I'm not kidding. Why else was there a shooting at Toys R Us in my area on Black Friday? Dude killed the person he argued with and turned the gun on himself. What?? The other guy stole his parking space???? Then...I hear about the trampling of the guy at the Walmart in New York! It's horrific to think that someone lost their life because of 2,000 people and their greed to get the best buys. Tempers are short...the horns are being honked more than I've ever heard them being honked. People are getting robbed in parking lots. What happened to the joyful, innocence of Christmas??? Somewhere, it's lost it's significance. It's not about getting the best deal but enjoying time spent with family and friends and celebrating, most of all Christ's birth (regardless of the opinions of when He really was born.) I scratched my head (still scratching) and tried my best to figure out how I can make this season warm, traditional and just plain great without emphasizing the gi...

I have officially decided that I should've become a veterinarian! It all began when my shih tzu, Selah started twitching and holding her head sorta of funny like. I let it go, thinking that it was a new habit...after all, she is a drama queen and sneezes when she wants a treat. I relented after she yiped when I went near her ear and took her to the vet. I live in a very posh, ritzy town where ever corner is a country club so the vet's office resembles one too. High ceilings, a serenity garden with a fountain so your babies can meditate before they head into the vet/torture chamber. The vet takes a look at Selah, aka known as Precious Poopsie and declares that she looks healthy but.... She lists all sorts of things that will need to be done or that she plans to do....I'm hearing the sound of the the cash register as she's talking. She is starting to sound like Charlie Brown's teacher.."wah wah waah wah wah". She takes Selah out to "examine" her (I...

These are things I've been wondering for years.... Why do elderly men pull their pants all the way up to their waists? Why do we close our eyes when we laugh or sneeze? Why do people put stuffed animals on the dashboard or backseat of their cars? Why do men’s and women’s shirts have buttons on the opposite sides? Why are tampon commercials so dang cheerful? Why didn’t anyone share some Trix cereal with the Silly Rabbit? What was the Hokie Pokie really all about? Are baby carrots cut from regular sized carrots and shaped or are they carrots that never grew up? Why starve a fever and feed a cold? Why am I not supposed to cry over spilled milk?

Who my Secret Santa is… She so carefully left a hint. It was a subtle hint…a Q in the corner of the card. I tried to figure out if there was anyone who’s blog started with a Q and I found it! I found QallieQ. Then, I noticed on the box that the postmark was Petaluma, CA. Aha! Another giveaway!!!! So, after putting those two clues together, and the fact that she loves scrapbooking and gave me a gorgeous scrapbook, my guess is….. QAllieQ (Mrs. Cupcake) Thank you for sending me such special gifts. I appreciate it more than you know!!!

I shake my head in disbelief. I can't believe that something so horrendous and horrible could happen to such a loyal friend. Everywhere that Sam went, Elephant went. When Elephant was dirty, Sam still loved Elephant in spite of the smell. Sam was distraught when Elephant was nowhere to be found. Yet, for some unexplained reason, Sam chose to do away with his friend. Remember this cute little innocent face. He may one day be on Dogs Gone Wild.

The fruit doesn't fall far from the tree they say (although I'm not sure who "they" is.) My dad is a celebrated, recognized trash digger so I grew up with my dad digging around in the neighbor’s trash to retrieve the morning newspaper. My mom would fuss and scold him for being “cheap”. My dad didn’t even feel slightly embarrassed because as he said, “Once it hits the trash, it’s up for grabs!” Digging in the neighbor’s trash led to him going behind dumpsters to find goodies. He took us along on these “adventures”. My sister and I would come back with tangled jewelry that the drugstore through away. We worked at untangling them until we had in hand, brand new jewelry, ready to wear. (Or sell….that’s another post for another day.) My mom would roll her eyes when we’d present our findings. “Trash diggers!” she’d say. “Yep! We sure are!” Years later, I’m still a trash digger. Not the traditional trash digger though. I only go through ...

I don't know why I'm noise sensitive but I am and always have been. Loud things send me flying. Especially loud, unexpected noises. When I was little my twin sister and I were scaredy cats. We were afraid of just about everything that creaked and squeaked....especially during the night. One time, these cats (siamese) decided to duke it out over some babe kitty and they sounded like dead people coming back alive. What did we do? We dove under the covers first. But that didn't work. We could still hear the sounds. So, we ran into the bathroom and locked the door. We stayed in the bathroom until it got light out enough to see the hallway to make it back to our bedroom. Anyway, to this day, I hate the sound of balloons popping. I also don't like the sound of the Pilsbury biscuits popping in the can so I sweet talk Boo into opening it for me. I also dislike my doggie Sam licking his feet. He is obnoxious with it and can lick for hours. It's like a dripping faucet. I get ...

THANK YOU....dear sweet secret santa.... I LOVE all that you surprised me with! The Oprah and Oprah Home magazine subscription will be read over and over again. I am such a magazine junkie and those are two that I don't subscribe to. The Christmas scrapbook is beautiful. Did you make it? I can't wait to start filling it up with memories of our Christmas this year. I enjoy Francine Rivers as an author so of course, I was thrilled to get the book, Redeeming Love. I'll have to make sure there are no interruptions while reading. Last but not least, the ornament, Strawberry Margarita is adorable! I will hang her on my tree with memories of having a terrific Secret Santa... Now...I just have one question....WHO ARE YOU????? I'm totally not good at guessing so can you please reveal yourself so I can thank you by name as well???

"Romper, bomper, stomper, boo. Tell me, tell me, tell me do. Magic mirror, tell me today. Did all my friends have fun at play?" I couldn't resist when I saw Amy's blog title the other day. That was like the greatest kid show ever, aside from Bozo the Clown, the Bugaloos, Zoom, the Electric Company. You get my drift. What was so magical about Romper Room was that in Los Angeles, we had the pleasure of watching the syndication of Miss MaryAnn while in Chicago, there was another Miss "Somebody". For those kids that weren't old enough to go to school yet, she taught us manners, sharing, alphabets, songs....she stressed that we should be a "Do bee" and not a "Don't bee". Before the show would end, she'd say that sweet little rhyme at the beginning of my blog and look into her magic mirror out in tv land and say, "I see Tommy, and Susan, and there's Sharon, and Kimberly and Steven..." My twin ...

Okay...I don't know why I feel the need to confess but confess I must...I sleep with a....a..... ummm.. a.... pillow. There I said it! It's not just any pillow though. This pillow is one that I have to sleep with. It's like sleeping with my teddy bear. In case you haven't fallen off of your chair from laughing, let me explain. A few years ago, I ended up very sick and in the hospital. I had no idea that I was as sick as I was. I ran a temp of 104 off and on for three days straight. I had acute polynephritis that had gone into sepsis...meaning given another day of my refusing to go to the hospital, I would've died from blood poisoning. When I got into my hospital room, I was quite out of it but one thing I remember is being extremely cold. In fact, I was so cold, I was shaking and teeth chattering and yet, it was summer time and 117 degrees outside. The staff refused to give me blankets. They said that it would only cause my body temperature to stay elevated. That wa...

No, I'm not kissing up because I want to win Carrie's Velveeta Cheesy giveaway but because I'm in a cheesy kind of mood today. Speaking of cheese, if you love cheese like I do, head on over to Carrie's blog and enter! I heard one of the funniest things from one of the doctor's today. He was talking about an elderly patient that he was treating. The patient's wife was in the examining room with him. The patient says, "Doc, I really am having a difficult time in feeling, you know, in the mood. Do you think I should take something?" Doctor says, "What are your thoughts?" Patient: How about that drug that starts with a V? Doctor: Viagra? Patient: Yeah! That's it! Patient's wife: Oh no, Doctor! I waited 50 years for it to die and don't you dare revive it!" Cute, huh? I'm sure the doctor had a hard time (no pun intended) keeping a straight face.

Okay, I know I'm supposed to do this the right way and post pictures and all of that and I will, I promise. My secret santa has my utmost respect and awe. It is November 11th and she has already sent me a very wonderful surprise package. I have been getting little things for my secret santa to send off to her. I opened the box that came in the mail, thinking it was something I had ordered for her when I pulled out gift after gift. I kept saying, "I didn't order this but I love it! I didn't order this either but I hope I can keep it." Then, I see the envelope with my name on it. Duh!!! It WAS for me. My sweet secret santa surprised me!!! I LOVE all that I received and I won't tell you what it is until I post pictures! So there!!!! THANK YOU Secret Santa!!!!!

a tall glass of TGIFriday's Long Island Ice Tea!!! After getting a few things done, I promised that I'd go out to the casino and play penny slots for awhile. I'm a very new casino goer. I honestly have no idea what I'm doing most of the time beside pushing buttons and watching the credits get added or subtracted. I sat in front of this game called Wheel of Fortune. You concentrate on winning until you get the opportunity to have a spin at the wheel. Somehow, I landed on 10,000 credits and at 2 times the bet, I won 200.00. I was so excited but aside from the canned applause coming from the game, I was the only one clapping for myself. I did the smartest thing I could've done and cashed out. I actually enjoy being at the casino and if it wasn't money that I was winning or losing, I'd be just as content winning tickets to the movies or free Panda Express coupons. It's the novelty of the lights, the bells and whistles and sounds of coins dropping in the slot...

I'm so tired of people judging me for my actions. Case in point... After being married for 21 years and the dum dum cheated and we divorced, I found the courage to move on. Move on and move in is what I did. After meeting my Boo, we moved in together. It was a gut instinct move but one that I had no other choice to take. My ex was moving back into the home I was living in because I could no longer keep up with the mortgage (another long story). I moved in with my Boo. My parents are old school, and extremely religious and shacking up with a man is a sin according to them. As an adult, I owed them no explanation, yet, when my mom came to visit, I forewarned her that Boo and I slept together. That piece of info was too much for her to bear. She didn’t visit me at our home because she didn’t agree with our choices. I lived with that but now, my dad can’t sleep at night because he and my mom both feel that I’m going to hell because of living with Boo. My dad has dementia so on top of n...

Do you remember the show Candid Camera? I swear that my life reads like there is one non-stop moment where I’m waiting for someone, somewhere to pop out and say, “Smile! You’re on Candid Camera!” Just the other day, I was walking out of the grocery store when I heard, plink and then another and then two more. “What the….???” The plinking was coming from one of my grocery bags where my wooden skewers were dropping on the ground through a hole in the bag. I looked over my shoulder and waited for Allen to pop out but he never did. So…I stepped over the mess and kept on walking. This morning while going down the stairs, there was a huge paper towel covering something up. It could’ve been someone’s underwear, crime scene evidence, a piece of cake, a dead bug (a really big one)…I looked around just in case the hidden camera was close by, fixed my hair, just in case and kept on going. Yesterday, a visiting doctor came into my department to speak to me concerning her continuing education credi...

My twin sister and I constantly threaten to do a "Thelma and Louise". It's the part where we both get into the car and start driving. We tell the kids and the hubby or Boo, "Ta Ta for now" and climb into the car with the windows rolled down, the stereo blaring and with no destination in mind. We've been threatening this for as long as we've had kids and were and are married. Every woman needs the opportunity to let her inner mischief maker out. **Speaking of mischief maker, Miss MaryAnn never said our names...I wonder why??? Okay, back to the rambling...if we're going to do a Thelma and Louise, we've got to do it right though. No roach motels for us. Only the best junk food possible and money has got to be available at all times, 24/7. Even if it means, cashing in some cans, the daring duo have got to have a constant cash flow. As funny as it is, my twin and I really do have fun when we get together. The last time we were at the casino, we were p...