Author Loli
Here’s a little something about me, Loli.
I don’t watch TV by myself.
Sure, I’ll sit, I’ll watch me some TV if someone is in the room with me…but for ME to be alone in the house and pick up the remote thingy and actually sit down to watch TV, well, I can count on one hand the number of times that has happened. In fact, if I’m watching a show with someone and they leave, the first thing I do is turn the TV off.
This afternoon I gathered my Hello Kitty blanket and special Allen pillow, settled into my comfy recliner to try to clear off my DVR, which was at 98%. I had decided that I was going to start at the top of my list of recorded shows, 2 episodes of Rules of Engagement and work my way down. Ya, I was doing some actual LOL’ing and noticed that I was getting all teary eyed. Damn allergies. Next show on the list? New Girl. By the 2nd episode of New Girl, I was crying…Full on crying. Ya, tears running down my face, nose all snotty – the works.
My epiphany? Watching TV by myself is the saddest and the loneliest thing to me. There can be all kinds of hilarity coming at me through that TV screen, I’m all giggling, snickering and laughing…then I do it, I glance over to the empty couch next to me. BOOM, tears. The more I laughed and glanced at that empty couch, the harder I cried.
After I moved into my apartment about 5 months ago, I tried to get current on Vampire Diaries (Damon’s Chesticles are amazing). I found that I would end up in tears at the end of every episode. I thought it was just me, being all girlie and getting caught up in the pseudo drama of the show…I figured I just couldn’t handle that much teen anxt. Turns out I didn’t turn the TV back on to watch anything again by myself until today…3 months later. No exaggeration.
I LOVE to watch TV…with other people.
It’s so sad to be watching and enjoying a show or a movie and not have someone there to share it with. I guess you could liken it to masturbation. Sure it feels awesome, but at the end of it, you’re kinda lookin’ around for someone to, I dunno, high five or say, “wasn’t that great?”
Weird analogy, I know…(/giggle – anal-ogy)
BTW, still crying. Fuck you TV!
Oh, and…I could use a volunteer or two to come over and watch some TV with me so I can empty off my DVR. Clearly that’s not gonna happen on my own.
Carry on =^.^=
Author Loli
Friends – John Michael Montgomery
You say you want to be friends
That’s a newly sharpened blade
That’s a dagger to the heart
Of the promises we made
That’s a chapter full of pain
A season full of rain
A dark and stormy night
Spent all alone
Friends
Get scattered by the wind
Tossed upon the waves
Lost for years on end
Friends
Slowly drift apart
They give away their hearts
Maybe call you
Now and then
But you wanna be
Just friends
You say you love me very much
And you’ll always hold me dear
Those are the sweetest words
I never want to hear
What’s a love without desire
A flame without a fire
Can’t warm me late at night
When I need you most
Friends
Get scattered by the wind
Tossed upon the waves
Lost for years on end
Friends
Slowly drift apart
They give away their hearts
Maybe call you
Now and then
But you wanna be
Just friends
Friends
Slowly drift apart
They give away their hearts
Maybe call you
Now and then
Darling can’t you see
This is killing me
We could never be
Just friends
Author Loli
Okay, so today, this patient of mine comes in and he is a total Geek. He walks in for his appointment to get his teeth cleaned and is sitting out in the reception area unloading his geek-bag. Laptop, Aircard, IPhone and all the cables that go with them. Three minutes later, our Hygienist comes to take him back for his cleaning and he has to load up his treasures for the short walk to the treatment room, where he makes a ruckus looking for an outlet to plug his IPhone in and where are my headphones?
Anyhoo, this guy is really nice and I always enjoy seeing him cause I get to Geek-Out for a few minutes. I’m the only one in my office that is technology-savvy. In fact, when my doctor is anywhere near me, I actually lose some of my savviness because he is so completely technology illiterate…ignorant. Two words says it all about him: ”Flip Phone”. So my patient comes across a business card while going through his wallet for his credit card (which are prolly all filed in alphabetical order in his wallet) and hands it to the Doc who just stares at it. From my vantage point, it looks pretty cool. It’s metal. Doc reads the name on the card outloud. “Steve Wozniak” and looks up unimpressed. I actually snatched that card out of the Doc’s hand and >GASP< (which is the reaction my patient was hoping from the Doc) ”OMG! This is Steve Wozniak’s business card! How cool is this?!” I said, way too emphatically for a “Non-Techie”, but just right for an “Uber-Techie” like myself and my patient. (I’m gonna just give this patient a random name like, say, Bob…just to make it easier for the story) Well Bob looks at me, kinda surprised that I knew who he was, or because of my perfect reaction…not sure, then smiles really big. Now, you have to picture this…I am now holding the card, not like you would any ordinary card, between a couple of fingers, I am holding it like you would a prized CD or Photograph just on the edges, framing it, as though I was afraid of ruining it. I look up at Bob and wonder outloud “I wonder if his fingerprints are still on here somewhere”…Bob and I both laugh. I immediately pull out my IPhone and take a picture of it and post it on Twitter, Facebook and Google+. Doc just finally shrugs his shoulders, shakes his head walking away saying under his breath, “It’s like you are speaking another language”.
As the Doc walks away, I feel my +5 Tech-Savvy buff kick in.
Author Loli
I just spent 5 awesome days in San Diego. For those of you that don’t already know this, San Diego is my old stompin’ grounds. To be more exact, Poway. This past weekend was my 30 year high school reunion. I flew in Thursday night to LAX (it was cheaper than flying into SAN) my Cali-Bestie picked me up at the airport and we made our trek back to Poway. Rox is staying at her parents house right now. In high school I didn’t have a big circle of friends, my crowd was Rox and Wes. Oh, I had other “friends”, just no one as close as Rox and Wes. You know how in school everyone had their “hang-out”? Well, if anyone wanted to find one of us, we were hanging on our wall between the auditorium and the cafeteria. Well, I used to be a wolf pack of just one and then I added another to my pack, Wes, we were inseparable freshman year. Everyone thought we were dating, but that was never the case. Just awesome friends. Call me Watts.
Sophomore year Roxanne was added to our pack and then we were a wolf pack of three. As far as we were concerned, we were complete. I started dating a guy the end of freshman year and Rox was dating asshole Greg, whom she dated all through high school. I don’t believe there wasn’t anything the three of us didn’t share with the other. We three just clicked.
Okay, now let’s skip ahead to present day. It’s time for our Poway High School 30 Year Reunion. I message Wes on Facebook and ask him if he’s planning on going. He tells me he’ll go if both Rox and I go. This was about 6 months prior to the reunion date. I went back and forth on whether I would actually go. Then the “thing” happened in my life and well, a couple of weeks before the reunion, I decided to get out of town and go to the reunion. Rox had messaged Wes about the reunion and again, he said if we both went he would too. Well she called me and told me that so I jumped onto the interwebs and purchased my airline ticket to paradise then messaged Wes and told him the ball was in his court now. We needed our wolf pack of three. Before I knew it, he was emailing me his itinerary and needing us to pick him up from the airport. >squee<
I couldn’t talk Rox into going the the formal reunion dinner, but they were having a picnic the day after. It worked out that Wes couldn’t come until Saturday night anyways. Rox and I picked Wes up at the airport at the appointed time. It had been 20 years since I last saw Wes, it was at our 10 year high school reunion. He looked great. Hell we all did. You know when it’s been years since you’ve seen someone, there’s always that awkward conversation and uncomfortable silences? Well not with this crew. We never missed a beat. We picked up right where we left off. It was so awesome. We talked and joked and laughed way into the night, actually having to be pushed out of the door of the restaurant cause the staff wanted to go home and they had waited as long as they could. ”Haircut”
The next day we met for brunch before the reunion picnic at the Elephant Bar. Two thumbs up, by the way loved that place. The reunion picnic was held at Poway Lake. Walking up, we didn’t recognize anyone. We signed in and saw that the picnic was a blend of all classes from Poway High. This made deciphering who was who even harder. Thirty years is a long time and looking at we three, you wouldn’t know this, but people change over that span of time. We set up our chairs and surveyed the goings on. Sure we recognized people…We just didn’t know them. So there we sat, like in high school on our wall, checking everyone else out. Sounds boring, but you have to remember, we had 20 years of catching up to do! OMFG, we had so much fun. Two words: Honey Lips…”Nuff said.
By the way, this pic here was taken with my foot using my IPhone…We all were cracking up so hard while I was trying this…as you can tell by the pic, you can actually take a picture with your foot.
Our time together was coming to a close, as Wes needed to head up to Woodland Hills to meet up with his family, who were staying with his sister-in-law. He was needing to rent a car for the ride up, then the idea came up for Rox and I to drive him up there, which would allow us another 2 hours together…Wes said his wife, Karin, could possibly get us a discounted room rate at the nearby Marriott – Know this: Never threaten me with a good time…ROAD TRIP!!! Best 2 hours I’ve ever spent in a car…while it was moving. As we neared his sister-in-laws place, it became evident that we would be hanging at their house. In my minds eye, I saw Rox and I at the hotel, meeting up with them at a restaurant…Neutral, right? Well damned be my minds eye. Reality was that, no one was home, we were locked out, Wes had to climb a wrought iron fence and snoop around for the extra key while on the cell with his wife, Karin, for us to gain entry. Wes showed us around this gorgeously decorated house and we innocently went out back to have and look, not realizing that the back door would lock behind us, leaving the key inside…Locked out – again. ”Hello, Karin?” Okay, at this point my anxiety level is way high…as it was already, Wes was bringing two bimbos from his high school days to meet his family and so far they’ve been nothing but trouble. We didn’t have to wait long and his family and in-laws came home and let us in. Everyone was great. So gracious and nice. Kids everywhere. I’m not stating that in a complaining way…It was just a statement of fact. Wes is a lucky guy. Two beautiful kids and a great wife. The American Dream and Wes is living it. I hate that I over analyze situations. I couldn’t allow myself to relax and they all probably thought I was some stuck up bitch…which couldn’t be further from the truth. So much for first impressions…Turns out that Wes’s wife, Karin had not only arranged for a discounted rate at the nearby Marriott but has also paid for our room. Wow, how awesome is that? Karin, You Rock!
Overall, the whole reunion experience turned out to be better than I could have imagined. I got to reconnect with two of my oldest and dearest friends. We truly picked up where we left off. Nothing uncomfortable or awkward. Amazing, that’s what our friendship is. Simply amazing.
I shall close with this: David Blowie.
Posted in Friends, Just for fun | 
Tags: 1981, loli, lori, Poway, Poway High School, Rox, Roxanne, san diego, Wes | 
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Author Loli
So, today I am sitting at the longest red light in North America, so I open up my Facebook on my IPhone to catch up with stuff going on with my “friends”. As I scroll down, I come across a status change. Spencer’s girlfriend has changed her status from “In a relationship” to “Single”. I actually *GASPED* out loud. Really, I did. I immediately called Spencer and of course got his voicemail and left this exact message: ”WTF! OMG! I just saw L****’s Facebook status has changed to single! What is going on? You need to give me the heads up before it gets to this point so I have time come to terms with the situation.” ”Call me when you can, Mommy loves you”.
Now don’t get me wrong, it’s not like Clay and I were best buds with L****, but she was really sweet, polite and respectful and I really can’t find a single bad thing to say about her. We really didn’t know her very well though…This has been one of the really hard parts of being a parent…the “Break-Up”. I become really fond of a girlfriend and with no inclination or warning, >poof< they’re gone. I understand that girlfriends will come and go, but it would be nice if Spencer would just at some point when he sees the relationship going south, give me the heads up. I actually asked him 5 days ago how things were going with L****. I gave him the opportunity to share. He told me “Everything is Fine”. He did share that the fact that they were living so far away from each other and that it had been hard to see each other because of conflicting work schedules. But everything was “Fine”. If I’ve learned anything about being the mother of sons, it’s that if you’re not blunt and ask, they won’t tell you shit. Looking back, what I should have asked was “Are you thinking about breaking up with her?” AARGH!
I don’t know what the rule is here. The girlfriend rules changed from middle school to high school, now this whole adult girlfriend thing…I mean, when Spencer & Melanie broke up, I unfriended her on Facebook. But then she broke my baby Spencer’s heart. I could have wrung her effin’ neck…But this with L****, I don’t know exactly what the dealio was for the break-up and I know it’s none of my business…but I can’t just turn my fondness for her off like a light switch. As far as I know, she didn’t break my baby’s heart…
It’s Spencer’s life and it’s Spencer’s business, I know that. Still, it’s hard sometimes. I want my boys to feel free to talk to me about anything and it just drives me wild when I can see that one of them is obviously holding back. Spencer was clearly in a relationship and was avoiding talking about this girl. I was so frustrated! I just happened to mention my frustration to my wise young bank teller one payday and he totally set me straight. This is what he said: ”Some girls are “Mom worthy” and some girls aren’t”. Funny thing, I never thought that either one of my boys would ever date a “Non-Mom-worthy girl”. Then my wise bank teller asked me in his best baby talk voice: ”Doesn’t mommy want her wittle boy to grwow up to be a big boy and be able to make big boy decisions all by himself?” It seems stupid, but this little exchange with my teller totally clicked with me. At that very moment, I heard the >snip< of one of my apron strings…Looking back on my life, god there was so much I know I didn’t share with MY parents, but that was different. Papa was never around and Mom was just unstable. Not the most understanding and approachable of parents. Clay and I have always tried to be respectful and available and hardest of all…non-judgmental. But then my parents probably thought they were too….But I really am though!
Oh, well.
Posted in Clay, Friends, Lolivision, Spencer | Tags: breaking up, Clay, dating, girlfriends parents, Spencer | No Comments »
Author Loli
Ahh, I’m sitting in an overstuffed leather chair in the middle of a beautiful rustically decorated living room in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. This is the last full day of our Colorado vacay. The guys are on a 2 hour snowmobile tour and the girls went shopping. Clay and I have decided to just relax and enjoy the peace and quiet that surrounds us in this beautiful home nestled in a truly breathtaking winter wonderland.
Clay and I, along with 2 more couples, (Rich & Melissa, Greg & Stephanie) plus 2 more (Amy & Stepanie’s son Jacob) piled into a 12 passenger van at around 6:00 pm this past Wednesday and sped off to Pagosa Springs. Rich and Greg did all of the driving. Everyone was so excited! Everyone was well prepared for the long ride (12-14 hours). There were all kinds of snacks and omg, so much alcohol. Thankfully none of the drivers were doing any drinking. There was beer and all the girls (except me) had cute flasks filled with their favorite alcohol. Clay and I were the cool kids and sat in the back of the bus, which turned out to be a not so good thing as Clay got a bit car sick and we had to pull over at around 5 am, right at dawn and let him take off into the woods to empty his tummy…poor guy. Well, then Stephanie needed to use the bathroom too, so she headed out to tinkle, only to come back, obviously having not mastered the art of “Girlie Outdoor Peeing” , as she tinkled all over her jeans and we had to pull out the luggage for some clean jeans for her. Which was fine cause Clay had puked all down the front of his shirt and needed into our luggage as well.
We arrived in Pagosa Springs at around 8 am and found a place to eat. We opted for a nice little cafe that turned out to be awesome! The Plaza Grille. We were all famished and devoured our meals in a flash. Knowing that we couldn’t pick up the key to the house we had rented until noon, we had a coupla hours to kill after breakfast, so we did a quick little scenic drive around Pagosa Springs then headed to Ski and Bow Rack to get our skiis. Turns out we needed about a coupla hours to get fitted for our boots and skiis. Everyone was really friendly and helpful at the ski shop and one of the employees was so tall he even towered over Greg (6’4″), who is affectionately nicknamed “Sasquatch”. 
By the time we finished at the ski shop we headed to the local leasing office to pick up the keys to the rental house. OMG! This place is amazing! It’s like a huge log cabin complete with stuffed deer and ram heads mounted on the walls. It is 3 stories, with 5 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms. It sits on the golf course, which this time of year is completely covered with snow. It is perfect. We figured out the sleeping arrangements…our goal was to get the tallest of the group into the biggest beds so that everyone would be comfortable. Everyone settled in and took showers to get the road grime off of them then we headed to the local grocery store to pick up necessities, since we would be cooking most all of our meals at the house.
As everything was unloaded and put away, I noticed a little nook of the kitchen 
turned into a bar area. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some libations. It’s just that I really don’t drink that much anymore. Oh ya, there was a time not too long ago that you could say that I “over indulged” in a major way on a regular basis. Any more, one or two drinks socially does me just fine.
Anyhoo, Greg is a really good cook and made us some great spaghetti for dinner, then we cleaned up and switched into wind down mode. Wind down mode for Clay and I means jammies and a good book. Wind down time for everyone else was drinks, music, drinks, playing pool, drinks…well you get my drift. I hit the hay early, around 9:00 Colorado time, knowing that we would be getting up way early to make breakfast and head to Wolf Creek Ski Lodge for our Colorado Ski Adventure!
Posted in Clay, Friends, Just for fun, Sports, Travel | Tags: Clay, Colorado, loli, lori, Pagosa Springs, Plaza Grille, ski, Ski and Bow Rack, snow, snowboarding, Wolf Creek Ski | No Comments »
Author Loli
Here in Dallas, we can always count on one to two crazy days of snow and/or ice every year. 
During the Christmas holidays, we had several snow days during which time I was sick with the flu, so I couldn’t get out and enjoy it. Well, Mother Nature “blessed” us with another go ’round of snow last week and yet another today. Last week’s “Arctic Blast” was a doosie, bringing Dallas to a standstill, which wouldn’t be that big of deal normally, but Dallas was hosting this years Super Bowl XLV. Thousands of people in town for the big game and our weather was the coldest it’s been in over 15 years. Businesses in the Dallas, Ft. Worth areas have been gearing up for what was supposed to be a major influx of commerce from Uber NFL fans looking to have a the time of their life and cheer their NFL team on to victory. Not the case thanks to the fickle weather here in the Lone Star State. I follow several local restaurants on Twitter and was shocked to see that quite a few of them actually closed their doors all together (closed their doors) at least one day last week. Here’s a related article if you’re interested. I’m sure that there are a whole lotta peeps out there that have a few “unsavory” things to say about Super Bowl XLV being held in Dallas and I do feel that Jerry Jones is getting and will continue to receive the shit storm that is the aftermath of Super Bowl XLV. After all, it was held in “The House that Jerry Built”…
One of the good things that came out of #Snowpocalypse 2011 is that I finally got to make my Hello Kitty Snowperson. As I mentioned earlier, I missed out on the snow play from the first snow fall back in December due to the flu. I usually make a snowman and fashion it into the likes of a certain famous kitty…I am speaking of course of my beloved Hello Kitty. As soon as I heard that we were going to have measurable snowfall, I began planning the construction of my masterpiece. Obviously, for all to be right with the world in my “Lolivision“, this new Hello Kitty Snowperson must be better than my last…I have a three drawer rolling cart in which I store all kinds of crafting treasures. I’ve had if for years and add to it all of the time. I can’t help myself, it’s like an obsession. Back when the boys were “knee high to a grasshopper”, we would have “Craft Days” twice a year. Once in November, when we made Christmas ornaments and decorations for that current year and another craft day in March during Spring Break. Oh the fun we would have and wonderful memories we made! Anyways, I’ve got a lot of craft stuff. I just tore into that craft cart looking thru all the beads, bobbles, rhinestones, pipe cleaners, pom-poms, popsicle sticks and ribbon until I found exactly what I needed.
When I woke up the next morning, we had a pristine snowy wonderland of a lawn. I threw on my snowsuit and boots, grabbed my arsenal of crafting goods and headed outside. Unfortunately, the snow was very powdery, so I couldn’t just roll the snow to form my snow ball. I had to actually use a plastic bowl, fill it with snow then pack it tightly down into the bowl and turn it out…rinse and repeat. it took me nearly an hour of this routine until I had enough snow packed together to start my Hello Kitty. By the time I had all of the snow packed, I had acquired an audience of neighborhood kiddos. Each one wondering what kind of snowman I was going to make this year and each one remembering that I usually make a Hello Kitty Snowman. Needless to say, my Lolivision was blazing as I turned out another awesome Hello Kitty Snowperson. Of course I didn’t really get to do exactly what I wanted to do because of the powderiness (is that a word? it is now) of the snow….so next year! It was so cute, by the next day, poor Hello Kitty was starting to melt and was all drooping and I saw some little ones trying to straighten her up and fix her eyes. Later that day when she was all melted, I went out my front door to see Hello Kitty’s eyes, nose and ribbon in a nice little pile on the bench on my front porch. The little darlings had gathered them and left them for me. These are the same little darlings that Clay will be yelling at to “Get off my lawn!” this spring.
]
Posted in Football, Just for fun, Kids, Lolivision | Tags: #Snowpocalypse, Clay, crafts, Dallas, Hello Kitty, Lolivision, NFL, snowman, Super Bowl XLV | No Comments »
Author Loli
Christmas 2011? Complete Success. I had a great family Christmas. I love this season and it always pays off for me in the end.
Of course we spent Christmas Eve with Clay’s family at his Aunt Tommie & Uncle Ronnie’s house. 
Clay has a huge family and 95% of them live locally and everyone meets at Tommie & Ronnie’s on Christmas Eve. It’s something the boys and I have always looked forward to. I grew up in a very small family unit. Mom, Papa, Brother and Sister. No Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Nieces, Nephews or Grandparents. I was a little more than overwhelmed when Clay took me to his Aunt and Uncle’s house for his Family Christmas…it was more than I could have even imagined. A house full of people all related to Clay! They were all so nice! There must have been over 30 people there and I think each and everyone of them made sure that they came over and visited with me. The next year Clay made up a flow chart of sorts so that I could try and wrap my mind around which cousin went with which Aunt and Uncle and who’s brother was who’s Uncle from which side of the family and of course the all important “but we don’t talk about that”…Wall to wall people and wall to wall food! Aunt Tommie always makes Hot Cider with Red Hots, ooo! and she makes this crab and cream cheese dip that I Luvva Luv! Everyone brings a dish. There’s Divinity, Fudge, Sausage Balls, Shrimp, Turkey, Brisket…I always bring a dessert and this year I brought my Christmas Cookies. Spencer made sure that he was off for Christmas Eve so that he could go to Tommie & Ronnie’s, he’s such a great family guy, he loves it! The best part, of course is when the little ones get to open their presents. The only gift giving is for the little ones. (thankfully) It is a madhouse when the wrapping paper gets to flying off of those presents! So cute! They are all so animated and truly joyful.
On Christmas morning I got up and started a big pot of Wassail (I just love the way it makes the house smell), then I started a fire in the fireplace. Papa and Mary came down from Granbury and Trey drove in from Athens. Why, even my BFF Russell came! Russell used to always come for Christmas morning, so it was so nice to have him with us again.
When Clay and I married, he started a cherished Christmas family tradition. We have a Santa hat. Only the person wearing the Santa hat can open a gift. Once that person opens their gift, they get to choose who opens the next gift. They even pick the present that will be opened and give the Santa hat and the gift to that person. This way, Mommy gets her pictures and everyone gets to enjoy watching as each person opens their gifts. Sure, it takes a little longer, but I really do put a lot of time and effort into each and every gift that I buy and it means the world to me to be able to see the reaction when my gift is opened. Besides, it’s great family time. I’d like to think that the Santa hat tradition is something that the boys will bring to their own families when they marry and have children.
Author Loli
Well, I am so close to reaching my goal of having all my Christmas shopping finished. Actually, I really do have all of my shopping finished. Just waiting on a few items to be delivered. Today was the day to put up our Christmas tree and decorate the house. 
I have a tradition of watching A Christmas Carol starring George C. Scott while putting up our tree. It has to be the George C. Scott version ’cause it’s the one I prefer. I like the version with Patrick Stewart, but prefer my man George C. Scott. I love putting up our Christmas tree. I get to open our box of ornaments that I’ve collected through the years and reminisce. I’ve always bought everyone a new ornament every year and each and every one of them are special to me. Each one of the boys has his Hallmark ornaments for the first 5 years of their lives and from there, an ornament that depicted what they were about that year. We’ve got Pokemon ornaments, Soccer ornaments and each one has a car ornament for when they were 16 and started driving. 
There’s Hello Kitty all over the tree and of course tons of Super Hero and Star Wars. The boys always get a kick outta looking for their ornaments and doing some reminiscing of their own. All the presents that I’ve gotten so far are wrapped, ribboned and under the tree. I usually make big, frilly bows for my packages, but have to admit that as the years go by, I’m starting to have problems with my hands and it really hurts my hands to hand make those bows, so I bought pretty cloth ribbon and just tied simple bows…I’m not happy with my packages because of that. My frilly bows would just make all of those presents just pop…What to do…
Spencer was home for Thanksgiving and we were sitting around talking and he mentioned that he had been talking with his friends about our Christmas morning family tradition and that he loved to be home with us on Christmas morning because of it. When Clay and I got married, Clay wanted to institute a Christmas tradition and his awesome idea was the Santa Hat. In a nut shell, you can’t open a present unless you are wearing the Santa Hat. When you finish opening your present, you get to pick the next present to be opened and hand over the gift and the Santa Hat to the next person. This way, the presents are all opened one at a time and everyone gets to see the surprise of opening the gift. You open your gift in front of the Christmas tree, so, it’s the perfect back drop for pictures as well! Usually Christmas morning is so chaotic as everyone tears into their gifts, it’s over before you know it. I put a lot of love and effort into my gift giving and I look forward to seeing everyone’s reaction to the gift that I chose especially for them. It takes a little longer, but we all are together, with a fire in the fireplace, sipping our wassail, enjoying each others company and waiting our turn with the Santa Hat. It’s really nice, calm and enjoyable. It makes me feel really good that it’s special to Spencer too. I’d like to think that it’s a tradition that the boys will bring to their own family when they marry.
Posted in Christmas, Clay, Just for fun, Kids, Shopping, Spencer | Tags: A Christmas Carol, Christmas, Christmas tradition, Christmas tree, Clay, Decorating, George C. Scott, Hallmark, Hello Kitty, Pokemon, Spencer | No Comments »
Author Loli
I made a decision to have all of my Christmas shopping finished by Thanksgiving. I’m talking purchased, wrapped and under the tree. I’ve done this one other time in my life and it was glorious! Oh, I’m sure there will be a little gift here or there that I’ll need to get, but I really plan on having 99.5% of it finished by Thanksgiving. Now, I need to clarify that I will have all of MY shopping finished. Clay and I split up the Christmas gifting duties – he buys for his side of the family and I take care of my side of the family.
I started throwing a little money back into an account towards my Christmas fund just before summer, so I would have the moolah for this adventure. I’m using the coolest IPhone app called “Christmas Gifts List” and it is great! I can make a list of people that I need to buy for, assign a budget amount for each person and I can enter my purchases and the app tracks everything and I know exactly what I am spending. It has been awesome. My Christmas list is always handy
. As of this post, I am about 80% finished.
The one draw back with this mission that I am only just realizing, is that Black Friday is almost upon us and I should be finished by then and, well, I look at the ads and get so excited about the great buys…and well, I’m finished, so I don’t get to participate. Not that I really want to get caught in the middle of that mess…still, though.
Everything that I have purchased so far is already wrapped. The wrap of choice this year is polka dots! I know, right? Who am I? 
We all know that I always go with a solid paper, but thought I’d go a little crazy this year. There’s a website that I’ve used for several years, Papermart and it is awesome! They have a great selection of all kinds of wrapping paper and it’s not that cheap thin stuff either. I get a 100 ft. roll for $20 and I also get my ribbon from them too. I usually hand make all of my bows for each of my packages and that, unfortunately, has yet to be done. I will be going with two colors of ribbons, matching the red and the green in the paper. Should be Adorable!
The hardest gift for me to buy is the one I get for my Papa. I always get stuck on that one. That’s the gift that I’m hung up on right now. Every year I hand make at least one of the gifts and this year will be no exception. I’m actually making 3 of the gifts this year. Of course, that’s why I’m only at 80% of my goal…Time to get busy!
Posted in Christmas, Clay, Just for fun, Sewing, Shopping | Tags: Clay, loli, lori, Spencer, Spencer Jennings | No Comments »