Rams, 8 Pounced Panthers, 7 Dirty Birds, 6 Dunked Dolphins, 5 Shrunken Giants, 4 Wrecked Jets, 3 Beat up Bills, 2 Tame Eagles, and a Lion Sauce Picante!"

Hoopin' it up with SD

“Never slap a man who chews tobacco.” Williard Scott

It is truly amazing that I am not incarcerated.  Seriously.  This probably warrants and explanation for those of you that do not know me personally….for those happy few that do… you know that it truly is a miracle that I am not caged.  ;)

Perhaps I should take this time to elaborate… onward and upward eh?

My day began early.  IPG is a lark and leaps happily out of bed humming and singing while forest animals chirp around her a la Cinderella.  No really I am a morning person.  HOWEVER hubs is NOT.  He thinks that hitting the snooze button is an Olympic sport…since he has to get up earlier than IPG…she on occasion finds this behavior annoying.

IPG had to return an enormous (6ft) sconce to this snotty boutique that she frequents.  (This whole thing is probably IPG’s fault as she should stop frequenting snotty boutiques).  The sconce was the perfect width, but expensive, and the mirror on the sconce was scratched.  Upon arriving to the snotty boutique the festivities begin.  A snotty member of the help at said boutique tries to give IPG a hard time about returning the sconce.  IMPORTANT NOTE HERE the sconce is 1 week old AND IPG has her receipt.   Enter the incarceration portion of the evening. 

On occasion some people need a swift smack in the face.  Just.  Right. In. The. Face.  IPG wanted to smack this clerk.  IPG resigns herself to just rolling her eyes at the snotty clerk. 

Blah blah blah…SC suggests some ridiculous suggestions to IPG.  Blah blah blah. 

IPG: “Here is the receipt. “

Snotty Clerk (SC): “Maybe you just can’t make the mirrors work.”

IPG: “Despite being from the south I am fully capable of operating a mirror.  I look in the mirror…I see my reflection.  That is how mirrors work.  However this mirror has a big scratch on it.  I do not have a big scratch on my face.  That would be a scratch on the mirror.”

SC:  Maybe you would like this nice vase. 

IPG: That vase is lime green and it is a vase.  Not something to …HANG ON THE WALL.

SC:  Perhaps you would like this table.

IPG: Perhaps I am not speaking English.  How shall I put a table on the wall?

SC: I don’t know I was looking for something in a similar price range.

IPG: How would that help my decorating conundrum?  (Note to self: don’t use large words like conundrum with snotty clerks).

SC: What about this wet bar?

***And here is where I think that I should be allowed to smack with dispensation.  A wet bar?  Really?  It is bad enough SC implied I could not use a mirror as if I am some sort of Vampire, but what in God’s name does a wet bar have to do with a wall decoration….meanwhile back at the ranch.

IPG: Give me my money back.  I am growing dumber by the minute.

Exit IPG

“If somebody thinks they're a hedgehog, presumably you just give 'em a mirror and a few pictures of hedgehogs and tell them to sort it out for themselves.” Douglas Adams

Here are a collection of random pictures from my family's visit to Phoenix.  The top two pictures were snapped at Tortillia Flats.  The next two were at Canyon Lake.  The one that is really too dark is IPG, Bey, and SD looking at Christmas Lights.  Then comes my aunt and uncle with Mickey.  Then my mom and dad at the country club.  Then my mom and dad with SD.  My dad was giving SD bunny ears and she was telling him to stop.  :)   Then comes Bey and his brother, our puppy Shug...my sister dad and mom looking at Christmas lights.  Then my mom, sister, and SD in front of a large cactus.  Finally it is SD in Tortilla Flats.

Who Dat?

Twas the month before Xmas & no sign of snow.But N.O. doesn't care cause the Saints are 11 & 0. Dinkins scored a touchdown, Sharper intercepted a pass & the Who Dat Nation cheered when Brady was sacked on his a**. Sunday the Redskins, to D.C. we'll go & when the Black & Gold are finished we'll be 12 & 0! Go Brees, Go Bush, Go Harper & Ellis, our teams UNDEFEATED & the others are jealous!

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