A Little Bit of Life On the Side

Prepping for Camp

2011-06-05T10:33:00.000-07:00

We are sending B off to sleep away camp soon. This means I am spending a ton of time labeling all of her clothes and things she is taking with her.

Today I am giving a mini hair bootcamp to teach her a few simple dos she can do at camp.

Pics to come :)

Hairdos I Did :)

2011-05-03T19:42:00.000-07:00

One of my passions of late has been learning new hairdos to do. If only B would let me practice on her more often....

Below are a few dos she was willing to sit through.

First is the Lady Gaga hair bow. I used B's real life hair to make this bow. No extensions or other forms of fake hair were harmed in the making of this do.

Next up is the Spiral Braid. A lady followed B around the store for a while before she finally asked her ..."Who does your hair?" B just kind of looked at her for a second and said "Umm, my Mom." (We wondered if she thought Miss B had a stylist or something...strange.)

One more for now. This is the inside-out bun. I had sooooooo freaking much fun doing this one but it took me about 45 minutes to do it. So what do you think was it worth the time she had to sit or not?

Let me know what you think. I need a little feed back here to help me figure what I want to do with this blog.

I'm A Loser Baby.....

2011-02-26T20:13:00.000-08:00

Yeah, I know I am like the BIGGEST putz in 36 states....at least. I keep promising y'all some serious posting but Fail on the follow through. This time there are no promises just a fun little posting. Maybe I will keep it up....Maybe I won't. You will have to come back to make sure I stay on my game.

So I guess a little update is in order. Well here goes....

Most importantly does everyone know the Packers won the Superbowl????!!!!!

If not, that's okay. I will remind you. I have to remind myself every once in a while, just for fun. In case you didn't know, the Kally Family are Packer fans.
This started with Miss B who decided at age 7 football stats were much more important than secrets to write about in her little pink diary. We all have our special gear we wear for game days. My fave is 52 - Clay Matthews.

I have decided for game day swag I need a life-sized Cardboard Clay. If anyone can help me out on this I will be your friend for LIFE. - I can imagine some great pics around town with Cardboard Clay... next to the Golden Driller maybe...

or the Rose Garden...

In T-Town the possibilities are endless!

Oops! Sorry about the misdirection. I get a little super hyper focused when it comes to football.
•Real quick, other things I am into right now:
•Hanging out with the our besties aka the best-Es.
•Settlers of Catan or on fun nights Settlers of Cantina
•Doing hair!!! Bug me about it enough and I will post some pics of some cool hairdos to do.
I will even give a quick review of last year if you really want to know some of the crazies I went through.

I will leave you tonight with some pics of the way the Mr and his buds are chill-axing this evening.

Yeah, I know. Cigars. Don't worry the Mr knows a shower is a must. Can't muss up my clean sheet smell :)

Welcome Back From the Cold

2010-10-19T18:41:00.000-07:00

Today was my first day of re-entrance to the land of the living. Yeah, that cold really took me down for the count. So what does one do while feeling like poo? I don't know about you but for me there was:

1 - Down 1 bottle of green Nyquil - (not all at once) That NASTEEEE Gak will kill almost anything.
2 - Go through 2 boxes of kleenex with aloe. - I have blown my nose so many times the skin around my nostrils is all gross, dried & flaky. (Real lovely.)
3 - Get 3 FULL days of rest. I slept most of Saturday, Sunday & Monday. (I kind of felt like Rip Van Winkle when I got to work this morning and realized so much had happened while I was sleeping.)
4 & 5 - Drink 4 - maybe 5 hot toddies. Enough said right?

And while one is sick, one must give up their beloved Bravo-lebrities for ridiculous amounts of online television. Let's say something like 2 entire seasons of Gossip Girl could be just what the doctor ordered. I swear, at the end of season 2, when Chuck told Blair he loved her, I felt 5 degrees of better. Don't judge me. ...I know you have your weakness as well - you can spill your guilty pleasures in my comments. I can't wait to hear what chases your colds & flu away.

Love to all.

Dear Anonymous,

2010-10-15T18:49:00.000-07:00

Your comments are driving me crazy! I have yet to figure out if you are a RL person or just a bot BUT either way this must stop NOW. Everyone expects the random "Special Medicine for Men" comments or even a rude remark every blue moon but these nonsensical comments are maddening. Please start your own blog and leave mine alone ...because this blog is mine and for my still faithful readers/friends who check in on me.
- Kally

***For those who are wondering, yes I am still here and well. Many things have been going on. The worst was the unfortunate loss of my camera :( - I don't know what happened to the thing I have either
(a) lost it in my tiny apartment
or
(b) left it at the coffee shop we frequent after the farmers market
or
(c) left it at the Indian restaurant I love.

I have been reluctant to blog without the eye candy to go with my words. Sorry, I know, I suck.

Tonight I am sick with some yucky cold the Mr passed on to me. I am in bed nursing the most wonderful hot toddy. -Made by me! If it kills this cold I will gladly pass on the recipe to all in need. - Strike nursing, I just downed the rest....I think I just might need another. If it doesn't kill the cold at least it will make for an interesting evening. Groundhog Day on the squawk box, a hot toddy in hand, words for my bloggy friends & texting a friend who is also sick....what else does a girl need?
....Oh yeah, her health. Lets hope we are all feeling better soon.

Love to all!

Working My Way Back to You Babe

2010-02-10T17:28:00.000-08:00

I have missed blogging so much. I am so sorry for abandoning all of you for those snippy (BUT freaking hilarious) Atlanta housewives & then for those plastic (BUT so out of this world train wreck funny) OC ladies... Oh yeah & the biggest most addictive of all time-sucks...Sorority Life. (I know it is a facebook app & I should know better but I couldn't help it. I am trying to wean myself off of it slowly.) Please don't forgive me yet though. Let me get a few posts under my belt again before you consider that. In the meantime please excuse the mess as I clean house on this blog. I have old things to clean up & new stuff to display. Go ahead and leave a comment or two and let me know you are still there :)

My Little....Gangster?

2009-11-22T01:38:00.000-08:00

In case you were wondering Miss B has decided to donate her hair to Beautiful Lengths. We are thinking about getting her hair cut the first weekend of December. In the meantime she will be looking for a fab new style to sport.

I know this is super late to update you on but here is what B was for Halloween….

Did you guess Gangster? Well, that was what the costume packaging said BUT everyone that saw her thought she was something else. When someone would ask her what she was going to be she would say in her fast little voice… “I am supposed to be a gangster but what I really look like is a Pimp!!!!” When asked if she knew what a pimp was she would respond, “Nope, but I know I look like one!

***This wonderful pic was taken by my photog friend. Many Thanks to Kitmac Photography for giving me permission to post this awesome pic!!!***

Hebrew School

2009-11-16T19:10:00.000-08:00

Have you ever seen My Big Fat Greek Wedding? You know how they send the kids to Greek School and they learn Greek? Well, B is old enough now that she is in Hebrew School. Same kind of thing except B is learning Hebrew and preparing for her Bat Mitzvah. We usually carpool with another family that lives a couple miles away from us. Well, one evening when they dropped B off it was the older sister who was driving. She told me that B was trying to con her into letting her sit shotgun. The Older Sis told me this was how the conversation went….

B: I can ride in the front.

Big Sis: B I don’t think so. You need to sit in the back with the other kids.

B: Really! I can sit up front. My Grandpa always lets me sit up front.

Big Sis: Well, your Grandpa has many more years experience driving than I do B.

B: Well, you have two hands to drive with and my Grandpa only has one!

*** I totally lost it at this point. Cracking up laughing because it is the truth. ***
****Although Big Sis had to give B that one, Miss B still rode in the back with the other kids. ****

Just Wondering

2009-11-14T19:57:00.000-08:00

I have a bottle of the OPI Matte color Alpine Snow. It just isn't me so if you are a OPI polish fan and think you will use it I will give/send it to you.

No drawings this time. Just show me some bloggy love <3 (that is my ghetto fab sign for a heart)

This is what it looks like

Rapunzel, Rapunzel....

2009-11-07T14:26:00.000-08:00

I know it has been forever. I have no excuse once again BUT I do have things to say....

Soooooo, Miss B has been wearing her hair long for most of her life. At present time, it is about half-way down her rear. Now hear this: My sweet girl has decided to chop it all off (over 14 inches of hair) and donate it. She is still trying to decide where to donate the hair to. We have looked into Children With Hairloss & Pantene Beautiful Lengths. B has asked me to ask around to find out where others have donated hair and their experience with the organization they donated to. Any comments/suggestions would be helpful and greatly appreciated.

Thanks!!!!

Drinks, Food, Place-Check! People & Time.......ummm

2009-09-21T19:15:00.000-07:00

It is only Monday and I am already wishing for the weekend.
Why? you ask.
Well, It must be all the frozen, mixed drinks I have waiting for a Girls Night...OF COURSE!!!!
I have had some rockin' times with my fam & all of our friendlies BUT I am ready to boot the Mr & the Monkey (B) out the door and invite the girls in for chick flicks, snacky things & frou frou drinks. In PDX we had a blast watching movies the Mr would describe as "drinking tea & talking about feelings flicks" with a plate of cookies and whatever drink you want in hand. I soooooo need to have one of these nights here and SOON.

I have the apartment cleaned, the fridge stocked with food & bevs. I am ready :)
........Now all I have to do is round up the local girls and decide on a time.

Let Me Tell You Everything

2009-09-20T18:37:00.000-07:00

I feel terrible for skipping out on you guys for so long but I have no excuse other than life got in the way and I only had time to live it. No time for reflections. I will try to make it up to y'all by telling you everything....well everything that I can think of that has happened lately.

Last you heard we had just gotten back to T-town and we were trying to get settled back in.

Things are going well and busy.

Work: I am working full-time as an Administrative Assistant & the Mr has a part-time job @ one of the local colleges until he can land a full time gig. We are hopeful he will get something soon.....so keep your fingers crossed for us.

School: Miss B is attending her first year in a public school.....and she LOVES it. She has made friends fast and likes every single one of her teachers. (Thank goodness this transition went smoothly!)

Friends & Fun: We have spent a ton of time with the E Family : eating amazing dinners cooked by the fabulous Mr. E; watching oldie but goodie & some not so goodie movies; and the whole time laughing & loving spending this time with our Besties.

Miscellaneous:

• Sunday School has started back up. I am not teaching this year due to grade mixing in the re-org but I am supposed to sub when needed. Miss B is glad to be among friends but I fear she may be socializing more than learning. (The girl loves to gab! ....wonder where she gets that from? :)

• I have been fighting a losing battle with the oven in my apartment. The janky old thing burns things on the bottom rack and WAY under cooks on the top rack....there is no happy medium. Maybe I should just try cooking everything on top but longer....hmmmmm....there's a thought. (See I am so glad to be talking to y'all because until this moment I have pretty much been burning everything :D

Okay, so I am getting tired and starting to ramble. I will get back with you on more Kally Casa goings-on soon. ...For Real :)

Guess What Hit the Fan????

2009-07-20T15:33:00.000-07:00

I am blogging from the nearby coffee shop because Cox has yet to come give me real Internetz in the new apartment. So here is a quick laugh from last night....

....I was cooking dinner while the Mr was folding the laundry when all of a sudden I hear this THUMP quickly followed by some choice words. I asked him if he stubbed his toe/ran into the wall???? He looked sheepishly at me and told me while trying to fold MY special lady & the tramp sheet (yeah, I know...kid-ish...I refuse to get rid of it) ...okay so he was forced to fold the sheet lengthwise and as he stretched upward to fold the sheet, the ceiling fan (which was set to the highest speed) whacked him right in the hand.

*I almost peed mah pants. I was laughing so hard at his gracefulness.

**Before we went to sleep, he turned the fan to a lower speed.

***He is still showing me his wounded hand...all I can see is a tiny scratch.

Livin' On Tulsa Time

2009-07-13T12:54:00.000-07:00

Yay!!!! We are finally back home in Tulsa!!!!! (okay so IRL we have been back since late last Thursday night BUT I really feel home now.)

The trip/LONG drive back was crazy and made worse by a terrible cold I came down with the day before we were to hit the road. Thanks to all of the Best Westerns we stayed at along the way for serving free breakfasts. It really made getting up at 6am in the mornings more manageable.

The Fan-freakin-Tastic E Family has been so kind to let us stay with them until our belongings arrive in the truck (on Tuesday we hope). YAY for A+++++++++ friends!!!! We LOVE them sooooooo much!!!

Here are a few (oops, I mean ALOT) of the pics from our trip back to T-Town.

Miss B begged me to take this pic and at the moment I just wanted to get on the road. Now I think it is crazy cool.

Mountains in Cali :)

This was the first time for me to see palm trees that weren't growing in a mall. I was in love. <3
I couldn't believe all of the windmills....as far as the eye could see.
AZ...hot and prickly. Maybe I felt this way because this was my worst sick day on the trip back.

The Mr humored me by stopping in Roswell so I could take pics of all the alien goodies (not those kind of goodies...I am not THAT interested in aliens). No real aliens were spotted this trip but B & I left with some awesome t-shirts.

The last day of driving I took zero pics. ...I know, sometimes I am boring.

Apartment Hunting Remotely

2009-06-29T21:53:00.000-07:00

...and other thoughts on Moving

How fast time changes your life... A few short months ago we were searching SW Portland for a forever home and here I am today....packing up the townhouse and searching online for a short term apartment to live in (halfway across the country) while most of my belongings will live in a storage unit. I am so excited to get back to T-Town and get settled in. B is starting to get excited about yet another new school and about a million after school activities she would like to do. The Mr...well, he just wants the move to be over with and get back to work.

Since we are going to be driving the car back, I have packed a couple of bags for B and myself. These contain the usual girl stuff: Tons of clothes, about 3 pairs of shoes, a bathroom bag, a traveling pillow (or a traveling Murray in her case), a hair dryer and (most importantly) my flat iron. (I can NOT travel w/o the flat iron...I even took it with me when I went camping. ---For some reason I thought I could style my hair in the camp bathrooms....yeah.....notsomuch!) Now that B and I have all of our importants packed, I am wondering where we can fit the Mr's stuff.

***I got the long lost camera back from the Mr but the battery is dead. :( I'll get it all charged up and ready to picument our trip back :)

NOT the Mamma!!!!

2009-06-28T13:49:00.000-07:00

The baby shower I co-hosted yesterday went off perfectly. The mom-to-be was showered with gifts, love and well wishes. The kids in attendance had a blast in the play area under the watchful care of Miss B. (My little girl is working on becoming a junior babysitter and doing a GREAT job!)

When I got home after helping out with the shower, I was pooped. After checking my email I left a comment on FaceCrack about how tired I was after running the baby shower......BIG MISTAKE!!!! When I checked my email a second ago I noticed a few comments asking if I was preggers?!?!?! ...WTF?!?!?! Are you kidding me??? I couldn't believe it! One of these comments was from my own brother. Um....wouldn't they think I would do better than to announce something like that on facebook? So I made another comment just now letting them know I am NOT the Mamma!!! One of my good friends here in PDX is and I am glad I was able to do this for her before I leave for T-town.

Whew! Now that I have got it out of my system, I am kinda laughing on the inside. Really... what kind of nut do they think I am?

Coach FTW

2009-06-27T09:58:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had to run some last minute errands before a baby shower we are co-hosting today which included a trip to the mall :) While we were there we made a quick stop off in the Kate Spade store to get Miss B some pencils for school next year. (Yeah, I know...who gets their kid designer pencils?...I do!!! And she knows as long as she keeps doing well in school then I will continue getting her fancy pencils BUT if she does poorly then she is back to the yellow #2s.) Well, the Kate Spade store was out of pencils soooooooo B was asking to check out if the Coach store was carrying any pencils. I have NEVER seen pencils at Coach before but wouldn't you know....there was a Poppy pencil display right at the front entrance of the store!!!! B was in Big Lurve. (Coach is her fave.) A handy dandy Coach clerk pounced on what he perceived to be a potential sale. Little did he know Miss B would be the one to score. Coach Clerk asked if we were interested in the Poppy pencils so I told him of the failed KS pencil procurement and how fab it would be if we could purchase these. He then told me of how I could spend major $$$$$ to get the pencils for free. I gave him my best Not On Your Life, Pal look so he told me I could go home and become a "fan of Coach on my Facebook account print out the verification sheet & bring it back in to get the pencils at no cost." "Sorry." I told him that we were moving many states away and this would be our last trip to the mall here.

Miss B must have seen her moment and jumped at the chance. She smiled sweetly at Coach Clerk and told him of her great LOVE of all things Coach and facebook too. "I would totally become a fan of Coach on Facebook BUT ....insert super sad face..... they deleted my account a couple of weeks ago :( " Coach Clerk took one look at my sweet sad little princess and asked us to wait a second. The next thing I knew he was coming back to us with a box of pencils. The sad face transformed to sheer joy in a nanosecond and the girl about jumped through the roof. "Thank you...Thank You....THANK YOU!!!!!!!!" she squealed.

Thank you so much to the kind Coach Clerk who put a little girl's happiness above his commission.

Brownie...fail

2009-06-22T15:00:00.000-07:00

Wouldn't you know that the Mr would get sick at the VERY MOST inconvenient time EVER?!?!?! Guess who has been taking care of him since Friday when he came down with the crud. Yep. You got that right....ME. I have been the perfect little nursemaid....bringing him hot tea, meals, and making sure he takes his meds. (He's not senile and forgets to take them....he is a man and HATES to take any kind of medication.) I tried to sweeten the deal by baking brownies. This worked fabulously until yesterday when I was down to the last two. I brought the brownies over to Miss B and told her to take the smaller one of the two because she was smaller than her dad when......she went to go for the larger one, looked at me hopefully and said "BUT I have Big hopes :)" I told her to keep on hoping and gave her the smaller brownie.

I'm Getting There

2009-06-16T11:24:00.000-07:00

Sooooooo....what was I thinking. The box free zone has totally gone out the window as well as just working on one area at a time BUT I do see progress and this makes me happy :) It is strange to see bookshelves sitting empty as well as empty dresser drawers. By the end of this week it is going to be like camping in my house. The one thing I am concerned about is what to do as far as food goes during the last few days. I really hate to go the whole fast food 3xs a day route and I think Miss B will revolt if I tell her we are going to do PB & J for every meal. Any suggestions here?

Tonight I am going to a karaoke place for a wedding reception tonight (at a karaoke place) and I am sooooo NOT prepared for this. We just purchased the gift yesterday along with wrapping paper and even MORE packing tape. The checker looked at me like I had lost my mind and said something like... "You know, you are NOT supposed to use that kind of tape when wrapping a gift???"......ummmm yeah, did this lady really think I was going to wrap this gift with heavy duty packing tape?! ....of course not I am going to make the Mr do it.

AND as if I am not crazy busy enough already I am helping to organize a baby shower for a friend to be held a few days before I leave PDX. I don't really know how much help I am at this point with all the brain drain I feel like I have. It's the thought that counts right? Let's just hope I can do more thank just think. :)

How Did They Do It?

2009-06-09T10:57:00.000-07:00

About a year ago I was preparing for the move here to Portland and now I am making the move back...without packers. Yep, you got that right. We are the movers and the shakers in this operation. I have come to greatly respect those that can pack up an entire house in 1 day. I don't know how they did it but the three fabulous girl power packers did just that to move us the first time. Here I am today with half-filled boxes everywhere and my mind headed straight to crazy. If you have any moving/packing tips, I am all ears. For now I think I am going to just focus on ONE room at a time and then move on to the next and the next and the next because this half & half house is ridiculous. I can't wait to have one cleaned out room (even if it is my closet) completely free of boxes or things to put in boxes. I'm keeping my fingers crossed with hopes this new method will work.

Info-mercials Rock

2009-06-04T13:10:00.000-07:00

Not much going on here right now just packing up boxes and getting distracted by YouTube. Here is probably one of my All Time Faves. You can't watch this video and NOT smile. Seriously!!!

"...It's easy. You just got one hand and chop Chop CHOP!!!!"

What Happened...

2009-06-01T15:11:00.000-07:00

Some of you know what has been going on lately with the Kally Family and probably get why I have been unable to post for awhile. For those of you who have NO idea here is what has been going on...

The Monday after Mother's Day I arrived to work as usual at Computer Co. to find that the Mr and I along with many other's were being laid off. The Company was thinning down to a bare bones crew in a last ditch attempt to make a save. I guess I could see this coming since I have worked for other companies in the past that were forced into mass layoffs but for some reason it was still a surprise to me (not the good kind). My heart just broke for all of the people coming into the office only to find out it would be their last day. All of us just stared blankly at each other some of us with tears in our eyes wondering just what would be next and what everyone else was going to do now. I knew one thing for sure.... we were no longer on the market to buy a house.

So many emotions were running high that last day at Computer Co and for some the invisible pink slip has caused many more days of emotional upset. Am I angry about this situation? Do I blame anyone for this? My answer is simple: No. I know in my heart no one would plan this and everyone involved wish things could be otherwise. I just feel sadness when thinking of how things have turned out and how so many dreams were crushed by a beaten down economy.

After talks, tears and the weighing of pros and cons the Mr and I have decided to head back home to Tulsa, OK. Some might think I am running back with my tail between my legs embarrassed BUT I AM NOT. Many of you do not know this because I always try to keep things light but this past year has been pretty hard on me. I stopped making phone calls to family and friends back home because it only reminded me of how much I missed them. I just couldn't deal with the let down of realizing how far away I was from where my heart was. The Mr & B were not fooled by my fake smiles and the way I filled my days. They knew. The only person I was fooling was myself and I wasn't doing a very good job of that either. I have dealt with so many days of depression that I don't ever want to count them out into weeks or months. I want to move on. I want to feel happy again. I want to look forward and see this Journey Home as a new page in our lives. Things will not all be the same as when we left. We will find new jobs, a new home, new schools but thankfully all of the old family and friends will be there to welcome us. For This I am thankful and hopeful of what is to come for us.

House Hunters

2009-05-06T06:41:00.000-07:00

So the big news here is....We FINALLY sold the Tulsa house!!!!! Now we are searching for a great house here in PDX. If any of my Portlanders know of a great house for sale in SW PDX feel free to let me know. In the meantime I have been checking out a few houses myself. Some have been some real winners too....wah wah WAH!!!

I'll tell you about the bad houses because those are the most fun to dish about.

Bad House 1: ...You know you're in the dog house when....the realtor opens the door and...Whoosh! You are almost knocked down on your heinie by the scent of multiple dogs. The house was empty but the owners must have had at least 15 dogs in the house from how strong the smell was :P I think I spent less than 5 minutes in this one deciding to leave when Miss B opened a closet door and said "I think I smell a Poodle." :)

Bad House 2: Not so updated. This one had a weird flow to it with the master bedroom being upstairs and all of the other bedrooms downstairs. I know it is the over-protective mother in me coming out but I prefer B's room to be on the same floor mine is. I want to be able to catch her sneaking out when she is a teenager and trying to run wild. (I don't think the girl will turn out like that BUT just in case I am gonna be ready!) It said it was updated but the carpet screamed 70s to me.

Tonight we are on the hunt again. Here is hoping I come upon a fab find and if I don't I'll be sure to tell you about all the turkeys we end up looking at.

Coast Post part 1

2009-04-27T08:56:00.000-07:00

What an exciting trip this was! I started it off by making EVERYONE get up at Stupid O'Clock in the morning so we could be on the road to Bandon by 5am. Let me tell you...I was NOT the most popular person in the house on this particular morning. We managed to get out by 5:30am (Good time for me. I am usually the Princess of Procrastination.) It rained most of the way there but once we arrived the rain cleared and the fog started to dissipate like magic.

Look at how excited the Mr is to be back near the ocean. It made me smile just taking this pic and still makes me smile just thinking about that day :)
The Mr and B, my two favorite people.

In Bandon the beach is kinda split into 2 halves by a jetty. One side is rocky (sandy with some huge rocks in the ocean and some along the beach too) and the other is more like the flat sandy beach that people imagine a beach to look like. On the first day we hung out on the rocky side. Wouldn't you know, one of the first things I spotted in the water was a Sea Lion?!?! So cute! ....But very fast....well faster than I am at taking pics he ducked back underwater. I waited around for it to pop up again but it didn't happen so we walked along the shore in awe of everything with me taking pictures at every new site.

Can you believe this rock with all of the starfish? I had never seen a live starfish IRL before and was shocked at the size of them. I expected them to be all tiny, cute & skinny but they are puffy and slimy looking instead. So I dared Miss B to touch one...yeah, I guess I am that kind of mom who will let her kid touch the slimy looking things first. B is no fool she told me she was NOT going to touch one of those things unless I promised to touch one too. I did and was weirded out by how hard and bumpy they feel.

Here are some of the starfish up close and personal.

A little further down the beach we came upon this huge nasty guy. I had never seen a jellyfish before either. Unlike the starfish this bugger was more like I expected. Miss B was NOT a fan of the jellyfish but was a sport enough to pose with it for a pic :)

***Coming up in the next Coast Post....the ocean shows me who's boss!

We All Scream.....

2009-04-21T06:49:00.000-07:00

...For Ice Cream. Prepare to scream even louder because this is FREE ice cream (free always tastes best to me :)

***For all Portland Peeps Ben & Jerry's is hosting Free Cone Day!!! So...if you live in Portland head on over to your nearest Ben & Jerry's to get some free ice cream (from 12pm-8pm). I'll be there and I'm hoping to have a cone of Triple Caramel Chunk in my hot little hand :)

Back but Busy

2009-04-20T21:52:00.000-07:00

I promise I am not abandoning anyone here just really busy (work, MIL visiting, and just getting back into a routine). We are back from our long weekend at the coast so look for a Coast Post soon. I've got some great pics and silly stories to come :)

In the Movies

2009-04-15T07:33:00.000-07:00

Last night American Idol was all about the movies right down to the vocal coach, Quentin Tarantino. Like the movies sometimes it's a thumbs up and sometimes a thumbs down. For me, last night was a thumbs downer. Most everyone bored me to tears. The 2 and 1/2 exceptions were Allison, Adam, and Anoop. The rest of them were pretty much "meh" for me. (A very unenthusiastic meh at that.)

Here is my mini rundown:
Allison sang I Don't Want to Miss a Thing. Normally I HATE this song (it just gets on mah nerves) but I liked her low key build up. I think I like Allison a little more each week. I just wonder if it is her talent I appreciate or how much I love rooting for an underdog. (+1)

Uh Oh! It was Return of the Guy-liner!!!! I still don't dig the emo/goth-ish look for Adam but I did love his version of Born to Be Wild. Yep folks. You read that right. I loved something Adam sang. I found Simon's comparison of Adam's performance to Rocky Horror hilarious. (I love Rocky Horror so maybe it makes sense that I loved this?) (+1)

Anoop was pretty good with his rendition of Everything I Do, I Do It for You but Dang! Couldn't he have picked a better ballad than that smarmy Bryan Adams song? (+1/2)

Danny was meh with Endless Love.
Matt & Kris weren't any better. What? Another Bryan Adams song?!?! Come ON!!!!

And out comes Lil. Somehow she scored the "Money Spot" on the show and she chooses to sing The Rose. Lil's performance was okay. Nothing I would write home about BUT her attitude when getting judged made me want to give her the boot right then and there. When a contestant argues with the judges I think they should get booted by default. (-1)

Bits & Pieces

2009-04-13T07:12:00.001-07:00

Twilight night was a blast!!! Now I am counting the days until New Moon is finished and in the theaters. Hanging out with the girls was so much fun I am racking my brain for other movies we can get together to watch.

Yesterday I made it out to ULTA to get my makeup fix. I swear that store is like crack. I can't go a month without making a trip there for something. I went there on a mascara mission this time. I have been wanting to try out the new-ish Loreal Double Extension Beauty Tubes Mascara for awhile now because I have been feeling like my lashes could use a bit of a boost lately. So I grabbed a tube of this and headed home to try it out. I applied the mascara to one eye...so I could compare the diff.
**This stuff is definitely a clubbing mascara or one you would want to wear for a photo shoot maybe. The one side of my face was some face paint, glitter and a platinum dye job away from turning me into Lady Gaga! On the bright side this mascara was easily removed with water and I didn't lose any lashes in the process.

It is Monday and I am already crazy with anticipation for the weekend. Why? (you ask) ....because I am going to the coast!!!! We are taking a long weekend to visit the Mr's place of birth. How exciting right? Well, even more exciting is that This will be my VERY First time to see the ocean (any ocean for that matter). Now I know the OR coast is not a place for swimming but I am hoping to bring back a couple of shells at least.

I have been putting off updating some stuff on the blog lately like the way outdated blog roll, my running & reading tracking, new pod casts I am loving....you know, that sort of thing. If you want a spot on the new and updated blog roll to come, please let me know and if by mistake I leave someone out...definitely let me know. I am doing this stuff in bits and pieces and I am bound to goof up somewhere.

Just wanted to let y'all know that today I will be enjoying some yummy matzo ball soup Miss B and the MIL made. Aren't they some sweeties?

OMG!!! I totally forgot. I might have jury duty! I got some sort questionnaire in the mail a couple of weeks back instructing me to fill it out with my trusty #2 pencil and send it back. It is crazy. I had lived all of my life in Oklahoma without having to serve jury duty once and I haven't lived in Oregon for a year yet and the state is already checking me out for this...um honor :) If I do get picked I hope everything goes quickly.

Mis-Steak

2009-04-10T08:28:00.000-07:00

Last night the Mr decided to cook some steaks on the George Faux-man grill. (I know not even the real thing. Steaks are supposed to be done outside BUT it was raining and we still have not purchased a new grill yet sooo forgive us.) Well....the Mr tried a different spice on the steaks, a Jamaican jerk, one we purchased from the farmer's market in Tulsa. He was totally clueless as to how much spice to use so being the over-achieving man that he is he just went bananas with it. Spice was rubbed into the steaks and sprinkled HEAVILY on both sides. After one bite the Mr's face started to turn red and I could swear he started to sweat. He looked at me and apologized for the steak Miss B and I would NOT be able to eat. That was not going to stop us. We are some stubborn girls. Both Miss B and I loaded our plates with some steak and dug in. .....the Mr was right. Not only was the steak fiery enough to burn my lips, mouth, throat and make my nose start to run it was tough too. I gamely kept chewing and chewing and chewing....yeah, that wasn't going to work. We gave back the steaks and I remembered when Miss B was little she would ask for her Daddy to make Mis-Steaks for us to eat :) I kindly told the Mr maybe he could use the meat to make a stew and B enthusiastically agreed....."yes, dad you could used the meat to make a shoe!!!" Oh my, how I love that girl of mine.....when the joke is not on me, of course.

***Other stuff going on at the Casa de Kally: Tonight is Twilight Night!!! I bought the DVD & I am having some girls over for drinks, dinner & some fantastic vampire angsty lust. *Little girls will be banished to the upstairs and drugged with Disney :)

So Long Scott

2009-04-09T08:22:00.000-07:00

Wednesday night was Scott MacIntyre's last as an American Idol contestant. Yeah, you got that right. The judges decided not to use their save on him. (I still think they are keeping the save in their pocket in the case Allison ends up with the lowest vote count.) It was surprising to see Anoop land in the bottom 3 after hearing from so many sources about how much better he was Tuesday night. Must be from that awful Usher song he sang before still scaring us away. In the end it was a pretty boring, fully expected results show.

**I did not like/love the Kellie Pickler performance last night. Every time I see her singing one thought continuously runs through my head "Stop trying to be Carrie Underwood!" Kelly looked a little tranny last night and at times a little possessed when she would bug out her eyes.....disturbing. Why did they decide to play the dumb blonde act with her yet again? Ugh!

**What was up with Paula and the opera gloves? Who dresses the judges & contestants? Now that is who really needs to be given the boot!!!!

What did you think? Did you pick Scott to go?

Gee Your Hair Smells Minty Fresh...

2009-04-08T09:50:00.000-07:00

and Other Bad Kally Mishaps. This should be the full name of this post because for some reason those are the moments I am having right now. This morning while I was brushing my teeth I managed to spit toothpaste into my hair. Now that takes some talent...right? To really understand my accident looking to happen issues....Let us start with...

Monday: Work goes well. Evening workout with ScrappyGirl goes great. Then I came home and the bad luck/Bad Kally moments began. I was cleaning out our giant pantry in attempt to throw out old stuff and get rid of the chametz. When pulling the last of the junk from the pantry I crashed my elbow into a some canned food. Yeeeouch! Then I tripped over the same chair twice. I ran into the coffee table banging up my shin. I told the Mr I was through. -No more accidents for me.- Boy was I fooled! When I was taking off my workout top my arm slipped and I scraped a large piece of skin from my face with my razor of death & destruction thumbnail. ***insert screams of bloody murder*** Thankfully Miss B saved the day with a Ziploc of ice. (My little lifesaver :) Now my face looks like I have a bit of road rash on my cheek and near my eye.

Tuesday: Ack! The MIL was supposed to show up and I still had tons of cleaning to do. I scrubbed 3 toilets, 2 tubs, 3 sinks, and discovered a little band of ants trying to shack up with me in the house! There was no ant spray on hand (so in case you need this little tid bit of info) glass & surface cleaner works like a charm to rid your house of those awful little buggers just as well. While I ran around my house like a chicken with my head cut off I neglected to DVR American Idol :( Bad Kally :( Sad Kally :( I didn't realize how much I love listening to this bundle of hopefuls try to entertain me.

Wednesday: So I apologize for the lack of AI Round Up today. I set my DVR to record all upcoming episodes to prevent this from happening again. To get your AI fix today you should check out SmoochieFrog. She puts out a pretty wicked cool AI updated as well.

*Wish me luck on an accident free day today :)

Winners!!!!!

2009-04-07T07:13:00.000-07:00

The winner of the Friday Finale is.........A
and since A found her way here Miss B picked ....Carrie out of the drawing cup for the Target gift card!!!

Ladies Congrats!!!! And Thank you, Thank You, Thank You to all of you who have participated in celebrating my blogiversary!!! I hope to blah blah blog at you soon :)

Friday Finale The Last Give Away

2009-04-03T07:11:00.000-07:00

It is the end of the week and the last of My favorite things give away! I have crazy mad love for all of you so I wanted to make this last one a big Big BIG one!

Here is a quick low down on what is included in the bundle of joy & give away goodness

a cute little recipe box and recipe cards for all of your favorite things to bake

a blue butterfly apron to wear while baking :)

gummy coke to munch on in the meantime

3 cute preppy little notepads to scribble your thoughts on

a slinky jr for fun
Because I adore Bath & Bodyworks I had to include

B&B Rain Kissed Leaves Lotion & Shower Gel (Travel Sized)

B&B Butterfly Flower Lotion (Travel Sized) -this is one of my new faves.

B&B Sea Island Cotton anti-bacterial hand gel (mini)

an aquamarine bath/shower puff by Bathery

Made In Oregon Coconut Lime Verbena soap cupcake by Hand Pour Soaps & Bath Products
To keep your lips de-chap-a-fied you get

2 Burts Bees lip balm ...1 original and 1 honey
I love Love LOVE OPI soooo

OPI minis, The South Beach Collection

So here is what you can do to win all of these great goodies:
Comment = 1 entry (tell me how great you think I am because I think y'all are totally fab!)
Follow Me!= 1 extra entry
Post about this giveaway! = 3 extra entries
***Now if you post about it, have your peeps tell me you sent them here AND if they are the winner then you will win a $20 gift card to my fave store Tar-jay!***

Good Luck to EveryOne!!!
**Since I am Crazy Late about getting this post up I will extend this one to Monday April 6, 2009, 5pm PST. :)

Early Morning Give Away

2009-04-02T06:23:00.000-07:00

To continue on with my Blogiversary Celebration I sit here posting at 6:15AM thinking of my favorite thing in the morning.

Q: What wakes me up like nothin' else? What do I beg for when I feel I am working on half a brain?
A: Yep, you already knew....COFFEE!!!! Not just any coffee though, Stumptown Coffee!

Today's giveaway includes Stumptown's one bag (cuz I have no clue how much that is this early in the morning) of Holler Mountain Blend Coffee and a ginormous coffee mug (just for you) to drink this fabulous Portland coffee from.

Comment away to enter this give away and follow me for an extra entry.
***Don't forget! You can enter all giveaways until this Saturday at 12pm PST.****

ETA: The Winner of this one is......Eggo!!!

Miss B chose your name out of my fancy Princess Pimp Cup turned drawing cup (only for the moment :)

1 YEAR/ Give Away #1

2009-04-01T07:24:00.001-07:00

Wow! I can't believe I have been doing this for a year now! Thank you to all of my online/bloggy friends who have faithfully followed me even through my lazy blogger times. I treasure this chance to meet (sort of) so many people and just shout out my thoughts whether they be silly, funny, heartwarming, or informative. To celebrate my 1 year Blogaversary I am going to give away a few of my favorite things. I'm kicking it off with a year subscription to one of my favorite mags, Real Simple. Now how do you win this you ask? ....Leave me a comment!!!! Follow me!!!!

I love extended celebrations so the giveaways will continue throughout the week. I will announce the winners Saturday, April 4 2009 (12pm PST). This means you will have until then to enter each and every one of the giveaways I post :)

Good Luck to Y'all!!!!

ETA: The Winner is......Susie Q
Miss B chose your name out of the drawing cup :)

AI Popstars?

2009-04-01T06:51:00.000-07:00

Last night's American Idol was pretty okay with some obvious stand-out performances and some I really wish I could have skipped. Why was I not using my ff button during those?

Anoop kicked things off with some Usher (Caught Up). I was really loving Anoop but this one really stunk for me. I get that he wants to be an R&B star but I just don't think R&B is what he is good at. I love hearing the ballads from Anoop where his voice can soar. This song left me spacing out thinking of performances past and wincing when I came back to the present. Sorry Anoop: -1

Megan Joy sang Turn Your Lights Down Low while the Mr was hollering at me to turn the sound down low. I guess I had it a little loud? Nothing about this performance was good for me. The girl is starting to get on my nerves. Every time she has her pre-song interview she says "I really love this song." It seems America doesn't really love the songs she does. She keeps landing in the bottom 3. Why doesn't Megan listen to the judges suggestions of songs/artists she should cover??? -1

Danny Gokey touched my heart last night with the emotion in his song, What Hurts the Most. I felt he really connected with the song and with the audience as well. Loved it!!!! +1

When I heard Scott MacIntyre was going to do a Billy Joel song I wanted to jump with JOY! Love, Love, Loved his version of Just the Way You Are!!!! I liked it so much I decided a instant replay was in order. The Mr took off his headphones long enough to listen and he agreed....It was Fan-Freakin-Tastic!!! +1

I was Crazy-Surprised by Kris Allen with his rendition of Ain't No Sunshine. Until now all I referred to him as Tender Dawg. (Remember when Randy called him this?) Believe me, I won't be forgetting his name now! +1

Middle of the Roadies for me were Allison & Adam. The first half of Allison's song was good but she lost me on the last half -too much shouting is not good girlie. Adam's song was interesting and I really appreciated the absence (2 weeks in a row) of the guy-liner. +1/2

Judging the Judges
Kara still needs to work on those numbers. I may be wrong but I could swear that it was Studio 54?

Still Kickin'

2009-03-31T06:53:00.000-07:00

I'm still here everyone. Work has kept me busy during the days and yet another silly cold has kept me grumpy at nights.

Last night I squeezed a work-out in while I had some cold meds going on. I swear, I felt so much better just being in the gym. (OMG! Could exercise be the best medicine?) Maybe not when your sick because I just coughed on cue as if to answer my own question.

I've gotta run. Time to tame the ugly little lion queen mane that is sitting atop my head so I don't scare all of the peeps at Computer Co.

I'll be watching AI tonight and I promise an update will be coming your way. AND don't forget what what tomorrow is.....you WON'T want to miss it :)

Remember When Wednesday

2009-03-25T08:40:00.000-07:00

On my way into the office this morning, my eyes were temporarily blinded and my memory was in need of a good bleach scrubbing to erase some major construction crack! Ewwww!!! Seeing this atrocious site made me think of how guys in the 90s and sadly some today would sport the baggy pants belted half-way down their bums with their boxer clad booties hanging out the other half. Serious Blech :p Well this guy must have forgotten the whole boxers are a must to complete this gangsta wannabe look or else the world would end up eyeing your goods and crying in agony about it later! (like me: Aahhhh! My eyes! My eyes!!!)

Remember When: For me it was high school when all of those boys thought they were da bomb if they wore their pants 5 sizes too big and halfway down their rears. I was not a fan of this look then and I still can't stand it now when some random guy walks by with those draggy drawers. How in the world were so many girls lovin' this look and thus convincing so many confused high school boys to keep steppin' it up a notch??? Remember how they had to belt these baggy pants with the extra long braided belt?

I think the best critique of the gangsta wannabe baggy pants look was straight from a 90s movie.
I mean, come on, it looks like they just fell out of bed and put on some baggy pants and take their greasy hair - ew - and cover it up with a backwards cap and we're supposed to swoon? I don't think so! -Cher/Clueless

Where's Mah Coffee?

2009-03-23T08:46:00.000-07:00

OMG! My brain is just NOT working today! I think it is on Man-Mode. A friend just asked when the Mr's birthday and our anniversary was and I had to ask the Mr to confirm the dates I had in my head. You do not even realize how hard this was for me to bring myself to ask the Mr for help on dates I should know. Of course, he reveled in the glory of my forgetfulness with a smirk that told me I just gave him a get out of jail free pass for forgetting a date. Ugh! I hate it when that happens!!! I think the reason for my forgetting the dates is I only have one date in my head right now and that is..... April 1st, my ONE YEAR Blogiversary. I am planning on doing multiple give aways in celebration of this momentous day. I just can't decide whether I want to do it in just one day or spread the give aways out over the course of a few days. Oh, I need a cool button but haven't figured out how to make that happen yet. What do you think?

A Graceful Exit

2009-03-19T08:55:00.000-07:00

Well color me with pink highlight surprise because I sure was surprised to see Miss Alexis Grace sent packing last night. In hindsight I know I shouldn't have been that shocked she was given the boot since her performance of Jolene was so forgettable I even neglected to mention it in my AI Round-up. I knew she was not going to get the possible save when Simon called her Allison...Oops! She stayed quite poised when the judges announced their decision to not "save" her after they asked her to sing for her life. (The Mr thinks it is stupid of AI to ask the contestants to try to get saved by singing the same song the people think wasn't good enough to keep them around. I think I might agree with him here.)

The big shocker of the night was when Carrie Underwood took the stage. I am sure you might have had thoughts or conversations similar to the one Miss B and I had.

Me: Oh My Gosh! What happened to Carrie's hair?!?!

B: Looks like somebody tied it up and stuck a bug in it.

Me: Oh, No. She got her hair cut.

B: Yeah, very badly.

Although I have never been big on the Barbie hair Carrie usually tends to wear I dislike the Suburban Soccer Mom hairdon't on her much more. Thank goodness for hair extensions! :)

What are your thoughts on last night's results?

American Idol Round-Up

2009-03-18T09:06:00.000-07:00

YeeHaw!!! It was Country Week y'all on good ole AI. Now as always I will tell you my faves (+1s) and the ones I'd rather forget (-1s).

+1 Megan Joy - I really have not liked this girl the entire season and have been hoping she gets the boot every time I see her do that weird jerky move she always makes. Now with that being said I am betting you are wondering why I stuck her in my +1 column. Here is my reason: Patsy Cline done different. OMG how I love me some Patsy Cline and Miss Megan reminded me of this. I even kind of liked her version of Walking After Midnight. She sounded very jazzy and reminiscent of Diana Krall for me.

+1 Allison Iraheta - Wow! This girl is really growing on me. I don't know what it is about her but the more I hear her sing the more I like her. So keep singing Allison, I want to hear more. (I do NOT get why everyone seems so surprised at the maturity in her voice. Did everyone else miss the clip showing how the girl has been singing since she was like 8-ish???)

+1 Anoop - Originally, I loved Anoop for his Dorky Boy charm but his performance last night was AWESOME!!!! That boy can sing! I could listen to Anoop sing his version of Always On My Mind over and over and over and over and over and over .....

-1 Scott MacIntyre - I really do like this guy and I agree with Simon on keeping him behind the piano but I was disappointed in his song choice. One can listen to so many inspirational ballad like songs before one is tempted to either ff or change the channel. If he sticks around I would love to hear him sing/play something more upbeat & lively.

-1 Adam Lambert - Am I the ONLY AI watcher who can't stand this guy??? I just don't like him. He looks like somebody put Pete Wentz & Joe Jonas in a blender. He sounds like he is trying to sing like Freddie Mercury half of the time and I have no clue the other half. I think it was a mistake to do that to a Johnny Cash song. Too bad everyone else seems to love this guy and he will coast through despite it all.

-1 Michael Sarver - The song he chose did not really showcase that much vocal range. It did show me that he might be in the competition to be America's Next Super Fast Singer. (and if he could talk as fast as he sung that song he could probably be the next micro machine guy) He is a nice guy but I think it is goodbye for our Oil Rig Roughneck :(

Judging the Judges

Enough all ready with the over the top dramatic judge entrance. I really hate this crazy, long, boring opening. The only thing that could possibly make this good with me is if somebody tripped on the way to the table. (I don't want to see anything hurt but some pride here.)

Simon - Had me rolling with laughter in his refusal to call Lil "Lil" but instead referred to her as Little. I get the feeling if he calls her Little one more time she might just punch him out.

Kara - Good lordy be! This girl was 2 shoulder pads away from some Dynasty get-up!

So who did you love/hate last night?

Weird Dreams & Workouts

2009-03-17T08:47:00.000-07:00

I have been having some of the worst dreams lately. Not bad/scary dreams but definitely NOT enjoyable ones. Most of these strange dreams have included: people coming to visit/stay at my house, more snow and people dying. I knew I shouldn't have watched that 2 hour long show about the Plague on the History channel but I just couldn't change the channel. Now I think I am suffering the consequences of watching that awful show. I am hoping to chase away those crazy dreams with some American Idol tonight or at the very least morph the current bad dreams into something including music.

Last night I went with ScrappyGirl to the gym. I thought I would change it up a little and ride the bike. Okay so the guy already running on the treadmill made up my mind for me but Wow Wow Wubbzy did I work out my legs. I forgot how different it is riding the bikes and for awhile I have kinda looked down my snooty little nose at the stationary bike lovers. I have learned my lesson. After cranking up the resistance to an unbelievable level and pedaling my heart out (while huffing & puffing like a geriatric wolf) I must give out some props to the bike riders!!! These peeps must have some legs of steel (unlike mine that felt sorta like spaghetti noodles trying to wobble up some stairs). I am headed back to the gym Wednesday night for round 2 or maybe I will just take on the elliptical instead. Who knows?

***Holla at all the Leprechauns out there!! Happy St. Patrick's!!!***

Power of the Purse & a Craftastic Saturday

2009-03-13T08:51:00.000-07:00

I went with ScrappyGirl last night to a charity event for Girls Inc called Power of the Purse. This was so much fun. We ran around in fake pearls and ogled pretty purses and bags I could only dream of owning. The atmosphere was buzzing with excitement but the food was tiny with the exception of the dessert which was my demise. This morning I awoke feeling as if I had been drawn & quartered, magically had my limbs attached and then been drug through the mud. After a short morning chat with ScrappyGirl we came to the conclusion that it was the dessert that killed me. (She is feeling fine and dandy.) Word to the wise...avoid the chocolate mousse cake with extra chocolate icing or else you will suffer the morning after death by dessert feeling I have. I rustled up some dirt flavored coffee to try to perk myself up but could only suffer through half of the tiny Styrofoam cup before dumping it down the drain. I am hoping my veggie-fide lunch can bring me back to the land of the living :)

I thought this purse was so cute. It wasn't in the auction but I thought it was crazy cool that the designer, Jayne Dearborn, has had some of her bags featured on Ugly Betty.

ScrappyGirl fell hard for this bag and despite my crappy camera skills you can see why. That rich brown leather was so lush and I found the design to be absolutely amazing.

When I noticed this beauty I thanked my lucky stars Miss B stayed home with the Mr. The girl would have bid on this purse with every bit of what is in the bank....and then some.

Finally here is the purse I dreamed of taking home with me. I think it was made from lambskin. I touched the pretty pink purse and I swear it was like buttah. I wanted this sooo bad and I just watched it float away on a cloud to the winning bidder.

Shoshana Bean singing a Wicked song. She has appeared on Broadway in Hairspray and Wicked. Loved, Loved, LOVED this part of the evening!

****Tomorrow ScrappyGirl will be hosting a Mom & Me crafting event and has room for more. For any of you local Moms interested it will be: this Saturday from 2-5pm and cost is $12 per family or $8 if you come w/o kiddos in tow. Click HERE to see her site and let her know if you are interested in coming. I will be there with Miss B!!!

Blending In With the Rest of Them

2009-03-12T08:33:00.000-07:00

Yep. It was me today walking in downtown Portland today carrying:
2 purses
1 backpack
1 extra set of clothes
1 plastic bag with stuff in it
And talking to myself about how I looked like a bag lady.

So there you go. I was the crazy lady walking down the street, carrying a ton of crud, and yelling at no one in particular.

Weekend WhazZup?!

2009-03-09T11:47:00.000-07:00

It is so NOT fun to term my talking about my weekends as updates so I have decided to name my weekend update posts as "Weekend WhazZup?!" and because I think of my WhazZups in bits and pieces I will probably break things up into list format.

Some Terms that might help you:
Rew - Rewind
FF - Fast Forward

Rew: To start my wacky weekend off, I jankied up my leg. I was going upstairs and wow, wow, wow the Pain. My achilles tendon and the heel of my foot were hurting like mad. For the rest of the weekend I wore an ankle brace and hobbled around like I was in desperate need of a cane. FF: We all had to dress up in the office here at Computer Co today and crazy Kally thought it would be okay to wear heels. I wasn't all crazy I brought a pair of flats just in case.

Rew: We took Miss B to a birthday party. My word! This was one of the strangest tween parties I have ever attended. The girls ran around the house, screaming at the top of their lungs while one of them chased the others with a Teletubby. During cake time there was a rousing discussion on how much they hated the Jonas Brothers. Followed by more screams. (I had to agree with the tweens here. I think there should be a law against boys owning a flat iron and skinny jeans.) Then the party became a tween girl hatefest. They all "hated" Jo Bros, Twilight, Hanah Montana's new hair, and many other Disney Tween things.

Rew: Wacky Weather: Now you can't have a proper wacky weekend without involving the weather. Yesterday we had a rain cloud over our house. (I am not speaking figuratively here either.) The rain was falling right outside my house and once I was 2 houses away the sun was out and shining bright enough for shades. About 30 minutes later I noticed little pieces of sleet beginning to fall. Then in no time at all we had full blown hail falling from the sky. This was not Oklahoma type hail, this hail was much smaller but it covered the ground like a layer of snow/ice/whatever. FF: This morning we had snow. It didn't stick but a ton of snow fell. Then the sun came out. This pattern repeated twice. If I didn't know better, I'd swear I was back in Oklahoma with all of this indecisive weather.

***I guess I'll end with a B-ism.
When we had our guests over for dinner last week, the Mr thought he could be funny and get her to say something cute so he said "Miss B, what is it we say? If mama isn't happy...."
(of course, the girl never acts upon command)
B: (wild, crazed, scared look across her face) HIDE!!!!!

Once again, thanks a lot B.

Mmmm Cake and More

2009-03-06T09:07:00.000-08:00

Dinner last night went off great!!! I did have to make an adjustment/shortcut to my applesauce cake because of time constraints. -I didn't get to do it from scratch so I went the sorta home made route. (I just don't get how Rachel Ray can do a dish in just 30 mins. Am I doing something wrong here? It took me a little over an hour to get my food finished.) For those of you interested in a Super Duper Easy way to make an applesauce cake when you have a limited amount of time, here you go.

1 & 1/2 cups of applesauce
1 box of white cake mix

*Don't follow the directions on the cake mix box. All you have to do is mix the above 2 ingredients together. Non-stick spray your pan and throw it in the oven @ 350 degrees for 30-40 mins. (I left my cake in for 35mins.) And Ta-Da!!! You have a cake.

***For a topping I made a glaze. Of course, the Mr complained because he thinks all cakes are supposed to have icing on them. This cake is so versatile you could do just about anything with it: top it with sugared strawberries or any fruit of your choice for that matter. I think the next time I do this cake I am going to put some dried apple slices in the batter, then top it with a fruit and serve ice cream on the side. Does that sound yummy or what?!?!

This weekend I am taking Miss B to the mall and then a B-day party. I have been asked to bake something for some business peeps coming to Computer Co next week. Any suggestions??

Watching AI on My Terms

2009-03-05T08:23:00.000-08:00

I am an American Idol cheater. After the tremendously awful episode last week I was extremely wary of what was to come this week. So what did I do? I recorded Tuesday's show on my DVR and watched it the Kally way (Hmmmm, this guy is boring. Thank goodness I have fast forward!!!) I ended up ff-ing through about half of the contestants and since I didn't really feel a connection with any of them I wasn't worried about missing last night's results show. I still wanted to know who would make it through because I really liked Scott and a few others. Then I got smart and realized I am in PST and AI has to air for other time zones before mine sooooooo I went on the Internet and googled AI results and -badda BING-o!- I knew who was getting through and wild card contestants without having to endure all of the Seacrest drama: "And the person going through to the Top 12 will be.....announced after this..." -It was so nice not to have that going on and to top it off I gained an extra hour to do whatever I wanted. w00t!

Tonight I am having friends over for dinner. I am cooking the Mr's favorite pasta dish/casserole, a side, and an applesauce cake. I have to make dinner magically happen in about an hour so let's keep our fingers crossed that everything turns out and I don't have to cook the man way......ordering pizza :)

ETA: I must give Props & Snaps where deserved. When I commented on cooking "the man way" I did not take into consideration the above awesome cooking style of Mr E of the E Family. His cooking creations are fabulous! I even dream about his Mexican dishes some nights :)

OMG! in a Cup

2009-03-03T16:45:00.000-08:00

At your average office happy hour means drinks. At Computer Co it means ICE CREAM baby (Ben & Jerry's to be specific)!!! Imagine my disappointment as the boys gathered to run out of the office in their normal hungry heard style and I knew I had to stay in and finish work tasks. Thank all that is good and ice-creamy that the Mr went along on this run and brought back....wait for it.......Triple Caramel Chunk ice cream!!!! This was the most fantabulous of all ice creams: a creamy vanilla base with streams of caramel running through it and the best part of all was the chocolate chunks with caramel filling. Ahhhhh paradise. Don't worry about the cals. You could be eating something much worse for you that doesn't taste half as good. Go ahead go for it!

My Dad

2009-03-02T14:33:00.000-08:00

So when I told y'all about the Saturn Bootie Bump, I totally forgot to tell you about what my dad said when I called him and told him all about it.

First off you need some background on Dad. He is a total hypochondriac, over protective, over reactive. I lovingly think of him as the Drama King at times.

He called me late Friday night while I was running on my treadmill. The Mr took a message and forgot to tell me until Saturday night. Bad Daughter that I am I forgot and didn't call until Sunday afternoon.

Here are some snippets from our conversation:

Kally: Sorry Dad. Forgot to call yesterday because we were running errands and got rear ended by some Bungalow Joe in a blue mustang.

Dad: What?!?!!!! Iseveryoneokay?!!!! HowisMissB?!!!!! (He seriously talks like that when he is worried. It sounds like one big sentence word.)

Kally: She is fine. We all are fine. Car is okay. Don't worry.

Dad: Are you sure? Maybe you should go to the hospital. You know, that is why I called you. I just had a bad feeling. You know? Like something happened and I should call you.

Kally: Oh mah gosh, Dad. Nobody needs to go to the hospital. We are fine and Nothing happened Friday night. We had the accident late Saturday afternoon.

Dad: Yeah, well it was a feeling. I was tuned in..... Like a premonition. Well, what was that guy doing anyway that he hit your car???

Kally: I don't know but he obviously was NOT paying attention.

Dad: He was probably worrying about his girlfriend instead.

I love my Dad.

Weekend Happenings

2009-03-02T08:43:00.000-08:00

I just thought I was going to have an uneventful weekend. I should know by now any time I announce how things are going to be 9 times out of 10 the complete opposite happens.

Saturday morning the Mr informed me of his desire to take B hiking Sunday afternoon. (They are outside people like that. You know the whole camping, sleeping on the rocks and roughing it stuff kind of peeps.) We all hopped in the car and after a quick lunch at DQ we headed to the nearest sporting goods/outdoors store. While we were stopped for a pedestrian to cross the entrance to the parking lot ***WHAMO*** some guy in a blue mustang rear ended us. (This was NOT the excitement I was hoping for.) --Thank goodness we were all okay and the rear bumper of our little silver Saturn only has a few tiny blue scrapes and scratches. When the mustang whomped our car bootie, the first thing the Mr & I did was ask Miss B if she was okay. Her reply to us was simple: "I'm okay but I think the dilly bar I ate was shaken up all over my stomach."

Sunday it rained. No hiking happened so B and I went ahead with the bread pudding. This was my first try at bread pudding and I didn't really like this recipe. It ended up tasting more like a souffle and not as dense as I usually prefer. The sauce that was to be drizzled over the top was fantastic though. The Mr said it smelled and tasted like french toast to him. In case you are interested in a yummy sweet sauce to drizzle over a cake, bread pudding or anything here is the recipe.

1 cup corn syrup
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup butter

Combine all ingredients (except butter) in a medium saucepan. Cook, medium heat. Once sauce is thinned add butter. Stir continuously until butter is melted. Drizzle over your favorite pastry/baked good.

One Great Give Away

2009-02-27T14:54:00.000-08:00

To start things of with a Bang, the newly opened Ribbon Blossoms Chic Boutique is celebrating their Grand Opening with a GIVEAWAY!!! They have the CUTEST Hair bows for little girls & babies. (My personal fave is the Garden Bugs but I know B would go wild for the Ponytail Singles.) To enter the give away click HERE to visit Tanielle of The Polka Dot Daisy (she is one of the fabulous co-owners & is hosting the giveaway) and leave her a comment and let her know what cute little bow, tutu, or pair of pixie wings you cannot live without!

The Loot you could win:
if you have a big girl

or
if you have a baby girl

and they don't forget the Mama
This is the Bonus!!!!

Isn't it just Fabulous?!!!
Luck to y'all!!

Running On Empty

2009-02-27T08:55:00.000-08:00

I seriously have nothing to say today. My plans for this weekend include: grocery shopping, running, doing taxes, cleaning, and the highlight....trying out a new recipe for bread pudding (which is one of my absolute favorite desserts in the whole world). I feel like I might as well have just typed blah: blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. Blah?

Do any of you ever get one of these days when you look at your post and think: "Ugh, I am soooooo boring." ???

AI Addict Update

2009-02-26T08:28:00.000-08:00

Last night ScrappyGirl came over for some American Idol & Chinese food. I was so excited to see & listen to this next round of contestants but was left wanting...wishing...hoping that this episode would just be over with. I'm tellin' you. These people were Bor-Ing! It was a complete snore-fest with the exception of the fabulous Mistah Norman Gentle. Seriously, that guy cracks me up!!! I thought I was going to bust a gut laughing while watching him tenderly caress the Idol sign/logo. Although his singing was not the best, I found his wacky performance to be the most entertaining of the night.

Those with singing skills:

Admission: I had to look up these peeps names because in my mind they have different names but goes to show you that I found almost everyone else forgettable enough to not even remember their real names.

Allison Iraheta (Kool-Aid hair): Her version of Heart's "Alone" was good although I felt it was a tad shouty (as Simon would say) at times.

Adam Lambert (Jo-Bro Wannabe in sight not sound): So was anyone else slightly distracted by his uncanny resemblance to the Jo-Bros? Maybe it was the flat ironed hair or the skinny jeans? I was so glad not to hear a Disney Pop song but instead something with sustenance. His rendition of "Satisfaction" rocked. I didn't love him but I think I could like him so long as he loses the skinny jeans.

Those that made me say WHAT?!

I am NOT looking up these peoples names.

Leggy: How did this girl make it through?! No background story and no great talent. Must have been because of the judges love for her legs? (Am I the only one bothered by the some-what pervy Chester-the-Molester-ish smile that Simon displays any & every time a pretty, young girl who is willing to dress skimpily/skeezy gets on stage?)

Tattoo Girl: Her singing was good but her clothes earned an her an F. What was up with that little girl Easter dress and ballet flats she was wearing? I am sorry but in my world that dress and a sleeve tattoo do NOT go together. Her Tourette's like twitches made her performance even more wrong/strange.

Judging the Judges
Paula: Love that she is being more critical of performances and not just loving everyone. (Did anyone else notice that Miss Paula seemed a little more Boobtastic than normal? ScrappyGirl thinks it was because of her weird hair-do.)

Randy: Not much to judge because it seemed like the other judges didn't let him speak too much.

Kara: I am starting to get sick of this girl. She acts as if she has been along for the ride all however many seasons and makes too many personal jokes that sound wrong coming from a newbie judge.

Simon: He was Simon. He hated almost everyone. No surprises here.

What did you think of last night's show?

Office Decor

2009-02-24T10:35:00.000-08:00

It's pretty much a sure thing that a bunch of BOYS work in your office when this is who greets you every morning on your way in.

Oh, the temptation I deal with every time I look at these guys. I dream of bringing one of B's old Polly Pockets to the office and sitting her up next to one of the Army Dudes. Wonder what the boys would think of that???

Joining the Sisterhood

2009-02-23T07:12:00.000-08:00

Thanks to all of your well wishes for a speedy recovery from the Computer Co Croup, I am glad to report everyone in the Kally Family is feelin' fine now!!! Boy, am I thankful for good health in the house. Then to make things even better I was given the Sisterhood Award from Tanielle of The Polka Dot Daisy.

The rules:Put the logo on your blog or post. Nominate at least 10 blogs which show great Attitude and/or Gratitude! Be sure to link to your nominees within your post. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog. Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received your award.

Passing it On:
1.) There's Something in the Glass
2.) The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
3.) Eat Your Veggies!
4.) English Tea
5.) Life As I Know It From Memphis
6.) Icelandic Gardening, Knitting, Gradstudent, Mom
I can name so many more but I must get back to work.

Grumpy Gerty

2009-02-20T12:24:00.000-08:00

I am back. Well, kind of back. You will have to take it easy on me today because I am only working with half a brain here. Right now, I am that person at work who is blowing her nose incredibly loud, coughing into her elbow and purelling herself to death. Yep that's me. But let me tell you, I am 99 times better than I was on Wednesday and Thursday when I kept this crap at home. I had tons of stuff to do today so I had to bring my booty into the office. Funny how not too many people have come to my desk with their usual wants and needs...instead I have a phone full of voice mails and emails coming out the wazoo. I am getting it done though and wouldn't you know telling y'all about it is making me feel even better. Tonight I am making clean sheets happen and maybe I can attack the laundry monster that has reappeared in my room during my time out. Somehow laundry monster junior came along too (me thinks Miss B brought her basket in my room so mine would have a little company).

Went to lunch just now and realized that I can get pretty short fuzed when I am not feeling fantastic. While waiting in line for Subway, the Mr began to whistle. About 15 seconds later I threatened to rip his lips off if the whistling didn't stop. -Silence- The guy standing in front of me quietly edged away closer to the counter. Then we all waited and waited and waited.

You gotta love Subway the only place I know of where they count out everything you order....even the napkins. Finally I could see the reason for all of the line traffic. -The guy putting the veggies on the sandwiches was so freakin' slow. Now I know they like to think of themselves as "sandwich artists" but you'd think this guy thought he was Leonardo da Vinci or something with each veggie carefully placed, evenly spaced, and god help you if something fell out of place because he would rearrange the entire thing. All I want is someone who can just grab a handful of whatever I ask for and throw it on the bread, put some dressing on it and wrap it up so I can pay and be on my way. **The upside of this. My sandwich tasted pretty good and I got an orange soda. Orange Fanta always makes me happy :)

Sorry for all the gripes. There are many more things I am jumping with joy about but it feels wrong to lump such great things in with a Gripey Gerty post. So I'll get back with you tomorrow. Until then, wishes to all for a good weekend!

Breath In, Breath Out

2009-02-17T12:53:00.000-08:00

Good Golly Day!!! I think I am losin' my freakin' mind! The Computer Co Croup has made it's way to my area of the office and settled right in. My nose is so congested it is making my head feel bloated. You know how the congestion gets stuck there and you can't blow your nose or do anything to get rid of it? Yep. I have that. The worst part is when I try to breath in through my nose there is an audible squeak. I am desperate here. Wondering if I can get a nasal aspirator for adults. You know the kind. With the blue bulb on the end. In the Kally house this is known as.....the Boogie Snatcher!!!!

Behold the Boogie Snatcher in all it's baby blue glory!!!

B-isms

2009-02-16T16:41:00.000-08:00

Miss B has been hanging out in the office with me today because of Presidents Day. So here are a couple of B-isms for you....

This morning with the Mr looking for the DS charger.
B: Why don't you know where your charger is?

Mr: I don't know maybe because I am losing all of my technology. My DS has been gone for months.And my digital camera is gone too.

B: Well I suggest you try keeping your technology in your office. Then you wouldn't keep losing it all of the time.

***Miss B pretty much took the DS over the instant he opened the package. I, Kally, have the camera in my purse at all times. :)

A couple of minutes ago....

***B was on her Eee PC***
B: I had 164 Requests on my Facebook account! I can NEVER let this happen. AGAIN. Cause this stuff is way too important.

**I was struggling to keep the straight face while thinking of how many adults would agree with her last thought. Face-crack has lured yet another in.

Trouble

2009-02-16T08:31:00.000-08:00

Girl Scout Cookies were just delivered to the office. The scent of Tagalongs and Thin Mints is drifting through the office. Oh no! Someone just put out an entire plate of cookies. I don't think I can fight it much longer. Must! Have! Cookies!!!!
(Then must run on the treadmill extra tonight ;)

Know Any Good VRBs?

2009-02-13T09:02:00.000-08:00

Help! I need a new podcast to listen to. My Virtual Running Buddies (VRBs), Megan Morrone and Leo Laporte will no longer be running with me by the end of next week (by this time I will have caught up on all past episodes). Due to lack of time to devote to the show, Megan has decided to cancel it. Now I am searching for a new podcast to listen to while I run. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Any other run time entertainment ideas? (I don't have a space in the area for a TV so that is out.)

Serving Up a Salmonella Scare

2009-02-12T09:18:00.000-08:00

Not really but close to it.

I don't know if I've told you before but I LOVE TO BAKE! I am always trying out new cookies or breads and cupcakes. (The Mr would say not often enough but I believe my specialties just wouldn't seem as special if I baked them all of the time.) Getting back on topic: I received a request yesterday from the guineas, my Computer Co. co-workers (I call them the guineas because I try out new recipes on them :)

At the guineas' meeting yesterday, this was the first and (I am told) most important topic of discussion.

I aim to please so last night I caved and despite the Salmonella Scare whipped up a batch of my famous peanut butter cup cookies (hold the food poison please). Now I am sure most of you guys have had the peanut kisses that most people make, the peanut butter cookie with a Hershey's kiss in the middle. Well, I take it one step further and I make larger cup sized cookies (baked in a cupcake tin) and put a mini Reese's cup in the middle.

Hope the PB factor doesn't frighten off anyone.

I ♥ ♥ ♥ Swaps

2009-02-11T12:01:00.000-08:00

I arrived home to a box full of Sweet Valentine Goodness on my doorstep. (Sorry I didn't waste one moment of time taking a before pic.) I tore into that puppy like a little kid. (You can tell what I attacked first....the gummy hearts. I just LOVE gummies!) Thanks so much Linda for all of the great goodies.

Miss B is already trying to claim the fuzzy pink cupcake socks!!

Valentine's Day Wish List

2009-02-09T16:27:00.000-08:00

Can you believe it I forgot that Valentines was coming up. I was reminded of this day of Lurve by the Mr when he asked me what I wanted. Geez! I had not even given it a thought until now. Then I started thinking.....

I bet some people hope for these

When others would be wooed with

All the while some of you are hungry for some sweets from your sweeties

Then there are those who only ask for something simple like

This year I asked for this

And I bet you anything this is what the Mr wants

Aren't we a pair?!?! I'm making the Kally Family sound like the Casa de Geeks....Just tellin' it how it is.

What are you dreaming of getting from or for your Valentine?

Life by Points

2009-02-06T08:55:00.000-08:00

Went to a performance about Lewis & Clark by Miss B's 4th grade class. The kiddos were all so cute and I took tons of pics. Then my camera battery died. -1 for failure to charge battery. This means you have to wait for pics...sorry :(

Running, running, running has been my thing lately. As soon as I get home I make sure everyone is set for food (ie: Have the Mr cook, usually hot dogs), then I head downstairs to the treadmill and try to run my bum off. I have been pretty consistent with it too soooooo +1 for sticking with it, +1 more for losing weight. Yay! Oh wait, I am way behind in the reading part of the plan so -1 for not exercising my brain as well. (boy this stuff is hard to balance)

I finally have the laundry monster under control and cornered into it's basket. +1 for clean clothes.....Dang! -1 for not vacuuming (Hey, it's give and take in the Kally house.)

I was so happy for B when she was finished with all of her school projects. +1 for helping with homework .....Last night I realized I had been duped. The girl was leaving the other half of a project at school to give the appearance of completion. -1 for being a not so wonder mom and missing this. (Maybe I can earn that point back this weekend if the project is completed by Saturday night?)

So let's see that brings me to: -1, +1, +1, -1, +1, -1, +1, -1......and I am currently at...drum roll please.......... 0, zippo, nada! Oh well. I can only strive to do better.

Here's hoping we all have a + point weekend :)

A Give Away

2009-02-04T10:02:00.000-08:00

Go check out Katy's site and leave her a comment to win one of these lovelies!!!

The items pictured above are two Scentsy Warmers and the Scentsy Bars. If you are the winner you may choose between the Milano Warmer (cream colored one) or the Bombay Warmer (the blue one). If you are the winner you may also choose 3 Scentsy Bars (pic below). **Katy also says if she gets more than 100 comments she will give something else away from the Scentsy Line (for a 2nd winner)!!!

Get your hineys in gear and head over to Katy's and leave her a comment!!! (Her contest ends Friday at Midnight. You could be a winner :)

Back to Business

2009-02-04T06:59:00.000-08:00

Woohoo! Everyone is either going to work or school today. I was so worried about the 2 sickies yesterday. When I asked the Mr what he and B would eat for lunch he said he wasn't sure but at the very least they would eat easy mac and toast. (Poor babies) Yeah, I didn't feel like that for long. When I called to check on them I discovered B had been on the phone for hours and the Mr was playing video games. -What? Sick peeps aren't supposed to act like that!!! Well, they definitely got their rest time in and ate healthy lunches. At the end of the day I let them know....EVERYONE is going to school tomorrow!!!!! (um I meant work too. Hope they got that.)

Tonight I get to catch up with and destroy the laundry monster that has reappeared in my bedroom.
***my secret**** Sometimes I like doing laundry because it helps me get caught up on all my favorite shows sitting in my DVR.

Waambulance Day 2 and Free Breakfast

2009-02-03T06:45:00.000-08:00

Oh great, the Mr got over the bout with food poisoning just in time to catch the stomach bug that I have been dealing with. I am pretty sure B has come down with the bug also. When I picked the girl up from aftercare the teacher pulled me aside asking if Miss B was okay. -What? When I dropped her off at school she was fine. I didn't get any calls from the school during the day so I would assume that meant she was okay there too. -Come to find out Miss B had the aftercare teacher take her temp twice (just to be sure she was okay)!!! I told the teach I would stay on top of it. As the night progressed B got more and more puney and started showing symptoms of the bug.

Soooo, today I have 2 sickies staying at home. Here's hoping they get to feeling better soon (real soon).

***For those of you out there who are NOT sick and hungry/brave enough: the news just reported that Denny's is giving out free breakfast today until 2pm. Looks like the freebie is their Grand Slam (two eggs, two slices of bacon, two sausage links and two pancakes).

Weekend Waaambulance

2009-02-02T10:21:00.000-08:00

1 Food poisoning, 1 stomach bug accompanied by a headache that could destroy tall buildings, and 1 Karate Kid Marathon made the weekend at the Kally Casa one big fireball of fun, let me tell ya.

Did I Say Something Offensive?

2009-01-30T13:34:00.000-08:00

I just got unfollowed. I don't have countless followers like others so I really cherish the ones I have. Soooo if I say/said something that is offensive to you, I am sorry. Just telling my life how it is....as I see it.

Journey through Adolescence, 1st Stop

2009-01-30T08:41:00.000-08:00

Hey, hey it's Friday!!!! (I am singing the I'm happy it's Friday song.)

This morning the Mr and I were discussing the adventures in adolescence that Miss B has started going through. Sooooo All Aboard because you get to enjoy this journey with me.

First Stop: Argumentative Alley
In the past B has always been a very easy-going girl without much complaint when I tell her no or pretty much anything. Lately, the girl has chosen to argue with me over ANYTHING & EVERYTHING....even over things as insignificant as bath/shower soap. It is drivin' me NUTS!

I explained to the Mr her slick argument tactics.
She will argue when she thinks she is right and she will argue when she knows she is wrong. The part that makes me head straight to crazy town is: when I point out when she is wrong. She recognizes she is wrong and yet she STILL persists in continuing the argument and then as a last ditch effort says "mom, this is silly. YOU shouldn't argue with me over something as little as this." ---AAaaaaaRRRRRRGGG!!!!!! (Crazy Town: party of 1 -that would be me.)

As I explained this to the Mr, a grin and then a smile spread across his face. He looked at me and said "That is exactly what my dad and I went through when I was a kid." --Well I guess that explains everything. The B girl is JUST like her dad. Now I understand why the Mr's Dad chose to sleep outside when he came to visit us years ago!!!!

Have a great weekend All!

Morning Conversations with B

2009-01-29T09:07:00.000-08:00

Miss B: Is it February yet?
Kally: No, it's still January. Why do you ask?
B: I am tired of January. I just wish it was February.
K: Why? (trying not to laugh)
B: Can you just tell me when it is February? I am through with this month.

-Wow, the things massive amounts of homework can do to a kid. She is ready to omit a month from the calendar. What she doesn't know is I plan on celebrating the end of the giant homework projects with a day of pampering for her. This will include a mani-pedi, possibly a mini shopping spree, and dinner out. (B will LOVE it. She is all about being treated like a diva.)

I'd Like to Thank the Academy

2009-01-28T09:21:00.000-08:00

And I'd also love to thank There's Something In the Glass for bestowing this award upon me :) It is always a nice surprise when you randomly check your email and see you have been awarded (and a great way to put up a quick post cuz sometimes my brain just isn't crankin' out the funny and real first thing in the morning and I ALWAYS forget to post at night. I think it is the slacker in me that "forgets.")

The rules for the Honest Scrap award -The honorees are to: A) first list 10 honest things about yourself - and make it interesting, even if you have to dig deep! B) pass the award on to 7 bloggers that you feel embody the spirit of the Honest Scrap.

The Honest Truth:
1.) I hate bridges. Really, I am deathly afraid of them. You know that feeling you get when you are on a roller coaster and you are racing down the giant hill/or loop where your stomach kinda jumps and your heart flutters a little? Well that is the feeling I get when going over a bridge; sometimes I even catch myself holding my breath until I am on solid ground again.(not a bridge)

2.) I love to shop but I hate to spend money. I will spend hours in a store carting around a ton of stuff I want all the while slowly talking myself out of it (in my head) and putting things back. When I check out I might have 1 thing for myself and a ton of stuff for everybody else.

3.) When I was young I used to want to be a lounge singer. The kind that wears a sparkly dress and sings old slow ballads. I would stand or sit on the back of my parents couch and sing into a wooden spoon :)

4.) I am OCD about keeping the spam folder of my email empty. I empty it every day multiple times a day. (In fact I just did.) Don't know why but I just can't stand to have a ton of junk filling it up.

5.) I STILL have a hard time telling my right from my left. When I was a kid I had a teeny tiny strawberry birthmark on my right hand. I could always tell my right from my left by looking for the hand with the birthmark. Over time it slowly faded away into nothingness BUT to this day when I am giving someone directions and I am telling them to turn right/or left I will make a fist with my right hand and look for the now invisible birthmark.

6.) I love having clean sheets. I love everything about them. The way they feel. The way they smell. EVERYTHING. Sometimes I catch myself when I wake up with a part of the sheets in my hand covering my nose. I guess that means I am smelling the sheets in my sleep.

7 & 8.) Speaking of sleep habits...I talk in my sleep too. I have ever since I was little and apparently I still do. My parents would tell me that I would bolt up in bed with my eyes wide open and holler or spew some nonsense at them...like "You Stole MY Swing!!!!" My dad would get a kick out of this and play along telling me "No Kally, I wouldn't do that." I would yell back "You're a Liar!!! I know you did!!!!"

I thought I grew out of this but recently the Mr informed me otherwise. -I always fall asleep with the TV on; can't fall asleep with it off. Sometimes when he turns it off, I wake up which is a pain in the butt for him because he can't sleep with it on. One night when he turned the TV off I shot up on my elbow thisclose to his face with my eyes buggin' out and frantically said "I Can't Sleep!" He knew I was out but didn't want to argue with a nutty sleep talker so he turned on the TV and told me to go back to sleep....so sweet of him. (That one was extra long so I am counting it as 2 truths.)

9.) I am on a desperate search for a ginger beer that I had one night at the E family's house. It was soooo tasty but alas I can't remember the name of it. I don't think they can remember it either because someone else brought it over to their house. This drives me CRAZY because I know it is out there waiting for me to buy it and bring it home to my frosty fridge.

10.) I can't eat chicken on the bone. It totally grosses me out. The whole mix of dark and white meat together with little veiny things running through it and gristle makes me feel like I would barf. Chicken must be of the boneless, skinless variety or I won't eat it PERIOD. The nastiest thing I ever watched on television was a report on eating habits in the US and they showed a close-up of some guy eating hot wings. Blech!!!! (It turns my stomach just typing that out.)

Part B. Pass it on (Not gonna list 7 (although I could name all of you cuz I lurve you all! Oh well I guess I am a rule breaker.)
AD
Belle
Debbie
Angie

If you don't want to play along just go ahead and grab the Award and tell everyone that Kally gave it to ya. I won't be mad if you do.

A Sorta Happy Snow Day

2009-01-27T08:51:00.000-08:00

It is snowing AGAIN so my day started out a little grouchy. Really, I thought we already met our snow quota for this winter. Why more?! Grouch factor increased after getting stuck behind the slowest driver in the world going 1 mph. So what did I do with my time being wasted by Elliot Von Turtle in front of me?
I took a picture of the offending slow driver, of course. Watch out for this guy. He will drive you bananas.

I arrived to work ready to grump out when I noticed something that turned my day around.
Doughnuts in a Bucket!!!!

Yummy Town :)
Hey it's not that bad of a day after all; as long as I can stay inside with the doughnuts!

To everyone out there dealing with the ice and snow: I am thinking of you and will have a yummy doughnut just for you and then run on the treadmill tonight to make up for it. (maybe those of you stuck at home could have a glass of wine or -insert cold bev here- for me cuz I don't think Computer Co would approve of me having one here :)

Boring Weekend

2009-01-26T08:54:00.000-08:00

Not much happened here. I pretty much played the shut-in aside from a little grocery shopping and a quick stop to the Bed Bath & Beyonders. Miss B and I got the CUTEST aprons there. I have been wanting a cute apron for the longest and finally found one and wouldn't ya know the pattern on the thing is kinda toile-ish. Normally, I am the hater of all things toile but I just couldn't say no to this apron. Miss B found one she felt was to die for soooo I got it for her. Then we went back to the Kally Casa and finished up the homework project from h3ll. Who knew a family tree project could be sooooooo exhausting? By the end of the evening I had a bangin headache and felt like my brains were slowly trying to make their way out of an imaginary hole in the back of my noggin. Thank you advil & paxil you saved my sanity and helped me sleep.

Here are the fabulous aprons Miss B & I scored:
Mine

The Mini one is the B's (notice it says Diva in Training)
Can it get much cuter even if the most cooking we do is cupcakes?

Now for a moment of nutsoness brought to you by Me (Kally)
Right now I am suffering through a nastee flavored water drink and pretending it doesn't taste like kool-aid. Darn you Target for not having my tastee unsweetened flavored water type beverage. Oh Target, you know I can't stay mad at you for that long I will give you another chance to stock your shelves but you'd better be ready by Thursday because I can't take much more of this kool-aid taste-a-like crapola. Okay? Thank ya very much!

Yer Not Hannah Montana!!

2009-01-23T09:09:00.000-08:00

Last night the little Darlin', B, told me that her friends ask her to "talk with a southern accent." They think she should have a southern drawl since we are from Oklahoma. I wondered...Do we really sound so different from everyone else?

Well I guess there are a couple of things we say like:

me - I am a Y'aller...meaning I say Y'all ALOT. I didn't realize how much said it before cuz everyone else was sayin' it too. Oh, I say ain't sometimes too. (Drove my momma nuts with this because she is from Chicago.) I also use a double negative... mostly when I am lyin' example: I didn't do nothin.' (Mom always busted me when I was a lyin' little kid because of this. She always said "2 negatives = a positive. This means you are lying to me." She also had my brother and me convinced that if we lied our tongue would turn black and prove the lie. We would lie and she would tell us to stick out our tongues. You wouldn't believe how tightly I would clamp down my mouth, shaking my head no quickly, saying a muffled "un uh, un uh!" --Don't ya just love the lies some parents tell their kids to catch them lyin?)

B - I have no clue why but the child cannot pronounce the word "acorn." What she says sounds like -aykern- (really fast). The MIL pointed this one out to me a long time ago and no matter how many times I try with her the word always comes out aykern.

the Mr - he says "halfening." Once again I am clueless as to where this came from or really what it even means. I don't even think I can use it properly for you but it always cracks me up to hear him use this word.

Golly Day! I think I am the worst of the whole bunch of us!!!! (How did that happen?)
Maybe cuz mah daddy says to "warsh yer hands" and mah grandpa always slept on a "piller."

Homework Yes, Housework No

2009-01-22T09:47:00.000-08:00

I thought I was going to lose mah ever lovin mind last night with the homework. Thank goodness my part in the homework will be minimal tonight because the Project plan for housework: FAILED (well kind of) the Mr did get some dishes done but I was lacking in the laundry department. Oh well, I can try again tonight.

My Goals For Tonight are to get some treadmill time in and to finish a book. Oh yeah, and laundry.

Since I don't have much else to say I will leave you with a healthy dose of supah cuteness. Let's all say it together....Aaawwwww!!!!

more animals
Have a Fabulous day :)

School Daze

2009-01-21T08:24:00.000-08:00

How did it happen? How do I find myself doing 4th grade homework?...well not doing homework but helping with homework and it is just as hard the second time around (if not harder). Family Tree with interviews and posters, Hebrew Portion Presentations, and Lewis & Clark projects (which I knew next to nothing about -In OK you learn about The Trail of Tears, Okie Sharecroppers a la The Grapes of Wrath, and other Oklahoma historical events. Here in Oregon you learn about Lewis & Clark.) Poor B and me, we've got so much homework to work on that she gets maybe 20 minutes of free time before bedtime and I am soooooooo behind on housework. I think I am gonna go nutso!!!! Don't get me wrong. I appreciate the education she is getting and the fact that she is being challenged BUT the poor kid gets the majority of her daily homework completed in aftercare and still has a full nights worth of work to do when we get home. Something has GOTTA give or the laundry monster will take over mah house and the dirty dish monster is runnin a close second for take over rights!

Tonight we work on Hebrew and I will try to get some treadmill time in between laundry loads. I might be up til 1am but by golly, stuff will get done tonight!!!

How do you balance work, life & homework???

A Day in History

2009-01-20T08:49:00.000-08:00

Who is watching the Inauguration? My office is. The Mr set up the conference room big screen on the pool table and went off with my speakers to make it happen here.

Wow. What else can you say?

Heating Pad Weekend

2009-01-19T08:24:00.000-08:00

I don't know if you could call date night a complete success because we didn't go "out" for the date. I did accomplish getting my run on and some crafting at ScrappyGirl's. B went to her friend's house for the sleepover and the Mr and I went back to the house. My head & neck were killing me and the Mr kindly suggested I put the heating pad back on my neck and he would get take-out date dinner. He went to my favorite pasta place and brought back dinner. He put everything on the pretty plates and even poured wine. It was sooooo nice to be able to enjoy a nice dinner, lights dimmed, no company, no kiddo, just me and my Mr. Afterwards I put the heating pad back on my neck. I know, pretty romantic of me, huh?

Sunday I got to sleep in!! This was so nice. I was almost sad to actually wake up. But I had things to do so I dragged my happy heinie out of the bed and got going for the day. We picked up Miss B from her friend's (the little red haired girl's) house and raced to the birthday party she was to attend. The party was a bowling party so we thought we should stay but the mom in charge quickly informed us otherwise. Wow! An afternoon to ourselves. So we did what anyone else would do....the Mr got a hair cut which I supervised. (I was not about to allow another Saving Private Ryan haircut.) Then we had Taco Bell for lunch. "Why Taco Bell?" you ask. .....because they have SPORKS! (I'll have to tell you later of my great love for this type of utensil.) After picking up the B girl, I made my way back home to the heating pad.

Today my neck is still hurting but not as badly as last week. I think my weekend get away with the heating pad has helped. What do you do when you have a pain in the neck? -Please don't suggest a bone cruncher (chiropractor) cuz I am skerred ta death of them!!!

I'm Gonna Have a Date Night

2009-01-16T09:47:00.000-08:00

Woohoo!!! I am so excited I want to shout it out. Tomorrow night Miss B is going to stay the night with a friend so the Mr and I can go out on a date :) I am so excited I am already planning my entire Saturday. The Mr and the Monkey (Miss B) can go with the flow because I am running the show this day.

I think I'll start off my day with a nice run.
Then I'll make it over to ScrappyGirl's for some quick crafting.
Drop off B with the friends who are brave enough to host a little girl sleepover including 3D Hannah Montana.
Go home and pretty up because I haz gotz to looks good for the date. (Every once in a while I have to remind the Mr that my hair can do other styles besides a pony tail and that his Momacita -me- can look muy caliente!!)
Leave for the date.

*As of right now the date destination is unknown. I have given the Mr 2 date options to choose from:
1.) A nice dinner out -some real wine & dining at a place where monkeys are not allowed or usually found- my choice
2.) A movie -his choice
**We are both realistic enough to know we can't do dinner & a movie because it is a sure thing I would fall asleep in the movie. (full stomach + Cold, dark room = good sleepy time for Kally)**

I have given the Mr the following date destination conditions:
1) I can choose that we eat a nice dinner & he gets to choose the restaurant (probably a steakhouse knowing the Mr's ♥ for red meat; the man is such a carnivore)
OR
2.) He can choose that we go to a movie & I get to choose the movie we see (my choice: Twilight or Curious Case of Benjamin Button. -when I mentioned Marley and Me he looked at me like I had lost my mind and said "We are not going to the DOG movie!")
So what do you think? Are my conditions fair?

**Tonight I must lay on a heating pad like a grandma cuz I hurtz my neck (slept wrong, I think) and have mucho painz in the neck! Youch!!

I Got Tagged!!

2009-01-15T10:14:00.000-08:00

Okay, I know this sounds silly but I am soooo excited because I have nevah evah been tagged before. (Kally breaks out in song)I feel special, oh so special :) -Thank ya AD of The Cat's Pajamas. You made my day!

Now for the RULES:
1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open to page 56.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 2 to 5 sentences, along with these rules.
5. Don't dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual book. Pick the CLOSEST!
6. Tag five other people to do the same!

Here goes. The book nearest to me is Sleeping with the Fishes by Mary Janice Davidson
(I am currently reading something else but this was the book that was nearest to me and rules are rules.)

** "Chum." It wasn't an affectionate nickname. She meant it literally: the fish guts and heads you feed sharks with. "You're scaring the shit out of my mom. Cut it out, unless you want to find out what your colon looks like." **

Now I get to Tag:

Nutshell
That's What She Said
There's Something in the Glass
Decisionally Challenged
Seven Clown Circus

Isn't it funny/weird that the hardest part of getting tagged is trying to decide who you want to tag? (Don't know if that made sense to you but it does to me...in my mind.)

Miss B LOVES the E's

2009-01-14T09:37:00.000-08:00

Did you hear the ear piercing screams?
Last night our doorbell rang. -Don't know why but it always freaks me out when our doorbell rings and I am not expecting anyone. -I know, feel paranoid lately Kally?- I guess so because I peaked around the corner at the top of the stairs while the Mr answered the door. He walked back into the house carrying a white package with the instructions that it was for B. I carried it up to the kiddo and watched as she struggled with the plastic wrapping. The girl barely got the thing opened when the screaming began. (I think I can still hear the high pitched ringing in my ears.)

The Reason why:

The E Family sent her this cute little hooded shirt. My girl loves the Packers! (Enough to scream incredibly loud!!!)

Reading & Running

2009-01-13T09:58:00.000-08:00

Thanks to A.D. at The Cat's Pajamas I found CM who has started something pretty cool for 2009. The goal is to Run/walk 500 miles and to Read 50 books in the year 2009. This brings a WHOLE NEW meaning to the term R&R. I am ALWAYS up for a challenge so I signed up and I encourage you to do so as well. Seriously, I don't know if I can make the whole 500 miles or 50 books in one year but I am going to try and I will keep my stats on the side for EVERYONE to see. -Maybe this will keep me from slacking so much.- Now that all of the Kally Casa Company is gone I must get my booty back to the treadmill...TONIGHT :)

**Let me know if you join in on this and maybe we can all keep each other on track!**

Just Another Day in PDX

2009-01-09T13:58:00.000-08:00

For those of you who have never been to Portland and don't know anyone who lives here let me tell you. Portland and the people in it are like a bowl full of chex mix. For the most part it looks pretty normal but every now and then you notice something and think..."What the h3ll is that?!?!" Then you move on and eat it anyway or try to ignore it.
At lunch today I noticed a couple of those pieces/people the made me wonder. Below are the top 3 in reverse order. (Sometimes I like to mix it up a little.)

3.) The Guy from Stomp: Wait. Oh no, he only thought he was from Stomp. This must have been why he was hanging out on the street corner banging the heck out of these 5 & 10 gallon buckets. Maybe he really had something going on because he did start to draw a small crowd. I wonder if he really makes any money doing this.

2.) Carl's Jr worker: I had Subway for lunch. The Mr wanted *blech* Carl's Jr so I grabbed my food and followed him to the CJ. Almost as soon as we walked in the door the guy at the counter looked at me, shook his head and said "No." (I am thinking to myself WHAT?!?!NO!!!) The guy nodded to the door which has a sign taped to it stating "Only paying customers eat in restaurant." -Grrrr! I was with a paying customer. Doesn't that make me one by default??? I told the Mr what was going on and he handled it with his usual grace and charm saying "screw him" and we ate on the side where the guy couldn't see us.

1.) The Screamer: On our walk to lunch we encountered this tortured soul. I watched this girl walking down the road as if she didn't have a care in the world. I turned away for one moment to drop off some mail when BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dr Jekyll disappeared and Ms. Hyde came around. This girl went NUTS she was screaming and hollering at the top of her lungs to no apparent person. -I couldn't help it. I stared.- She was totally freaking out continuing the scream-fest as she walked down the street. Now most of you are probably thinking she was schizo. I like to think she has imaginary bluetooth.

Hope everyone has a great weekend :)

Where is GREAT Indian Food?

2009-01-08T23:28:00.000-08:00

Okay Portland area people. Please do tell where a GREAT Indian food restaurant is?? Our guest loves Indian food and we really want to take him somewhere nice. I would feel like such a dillweed dragging him to the carts aka the roach coaches (the place where the Mr and I get our Indian). So any and all suggestions are welcome!!! Thanks :)

Baja Not So Fresh

2009-01-07T15:45:00.000-08:00

Check out this Pic

My Words for it
Do you ever eat at Baja Fresh?? I did and liked it a lot. Have you read the sign? I am pretty sure it says something about "That means you won't find freezers, can openers or microwaves in a Baja Fresh location" I thought it was awesome that everything served there was "fresh." One evening, while I was munching on a Baja Fresh burrito, I looked up and happened to see all of those CANS through the kitchen window. What?!?! Sorry but cans do NOT = Fresh for me. I felt fooled. The food was still okay but really Baja Fresh shouldn't tell lies to the peeps about what they are going to eat. We DON'T like it!! And I haven't been back since.

The Kally Boarding House

2009-01-06T11:00:00.000-08:00

The Mr just left to take Granny to the airport so she can head back home. Now I have 2 days to clean up the room she stayed in before our next guest arrives. A friend from Tulsa will be staying with us while looking for a place to live here in PDX. I can't guarantee fancy chocolates on the pillows but that room will be clean and the fridge will be stocked...and if you're really lucky...I might just bake banana bread.

Shoes-apalooza!!!

2009-01-05T09:13:00.000-08:00

It's about that time....to assess my shoe collection and decide what needs to stay and what gets the heave ho to make room for more. Of course, I have to do this backwards by looking around for what I might add first. I know I should clean the closet of unwanted shoes first but therein lies the problem I am pretty sure I want all of my shoes and then some.

Here are a few of the new trendy shoes I have been looking at. Tell me, do you think they are a "Way to Go!" or an "Oh, NO!" ?

Say a pair of your favorite heels and your man's dress shoes hooked up. These could be their baby. For some reason I am intrigued by these shoes. Could it be because they really are cute and would look great with a nice dress pant or because they remind me of something the Wicked Witch of the West would wear (Pacific Northwest -in my case). Hmmmm....Way to Go or Oh, NO ????

Next on the list are these. First off, let me say that I am leaning more towards Oh, NO! on these. Supposedly, animal prints are still in but I am beginning to wonder...Do I really want to have them on my shoes??? (I love the style of this shoe but don't really dig the print.)

On to the next shoe. Someone decided that Berry, Jewel & Wine Tones are "in" right now for shoes. That Someone must have been smoking crack because I CANNOT find a single pair that I would even want to wear around the house. I don't dare mention taking them for a stroll where people might see them. Definitely an OH, NO!!!!!

***The biggest Oh, No! was a pair of heels I spotted at Target. They were Berry/Wine Toned with little rhinestones all over them. I swear it looked like Granny got after them with the Be dazzler. I have spared your eyes the horror of these shoes by omitting a pic. Please, venture into Target's shoe department carefully or you might just run into these shoes and run away screaming.***

Now, on to better looking shoes. I love a good pair of boots and it seems the new trend for boots are flat bottoms. Due to the fact that I have no legs, well really really short legs, I need a little heel on a boot. Here are some that I think are okay but I could do without all the buckles. What do you think? Way to go! or Oh, No!

Last but not least...Satin and sparkle. No, not the kind you wore to prom that were dyed to match your dress. These are fantastic, fabulous, my absolute favorite. I think I am going to purchase these cuties ASAP!!!

What do you think?

Happy B-Day :)

2009-01-03T10:27:00.000-08:00

Today is your day and I hope it will be one of the best birthdays. (I know it will be hard to top the luau party but I am going to try.) Sorry about the lemon cupcakes. They turned out a little flat but they taste great...I snuck a taste. You'll love them.

Wow! It seems like it was just yesterday. You were just a little b and today you are 10 YEARS OLD!!!! Does this mean you are officially a tween? (not a little girl anymore but not yet a teenager tween = between) Now that is scary....for me. You have always done better, worked harder and achieved more than I ever expected. I am so very proud of you and wish you the best of birthdays ever.

Happy Birthday!!!

Love,
Mom

Thoughts for a New Year

2008-12-31T08:23:00.000-08:00

As the year 2008 wraps up and we are presented with a brand spanking new year of 2009, I bet some of you out there are making your list of resolutions. Any other year I am sure I would do the same but not this year. I think I will just be happy when I accomplish a demanding task and jump for joy when I something great happens. When challenges arise I will just work harder and keep on going, doing the best that I can. I will laugh during the good times and cry when times are hard. Most of all I will live, love and be grateful for every moment I spend with my friends and family, knowing above all, this is what really counts.

Have a safe and Happy New Year!

Back From the Snow Break

2008-12-29T14:04:00.000-08:00

So, I slacked off once again. I was snowed in last week and since I was so bummed out from Snowmageddon I opted not to post anything. Who wants to hear: It is snowing again *&%$^@!!!!! ? Seriously, that is exactly what I was yelling every time I looked out the window. Two weeks of snow can really wear one out. instead of going into all the gory details of all the snow we got (I don't know it was a LOT -came up to my knees), how crazy I felt from being trapped in my house for so long (pretty darn crazy- I was locked up for 5 days), and how I even began to miss working in the office (you start to get desperate after awhile)...I will share some pics I took during the white out.

So much Snow!

This is how people got around unless they had a ginormous truck to off-road in.

The reason this one appears so blurred is because of the massive amount of snow falling at the time. The flakes were so tiny and so many!

This is one of my faves. Don't know why. I just like it.

**I was taking the pic above when I really should have taken pics of all the fools snow boarding down the hill past my house. It was too funny to watch all those people fall on their butts.**

Miss B decided to make some use of the snow and worked with the Mr on this year's snow sculpture.....

THE SNOW DUCK

I can't wait to see what they come up with next.

No More Snow...Please

2008-12-19T08:53:00.000-08:00

The Weatherman says more snow while I say OH NO!!!!!! You have got to be kidding me. When I got to work this morning it had begun to snow yet again but thank goodness it quit soon after. Still, the weatherman says we will have more snow this weekend forcing another weekend of lockdown at the Kally Casa. I don't think I can stand much more of it.

Dang I cannot get through this post. It is snowing AGAIN!!!! Wish me luck that this white nightmare will end soon. Cabin fever stinks :p

Good news: Even though B is at home (school is closed) she has Granny (the Mr's Grandmother) there to entertain her. Maybe escape is still a possibility...even if it is only a stroll through the neighborhood. I am hoping to make it to Target to get a cute little hat. (Miss B keeps telling me that when I let the snow just land in my hair (not covering my head) makes me look like I have a major case of dandruff. I love how she is always looking out for me :)

So I Lied

2008-12-16T12:13:00.000-08:00

Sorry guys. I will be the first to admit that I was WRONG. I awoke Sunday morning to nothing on the roads and not a flake falling from the sky. This meant we had to scurry to get ready for Sunday School. Then, wouldn't you know....the sky opened up and down came the snow. Lots of it. I couldn't believe my eyes. I knew I couldn't let you down so I braved the winds and flying snowballs (courtesy of Miss B) to get some pics of the snow.

Here is one from yesterday... while I was working... in the office. Funny how most of the people from Tulsa are showing up at the office but the Portlanders are staying home.

12/18/08 Most of it has melted off today because of the higher temps and rain. I am hoping & praying it doesn't freeze overnight making Miss B complete an entire week of no school. I'm starting to go a little nuts because one can handle only so much Suite Life before they REALLY lose it! Yay me! Aaaagh!!!!!

Warning

2008-12-12T14:21:00.000-08:00

After I received this from a co-worker I have decided to stay of the roads in the case of snow. These Portland drivers are NUTS!

Snow...Whatever

2008-12-12T12:19:00.000-08:00

Every time I check my email I have had at least 3 to 7 warning of the impending snow we will get here. Well according to the weathermen we should be getting snow. I DON'T believe it. Being from OKlahoma and enduring many a winter always including snow and ice - I've even made through a couple of icestorms in my lifetime.- I know the kind of weather in which to expect snow. Portland will not get any this weekend (this is my prediction). In the chance that I am wrong and snow does fall, there is NO possible way it can stick to the streets. Our temps have been too high to lower the ground temperature enough to the point for snow to stick to the streets. The kiddos might get lucky and have some stick to the ground/yard but I kinda doubt it. As I said before it really does not matter if it is cold enough outside to snow but whether the ground is cold enough for any snowfall to stick. So to all of you locals that check out the blog take a deep breath and put AWAY those tires with studs on them and stop freakin' out. Drive slowly if the snow does fall and if you are worried about sliding around on the roads, weight your car down by putting heavy stuff in the trunk (like firewood). This too shall pass.

Have a great weekend y'all.

Friends Who Have Gone Private

2008-12-11T15:10:00.000-08:00

I just noticed one of my blog land gal pals has gone private. Kim if you see this PLEASE, Please, please invite me to your blog. :)

If anyone else thinks about going private...let me know.

Starbucks I am Not

2008-12-11T09:34:00.001-08:00

Wow! Another post. No. Not really, just a couple of quick thoughts and that's all.

I was thinking about celebrities vs normal peeps as I drank my crappy coffee this morning. I had to get my morning dose of celebrity gossip. Today it was provided by MSN - Hot Gossip and I began to think..... Thank god NORMAL people like me are not stalked by the likes of paparazzi. Imagine what it would do to your self esteem to have a bad bloat day or gain a couple of pounds and have the world claim you are preggers. I thought I was going to die of depression over the summer when I had put on some extra weight and my parents accused me of being with child. I told the truth and denied the awful assumption of theirs while they continued with their winks & nudges. How embarrassing it must be to have your "fat day pics" posted all over mags & tabs across the world. Don't get me wrong I LOVE reading that stuff while waiting in the grocery line as much as the next mom but after pondering that kind of existence I am glad I am a nobody.

In regards to the aforementioned crappy coffee I have learned...I really do NOT like coffee maker coffee! With the limited resources available here @ work, I have been nursing a half full styrofoam cup of black coffee with only one tsp of sugar. Blech! If it was not for the caffeine boost I will get I would dump that junk. It tastes like dirt! You can bet the next time I am desperate for a caffeinated jump start I will suck it up and make the stroll to the nearest Starbucks for some calorie laden but oh so yummy frou frou coffee :) with whipped cream & sprinkles :)

Well Holy Cow this actually turned out to be a post after all.

Neglect - No pics

2008-12-11T09:11:00.000-08:00

I guess I have been neglecting my duties as a good picture taking mom lately. I glanced through the pics and the most recent pictures I have taken are the ones from the pow wow night which is a story in itself. I was thinking about posting a couple from that night but then thought ...Naw, it feels outdated. After all, that was Thanksgiving weekend which seems forever ago. How do you fantastic picture takin' peeps keep up with your camera duties? I tried carrying it with me in my purse so I would remember to take a pic every now and then but it seems to get eaten by the black hole in my purse. By the time I dig it out the moment has passed and taking a pic feels so staged. Do I need to wear it around my neck and play like I am a real photographer?

Back in the Swing of Things

2008-12-10T08:38:00.000-08:00

I am trying really hard to get back to blogging regularly again. Things were pretty rough for me after some major changes at work were made and I had a mountain of things to do here, there and everywhere. I still do have a lot on my plate but I am learning how to manage it better. Thank God because I thought I was gonna go CRAZY there for awhile.

Last night I went over to ScrappyGirl's for some cool crafting of bags & tags. It was odd for me -the Queen of the dollar store gift bag- to create my own gift bags & boxes. I should have taken pics of everything last night but my camera was in my purse and my glass of wine was on the table. The wine won -Sorry. You would choose the wine too, I bet. I will try to get some pics of the finished products and add them later.

Must get back to work. The fridge here at Computer Co smells like nothing you'd find in the kitchen and more like something from the bathroom. I have to send out an email to get these nasty boys to throw away the science projects from the fridge and freezer. :p

A Little Dork on the Side

2008-12-09T16:34:00.000-08:00

So, I totally made the last post assuming everyone was as geeky as the Kally family and knew what a griffin was. For those of you who don't know...

The griffin is a legendary creature with the body of a lion and the head and often wings of an eagle. -got that from Wikipedia. You can click on it to learn more.

AND for those of you who want a pic....here you go

Kinda freaky that my kid wants one of these!