'Twas the week before Christmas...

I should be cleaning my house

It's our year to host Christmas

The family of my spouse

The stockings are hung

By the chimney with care

But our dog Brook, RIP, hers is not there

Our first Christmas without her

It's been bittersweet

Remnants of her fur on the tree skirt I didn't sweep

The boxes have been delivered

By Amazon with care

Knowing I don't have it in me to brave the holiday crowds out there

It's Tessa's last year here

Full time in our care

Next year will be college

Tears stay away

Damn you, beware!

Caroline is so excited

Christmas at five

Littlest Pet Shop and Screature

Rank high on her list

Small plastic toys, you get the gist

I'm thankful for family, and for friends

Wishing that the childhood years could never end

Happy Holidays

Merry Christmas

Kwanzaa and more

Here's looking forward to what 2010 has in store!

I gave up and left...

Do you ever realize that you need to confront things about yourself? Maybe something you realize in yourself as a weakness and know that you need to address?

I'm not sure why, but sometimes I am quick to give up and walk away.

At times, it seems easier.

Today I did it at the grocery store.

As I was passing through I saw a soup mix for a white bean soup.

This appealed to me, so I picked up the packet.

And the recipe was right up my alley.

I needed salt, water and a ham bone.

A ham bone?

Isn't that a dance move?

Where on earth do I find a ham bone?

I honestly could not find one.

So I left.

With my soup packet.

Looks like this will be a vegetarian soup.

Maybe after dinner I'll address my shortcomings.

I ain't too proud to beg!

Remember that song? OK, let's get down to biz-ness here. I need you. I need you to make me look good. All these years of free entertainment by me have culminated into my needing something from you.
And seeing as how it IS the holiday season and we should embrace the spirit of giving I'm going to ask for a little audience participation here.
I have submitted writing samples to two companies for freelance writing gigs for their websites. This is something that has been in the back of my mind for a while now, and I just happened to come across two good opportunities. One has already contacted me and it looks as if it is a go.
In order for me to be successful at this, I need readers. Commenters. Followers. Referrals. If I am able to make a successful go at this I will pull out all the stops to drive traffic to these sites and share what I have written. Are you with me? Trust me, the last two years of my goofy style of blogging will not come to an end. This is just a way to show off a little more of my journalistic polish and flair. Help a sister out here, ok? I promise not to let you down. There will still be tales of near- mishaps at the Canadian border, anatomically correct cheeseballs and woes of the mother of two. Don't worry. Link to my blog if you are a blogger, sign your self up as a follower, leave the occasional comment. And last but not least, feel free to vote in the upper left hand corner of the blog. Because once again, I ain't too proud to beg...

*Editing done by my cousin Ron. Thanks Ron, I wouldn't be where I am today without you!

How to entertain your friends (and look like a hero)

Did you know that right here in Columbus several local store owners allow you to host your own private parties in their stores after hours?
Yep.
Bring in your own food and drink? Or in some cases have it provided for you?
Yep.
Ladies, I give you three AWESOME venues to have your next ladies night. Gather your friends, have some fun and leave the work to someone else.
1) Leal. If you've never been, Leal is one of the hidden gems of Columbus. It is a small boutique in Arlington located on Arlington Avenue. GORGEOUS pieces, and when something goes on sale, it is ON SALE. One of the best things you will find at Leal is the service. OK, and the selection. You will find things at Leal that you will never find at a mass retailer. A fun way to introduce yourself and your friends to Leal might be their Ladies Night Out. What do you have to lose? Invite ten friends and shop the night away! (If you invite me, that brings you down to nine invites...)
2) OK, so we've got the clothes covered. Now we need to get "un-covered." As in Undone. The best lingerie boutique in town. Without a doubt. And again, fantastic customer service. The ladies at Undone at just plain fun. I've had a few par-tays with girlfriends at Undone and never leave empty handed... Oh, they have some pretty sweet shoes, bags and accessories too!
3) So. You're looking good from top to bottom. Now, wouldn't it be great if your house smelled as good as you look? Thought so. Enter the Candle Lab. Fab.U.Lous. Love that place. Custom scented hand poured candles. And again, a great place for a Ladies Night. So after you look good, your place can smell good and you can...
Hey, I don't have ALL the answers. Some things you just have to figure out for yourself.

Takes the sting out...

You know, there are a lot of remedies for getting rid of the "sting" of pain. But what about verbal stings? You know, the kind that are quickly delivered and hit just in the intended spot and leave their own sting? You may not be able to see the red pin-prick from the verbal zinger, but that does not mean it isn't there.

And as parents, we sure would not let our children do this, so why do we do it to other people? Is it because we are adults that we think it is OK? Our defenses are better, our feelings more shallow? Not true.

I can tell you, my five year old recently hurt a friends feelings and told her to go home. And I can also tell you that once my daughters temper was dealt with that we walked to the other child's house to say "I'm sorry." But as adults, who holds our hand and helps us to do the right thing and say "I'm sorry"? Because without having someone to do so, it isn't always that easy.

I will also tell you that I was recently told by someone that I was not always nice to them. And it took years for that person to tell me that. And to that person, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for hurting your feelings, and I'm sorry I felt it was OK to not be as nice to you as I could have and should have been. That was wrong of me.

As we finish up our holiday shopping and wrap up the year, maybe we can stop for a moment and bite our tongues when lines seem too long and tempers flare. What seems OK to say or do one minute really won't matter in the next. And you never know whose feelings you may spare by doing so.

This segment of Deep Thoughts, brought to you by me.

On the 12th day of Christmas

My email gave to me...

1) Fun gift ideas starting at $25 and under PLUS free shipping from W Hotels Enter code M3T54 at checkout
2) 25% off your entire purchase at Talbots Enter "friends" at checkout
3) Take 20% off your order from Fans Edge. Perfect for your sports fans on your shopping list. Use code 20foryou at checkout.
4) 20% off Le Crueset and Calphalon cookware from Williams Sonoma.
5) My personal favorite- Free shipping and gift wrapping on any order from Shu Uemura. Shu Uemura has THE BEST eyelash curler ever! Use promo code WRAP at checkout.
6) 25% off and free shipping from Ann Taylor Loft. Promo code is GIFTS
7) Shade Clothing- Another one I love! Free shipping and an extra 25% off clearance/sale items.
8) Gymboree- 25% off EVERYTHING plus free shipping.
9) Bliss Spa- Free shipping over $25 AND 15% off Bliss purchases. Use code 129903
10) And last but not least, the MANY, many great deals on ebates. You can get 8% back on Sephora purchases!!! If you don't shop online using ebates that's just plain nuts! It's free and you get money back on purchases!

Dear Santa...

Just in case you are wondering what I'd like for Christmas (other than world peace and for my family to be happy) I would like the following:

1) Automatic car starter (The only problem with this is that as of today, the remote car opener for my Volvo broke. Go figure. Like I need to lock that car anyway. Geesh.

2) DJ Hero OK. I know I'm a wee bit old for this one but for real yo. Can't you just see me spinning some mad tunes with my boys Eminem and Jay Z? I can TOTALLY see this happening.

What's on your Santa list this year?