Bah Humbug Already?!

Usually, I am the Christmas Queen. I LOVE Christmas. Even before it has a right to be there--like before Halloween--I get excited to see all of the stuff going up on the shelves in the stores. I love the decorations, the preparation, the food, the cookies, the music, the shopping...everything about it. It's the only thing that makes flu season worthwhile. But this year...I don't know. For some reason I was feeling cluttered even as I was pulling the Nutcrackers out of their storage container. What is up with that?? We have the tree up, it looks beautiful (despite the fact that it is sort of a Charlie Brown tree, being crooked and all...this is what you get when your husband insists on the cheapest tree...!)--and the house is decorated with all of the stuff I love...but yet I already find myself looking forward to the day I can put it all away. I wonder if that has anything to do with 40? When you're 40, you just want to simplify? You've dealt with so much clutter and crap in your life, at 40 you sort of feel like you are ready to cast it all aside and not let it box you in so much anymore? Of course that is a good thing, but it's not so good at Christmas time when your kids want to put every single ornament you have on an already over-stocked tree, or they think you're a fuddy-duddy because this year you'd really rather have just white lights instead of the chaotic feeling multi-colored ones. Kids definitely get used to what they see every year, and if you change something on them, it's not a good thing. Especially their Christmas. At least they don't mind if I ADD stuff, like the lovely menorah that Stephanie got me as a gift last year. A tree and a menorah! Ham and challah! Yeah. We cover all the bases here.

So anyway, I'll just deal with the clutter, I guess...what else can I do? But seeing the kids' faces light up at the magic is definitely worth it, I have to say. I suppose I'll just concentrate on trying to clean up my own inner clutter instead. Merry Christmas! Or whatever cram-packed holiday it is that you celebrate...

Poppycock and a Podcast

Check us out, we ARE a box of chocolates! Can you stand it?? Kim was worried she would get the same coat as I and did so inadvertently, and then Stephanie boldly went right out there and bought a white one to match us both. I LOVE IT! It's Charlie's Angels, Whitman's Sampler style. We've got the dark chocolate, the white chocolate and the caramel. All right, hold it right there!

Our guest Jason joined us for Cosmos and a podcast soon after to talk about Interior Decorating--what a blast! I have to say, I'm liking the Cosmo thing. I never thought lightweight me would be able to handle a 'hard' drink again, but you know, it actually seemed to effect me less than wine usually does. Interesting. Of course it could be all of the many snacks we had around as well--nothing like a little Poppycock to keep one sated. We covered all the bases...Kim brought the Poppycock, and I had the nuts. Yeah!

Be Our Guest

Am I the only one that sees a resemblance to our Feminine Hijinx photo with this picture from Andrew Zimmern's Chow and Again blog? I think Andrew is copying us. Because you know big-time Mr. Zimmern wants to be just like us Feminine Hijinx minxes. :-) Stephanie is a good friend of Andrew, and we're trying to get him to be a guest on our humble little podcast. We just may get it to work...wouldn't that be great?? I recently saw a photo of Andrew in the newspaper holding up skewered teriyaki tarantulas from his television show on the Travel Channel,Bizarre Foods. That would make for some interesting conversation...!!!! I know my first question would be, how in the hell does one eat something like that???

As it is, tomorrow we are having a different guest and I'm very excited to have him on the show as well! His name is Jason Trujillo, the interior designer I've mentioned previously here in my blog. I'm sure he'll have some good decorating tips for the holidays! Woo! Maybe he can tell me where I can find some Metal skull China?

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Another year, another turkey. And I have to say, this one turned out amazingly well!!!!!!!! I usually do okay by roasting mine in an oven bag--nothing to complain about. But Stephanie inspired me to be a bit more gourmet this year and go outside the box...or I should say, outside the bag. I followed her steps to a perfect turkey--brining a couple of days before, drying out the night before...I TOTALLY recommend doing the bird that way, if you don't already. It was delectable! It was a total Metal Turkey!

After I got the turkey in the oven I watched some of the Thanksgiving parade with the kids. (including Digby, our newest child!) That's not something I grew up doing, but it sure is fun. The hour before the parade starts is almost the best part--kind of like the pre-show before a football game. Talk about cheezy stuff, definitely good for a few laughs. At some point in the cooking frenzy mother-in-law Connie joined us. It's been a very relaxing, lovely day...even with the cooking frenzy. A Thanksgiving to be thankful for, indeed.

I have so much to be thankful for! It would take up a few pages just to list everything. All I will say is that I'm very thankful that I have so much to be thankful for. I hope it's the same for each and everyone of you out there. Now go get a good nap!!!!

The Good Parent

I did the quintessential Good Parent Thing yesterday and went into Sullivan's school to help out with their 'Thanksgiving Feast.' Is there anything cuter than a bunch of Kindergartners in homemade pilgrim hats?! At Vivian and Sullivan's preschool they did the pilgrim AND the Native American thing, but I guess public school is just too PC for that. Too PC for Native American headdress, but apparently not PC enough to tell the children about how we really stole the poor Indians' land.

Here's our Thankful Tree. One of the crafty things that really makes me feel like a Good Parent. I bought a pot, craft foam and that grassy stuff at Michaels and then hunted around the yard for the perfect branches. You then cut up leaf shapes out of different fall colored paper and have the kids write (or they tell you and you write) what they are thankful for on them. Then you punch holes in them, tie strings through the holes, and hang them on the tree. Oh, and I also spruced it up a bit with some glittery twiggy-type things. The tree's gotta bling!! It's a good thing I'm secure and know that my son really loves me, because he mentioned food, his cousins, even his furniture...but not mom and dad. It wasn't until big sister smugly wrote down 'my family' on a leaf that Sullivan decided he should have that, too. :-) I guess I'll let it go....this year...;-)

The Barf Boat

What in the world is up with everybody puking on cruise ships these days?? I don't get it--only in recent years have I ever heard about anything like that happening. Why now?? There is nothing that would turn me away from a luxury cruise faster than the thought of being surrounded by 700 people spewing out of both ends, with nowhere to run. That's pretty much my nightmare. It ain't no Love Boat, that's for sure. I used to love that show. Anyone else out there old enough to remember it??? I remember being especially excited when Scott Baio was on it, and I specifically remember one with Kristy McNichol...they may have even been on the same episode??!! I remember as a kid thinking it was so scandalous when some woman came out in a negligee and asked her new husband, "Do you like this?", or something along that line, to which he replied something to the tune of, "yes, but I like it better off!" There was no mistaking what was always going on on the "Love Boat". There was certainly no hurling on the Love Boat--if so, it was only because of a nasty hangover from too many umbrella drinks Isaac served up by the pool. And we never heard about it. Now practically every month or so you hear about the norovirus invading yet another luxury liner. Orlando Bloom himself could be on a cruise ship and you couldn't pay me to get on it.

What a Coupla Boobs!

Check out this photo of the nauseating TomKat show. To me the happy couple is definitely overshadowed by the boob-like balloons hovering over their heads. Didn't anyone realize how ridiculous that looks?? Isn't anyone abreast of the situation??

Happy Belated Birthday, Lisa!

This morning I took my dear friend Lisa out for my 40th birthday---oooops, I mean I took Lisa out for HER birthday, and it's not her 40th. That girl's got a way to go before she reaches the official Middle Ages. (I suppose she can still be my friend...!) I guess it just felt like yet another 40th birthday celebration for me, truth be told. :-) We went to Yum Bakery for a nice Saturday morning breakfast, which is our fave meal of the day--at least my favorite to go out for. I'm not much of a breakfast eater at home, just give me my coffee first thing in the morn...but a couple hours later there's nothing better than to venture out and get a nice plate o'eggs, or a Belgian waffle. Yum indeed. I have to say this meal wasn't as good as it's been before...the omelet I ordered didn't have as much flavor as I remember and honestly, some of it was a bit runny. Eeeeu, I can't stand boogery eggs. But the free cupcake they were giving out for their one year anniversary made up for it.

Last night I had my jewelry at my friend Cyndy's yearly holiday Mary Kay open house. She's had me there for the past 3 years, and it's always a good time. This time I was joined by another jeweler, Bridgett. I have met Bridgett before as she is a friend of Kim's, but I really knew we 'd get along well when she came in and the first thing she said to me was, "I really like your rack!" I burst out laughing because of course my dirty mind immediately thought of my chest, instead of the earring stand that she was really referring to. By the end of the night Bridgett and I had practically spent more on each other's jewels than we made. :-) In a couple of weeks Cyndy will have another open house and Bridgett and I will be at that one, too. Makeup and jewelry--talk about the ultimate girlie night! Woo!

Popem's and Paul

You know, despite it's bloat, gore, crampiness and general annoyance a period isn't all bad. When you have your period you can justify buying a box of Entemann's donut holes--excuse me, Glazed Popem's--and eat them for your lunch. Look, the box is ripped from my opening frenzy. I never feel guilty about eating crap when I'm on my period. I figure it's the least I can do for my poor body while it's going through such agony. I guess it's my way of looking at the situation not half-empty, but half-full...and after about half the box of these suckers, I'd say I'm getting full.

Oh, and I think I saw Paul Westerberg in Cub Foods today. Who knew as I was perusing turkeys I'd have a celebrity sighting? At least I'm pretty sure it was him...he looked as though he's gotten blonde hi-lights. Does anyone out there know if this is indeed true? I know he lives pretty close to me, so it wouldn't surprise me in the least. Although what does surprise me is you'd think an X-rock star would be shopping at Byerlys.

Metal Tablescaping

Tablescaping. Mantelscaping. Who knew there was such a thing? Apparently there is, as I learned first hand at this decorating seminar last night at Pier One Imports down the street. Cory's friend Christopher let him know that his man Jason from Interiors By Decorating Den was giving this seminar and Cory offered me up to go. (what, Cory didn't want to learn about the proper use of charger plates??) What, a night out at a fun store with a couple of fun guys?? Sha! Whereas I didn't really learn anything new per se, I did manage to spend some money on a rockin' retro-looking red tray, a much needed wine bottle coaster (ya hear that girls, no more drippy wine bottles as we podcast!) and some new dinner plates! Woo!

See this was the quandry. We have 5 complete table settings of our wedding china. Yes, I said wedding china. Even Metal Mommies have their fancy-shmancy sides. I love my china, but not enough to spend a butt-load of money on 3 more settings, which is what I need to have them really be useful. The best time for me to use them is when I'm hosing my gourmet dinner group of course, but alas, we add up to 8. My everyday Stangl is lovely, but certainly can not be mixed with china. I'm all for mixing patterns and styles, but something as casual as pottery does NOT go with fine china. I don't need an interior designer to tell me that.

But! No longer a quandry--not only do I have 4 new gold dinner plates that I can beautifully alternate with my cream/gold china, but my ever-luvin' husband told me to go BACK and get MORE!!! Whoa! We are definitely ready for some new tablescaping. Yeah! You have to love the rare opportunity you get when your man actually tells you to go out and spend money. Btw, I wonder if I could find a china pattern with skulls on it?

Chocolates and Socks

Digby had a fun play date yesterday with Kim's dog Abby. It was very cute--at first Abby couldn't be bothered with that annoying jumpy little thing at her feet, but after some good butt sniffing and running around, she started to warm up to him. Poor Digby, try as he might, he just could not reach Abby's butt for a good sniff. All in good time, Digs, all in good time.

Check out Kim and I in our matching jackets. Kim had read my blog about my Jacket Quest, and it inspired her to shop at Eddie Bauer for a jacket of her own. Making sure she didn't buy the same jacket as I did, she came home with this brown one. She had failed to see that I had done yet another post saying that I went back and exchanged the jacket I originally bought for the one I have now--which resulted in us having the same one. Hilarious! Of course they are different colors, so they aren't exactly the same...besides, I don't mind at all. I think it's kind of funny. Kim says we are like a box of chocolates. She's the bittersweet dark, I'm the creamy caramel. Woo!

And to follow up on yet another quest--I think I have indeed found the Holy Grail of foundations!!!! After much trial and error, I have settled on Lancome's Regenerie Lift! It gives me good coverage without looking too make-up-y. It's a bit pricey at almost $40, but I don't need to use much at a time so it will last me quite a while. I apply it with that foundation brush I told you about, and then finish off with a little powder. I didn't want to splurge on the $50 Lancome powder, so I just got some Sonia Kashuk. Is there really a huge difference in dusting powder?? Maybe someone out there knows. But anyway, I know you were dying to find out what I ended up with, so there it. Hopefully it will be my HG for a while...I know me, I am a fickle gal when it comes to beauty products and purses. Never enough, always needing a change-up!

And speaking of Holy, this is just a funny photo that doesn't have anything to do with anything. Sullivan was going through our book shelf, pulling out books that looked interesting to him. He started looking through this very old bible that belonged to my grandmother, and got more than he bargained for....inside there was an old yellow sock. Looks like a baby sock, must have been my dad's. I had to get a photo of Sullivan's face--I don't think this was what he expected when he took a gander at the good book! Ha!

And hey! The goils came over for another podcast last night--yay! Check it out!

I Like Kakashi Hatake

Sir Digby doing one of his favorite things...chewin' on a stick.

Another day, another dog poop. Yup, still pickin' up lots of poo...although I will say today was much better. So far there have only been two, which is quite good for our little pooper. Although, the consistency is still...well...I won't go into that. But let's just say I was sort of hoping for a more solid situation by now, as I really don't want to have to give Digby pills for 10 days, which is what is probably going to have to happen. Sigh. As if it's not bad enough to have to force antibiotics down my kids' throats, now I have to shove a pill down my dog's. I think that will be a Coreman job. heh heh.

Overall, things continue to go quite well with the little Digeradoo. He's eating very well, seems more and more comfortable all the time, not as much whining. As I knew he would, he's become quite the good company for the kids. :-)

Tonight we broke away to the Mall O'merica to check out this "Naruto Road Tour". (that's where Kakashi comes from, in case you were wondering...Vivian made me pick the 'guy I liked' in Naruto, and it's him. According to her, he's the weird one--so that makes sense.) Naruto takes off kind of where Pokemon or Yu-Gi-oh! left off--Japanese manga cartoons. Being a fan of those kinds of shows and of manga art in general, Vivian is totally into it. I have to admit, I loved watching Pokemon with her--it spoke to the kid in me. (I guess not so strange...now I love watching The Suite Life of Zach and Cody with her....!) I haven't caught enough of this Naruto to know much about it, but hey. At least it's not Barney anymore. It can always be worse. This road tour ended up being sort of a joke in my opinion--the area that it took over in the mall was so tiny we almost walked right by it. But Viv had fun checking out the video games, wide screen TV playing an episode and sketching materials that were provided. Here I surprised her with a photo, and then when I tried to get her to smile for me she gave me the, "Mommmmm!" I get a lot of that. Yes, it does start already at 10...!
So, I felt like a Good Parent and a good Citizen of my Fair City tonight...taking advantage of some 'happening' going on and knowing my daughter would be thrilled to go. yeah. Too bad Digby wasn't so happy to have us go...it was the first time we put him in his crate wide awake and left...sure enough, he was barking and crying when we got home. Poor guy.

PS--here's a photo of Kakashi I found--whoa! There weren't any photos like this at the Mall of America tonight! I guess I didn't have such a bad pick...ha!

Now Poop is Metal.

Whew, I feel like I'm cheating on my blog or something. I've been so busy helping Digby with his blog that I've barely had time to post on my own!!! :-) Things are going very well with the pup. He is adjusting wonderfully. Now, if only I were...no, actually we are having sort a semi-predictable schedule going, which is really nice--it's just that I am bone-tired. (pun intended!) Of course I am getting interrupted sleep at night with his waking every so often, and then he's up at the crack of dawn. But it's what I expected and I will say, he's doing better than I could have hoped for in the potty training/night time department. Whew! I know as time goes by it will only get better, and this too shall pass. And a lot quicker than a kid's baby stage, I'll tell you what! It's all worth it. Those big brown eyes...ahhhh! :-)

Vivian came back from her 3 day camping trip to Eagle Bluff with her class, and we were all happy to have her home! She is the best big sister of all--she came back with some glorious rocks and minerals that she had bought for Sullivan at the gift shop there. (but of course they had a gift shop!) She had an amazing time--she rock climbed all the way to the top and touched the ceiling (obviously, an indoor course!), made a fire and conjured up some hot lemonade, and even scaled across some wires from tree to tree 30 feet in the air, attached only by her carabeeners--now that's metal!!!!! I'm very impressed, to say the least.

That will probably be the most exciting news to come from my blog now for a while. Unless of course you want to hear more about picking up poop--which because of the adjustment, we've been doing a lot of lately. Poor Digby and his 'soft serve' poops! mmmmmm....Dairy Queen, anyone?? sorry. couldn't resist. We're talking about poop! How metal! I had to get SOMETHING metal into this 'diary of a metal mommy', since lately it's mostly been about a cute little puppy. :-)

Happily Sleep Deprived

Well, considering we have a brand new puppy in our house now, I have accomplished a lot today. After being woken up twice with some puppy whining and then up early (5:30 early--eeek!~) to let Digby out, between puppy duties I still managed to take a shower AND make a quick grocery run to Byerlys. I just HAD to go to Byerlys, you see...Digby was still napping and I wanted to make a quick run so we could actually have dinner tonight. Byerlys is just so much closer than Cub. (sounds like a good excuse, eh??)

Overall, our little addition is doing amazingly well. He was in his kennel all night, and even though he woke up I never let him out, so he was in there a good 7 hours or so. Although I certainly do NOT want to make a habit out of getting him up and out at 5:30 to start the day, I figured it was a great first night. So far there hasn't been one accident, and one time I swear he even whined at the back door which lead to a successful potty in the yard. Yeah! The poor little guy is so whiny, even when he's playing and eating he still cries. I'm sure he's missing his 'family' and trying to figure it all out. He's such a sweet little cuddly thing! And I tell ya, I think going through the baby thing (at least, after having a baby #2) I am so relaxed about the tough love thing. Puppy tough love, which = putting him in that crate and letting him whine a bit so I can get things done or take a shower. You know, with your first baby it's so hard to do that kind of thing...put them in the crib, let them cry a bit, let them fuss throughout the day without running to them at every little outburst. So besides being a bit sleep-deprived today, so far it's been pretty darn good.

I was a bit teary this morning, though, at leaving my 10 year old daughter outside at her school where she and her classmates waited to get on the bus and leave for a 3 day environmental camp. It's funny, with everything going on I didn't think much of it, as far as getting all sad. But as I drove away it really hit me--my baby leaving for 3 days for an outdoor adventure, 3 hours away, with only her teachers, some volunteers and her classmates! Of course it's great for her, I'm so glad she's doing it. And I was so proud about how she was handling it--she said she was only a little nervous, much more excited. She is going to have an amazing time. The worst part about it for her was leaving our new Digby!!!

And speaking again of Sir Digby, the little guy has his own blog--Digby's Dailies! Of course, no surprise, in this family...:-) Check it out for photos and news about how he's doing. It may not always actually be a daily thing, but he'll do his best. Digby's Dailies sounded better than Digby's Weeklies, anyway.

Sir Digs!

Well, it's official...we will be picking up our little Digby on Sunday!!! To my relief breeder Cindy called last night to let me know that he checked out a-ok from the vet, and his little snip-snip (or neutering) procedure went just fine. It's funny, I keep wanting to say that he's gotten circumsized... We are all beyond excited--as you know, it's been a long time coming--and I think, like a pregnant mother, in the anticipation of his arrival I am nesting. I've been picking up, dusting, doing laundry, even cleaning out my bedroom 'junk drawer'--what's up with that?! Like a dog is going to notice?! The dirtier the better in his eyes, I'm sure. I'm sure he'd just love it if I left some dirty clothes lying around. My mom told me that when she was young the dog she had would eat the crotches out of her dirty panties. Eeeuuu! She had no idea until she got them out of the pile of clean clothes and went to put them on---hello! Now that's a good reason to make sure our clothes are down the laundry chute where they belong.

Lazy Bones

Another Halloween, over and done. Man, the time flies faster and faster! I can tell the older I get, the less patience I have for such frivolities. I've never been one to dress up for Halloween unless I have a party to go to...but this year I was even lazy about the kid's costumes. I told Sullivan to pick a costume out of our dress-up box--although really, he could have cared less about being anything too specific--and he grabbed the same skeleton costume he wore last year. I have to say, I'm pretty proud of that darn thing. I made it for Vivian a few years ago, painstakingly painting the bones on a black sweatsuit with glow in the dark puffy paint. It turned out quite well, if I do say so myself (and I do!) so I was all for showing that off again. Vivian was fretting the day before Halloween, realizing she herself hadn't put her costume together. A sign SHE is getting older, as well. Then of course it's traipsing around in the Minnesota Cold for at least an hour.

Of course it wasn't all bad...Kim and Emily came over to go with us and we managed to have a pretty good time. Especially since at one house the mom called us over to the door to give us our own special treat--Pumkin Ale. Nice!!! That's my kind of trick-or-treating, even if I will only drink half of it. And to show how lazy I was this year, this photo of Kim partaking in that beer is one of the only photos I have of Halloween, 2006. Terrible!

On a better note, I got a call from Cindy last night to arrange a Sunday pick-up of our new puppy!!!!!! Digby will enter the building Sunday afternoon. We're all ready. He's got his crate, his toys, his leash and collar, food, treats, and even his first vet appointment. It makes it all feel so real!