Life according to me…

Stephen and I went on a date last night. We had dinner with a nice gift card from Macaroni Grill and then we went to see ‘The Producers’. More on the movie later.

Some of you have heard this before but I just had to publish it. WHAT IS WITH REGAL CINEMA BATHROOMS! They are little divided stalls of torture! See, for us women, we have to sit when we potty no matter what. Regal has strategically placed the toilet paper holders and feminine trash bins in the stalls RIGHT NEXT TO THE POTTY. Now, this would be no big deal for my small sized gal pals who can sit without worrying - but for big girls like me, being that these things are made of cold, hard steel, when I sit down WHAMMMMOOO! My upper thigh and leg is FROZEN while I attempt to relieve myself because it is stuck right onto those cold metal boxes!!! Ahhhh!!!

I have learned that the handicap bathroom is not quite as mooshed with the cold metal areas of torment right up against the potty..but sometimes I feel bad using that one because I am not really handicapped and also they don’t have that stall in every bathroom. And, being pregnant I did have to use the facilities 3 times during my stay at Regal, so my poor leg was frozen solid by the time we left the theater!

Can’t they move those things a bit further forward so that us big girls can sit without the cold metal freeze of death on our poor legs? Do we have to suffer because we aren’t skinny minnies who can sit and balance without hitting the toilet paper holders? Or, how about a little trash can on the floor and the toilet paper rolls that we have in OUR bathrooms - non industrial size, non freezing cold metal, and a bit lower to the ground as to not be so tormenting while someone tries to pee? I just don’t get it. FREEZE ME OUT WHY DON’T CHA!

Ok, that’s all on the bathrooms. The Producers was okay, it wasn’t what I was expecting though. It kinda started out a bit slow and the humor didn’t really get kicking until about 20 minutes into it. When it did, though, it was HILARIOUS. I had wanted to see Memoirs of a Giesha but Steve wasn’t really interested in it. I think he would have liked it though. I gotta find time to go see that with some girls who will enjoy it, or maybe I will just steal away and go alone one day when daddy is home with the kids. I read that book in record time (3 days, I think) and I can’t wait to see it on the big screen. Oh, and while in KY we got to see King Kong which was amazing. That’s one movie that you have to go see on the big screen, if you can. It took some time to develop the story in the beginning which I guess made the entire thing seem longer than it was but it was worth the development (unless you were 5 years old like poor Elijah and could care less about the characters). It did seem to be a long movie - 3 hours - and you could feel the 3 hours go by. This could have also been because of sitting with Elijah but I am glad he saw it because he loved it as did I. You actually feel for that poor gorilla!

That’s all on my cinema experiences lately. Gotta get the bouncing children off the sofa now!

So, I didn’t get a chance to update on the Domino’s Christmas Party yet because once we got back, swoosh, it was Christmas time. Well, Steve didn’t get manager of the year, but he got a plaque just for being nominated and got tons of other recognitions which I will list later. I am so proud of him.

Now, picture this awards thing - in a large size bar at a holiday inn, started about 8pm, and beer, cocktails and wine was free along with some finger foods. The owner and operations director wait until about 1045 to start the actual awards. By this time, they are no less than sloshed, it’s a wonder they can read all the awards and say everything they need to say. There are plenty of awards to give out and this year they went right up until a few minutes before close with all of their accolades and acknowledgements.

At one point in the broohaha, the Orlando Supervisor was accepting yet another area award for being the best at something or other (GO ORLANDO) and was going up to get his award from the boss. Now, when he came up, the owner Greg said something about marshmallows that nobody really understood. They kept on with the awards and Jeremy (Orlando Area Supervisor) kept winning along with Steve and a few other nicely sized managers…and then Greg came clean with what he meant as Jeremy walked up to him yet again. He said, and I do quote, “What do we have working in this company, a bunch of marshmallow men?” To this the drunken crowd began cheering “marshmallow, marshmallow”!!!

This cracked me up as one of the few people NOT drinking that night. See, Steve, Jeremy, another area supervisor and about half the managers in that company are sized in the way that would categorize them as ‘marshmallows’. I call them, more affectionately, teddy bears. They are round and fluffy and cuddly, each of ‘em! Greg is not an especially small man, he and the Operations Director are both very tall and built guys but they would not be considered marshmallows.

I do love my marshmallow very much. Apparently it’s the type of man I am attracted to as I have dated marshmallows in the past…hats off to all the marshmallow men in the world! Continue to STAY PUFT!

As we enter into the actual days we each celebrate, let us remember the reason we come together. I hope everyone enjoys their time together with their family and friends. I hope each holiday, no matter which one you celebrate, is a memorable one.

This year our kids will just be old enough to really get into the swing of things and I can’t wait. I am also looking forward to seeing my parents on Christmas Day as it has been a very long time since I was home for Christmas. I look forward to entertaining Steve’s family tonight and sharing a meal and some fun with each of them as well. This is what it is all about and I hope everyone has a special time.

I wish I could be with everyone on Christmas, but there is only one of me, one day to celebrate and we each have our places to be. To all my friends who have traveled or are just as busy as we are, thank you for making my life as enhanced and special as each of you make it. Thank you for every diaper you have changed, every bottle you have made, every laugh you have shared, every tear you have shed with me. You all are what makes life count and I look forward to another year of growth, surprises, weddings, births, and good times. Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, and all that jazz. I love you!

Ah, I’m back home. What a trip home it was! We started out at 3:45 a.m. on Tuesday. We got all the way to middle Tennessee and poof, flat tire. We filled it up and by the next exit it was flat again. So we called the rental company, BUDGET, because on the back of our keychain it said ‘emergency roadside assistance’ and had a phone number. HA! Well, they wanted us to locate the spare and change it ourselves and then drive to the closest Budget and change out the van for another. Um, excuse me? Is that roadside assistance? Besides the fact that it was 21 degrees and we were in the middle of nowhere, we couldn’t find the spare (it was under the front seat, right tire axle), and none of us had changed a tire in quite a long time…NO WAY! So we called back and told them to come get it fixed. They said, sure, give us 2 hours to get there. 2 HOURS!!!! At an itty bitty gas station/fireworks stand in 21 degree weather!!!!!!

Well, we had no choice but to wait for the other van. And just like they promised, they arrived 2 hours later. We were back on the road after 11:30 after stopping at about 9am. What a morning. We booked it the rest of the way home but even still had to stop for gas and food occasionally and we got home at about 8:00 that night.

Overall, we had a great trip. Poor Elijah felt very cooped up not being able to go play outside since it was FREAKIN COLD…but he did good for the circumstances and on the car ride home he was an angel, considering he sat in the car for over 14 hours too. He was so silly towards the end, counting to 100 through giggles through Tony goofin off with him - they were so glad to be home. I am too!

It’s been pretty chaotic since I arrived at home - Steve’s Christmas party (details later), preparing for Christmas, wrapping gifts, getting food together, getting groceries in the house….as it is now I have to run and find my bossofme a Christmas gift plus try to get the mounds of laundry finished. Men are so hard to shop for by the way!

It is good to be home. I missed my husband and kids so much. It was a nice break - but a break for me from now on can be a trip to the mall, not a 2000 mile journey. Oh toto, there’s no place like home!

Read this article from CNN a few days ago. Then read on.

Let it be what it is. It’s CHRISTMAS. We have a holiday ’season’ because of, in addition to the other holidays, CHRISTMAS. If you celebrate something else, then go for it with gusto and have a great holiday, but for those of us who celebrate Christmas, IT’S MERRY CHRISTMAS. Not Merry X-Mas because we are lazy, no matter what the true meaning of the X really is; you can’t have Christmas without Christ just like you can’t have other holidays without their major icons. Sure, lots of people celebrate Christmas without paying any attention to Jesus, but everyone does know why we celebrate it. It’s His birthday. We should be permitted to say a greeting in whatever way we want to and not worry about offending someone. Christmas is a major part of American Culture, and we respect other cultures and their holidays and Christmas should remain as respected. If it offends you then don’t say it or celebrate it, but don’t fuss because everyone else wants to celebrate it. We all have a right to our opinion and to express it however we feel like and we aren’t imposing our religious beliefs on you just because we wish you a MERRY CHRISTMAS. Give me a break!

If you put up a tree, decorate it, put presents under it, it is a CHRISTMAS tree. Other holidays don’t celebrate with decorated trees with presents under them. I will not worry about offending if I say have a MERRY CHRISTMAS instead of happy holidays nor will I worry that my tree is a ‘holiday’ one and not a CHRISTMAS one.

This issue not only was in CNN, but it happened in my house. My Elisa came home from school on her last day before the holiday and when she heard “Happy Holidays” on the TV, she said, “OH, I am so sick of HAPPY HOLIDAYS!”. We then learned that’s all they say in her classroom. Now, we have a decorated Christmas tree and a dreidel on our fridge that she made at school and we display them both proudly so she knows that other people celebrate different ways. I was glad her class and all of the kindergarten did a “Holidays around the World” and they got little sheets to color about holidays in different parts of the world. At least she is exposed to different things but apparently she got really sick of Happy Holidays, and I don’t blame her. I am sick of it too.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS!!!!