The Volcano at the Mirage

The Volcano at the Mirage
Originally uploaded by vnoel.

Hooraw! We're going to vegas for a vacation before the New Year begins. Here's to kicking off 2006 the right way. (Christmas was great).

Almost Here...

IMG_6550
Originally uploaded by niddler.

Almost ready...

Getting there...

Ikea Christmas baubles
Originally uploaded by Beezy..

I'm working on it...getting a little more settled into the idea of Christmas. Just a couple more valium and I'll make it through the crowds who waited til last minute like me.

Dasher and Dancer

Dasher and Dancer
Originally uploaded by Wendy Mc.

I'm so stressing about Christmas now - as usual nothing is bought. I'm completely discombobulated - will my life ever become organized or something remotely resembling organization and not just harried mania?

headachy

headachy
Originally uploaded by A30_Tsitika.

I have a headache. Have had a headache for 2 days. Excedrin, Sudefed, Vicodin and Fioriset aren't helping.

$2 and counting

Picture 002
Originally uploaded by vikingdiplomat.

Saw JCs new movie tonight. Liked it. Wanted to love it but somehow couldn't quite. Sometimes I miss the old John Cusack, not exactly, but somehow...but maybe that's just me missing my own youth.

john "my boyfriend" cusack

john "my boyfriend" cusack
Originally uploaded by none too shabby.

It's always nice when things like this show up in your mailbox. It smells like cinnamon and oranges in my house today and that makes me happy. The maid come today which is fantastic. So even though I am sleepy and tired and stressed about oh so many things and NEED a vacation in the same way that some need air to breathe. It's the little things that make the days good. Like John Cusack in the mailbox.

Shopping...

at last...
Originally uploaded by myla kent.

I was walking around at the Biltmore last week. Perfect weather, perfect beautiful day and just, you know, wishing that life was just about shopping.

Red shed

Red shed
Originally uploaded by Tangelo.

This photo isn't anywhere near here but it reminds me of driving through Southern Utah - around Kanab/Hatch/Orderville, this time of year. I only miss fall living in Arizona.

pumpkin field

pumpkin field
Originally uploaded by wvs.

It's Halloween. Carved up the pumpkins last night and had a fire. Trick or Treating tonight.

Later that same day...

Pumpkins
Originally uploaded by Kymberlie R. McGuire.

And after several hours in retail hell...and I mean only the very special kind of retail hell you can find in a "Spirit" store - one of the those Halloween Superstores that pop up in vacant retail space very October, the special kind of hell that involves all the lame moms who have waited until the weekend before Halloween to shop for costumes with their crying babies, the special kind of hell that requires me to wait in line behind a mom with all her 5 private school children in their private school outfits in tow who have each picked out tiaras and wings and tights and plastic jewelry and glow sticks and fake spiders and rubber rats and witch brooms and tubes o' blood and of course the tubes o' blood don't scan and haved to be looked up in a big ginormous book full of sku numbers and I think the girl behind me might be Wicca and this is like her religious holiday or something and she has a broom made of actual weeds of some sort and she's asking if it's "authentic" and to top it all off it's the DAY OF THE DEAD for our hispanic friends who are all buying up every skeletal item the store carries and over the loud speaker they say "No More Holds, Sell it ALL!" and a few minutes later "NO RETURNS" and there are giant signs that say "NO RETURNS" everywhere and there are also signs that say no checks and must have ID to purchase with a credit card and a woman using a $100 bill has to wait so they can find the special pen that you use to see if the bill is fake and o my gosh I have a headache now!- BUT I have now procurred two costumes for my children, so I'm out $79.00 but at least I don't look like a completely lame mom anymore. So that's the price you pay for being a procrastinating mother.

Orangey Goodness

Orangey Goodness
Originally uploaded by bandanamomaz.

It's nearly Halloween. And I used to LOVE Halloween. When I was a little kid and when Holden was little, I really liked it. But now I just kind of dread it. I love the pumpkin part and the fact that it's fall and all of that but I'm so tired of the whole Halloween Costume pressure. It's like if your kids don't have great Halloween costumes you're a crap mom. But I did make these cupcakes with Jordan so that has to count for something. But in the costume department I'm coming up short this year...

autumn colors

autumn colors
Originally uploaded by reddirtrose.

It's fall. Of course in Arizona that just means we cool off a bit. We were in Utah this weekend and I do miss the fall colors. But I don't miss winter so there you go...can't have it both ways.

magnolia bakery buttercream

magnolia bakery buttercream
Originally uploaded by not martha.

This makes me happy.

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Faking Sick

So today Brennan decided to fake sick. I mean wholly and totally faking it...but you know, basically, he could have gone to school but he just didn't want to go and so he put that extra effort into it in order to be ensured being able to stay home. That extra effort involved pretending to throw up, the drooping shoulders while telling me about the throwing up and that peculiar look - head tilted slightly downward trying to keep a straight face while appearing to almost, if not quite, smile. I let it slide. I let him stay home but told him he would be staying in bed all day. I think he truly did feel ill last night but today it was more like an aversion to going to school. Which I also knew. Now he has appologized for lying about how sick he was in an effort to get the television turned back on. Which isn't working on me, by the way. And I thought, you know, I wish I could have faked sick today. But moms never get to do that. Moms can't even be sick for real! And I do actually have a headache but that's not even going to get me anywhere. I don't even know what else to say except that being able to fake sick is one of the best things about being a kid because at a certain point in your life you just can't get away with that anymore, life depends on you too much. But when you're a kid, you can just take the day off.

Lezlee