“A” is for Aardvark

Do you think that Heather Locklear actually colors her hair with L’Oreal haircolor? I can’t imagine that she walks into the salon for her $700 hair cut and then plops down her $8 box of L’Oreal.

• Leave a comment... (4)

Preston got a motorcycle for Christmas.
He loves it!

• Leave a comment... (1)

Today isn’t even half over and WOW!
I have been thinking about blessings this morning. I am very blessed. I have Steve and Scout. I have my family. I have my WildeChicks. I have all of my friends. I have a place to live, plenty of food, clothes, shoes etc…
So instead of being concerned with the things I don’t have … I am relishing the things I DO have.

Steve and I exchanged gifts this morning…he went overboard. I am blessed. He got the best gift from Scout. We are blessed.

Soon we will head out to my parent’s house to do Christmas over there. Blessed.

Later I will talk to Susanna. This is one of my FAVORITE traditions. Susanna and I met in the Summer of 1983. We were 6.
By Christmas that year we had both turned 7…so this will our 22nd Christmas together. We don’t always get to “see” each other but we have NEVER missed talking to each other on Christmas Day. This year will be no exception. Blessed.

I wish all of you a Very Merry Christmas and I hope that you feel as blessed as I do this Christmas morning.
Merry Christmas!

• Leave a comment... (3)

ok who are we kidding. Things are never that quiet around here. I talked to Steph a few minutes ago and before she even said Hello… I could feel the chaos. It is good holiday chaos. Steve and I are about to hit the mall. Chaos. He has something he needs to pick up. It is a secret. I finished my Christmas shopping yesterday. Chaos. Scout feels the excitement of the Christmas chaos…she is fired up and moving today!

To all of you that bother to read here…
Merry Christmas Eve! I love you!

• Leave a comment... (2)

… to shut the fuck up and quit being a whiny bitch.
Merry Christmas!

• Leave a comment... (3)

Is drowsiness really a side effect of a sleeping pill?
Isn’t it just the effect?

• Leave a comment... (6)

Many of you will think I am going to hell for the following commentary BUT freedom of speech being what it is…

Yesterday I am driving down the road listening to holiday tunes on the radio. I LOVE holiday music. A song I have never heard comes on the radio. As I listen to the song I start to get annoyed. It is awful. It is awful in a way I can’t really even explain. The longer I listen the more annoyed I get. The song is about a little boy who is trying to buy his mother a pair of shoes for Christmas because she always did without so her kids could have what they wanted…and now she is dying. The only real connection I could make work for this song to be a “Christmas Song” is that it is set at Christmas and maybe the selflessness of the act is “Christmasy.”

Songs like this annoy me for several reasons

1. most little kids don’t know what size shoes Mom wears
2. dying at Christmas is not really putting me in the “spirit” of the holiday (isn’t Christmas the celebration of birth and life…Easter is the death holiday)
3. I doubt that anyone is going to hear this song and actually be nicer to their mother
4. It wants to make you cry
5. 13 year old girls think it is the “best song ever” because it is so “moving”
6. Who took the kid to the store?
7. If a kid didn’t have enough money … they would just ask some random stranger for the money or cry…not turn around an discuss his mother’s love with the guy in line behind him.
8. Why is the kid dirty from head to toe? Being poor doesn’t equal being dirty.

I am providing you with the lyrics to the song…. Steph already told me I was heartless because the song didn’t choke me up even a little. Like I said … one seat closer to the fire.

Newsong
The Christmas Shoes

It was almost Christmas time, there I stood in another line
Tryin’ to buy that last gift or two, not really in the Christmas mood
Standing right in front of me was a little boy waiting anxiously
Pacing ’round like little boys do
And in his hands he held a pair of shoes

His clothes were worn and old, he was dirty from head to toe
And when it came his time to pay
I couldn’t believe what I heard him say

Sir, I want to buy these shoes for my Mama, please
It’s Christmas Eve and these shoes are just her size
Could you hurry, sir, Daddy says there’s not much time
You see she’s been sick for quite a while
And I know these shoes would make her smile
And I want her to look beautiful if Mama meets Jesus tonight

He counted pennies for what seemed like years
Then the cashier said, “Son, there’s not enough here”
He searched his pockets frantically
Then he turned and he looked at me
He said Mama made Christmas good at our house
Though most years she just did without
Tell me Sir, what am I going to do,
Somehow I’ve got to buy her these Christmas shoes

So I laid the money down, I just had to help him out
I’ll never forget the look on his face when he said
Mama’s gonna look so great

I knew I’d caught a glimpse of heaven’s love
As he thanked me and ran out
I knew that God had sent that little boy
To remind me just what Christmas is all about

• Leave a comment... (9)

I have been thinking about names a lot lately. I have some naming to do soon. Many of you may not know that I have experience….I have named a baby before.
My sister was born when I was 7. Seven years is a long time to be an only child. My parents were amazing about helping me become a part of the whole baby process. I was allowed to have way more input than you would think. I picked out the crib and the crib set. I got to pick out the high chair (it matched the crib). It was a great experience, being a part of the decision making. Then my parents went waaaay out on a limb and decided that I could name the baby. Now… looking back I think “What were they thinking?!?!” Who lets a 7 year old name a baby? You could end up with a baby named Rainbow Brite, Strawberry, Jem, Smurfette, Cinderella, etc…
Luckily for my sister I had one VERY important condition for the baby name. It had to be a name you could find on a pencil. Ronda is not a very common name. It isn’t weird enough for people to make a face at…but you don’t hear it everyday. It is even less common when spelled R-O-N-D-A. Most spellings have an H.
When I was little I had many friends with names like Brandy, Lesley, Tracey, Jenny, etc… All names you could find on a pencil. Today of course you can order anything with your name on it. That was much less common in 1984.
My friends would come to school with their Hello Kitty pencils with their name emblazoned on them. (Now it should be known that I was never lacking for Hello Kitty pencils…we just couldn’t get them with my name on them.) In the life of a 7 year old, a name on a pencil is important. So, when I was charged with the naming of the baby I vowed that she would not face the same fate. She would have a name she could find on a pencil. I don’t really remember if my parents led me or guided me in any particular direction…I just remember that I picked out the name. It is one of my favorite things.

• Leave a comment... (15)