The best use for a bar of soap . . .

I was upset last night walking the mall.

As I rounded the Sear's corridor, there were three teenager boys being a bit rowdy on the little kids ride on toys . . .not that I'm bothered by kids being a bit silly, I was there once.

But as I walked past, one of them said the "N" word.

Yep.

The biggest baddest racist slur ever in my book.

I thought I might have heard wrong, but no more that 30 seconds later he said w-h-o-r-e and used the "N" word again. Again!

He wasn't singing a dirty rap song, he wasn't angry about something, and based on the color of his skin and german nose . . . he didn't have some misguided notion that the "N" word is a slang term of endearment for his "bros."

Nope.

He was just being a punk saying racist and sexist comments in a public mall at 6 p.m.

So I walked up and told him to watch his mouth in public places.

I got a half hearted "sorry" and some rude statements muttered under their breath to my back.

What is going on? I can only hope they are just being fools, because the other option is ignorance they learned at home, from the media, or peers.

Pre-pubescent cretins.

If my daughter would have been with me I would have made them apologize.

Fashion Show!

Happy New Year!

My resolution is to get through this pregnancy!

Actually, I resolve this year to keep a better handle on the family finances which entails sticking my nose into my husbands sacred bill paying area, which iritates him to no end. But since I do all of the extra curricular spending (groceries, clothes, gifts) I need to be able to justify spending.

Add on resolutions:
1) Get more organized at work.
2) Get more organized at home.
3) Stay active (I'm wearing my pedometer today for the first time in months!)


And that's about it. Nothing that I can really fail at on the list yet, but I try to keep things vague because they I can't fail at them, but can recommit to them throughout the year.

But have I got a tale for New Years:
I hope that everyone had a great time with friends or family, because I spent my New Years Eve cleaning my house.

Yes I know, not a big deal . . .until I tell you why.

I , for once, was not the person who dropped communication in our house. My husband forgot to inform me that his parents were staying with us New Years Eve.

Exciting.

Not really a big deal except my husband decided he needed to set up his "man cave" downstairs,

Which involved:
Moving a large TV downstairs,
Moving ALL of the extra TVs in the house to said area,
Moving ALL couches in the basement to sit around the TVs,
Not entertaining our daughter,
Cleaning the typically unused bar and organizing the alcohol in it,
vacuuming done by my mother in law,
Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

I was not a happy camper all evening because my plan had been to fix the chili for our bowl game party and then sit down to enjoy watching Anderson Cooper try to keep Kathy Griffith in line on CCN for the New York City ball drop.

Turns out, I had to madly clean the upstairs to make it presentable (sorry I didn't do this for you sis) because it was a mess and then made the chili at 10 p.m. while my husband and his parents fell asleep on the couch watching my beloved Anderson.

*sigh*

At least I got to consume a whole bottle of sparkling non-alcoholic apple juice by myself in the kitchen while I cooked.

And p.s. - GO HUSKERS! I LOVE YOU PELINI!

Yay! I get to go to work!

Literally, that was my thought this morning.

After 5 christmases and two days with no nap for Alaina, I'm ready for some nice solid structured days.

Of course, tomorrow its back to the airport to drop off my sister plus the day off for New Years . . .but at least we will remain at home for the duration of the week.

Christmas was a wonderful time with family all around and several lessons learned. . .

1) bring an extra laundry basket to tote gifts home in, you WILL bring home more than you brought.

2) I really am not fond of big dogs.

3) Missing nap time on day one of break sets the tone for the rest of vacation for the little one and me.

4) Never forget that when your siblings have spouses, your time schedules will never mesh nicely ever again.

5) Having all four of your grandmother's around at out age is a rare thing that one must enjoy . . . but remember that each one very desperately wants to see you for the holidays, so get used to the idea of dissapointing 90-year-old ladies.

6) Even if you only put clothes on your list, you will never get them, at least not the ones you want.

7) My in-laws will never get any gifts off of the list that I send them . . .unless we have already received said gifts from members of my immediate family. (3 duplicate gifts!)

8) I have no place in my mother-in-laws kitchen. She has ruled the house by herself for so long, I can do pretty much nothing to help or help myself. So next year, I'm packing my own stash of snacks to sneak into the house.

Christmas Letters

So we received a few Christmas cards and letter from friends, but nothing big this year. I'm always excited to see everyone's pictures of their families and how they've grown.

I was reading a blog the other day about someone's pet peeve's for Christmas cards. To sum up it basically said if you aren't going to include a picture or family update/letter . . why do you bother? Apparently a signature with "Happy Holidays" isn't cutting the mustard anymore. You can send the cards with just the signature to me, I won't complain, but I have one pet peeve about Christmas Letters . . .

The resume style letter.

Do you know what I'm talking about? Its the letter that just as well be written in a bulleted list with all the family stats at the top because its almost as impersonal as a resume.

Child 1 participated in list A-F this year in school and received awards G-I for their efforts,
Child 2 participated in list J-M this year and received awards . . . . .

You get the idea.
I'm not complaining about what they put in the letter, but about how they present it. At least tell me which club they enjoy the most or the fact that they were benched for most of the volleyball season, but made the winning dig to help get them to finals!Give me something to smile about! I made Jeff laugh as I read one letter in a snootie voice just to illustrate how "structured" I felt it was.

But to complete my holiday, I am simply waiting for the Christmas letter from the best writter of all.

Papa!

Be prepared for the Dangler X-Mas letter! In fact, I may even blog it with the permission of the author! (The co-author/wife will do as well!) These are the kinds of years that make me a little antsy about what went into the letter because Papa didn't call for "ideas" about what we've done . . . which means my siblings and I provided him with enough unforgettable fodder throughout the year so he didn't need to strech his imagination for the 'good stuff.'

What will make the x-mas letter cut?
Papa Elvis and Mommy Marilyn?
Potty Training?
Trips to Colorado?
Trips to Florida?
The ever rotating car cycle of life for our family?
New jobs?

There is just too much to choose from! I have no idea how Papa narrows it down!

But I do know a few things that should make the cut next year . . . and may appear in my own "not-as-awesome-as-Papa's" letter.
- The 10 year high school reunion for me which is also Papa's 40 year reunion!
- Baby number 2
- Potty training and anything that Alaina does silly (everything)

Anyway, I had better not start counting chicks before they hatch.

Big Blog for a Big Weekend . .

I had a pretty good weekend. . .

It started off wonderful beyond belief when I got a call at work from a friend saying she was in town from California and wondered if I would meet her and another friend for lunch. First I cried because I was so happy to hear from her. Second, I giggled because there nothing I love more than getting together with good friends over lunch and third, well, I cried some more because hormones took over my body this weekend.

For the rest of the weekend I finished getting all of our Christmas presents and wrapping all of them, I have a few left that I got boxed, but they are Alaina's Santa, presents, so I wanted to surprise her with the Disney Princess wrapping paper I bought to wrap them in. (They are actually in decorative boxes, but what's the fun of opening presents if you don't get to rip the wrapping paper at her age?
And I should note that our presents from Santa this year are from a real live "Santa." One of Jeff's coworkers offered to drop off some of her daughter's old toys and dress up clothes which I never get my hopes up about because did we grow up with dad's leisure suit as a dress up item sis? Anyway, I was almost in tears when I saw six store purchased Barbie dresses, most with matching slippers and one of which is either a wedding dress or snow princess gown. I was stunned . . . so I cried some more. She'll get some for x-mas this year and some for her birthday, just to share the wealth.

But the biggest success and "oops" was potty training. On Sunday I asked Alaina if she wanted to wear training pants or a pull up and she chose the training pants. I then persuaded her with little more than a small promise of a treat to use the toilet . . .with success! I was so excited, the treat became a small cone from Runza at the Mall. We had a small accident at the mall because mommy lost track of time, but hey, two steps forward, one step back is fine with me!

Of course then there was the incident when we got home. I had daddy take Alaina in to try to use the potty, and soon heard some crying and daddy calling "Mommy! Come here!" Alaina had 'fallen in' for the first time.
Poor thing.
She was mostly scared, but we changed into comfy footed pjs with a pull up and gave lots of hugs and kisses to help. This little incident did nothing to help Alaina's desire to use the big toilet, because now there was the threat of falling in.

Enter the Chocolate Pomander!

Last weekend with the Christmas baking extravaganza, Mom and I made chocolate pomanders, which were mostly consumed by my coworkers on company food day, but I had about 7 left. Alaina came into the living room carrying the small container of Pomanders after her nap on Sunday asking if she could have one. I told her we were saving them for when she went to the bathroom on the toilet to which I got this reply.

"But I did go to the bathroom!"

"I know you did, Alaina," I replied, "and you got ice cream for that time. These are for the next time you go to the bathroom on the toilet."

"Oh . . . Mommy I want to go potty!"

And she did.

Wow. So much excitement for a standard bodily function has never been witnessed in our house before. Alaina and I were dancing in the living room, and of course Alaina's mouth was full of her celebration Pomander.

It was a great end to a successful weekend.

My latest crushes.

Last night Jeff informed me that he doesn't like when I talk about things saying that I am "Madly in Love with _______"


I guess that I never dreamed that he would be offended by that phrase. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this a phrase that girls seem to grow up spouting as soon as we discover obsessions? Whether true or not, I have always used that phrase to describe my latest obsessions, be it boys, bands or broadcasters.




Broadcasters?



Oh yes. Broadcasters. This is who I informed Jeff that I was "Madly in Love" with last night.

David Gergen.

He is usually on Anderson Cooper 360 on CNN every evening and I love listening to him. He has this wonderful soft spoken way that he talks about politics. He never really condemns anyone on the show, just talks about what could have been a rough choice that someone made.

So far I've agreed with everything I've ever heard him say, or at least, he speaks in such an intelligent manner, that its hard to want to scream at his image "No, you idiot!" like I seem to want to do with some of the other contacts on air who seem to always condemn everything or 'pussy foot' around the issues.

And lets not forget the main show host himself. Anderson Cooper. I have a friend who professed her love for Anderson to me earlier this year, but I hadn't jumped on the bandwagon yet.

But as you can see from the caption on the photo below, We are not alone.

Seriously, I fell head first into my TiVomance with these two during the election. That and the awesome interactive map they had that you just touch and "magic happens." But the map has dissappeared after the election, so I'm only left with my two "Newsies."

(Now that makes me think of the old Disney Musical "Newsies" in which I first discovered Christian Bale and my Movie Romance with him, but that's a different story all together.)

Oh Sis, you can laugh and make fun of me, but these two men have contributed to me becoming a news junkie. Which all in all is a pretty good addiction and I'm kind of enjoying being on top of all the political issues right now.