Kim and Ms. Coach

Kim came over yesterday afternoon--not for a cup of coffee, mind you, but a cup of her own Chai Tea complete with Chai flavored Coffee Mate that she herself brought over. (have Cream Crap, will travel...!) I have to say, it was a lovely way to spend a quiet, dreary afternoon.

Here she is sporting Ms. Coach. As soon as she whipped it over her shoulder she proceeded to strut around my living room with it on. I made her stop mid-strut for this photo. I'm glad she's not jealous about my new best friend. But we ladies have to all stick together, right?!

I have absolutely no New Year's plans, and you know, that's just fine. Just hanging out here with my family and Ms. Coach works for me. That's where the 'Metal' part of Metal Mommy definitely loses out to the 'Mommy' part--I can barely stay up until midnight any more. Pathetic! I mean, a cozy evening with friends is definitely a great thing, but being out at a crazy party with people drinking, acting stupid and puking just to say, "hooray!" when the clock strikes midnight is not my idea of a good time. Does anything special ever happen at midnight?! No. It's just another day. I will reflect on the old year in my own quiet way...by waking up on January 1st 2007 with no hangover, just a cup of coffee and high hopes that this new year will be just as great to me as 2006 has been.

Arg, Thumbs Down

Sweet Santa brought me Pirates of the Caribbean 2, Dead Man's Chest in my stocking--I was quite thrilled. I never got around to seeing it in the theater, and I loved the first one. As you readers well know, I love Orlando...and Johnny Depp ain't bad, either. (did I ever mention that he winked at me once?!) I have to say, I was disappointed in this one. It was fun, but it's like it tried too hard to be fun. It didn't have the light-heartedness that the first one did. But of course a movie in which Orlando and Johnny don pirate gear and run around acting manly is never a bad thing, no matter how poor the script. All I can say is that Keira Knightley is one lucky chick--she actually gets paid to kiss BOTH of those manly men. Whew!

Grown Up Shopping With Ms. Coach

I dropped the kids off at Vicky's today and Ms. Coach and I hit a couple of malls for some pure unadulterated after-Christmas shopping. What a thrill! I have to say I felt damn spunky showing my purse off. Not that anyone probably noticed, and of course it's oh so vulgar, but hey. A Metal Mommy has to get her jollies somehow.

I was In Search Of once more...looking for some funky yet sophisticated clothes to bring to Washington, D.C. Yes, you read right, I will be visiting the one and only state capitol in about a month with the fam. All thanks to Vivian, who quite unexpectantly landed a commercial job that will bring us all there. That's about all I can say about it right now--everything about it is very hush-hush at this point, and it's killing me. A mother wants to brag about her children, but I have to reel it all in. In the meantime, I can shop. I just needed (or, wanted?!) a couple of 'bottom' pieces that weren't jeans to dress things up just a bit. Ann Taylor Loft turned out to be a good place to go, as I ended up with a skirt and some cool dress-shorts there! Believe it or not, this Metal Mommy loves Ann Taylor. When I want to pretend to be sophisticated, that's where I go. Their clothes fit me so well and they have many nice alternatives to skull t-shirts when I want to look a bit more like a grown-up.

I also shimmied myself into the Guess store to look at wallets....I love the whole Guess purse thing, in fact, the purse I was using all the time before Ms. Coach took over was a Guess. I got a great deal on a wallet that actually matches that old girl. Now maybe she won't feel too left out, and know that I still love her. I'll pull her out again eventually, of course, but for now I'm too infactuated with my blue patent leather. It still gives me butterflies when I catch sight of it from across the way...! Oh dear, maybe my purse and I need to get a room?! Ha!

Speaking of shopping/fashion/fads, I'll leave you with this photo of me with an upside-down Christmas tree, which I guess was the new decorating thing this holiday season. Personally, I don't get it. But hey, I guess they have to keep thinking of ways to shake it up!

The One Purse

"You know," started my revelation to my husband a few weeks ago," I can honestly say that at this moment, I don't want a new purse." This was a huge statement for me, considering I LOVE bags. I don't have a million of them, mind you, but I am a true believer that a woman can never have enough purses. There is one for every mood, every purpose. I dream about bags like Carrie Bradshaw dreams of shoes.

About half an hour after this statement was made, my friend Vicky came in for a visit. The statement I had made not so long before went completely out the window as I caught sight of her amazing tote. My eyes widened, my mouth salivated--it was the most incredible white patent leather purse I had ever seen. And of course it wasn't from Target or anything, Oh No. It was a Coach bag. Well, forget about it. I became obsessed. I knew it was beyond me, but as I gazed lovingly at the photo of it on the Coach site I discovered that the thing even came in BLUE. Not just any blue, but a cornflower-type blue patent leather. Can you stand it?? I know I can't. And poor Coreman. It became the constant joke. Anything he would bring up I would be like, "but does it come in blue patent leather?" Everything was about the One Purse--but quite honestly, I figured it was only a dream.

Last night we get home from church to open presents. At some point Cory hands me a note written by Sullivan with a clue on it, a scavenger hunt type game we often play around here. (it's very Scooby Doo, of course.) I think you can guess what was on the bed in my room. The most beautiful brown box tied in magenta ribbon, just waiting to be opened. And inside....THE ONE PURSE TO RULE THEM ALL! I just stood there, with my hand over my mouth. I couldn't even open that box for the longest time--I just had to stand there and take it all in.

So, there it is. Is my husband not the best ever?! But like The One Ring, the purse is all-together evil, I'm afraid. Because a Coach wallet would sure look nice inside...ha! But a woman can not be greedy, oh no. (well she could, but she shouldn't be.) Maybe Target has some nice cheap faux patent leather? Nothing could top this Christmas present. Except maybe the husband that got it for me...:-)

Goin' and Blowin'

I know it's been a while, and I apologize to my 2 big fans out there who have been waiting for a post. ;-) Cousin Ann has been visiting from Mississippi, and quite frankly we are just too busy to be bloggin'. As Cuz would say, we've been 'goin' and blowin'. (and as it is, this is a couple of days late now....I had good intentions to get this posted and then my computer was giving me grief. Grief!)

She arrived Sunday afternoon. To tell you the truth I can't even remember when we did what at this point, but we've been to Target, Byerlys, (but of course!), Ann's been to the Mall of America (I dropped her off and she shopped all day!) both kids' school for their holiday parties, to the Macy's 8th floor display of "Mary Poppins"...but the two main highlights were having Ann on our podcast last night and then going out to eat with her and the peeps to Salut. What fun! Tomorrow we'll be shopping at the mall with Vivian--yeah!--and celebrating Ann's birthday!!! Personally I feel like we've been celebrating all week.

Another highlight has been deflowing Cousin Ann with a Lord of the Rings experience--she had never seen any of the movies and believe you me, I had to fix that. Every night after the kids are in bed we sneak downstairs for another installment. I swear even after seeing them at least 10 times watching them with her has been like watching them again for the first time! She loves them just like I do. Sigh! And the fact that it was always Christmas-time that the new movie would always come out in the theater makes it that much more fun. Weeeee!

So this blog entry will be short and sweet--as it is I hear Cousin Ann playing Scooby-Doo with Sullivan in the other room and I probably need to go rescue her...more later!

Rudolph Goes to Arizona

How are you all doing with the holiday craziness? I'm doing quite well, I must say. I sort of enjoy the hustle-bustle of the season--probably because I'm an over-prepared Virgo who often has half of my list done way early and because we always just stay here for Christmas. Pretty easy. I will say I haven't baked hardly anything this year--one measly batch of Christmas Snickerdoodles and some Christmas Crunch--normally I do a few varieties of cookie and have them all on plates ready to give away. With Digby this year, I just haven't had the time. And you know, I don't feel the least bit guilty about it. Maybe that's yet another 40 thing? I don't know, but I like it!

One thing I've really been enjoying this Christmas is Sullivan's story-writing. His love of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer has inspired many an illustrated book. His latest depicts himself and Rudolph digging all the way to Arizona, even with me saying that I miss him. I am amazed as I see what he comes up with...in this story he actually draws a house on page after page, getting smaller and smaller as he gets farther and farther from it. How did he know about perspective like that?! His little mind never ceases to amaze me. At any given time I'll look in his room and see this sight...Sullivan working hard at his desk surrounded by paper. I love it.

Check out this lovely early Christmas gift I received from Lisa! Inspired by our trip to YUM Bakery I'm sure, she bought me a couple of these hand-blown glasses. (I could make a dirty joke here, I but I won't.) YUM serves coffee in them and also sells them at their shop. They keep the coffee nice and hot, but you don't feel it on your hands. They are the coolest! (no pun intended!) A definite gift recommendation for anyone on your list. Oooh, just lookit the steam coming off that cuppa Jo! Doesn't it just make you want some??

Is Caroling For the Birds?

Fa la la la la...or should I say fa la la la lark? Actually I believe it was a chickadee...but I'm getting ahead of myself here.

Sunday evening Vivian and I went caroling with some people from our church. We've done it the past couple of years and it is a blast. Plus I have to say, it's incredibly touching to see just how powerful those songs can be to a person. I've seen many a tear and received warm hugs from people that just appreciate the simple beauty of a Christmas carol--it's pretty sweet. (I can't say I've ever experienced that from a rockin' metal song. maybe just a tear elicited from a smashed ear drum.) Sharing that with my daughter, of course, is priceless. So when we went into this woman's home instead of standing outside because the poor woman is dying from cancer and was too weak to stand and watch, I felt especially glad to be doing what I was doing. It was all very touching and sweet until we opened the door on our way out and a bird flew into the house. What started out as a peaceful lovely visit soon became a near-impossible attempt at bird-catching. The tallest of us at first tried fruitlessly to guide it over to the doorway by waving magazines at it. No dice. It just flew from corner to corner of the ceiling. Finally Nancy came up with the great idea of trapping it under a colander and then sliding a plate under it to keep it in there. (it's lucky we had those tall guys!) 20 minutes later, the bird was out. So much for Silent Night. I mentioned that maybe the bird liked our singing so much it decided to come in. Tim said maybe it was because our singing is for the birds. I don't know, but I'm sure it's the most drama Christmas caroling has seen in a while.

Enjoying the Sludge

I sigh a contended sigh as I sit here in the sunshine on a Sunday morning, skipping church....doh! But you know, sometimes you just gotta relax with a cup of coffee and nowhere to go. Even if it is a cup of sludge from the coffee pot that just turned off after 3 hours of sitting there breaking itself down into acid. This morning, I don't care.

It's been a fun and busy weekend--and it's still going strong. Yesterday morning we took Digby to a 'Puppy Play' hour at the Humane Society--a play date for dogs. Since he's been so shy at his weekly classes, I thought it would be a good idea to get him more socialized at these weekend events. After hiding under the chair for most of the hour, scared to death by wild and crazy--albiet good-natured--dogs doing their thing, the woman in charge suggested we stay for the next group, the 'featherweight' class. So in comes all of these teeny dogs, and pretty much right away Digs came out from hiding and latched on to this other little guy, Charlie. I wish I could remember what type of dog he is, I know some kind of terrier--man was he cute, and the two of them just had a ball. Made a Mommy proud. The owners of Charlie said they would bring him back next Saturday and asked if I'd do the same with Digby...so, Digs has a date! Okay, it's with another boy, but we're all right with that. We're open minded around here. :-)

After that it was back to the house to get ready to host our gourmet group for dinner. For the holiday we decided to have a 'progressive dinner' this time, a first for us. This is where you go from house to house, having different courses at each one. It was a blast! The toughest part was not eating too much at each place so you could actually eat some dinner once you got to the main course. It was fun to see everyone's houses all decorated up. We came back here for gourmet S.O.S. (shit on a shingle) and a round of White Elephant present-giving. For those of you not in the know, that's where you bring a wrapped gift that is your junk but could be someone else's treasure and everyone takes turns picking one. We decide who goes when by drawing numbers. Many people are very cut-throat about this and actually steal gifts back and forth when it's all through, but you know, we're church-goin' folk. We decided to keep things nice. Nobody brought anything really awful anyway, so no one got stuck with anything horrible anyway. Accept maybe the talking snowman we wrapped up and was opened by Rosemarie...she loved it initially but I'm sure after the 100th time of saying in a very annoying sing-songy voice "Come on in, it's cold outside!" she'll soon lose the humor. I know her husband Greg was ready to run over the thing. A successful White Elephant! Yeah!

Tonight, it's caroling. We're so lucky to get a warm day today! It's been so butt-cold lately I was afraid we were doomed. Of course 40 degree weather doesn't exactly feel like Christmas, but....I won't complain!!! Fa la la la laaaaa!

Bring On the Snow Already!

Well, for a fleeting moment it was a sleeting moment. It actually stuck, all 10 flakes of it. We want snow! It's hard to feel X-mas-y without snow, and so far it's only been butt-cold without any of the white stuff. Cold is only worth something if you get some snow. Don't get me wrong, I hate to shovel, and come March I'll be soooo tired of it I'll want to move to a desert isle. But really, I RARELY have to shovel anyway because my husband does most of the dirty work....it's the only benefit to having a bad back. So bring it on!!!! I'm dreaming of a White Christmas...(and so is Digby...)

Public Service Announcement!

Everytime I see that phrase I think of 'Pubic Service Announcement'...me and my juvenile potty humor, you know. But I digress...

Just wanted to let everyone know that may possibly be interested, that in talking to Digby's breeder last night she has ONE puppy left! It's a little boy, he's apricot and white. That would be something like this photo (can you stand it?!), but I think his coloring is even a bit lighter. If you're interested, just click on the 'Digby's Dailies' link on the right of this page, and then click on the 'Cavachon Connection' link there. I can't say enough good things about Cindy, the breeder, or of course my little guy. Let me know if you get him!!!!

From Beginning to The End

I am a bad blogger. Not only have I not been writing as much lately, but I've had stuff going on and haven't been taking my camera to get photos of the happenings! For shame! Not that anyone enjoys my blog as much I do, of course, but there it is. Between writing in this one and helping Digby with his, it gets tough. For some odd reason if I haven't done an entry in a few days I feel pressured to do so. Why do we do this to ourselves?! Or, maybe it's only me....
Anyway, Phat Thunder needed some maintenance, so nice Stephanie drove me both to drop off and pick up my car. A friend in need is a friend indeed! Last night was also my what-has-become annual jewelry sale at my friend Cyndy's Mary Kay party. I have to say, this may be my last. It's always fun to hang with the ladies, of course, but never a very good sale for me and since I'm not really doing much with the jewels these days, I may just stick to selling on ebay. Or my own holiday party every so often, when I am not the new mother of a puppy and have more time to make more stuff. But of course selling anything and hanging out with some peeps is never a waste of time...in fact my peeps Kim and Stephanie showed mercy and not only came to hang out but also bought some jewels! Thanks, girls!!!

Today was another busy day that started off with a lovely 'holiday bonding breakfast' at my friend Nancy's house--women and their daughters were invited. It was incredible breakfast food--yum yum, my fave--delicious coffee and Christmas tea (Nancy's Christmas tea rocks, which reminded me that I need to make my batch! If anyone's interested in the recipe let me know and I'll post it!) and then settling down to watch "The Polar Express". I had never seen it before and I was totally crying in my tea. What a great movie! Totally enough to get anyone out of their 'bah humbug' mood. I know it got mixed reviews, but I got past the creepy computerized faces pretty quickly and just really loved the schmaltzy story. Hey, if you can't get sappy at Christmas-time, when can you?! I think we need to own that one.

The rest of the day included the perusing of 2 different Lulu and Luigi stores for the perfect walking/training device for Digby. Actually I started out in there with the idea of just getting Digs out on an outing and maybe getting a couple of stocking stuffers, but when I got the sad faces and heard horror stories about my 'Gentle Leader' I'm trying out on loan from the Humane Society, I of course got suckered into maybe looking into buying a $70 harness/leash contraption instead. (it was DAMN cute, I have to say...the most promising one actually having an honest-to-goodness skull on it!) I don't know, I'm on the fence as to whether to go harness or Gentle Leader. (that's the muzzle-looking thing that's not a muzzle) Anybody out there have any opinions?

From there we went to Curl Up and Dye for both kids to get their hair cut. Yeah! Nothing like the fresh feeling of a fresh cut, even if it's on my kids instead of me. I even got meself a little fun purply-pink hair extension woven in--it's very subtle, just for kicky fun.

Whew! I'm a tired Metal Mommy. I'm ready for some nice relaxing by the warm electric fireplace--Sully had the good idea of that, hanging out naked in front of it after a bath. Of course I'll probably wear clothes.