Time Flies When You're Ho-Ho-Ho-ing!

I have been baking.  Lots and lots of baking. My counters and table have been covered in cookie making messes...but the results have been wonderful.  Family, friends and the folks on my Mobile Meals Route are getting quite the cookie trays this year!

Several of you have commented about our Christmas card this year and how big both Spencer and Bowser have gotten.  Ironically, Bowser still thinks he is a tiny, wittle puppy and wants to be a lap dog.  He is always nudging his wide end into our laps! He is just as happy as if he had good sense.

Friday night, we celebrated Christmas with the Godwins.  After a gratuitous amount of time hiding from the camera and acting shy, the Godwin girls finally let me get some pictures:

Laura gave me a Holga camera for Christmas-- I CANNOT wait try it out!  It has been so many years since I have used film, I'm not going to know how to act!

And finally, we closed the weekend with a Christmas celebration with Will's side of the family:

It was the most fun "in-law boot camp" I have ever attended!

Deck the Halls with Shin Guards and To Do Lists

Even though I am trying to keep everything caught up at work, get my holiday shopping, wrapping and baking done and attend all the fun social events of the season, our schedules are still saturated with soccer.
Melissa coaches two teams (boys), a girls indoor team and she plays on an adult team. That's a lot of soccer!

This past weekend, Spencer's team lost to a really good team.  It was a very aggressive game--Spencer left the field with big, nasty bruises.  I didn't like that at all :(

The adult team was fun to watch-- my ex-in-laws played, too. The other team was short a few players and they recruited my ex-brother-in-law. Will "could" have played  but Scott was doing such a fine job...and Will had just eaten a huge dinner ...so he stayed on the bench in the Amen section with the rest of us.
My nieces are current scholarship soccer athletes, so they were our "ringers." Melissa did a great job in goal and our friend, Jason, managed to score several times and frustrate one of their players into a yellow card.  We cheered...and heckled..it was fun!

Now ...I have shopping to finish, cookies to bake, mobile meals to deliver, parties to attend, friends and family to visit...  The two weeks before Christmas has so much energy and excitement. I love this time of year!

Girls Weekend Away: Myrtle Beach

I took Friday off and four of us (it was supposed to be 5-- we missed you Dee!) headed to Myrtle Beach for a relaxing weekend of holiday shopping. We arrived late Friday afternoon, shopped at the outlets and then had dinner at Dixie Stampede.  Their Christmas show was fantastic!  This is their last season in Myrtle Beach-- at the end of the year they are closing and re-opening in June with a Pirate theme.  The boys should love it!
Saturday was dedicated to the Arts and Crafts show at Springmaid Beach Resort.  Luckily, this is where we stayed as well so we could take our purchases back to the room and keep on shopping all day! Even though it was chilly at the beach, it was still sunny as we kept getting weather updates from home and pictures of our families playing in the first snowfall of the season!
We shopped  our way to Fiesta Del Burro Loco for dinner and closed out Saturday with even more shopping.  By checkout on Sunday, we had to play one mean game of Tetris with the luggage and packages to get everything to fit in the car and still have room enough for us to get our seatbelts buckled! So we didn't miss Dee quite as much at that moment (ha ha) but we would have made it if she could have joined us!
The good news is that my Christmas shopping is about 75% done!

Decade Mark

As hard as it is to believe, Spencer is 10 years old now.  He insisted on having his birthday party on his actual birthday--a Wednesday-- so we ended up having an after school play date and dinner. 
Nana and Boppa rented a bounce house and we fixed all kinds of snacks and made hot dogs. The kids could play/graze whenever they wanted.  We had to take the cake to the front porch to sing Happy Birthday and let Spencer blow out his candles because we couldn't get the kids to stop playing long enough to do "party" things. 

They had the bounce house, the swings/see-saw area by the pool, the field in front of Nana and Boppa's for football games and soccer games---then dart gun wars.  My favorite pictures from the party are the ones of all the little boys playing football (while the little girls finally got time in the bounce house without all the rough-housing!)--Thanks to Laura for being on camera patrol while I was busy with host stuff.

One of the highlights from the party: I had 7 boys in the car whom I had just picked up after school (the rest were dropped off later) and as we drove down the road, they all cheered wildly when they saw the bounce house in the front yard.  My son-- typical Spencer-- turns around from the front seat and announces, "No One gets in the bounce house until our homework is done!"  and yes he was serious!

And although the bounce house was very clean and the people we rented it from were super nice, I will NEVER do it again.  We had more injuries than I can count.  Busted noses, lips, bumped noggins, stepped on ribs, hands, etc.  We kept the bounce house to 8-10 kids (what was recommended) but they kept knocking into each other or bouncing on top of one another. Instead of having candy and toys, this party had treat bags filled with Advil and ice packs.

But, everyone still had fun.  Spencer loved every minute of it and hopefully made lots of great memories.

My "Luck" experiment-- will fate reward us?

Will and I are getting married on St. Patrick's Day---that's gotta be lucky, right?

So I'm going to do an experiment:  from now until Valentines Day  I'm going to buy one $1 scratch-off lotto ticket a week. That gives us 11 weeks (and a mere $11 investment) to see if I can win us a super Valentine's present: Whatever I win on the lotto tickets, will be used to buy cruise coupons for the honeymoon!

If I win $15-- I will get a Photo Coupon
If I win more than $15 but less than $20, I will buy Bar Credit
If I win more than $20, I will buy Funship Dollars
******************************************************************
BOOKING NO:  73WQ44 
STATEROOM:  R204

Photo coupon: (Gallery Credit)

http://www.carnival.com/BonVoyage/AddToCart.aspx?cat=Specialty+Items&pid=801

or Drink coupons (Bar Credit)

http://www.carnival.com/BonVoyage/AddToCart.aspx?cat=Specialty+Items&pid=BAR

or just general Funship Dollars that can be spent on anything (steakhouse, spa, photos, drinks, etc.)

http://www.carnival.com/BonVoyage/AddToCart.aspx?cat=giftcertificates&pid=FSD


****************************************************************************

And if I don't win anything? Uhmmm.....I'll figure that out later. 
 
So please send me some good luck vibes--and I will post how we are doing each week! 
 
 

This Thanksgiving...I am Thankful for Indoor Plumbing

The night before Thanksgiving, there was a puddle in front of my house...but it had not rained.  And if you listened carefully, you could hear water running.  But where???  We cut the water off at the main supply and the meter was spinning like a penny slot machine! So Will, Jimmy and my Dad had the pain staking task of digging up the line and repairing the break. Will, bless his heart, did most of the work--but at least I now know even more than before that he is awesome husband material ;)

So-- have you ever had to cook Thanksgiving without water? Have you ever had to run to the neighbors to fill up water jugs, and to shower...and poop?  It sucks.
Thankfully, it was all repaired on Friday. Will worked his butt off on house projects all weekend.  If you are familiar with "Love Languages," my language is "acts of service" so he totally swooned me.

The rest of Thanksgiving weekend was very nice.  We spent time with family--both mine and his. I finally met more of Will's family--they were exactly as Will had described each of them so it was very comfortable and if you *have* to get some in-laws, I think I'm getting a pretty good bunch.
We also braved the middle of the night crazies for some Black Friday shopping, Will got some samples from a jeweler for me to start deciding on a wedding band (the pic in the collage is Spencer making fun of me oohing and aahing over the bling!) and we decorated and wrapped presents. 

Will also received his FIRST piece of mail here. I know-- that sounds cheesy...but it was fun to see his name and this address. Yes, it was just a piece of semi-junk mail where he signed up for a rewards card at TGIFridays but still...it came in the mail on Black Friday.... It was to TGIFridays and our honeymoon cruise leaves on a Friday... Coincidence?  yeah...totally. But I have nothing else to blog about since my dehydrated holiday evidently affected my ability to take family pictures and have a sense of humor!

Spawn of Gene Simmons?

Valerie, my Spam-loving buddy from Florida, was in town a few days ago for business and we managed to squeeze in an evening of shopping and dinner.  On the way out of the mall, I tried to grab a pic with my blackberry and (1) it was dark and foggy and (2) the flash blinded us so we weren't able to tell how the picture looked on my phone because we were seeing white spots from the flash. 
Anyway-We tried twice and I checked it when I got home and this is what I ended up with:

In all these years of being friends with Val, I had no idea she had a creepy tongue. Seriously-- maybe it wasn't white spots from the flash I was seeing-- maybe it was visions of hell because these pictures are damn near evil! 

Actually-- she reminds me of the Scream spoof the Wayans brother's did-- Scary Movie!

Haha-- She's probably going to kill me for posting these pics!

Despite how bad our pics turned out, we had a great evening together!

Missing my little guy

Every couple of hours I hear, "thump thump thump thump" as the dog runs up the stairs to Spencer's room to see if he is home yet.  He misses Spencer as much as I do!
Spencer is on a three day school field trip to Salter's Path. They have a packed agenda, mostly involving science-- including dissecting a squid. Spencer was really looking forward to the trip.
The only bad part was having to get him to the school at 6:15 am on a 35 degree Sunday morning. I am NOT a morning person--and to add salt to the open A.M. wound some jerk illegally parked behind me while I walked Spencer to the motor coach.  When I came back to my car, I had to wait for an additional 25 minutes for jerkface to come back and move his SUV.  I had asked some of the parents standing around and no one knew whose SUV it was.  I can't imagine existing in my own little world thinking it is totally okay to block people in (he had blocked three of us in)  and not even care! I was talking to a friend when I heard the car start up so I never got to see him walk up.  I was totally denied the sarcastic clapping or anything else to let him know I was pissed.
At least Spencer was very excited about going and although the house is really empty without him--I hope he is having fun and learning much!

Later Sunday, Mom and I met Will, his son and Will's Mom at High Point Theater to see Sander's Family Christmas and then out for dinner.  It was a wonderful play--we really enjoyed our afternoon!

Didn't Taste Simple to Me...

Last night I hosted a Tastefully Simple tasting party. It was so much fun--and I can't believe how much food I have left over.  We tasted so many things that my friends could barely (and some couldn't at all) sample the desserts.  Seriously--they couldn't take another nibble!
I wasn't sure how many "tasting" samples we would have so I made up a few treats, fingers sandwiches and a cheese tray as well.  That is what put us overboard....
We pretty much ate our way through the catalog-- I think we sampled about 20 products or so.  We were so miserable by the end that I am going to have another tasting this spring--haha!
So many friends showed up-- I ran out of seats!  We pulled the couch into the archway AND I needed the foldy-chairs we use during soccer games.  It was fun to have a bunch of friends over on a week night for a little hen party-- I highly recommend it!

Blended into a purrdddy shade of purple

I have to submit a picture for an upcoming team meeting at work.  We are a virtual team, most of us work from home, so video meetings are the only way we "see" each other. The picture needs to tell a little bit about ourselves and can be in the following categories: Childhood, Marriage, Christmas, Workspace, Pets or defining image--such as hobbies or enthusiasts.

I looked at the list and thought--
Childhood?  Nah--I would have to go to my parent's house, get a picture, scan it in...too much trouble.
Marriage? Oh Hell to the No. Perhaps a picture from my divorce party a couple of years ago??  Nah--not appropriate for work...even though half the pictures are with girls I work with!
Christmas?  has potential....
Workspace?  boring
Pets? Bowser and Inez-- could be interesting....
Hobbies?  Well I could use photography, scrapbooking, reading, etc.--lots to choose from!

I ended up using this:

That told a story nicely...and prepared everyone that I will be taking vacation in March.  Two birds---one stone. 

Speaking of my sweetie, Will sent me a text this morning telling me about a child at his son's school fighting stomach cancer.  The teachers and parents are getting together donations to raise money to help the child's family.  Will was able to get a personalized,autographed picture from Tom O'Brien (NC State head football coach) and Sidney Lowe (head basketball coach) signed a basketball and a poster and donated tickets to an upcoming game.

Now I know what you're thinking-- It's sad enough that the family is fighting this horrible disease and has surgery and treatment expenses and now Will goes and saturates them in horrible NC State stuff! 
True, yet Will promises me that in Raleigh there are some NC State fans and these gifts will be appreciated by the family. So...I am very proud of him and hope the donations are received with well wishes and prayers for health and happiness.

Tis the season....to covet.

Spencer wasn't feeling 100% today so he spent a great deal of time inside watching TV. 
And by watching TV, I mean he would pause the TV, rewind, and yell MOMMA- I WANT THIS!! to every commercial that came on!  He has already taken a red pen to every catalog that has come in the mail and circled his wish list items AND he has the toy inventories memorized at WalMart, Target, Kmart and ToysRUs. This is the same child that can't remember to put his shoes in the closet, but can rattle off 15 different types of Nerf guns in one breath.
Finally--after the 100th, "I want" today, I tried to guilt him by reminding him about why we celebrate Christmas and that giving is better than receiving and he should recognize that it isn't about toys. 
And not 5 minutes later, he called me back into the living room yet again to show me a commercial for a game called HedBanz and said, "I would like to get this for you Mom because I bet you would like to play this with me!"
:facepalm:

Veteran's Day

I gave my Dad an awesome Veteran's Day gift-- I took Mom away for the day.  HAHAH!!

Mom and I took Spencer to Chapel Hill on Veteran's Day because our little man wanted to do some early birthday shopping for himself.  He picked out a new sweatshirt, a couple of new T-shirts, a winter cap that looks like a football helmet, some toys, a soccer wrist wrap/bracelet thingy, and he chose both lunch and dinner--plus he snacked on doughnuts and icees!  It was "Spencer Day" in the fullest!
Mom and I snuck some time in at A Southern Season and Spencer even enjoyed his time there where he helped pick out gourmet goodies for the holidays!

Rock out with your Choc out!

My bff, Laura, of Mama Laura's Chocolates LLC was featured on tonight's WFMY News 2 special, "Made in the Triad, Holiday Edition."  Our viewing party consisted of going out for dinner (East Coast Wings) and coming back to her house to make fun voice over comments and goofy pictures of her TV appearance including but not limited to: the Vanna, the thinker, the rock star...and the always a classic laugh-at-the hairnet pose.

Thankfully, our children are too young to realize they should be embarrassed by our antics and played nicely, totally oblivious to the dementia that will probably be inherited.  Bless their hearts.

Attennnnnn--HUT!

Today was the Awards Assembly for the first nine weeks of school.  Spencer and IV both made straight A's, IV had attendance awards, Spencer had a Bulldog of the Month award, etc.--- of course we're all very proud of the boys.
Check out IV absolutely LOVING the spotlight while he was being called for recognition--- smirking, making faces, wiggling and goofing off.
And then there's my poor child ..... stiff as a new recruit at attention, avoiding all eye contact, and especially refusing to look at Mommy and the dreaded camera until the end of the program!

Size of My Crack

Isn't it interesting when you find out something about yourself that means absolutely nothin.  But still funny.
We were at my mom's house and Mom asked whose can of soda was on the kitchen counter-- Will picked it up, glanced at the top and matter of factly said-- "It is Cassandra's."

Huh?  How did he know?  I looked at it--and no lipstick was on it, so how?

Then he showed me something he has known for over a year that I did not.  I am a lazy-ass can opener.

Evidently, when I open a soda can, I barely crack it open and don't fully push the tab back-- and Will rams the thing all the way back. 
He's the soda yin to my can yang.

Dadburn Fluorescent Lights!!!

I appreciate my freedoms as an American.  My father is a veteran-- I am proud of the freedoms I can complain about...and this is going to be one of them:  I voted today.

If you are a local reader of my blog , you may want to close your browser now because there is a good possibility that I am getting ready to launch a complaint about your great-great Memaw....

I live in walking distance to the church in which I vote and I have voted at this location for 16 years.  It is always staffed by elderly volunteers.  I appreciate them volunteering their time, but there needs to be a decisive cut-off as to whom they allow to work on poll days.  My brother swears they take a van to the Alzheimer's ward of the local nursing home, load it up and let the person who has never seen a computer before have dibs on working the ballot table.  He might be right.

There was NO LINE.
NO ONE was in front of me. NO ONE was behind me. 
And it took 3 people, one phone call to headquarters and 20 minutes to find me in the computer.
They were holding my driver's license and voter registration card with the EXACT spelling of my name and address yet could not find me. 
Why?  20 minutes of typos.  Then they blamed the fluorescent lighting making it hard to read my license.
:sigh:

During the 20 minute wait, I got to sit in the voter quarantine area where other people got to stare at me and wonder what I did wrong.  I got out my blackberry and attempted to pass the time by playing brick-breaker but I was yelled at by someone 15 years older than Methuselah's grandma that cellphones are not permitted in the area. :another sigh:

Then...they FINALLY hand me the ballot.
I go to the little voter booth that was clearly built in 1974 by a 6th grade shop class.  I brace the wiggly thing with my knee and attempt to bubble in the ballot.  It soon dawns on me that 90% of the ballot is running unopposed.  :another sigh:

I strongly support voting-- even if it isn't to vote FOR a candidate but to vote AGAINST a candidate or to cancel out the vote of someone else.  So this vent isn't to dissuade voting. 

I guess I have two choices-- I can volunteer my own time or I can put up with it, right?  :another sigh:

Today I Stop...

A few years ago, when life turned me upside down, a friend gave me this picture.

Today, I sat at my desk and I looked at my various "to do" lists and realized how much stuff was on my agenda-- buying wedding bands, planning the wedding, honeymoon plans, cruise excursions, Spencer's birthday party, family trip to Disney, Thanksgiving, Christmas, house projects, work projects, Soccer stuff, etc. etc. etc. and I realized that I had happy stress.

Even though this poem has hung over my desk for three years, I think today was the first day I actually stopped, breathed deep, and got "it" on the level it was intended.


So, Cheers to happy stress, love, and to-do lists that make me smile and cry at the same time!

Bootiful Night!

Halloween weekend was fun!  Spencer had a soccer game (we won !!) then Will and I did some shopping, had a TERRIFIC dinner at Taste of Thai in Greensboro, watched football and stupid Halloween movies and made cupcakes for the church cakewalk.

Spencer and IV were both ninjas. That probably explains why you didn't see them all night :)

Check out how much candy Spencer got!

Saliva of Steel

Spencer and I went to a Japanese buffet tonight that included sushi. I had a couple of pieces of Nigiri--ever so gently brushed with wasabi. Spencer asked me what the green paste was that I had smeared on the edge of my plate and I explained how wasabi had heat like intense horseradish--very hot!

He took a pea sized glob of it on the end of his chopstick and asked me if I would pay him $5 if he ate it.  Of course I said no! I didn't want him getting strangled!!

But before I could explain to him, he popped the small chunk in his mouth, squished it around and swallowed it.....then went back to eating his noodles.

Like nothing. ever. happened.  Not even a sip of water!

I just froze in disbelief. And then started laughing!  What kind of freaky little kid am I raising? 
When I asked him HOW IN THE WORLD HE ATE THAT???!!!  He took another little gob and put it on his tongue....and this time I got a picture....

Do you see that??? That's a fierce amount of wasabi! And the little brat's eyes never even watered up!

What Would Nancy Drew Do?

I have an unusual case of APPEARING clothes.

This T-shirt and Shorts showed up on my dresser about two months ago.

The T-shirt is a man's XXL and the shorts are an XL (40/42)-- too big to be Will's---too big to be my Dad's--too big to be my ex-husband's-- the right size for my brother but NOT his!

The shirt says "High Point Regional Health System Piedmont Joint Replacement Center" and the clothes were clean and neatly folded.

So...obviously these clothes got mixed up with either my stuff or Spencer's stuff, right?  I need to figure this out...and quick!  A strange set of men's clothing showing up in my bedroom doesn't look right....

Hey Punkin!

Spencer and IV's Challenge Soccer team played the #2 team this weekend--AND WON 2-1!  IV had the game winning goal and Spencer had both assists! We yelled and cheered until we nearly lost our voices!

The rest of the weekend was filled with family dinners, shopping, more soccer practice, mani-pedis while the boys were at a friend's birthday party...and we closed the weekend down with a big dinner at La Hacienda and Pumpkin Carving party at Mom and Dad's house. Our pumpkins turned out great this year!

Dude. Mellow With All The Wasted Yellow.

Every year when they throw out 2 or 3 big ol phonebooks at the top of my driveway I complain that there should be a way to opt out of this nonsense.  VERY few people still use a paper phone book.  It seems like such a waste to pick up these disuses of paper and deposit them straight into the recycling bin.

Anyway, before I fall of this soapbox and break my foot again....- here is the link to opt out:
http://www.ypassociation.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Environmental1&Template=/CustomSource/ZipSearch.cfm

Happy Fall, Ya'll!

The weather is finally breaking, the leaves are turning and it is starting to look like autumn.

Spencer has been busy playing football, Halo Reach, snuggling with me and watching movies and decorating pumpkins. Notice that Bowser totally owns the "full face mask drag across the floor" play during their little games of indoor tackle! 

My friend Laura (of Mama Laura's Chocolates and Ice cream) has been busy making caramel apples and peanut butter ghosts--so I got the great idea I would make some caramel apples, too.

The apples turned out fine. But the bowl of leftover caramel "disappeared" from the kitchen counter--- I found it and the thief a few minutes later on MY BED!

 
I should have been mad, but he looked so funny trying to eat the caramel without getting any of the sticky stuff on his snout, that I could only laugh....and take pictures!

New England Cruise

For my 40th birthday my parents gave me a cruise to New England/Nova Scotia/New Brunswick. Mom and I got back last weekend and had a FABULOUS time. I toured everywhere I wanted yet still managed to sleep in/nap and read 4 books the week we were gone. It was the perfect getaway!

We started in New York City, where we spent the night across the tunnel in New Jersey before boarding the Carnival Glory. This was our third cruise on Glory so we knew the ship pretty well by now. Mom finally got to see the Statue of Liberty!

After a relaxing day at sea, our first port was Halifax, Nova Scotia. We spent a lovely day on a fantastic tour with Ambassatours Gray Lines--also known as the company with the kilts.

It was very pretty and included my favorite excursions of the trip. We toured the city, botanical gardens, Titanic burial ground, Peggy's Cove, Acadian Maple syrup factory, Citadel, wharf, downtown market, and many other things I can't think of right now.

While walking through the cemetery for the Titanic burials--the somber memorials, the sad tombstones, the reverence, the serious soliloquy of our tour guide.... all broken by my giggles when I saw this:

We have no idea where the rest of him was buried. {{snicker}} But it can't be a coincidence that this was the only grave in the place with lots of flowers!


And if you think I got excited about the tombstone, you should have seen me when I found the ketchup chips!
I know you are thinking--we have ketchup chips here in the States---BUT NOT THE LAY'S KETCHUP CHIPS! You can only get them in Canada.  My canuck friend, Patti, got me and Spencer hooked on these a couple of years ago. 

Of course I got a few bags to take home. How sad is it that the BEST souvenir is a $1 bag of chips???



Our next port was Saint John, New Brunswick. The fog was pretty intense the day we were there. Our tour sounded like this, "To the left you would normally see...." and " To the right blah blah blah is normally visible..." My favorite part of this tour was seeing the Reversing Rapids at the Bay of Fundy.

I included the picture of the McDonalds sign so I would remember to blog about the McLobster up in Saint John and Halifax during the summer.  Unfortunately, we missed it; but the folks there swear it is fabulous.  Almost a pound of fresh lobster salad on a buttery roll-- for $5.99!  These people are pretty much lobster snobs, so to hear them go on and on about the McLobster was kind of funny. 
Then again, back when Wendy's offered the Carolina Classic, Spencer and I ate there twice a week!

After Saint John, we went back towards the US and spent a day in Portland, Maine. We did a city tour that included several lighthouses.

It was absolutely beautiful! This is where we had our first "lobster roll" and even though it was $15.99 for a sandwich, it was big enough for us to share and it was delicious!

After leaving Portland, we spent a day in Boston. For the most part, Boston was the friendliest northern city I have EVER visited.  And the trolley tour we took was wonderful--our driver (Jay) was so much fun I was disappointed when she said the tour was over.

Boston is rich in history and the tour was very informative.  Did you know Samuel Adams did more than make beer? (yes, that's a joke!)
Fenway Park brings a tear to the eye of just about everyone there-- I guess that's what happens when you are that far away from ACC basketball, huh?
We had (yet another) lobster roll and tried the famous Boston Baked Beans.  I wanted to like them-- I really did.  But my baked beans are so much better :)  Their beans just taste like beans + molasses.  I am used to good southern style with sweet and tangy sauce filled with brown sugar, onion and bacon. We also tried "Thanksgiving on a roll" which seemed to pop up on every menu we saw.  It is basically a turkey sandwich with dressing and cranberry sauce.  Pretty good, but not as good as the lobster!

I am sure this is popular in most larger cities, but this is the first time I saw these:

The backs of many cars parked on the streets had "bump guards" because of how tight the parallel parking is in the city. The cars without these bumper thingies had scrapes and dings.  Man-- I could never live in a big city!  I am too spoiled to space and land and no panty liners on my car bumper!

After our day in Boston, we had another day at sea before heading back to the port in New York city.  A storm was hitting in and the seas got rough that last day. Mom got REALLY sick (vertigo from all the movement) and she stayed in bed the entire day.  I was fine--and enjoyed the last day with fruity drinks, casino play and a big prime rib dinner.

Speaking of dinners, the food was wonderful--as usual:

So what else fun happened on our cruise?

• I won $25.00 on a raffle ticket.  But I had just blown $20.00 in a slot tournament and $5.00 on the raffle ticket itself, so I guess it was a wash.  But still fun to win a little something.
• I booked the honeymoon!!!  Will and I had talked about doing a cruise to the Bahamas for our honeymoon and they were offering $50.00 on board credit if I booked then, so I did!
• Speaking of falling in love, I fell in total amour with my Kindle.  From now on all future purse purchases must pass both the blackberry AND the kindle space requirements!
• Mom and I tried lots of new sushi.  It was our usual afternoon snack because it wasn't too heavy, unless of course, you washed it down with too much sake...
• I brought back lots of fun souvenirs--yes, I brought back more than ketchup chips. I realized I bought Spencer too much and even put a couple of things back for his birthday!

This blog post is longer than I intended but I have SO many photos to wrangle into a scrapbook album.  Hopefully, I will have it done before my next vacation because (shhhh!) I am *still* working on my Alaska album from last summer!!!

School Pics--4th Grade

Why is it every time pictures roll around Spencer has decided he is anti-haircut?
I guess I should be thankful his nose is clean and he isn't rocking a koolaid mustache!
Oh well, here is my scruffy (but still cute!) little 4th grader....

Putting the #5 in High Five!

When Laura and I are together, we usually have "corrected coffee."  A bottle of Irish cream, some flavored K-cups for the Keurig and some Gilmore Girls reruns...and we're all set.

Corretto is Italian for "corrected" and also the common Italian word meaning "spiked (with liquor)".
Corrected or Corretto coffee has a shot of liquor, usually grappa or brandy...or in our case, Irish Cream.

I was making my Christmas List (I bet you're wondering if I checked it twice??) today and I got the idea that it would be fun to get Laura a coffee mug that mentioned Corretto/Corrected Coffee.  I went to Google, typed in corrected coffee and hit image search to browse for coffee related mugs and gifts.

I saw two mugs alright....but not coffee mugs!  Out of 234,000 possible results, a photo collage from my blog of me and Laura was top row, page one, #5,  in the list.

We're the unofficial spokes-hoochies for corrected coffee.  Nice, huh?

Then I got to thinking....there have been some wild nights, crazy parties and unusual happenings over the past  few years-- I might want to make sure our pictures didn't come up with words like cougar, stripper heels, gigantor, bomb treats, anal nails, etc.  Well, technically we go to A.N.Nails---but we call it Anal Nails so I can see how that one could get us mislabeled....
Geez, who knows where things on the interwebs will pop up!

Fall craft time!

Once again, I am teaching Wednesday night craft classes at church. This week we made slime or gak or goo---whatever you want to call it.  I don't have permission to publish pictures of all the kids so I had to block out some faces--but you get the idea:  it was an ooey gooey messy bit of fun!

Fair Play

We had a family outing on Monday to take Spencer and IV to the Greensboro Fair.  It was all fun and games....

...until Spencer rode the "Energy Rush."  ( IV's walk of shame off the ride was probably a smart choice in hindsight!)  Poor Spence got sick as a dog! 

Look at how Nana and Boppa are consoling him, while the rest of us are giggling and taking pictures.  Don't worry--he was fine.  Ten minutes later he was scarfing down a platter at Ghassons for dinner!

The Social Calendar...mostly dictated by Spencer

I jokingly say that if it weren't for Spencer's activities, I would have no social life--and looking at my photos from this weekend, I believe it is true!

Well, I guess Thursday night's dinner and wine tasting (Zeto!) with Laura doesn't count as Spencer's activities---but it *did* start the weekend off right! Zeto is unique because they have the wine shop, gourmet foods section, patio, and the vino-matic machines! You get a purchase card and you pre-load any dollar amount you want onto the card.  Then, they have 24 wines (8 wines in 3 machines) where you can buy a taste, a half glass or a whole glass.  Just insert your card, select the button and hold your glass!  Laura and I can confirm that a $10.00 card doesn't get you very far....

Friday night, III and I took Spencer and IV to the Friday Night Bush Hill activities which included the casting contest (our boys stink at that, although IV was interviewed and had his picture taken for the paper--look for it this Thursday!) and the Bike Rodeo. 
The Bike Rodeo was cute. They taught bike safety, helmet fitting, Spinz checked the bikes and then the kids rode through an obstacle course while a police officer observed their hand signals. IV couldn't have cared less, but my kiddo-- Mr. Spencer Rules and Regulations Alderin was *ALL* about that class!
Because the road was closed due to the festival, the bank parking lot at the end of the road was empty--so the boys hooked up with a few friends and a pick up game of soccer became the highlight of the entire evening. I got a drink from the Wet Whistle, listened to the band, and just enjoyed the pretty weather until it was time to go home.

Saturday morning started off with a soccer game....of course.  We lost 3-2 but the boys played hard and tough.  After soccer, we went for lunch and the afternoon Bush Hill festivities.  The boys did the expected amount of face painting, hair painting, silly bandz buying, junk food eating, etc.

Later that evening, we all met back at Nana and Boppa's for a team pool party and cookout. We had a great time sitting around after dinner and chatting with the parents and grandparents of the team and all the boys had a blast playing in the pool, eating burgers and hot dogs, watermelon, making sno-cones, playing games and being loud, rambunctious little boys!

Sunday was much easier..... I went shopping with Laura (Hello Sephora and Barnes and Nobles!) and Jimmy and Melissa took the boys to watch the girls soccer team play.  Later we all met up for dinner to celebrate Grandparent's Day with Nana and Boppa!