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 ...