Alamo Bowl

Greetings from Houston! We made it back from San Antonio.

I was SO sad I didn't get to go to my Loop party back in Dallas on the 29th. This is the anual Christmas party my high school buds have every year- the same party I met Conrad at (again) two years ago. So it's special to me...

Anyway, Conrad wanted to go to the Alamo Bowl and see Texas A&M- so I called my old buddy Lee at Pro Pac and he hooked me up with some seats. They were GREAT seats- about 12 rows up, on the Aggie side. I thought C was going to take his dad - so I was all prepared for another Dallas weekend, but then his dad wasn't able to go and Conrad REALLY had his heart set on going. So... I sucked it up, took one for the team and even wore a Texas A&M sweatshirt... and went to the game.

We had a pretty good time. We went ahead and put Blanca at Strawberry Dog for the night and used my Marriott points for a free night and off we went. Upon arrival and because I am a SILVER STATUS member of Marriott Rewards, ( I KNOW!) they gave us a Manager's Special card for this place called La Fogata. Apparently, a very nice Mexican place in San Antonio. Well- never one to pass up a deal, we loaded up the car and headed off to La Fogata. I don't know what came over me, but suddenly, I was a Samari or one of those Japanese voice-over people from the old movies. I started saying LA FOGATA very loudly and with that crazy Japanese voice-over voice... because just the name really DOES make you want to dredge up sound from the back of your throat and just spit the name out. So I did, like 100 times. Poor Conrad- he actually stopped in the parking lot the last time I did it, and told me to stop. Ha Ha Ha

Anyway- good eating. It really was. We were led in the right direction and the manager's special was a FREE flameado appetizer. SCORE!

We went back to the hotel where Conrad read all of the hotel literature to stay awake and I piled into bed and took a nap. Then off to the game- Aggies lost 24/ 17, although in the beginning it looked promising... then we were back in Houston yesterday at 11AM to pick up the baby. A very MAD and sleepy baby.

I am the only Abercrombie/Hopkins working today on this New Year's Eve- even thought we get out at 2- I left the other two at home this morning, snug in bed.

Happy and Safe New Year's Eve to all of you my family and friends. I will publish Christmas and Bowl pics very soon... but please be safe, don't drink and drive and if you do, please take a cab home. Everyone enjoy their relaxing day off tomorrow and let's all start the New Year refershed!

Remember- April 26 of this upcoming year, we'll be getting hitched! Big party in Houston for 2008.

Love and Best Wishes,

Karyn

Flamingo

Go Here...

http://www.colorstrology.com/

It's Adobe Flash, so I can't save mine and post it here... but anyway, this site tells you your "perfect color" by your birthday... and also tells you a little about yourself. My birthday is August 12th and my perfect color is Flamingo. The description of me is dead on. I don't know how they do it... the color name is hilarious.

1) When we were in Hawaii I kept seeing these flamingos. They had them all over the hotel property- and for some reason I kept telling Conrad, "Hey! Look at those cool pelicans!"... I have no idea why. I know what a pelican is. I know what a flamingo is... but for some reason, I have been getting them confused.

2) This Christmas we were back in the Dallas area and Conrad and his dad were speaking to me about those Spanish dancers. I said, "Oh yeah- flamingo dancers." Conrad says, "Um NO- they are flamenCO dancers". Whatever. I have never heard that in my life. I still say they are flamingo dancers. It makes sense to ME... I mean, flamingos with all their bright, flashy colors and feathers. Or is that a peacock.... ?

But for whatever reason, this appears to be my primary color. The one I should surround myself with... it's sort of a burnt orange, University of Texas color... OUCH! It's a good way to get killed in a Texas A&M family.

I don't know if it's just ME, but I would have thought a color named "flamingo" would be bright hot pink.




Karyn

Merry Day-After Christmas

Hello to you all!

I hope everyone had a very happy Christmas and got to spend time with friends and family. Conrad and I had a great four or five days. We exchanged gifts on Friday- he got me lots of things like DVD's and cookbooks, but he also got me a new digital camera which I desparately needed and the most beautiful Tahitian pearl earrings to go with my Hawaiian necklace.

We had a nice trip to Dallas. I think we both got sick. My worst day was Christmas Eve, but I seemed to get over it quickly... Conrad is not feeling well today- his is his throat. Just weather changing, etc... but we both had a nice Christmas with his family in the Dallas area. I finally got my long awaited covered casserole dish/dutch oven... I also wanted a cake stand with the top. Got that one too! I had been looking for a long time for one I liked and this one is beautiful...

I will post some Christmas pics this week. Keagan and Kamden had a nice time too, I think... although we were not able to bake our Christmas thing we had planned too. I still did some pies and dinner was delicious yesterday. I also got to see my neighbor, Toni, from Richardson. We had a nice day together on Sunday.

All in all, a fabulous holiday!

Karyn

Over

Secret Santa at the office is OVER! It's sort of quiet here this morning, but we needed to catch up on our work anyway... my last two gifts to my boss were: a tote filled with a book, a pretty bookmark, a candle, a throw blanket and pillows... and then the one from yesterday was a basket... it had dish towels, a hot pepper dip bowl, an avacado shaped dip bowl and a homemade recipe book- I put in salsa, guacamole, queso and Mexican dip recipes. She loved ALL of it and she had no idea it was me! Now she's asked if after the National Championship, we can have a plate making party at my house- she needs to make three more for her family- and then of course, anyone else from work who wants to come. Sounds like fun to me!

For the gifts *I* got- I got a candle warmer one day, which I asked for. The next day I got vanilla candles and yesterday- I got a keychain with Blanca's image and her name lasered into it. It's the most beautiful thing. I opened it and immediately started crying. I also knew right away who my secret santa was- she also has a schnauzer. It was a good time. We really have a good group here.

Conrad is working today - and there's only one lady in his office today. He felt bad for her, so he's going in to keep her company. Now isn't he the sweetest one?

We get early release at 2:30 so it's off to home I go to wash clothes for the trip to Dallas tomorrow. Also tonight is our Christmas together. I can't WAIT!

Karyn

Well...

The outrage over Lynne Spears parenting book is now all over the place. Everyone is wondering why on EARTH she would have ever set out to write such a thing. Does that family not have enough money? The only decent one of the bunch is Bryan. Oh, you didn't know about Bryan? That's because he keeps his nose clean- he's Britney's older brother. He shows up once in awhile in Vegas with her, but now I wonder if it's just to make sure she doesn't leave her children somewhere. *SIGH*

My topic from yesterday was: the book One More Day by Mitch Albom. I read it a few years ago and Oprah recently produced a movie that ran on primetime a few Sunday's back. A short summary is that there is a guy named Chick who had sort of a rough childhood- his dad left them and he grew up to be a major league baseball player (his dad's dream) got hurt, became a salesman and drank himself stupid. He is depressed and upset over not being invited to his daughter's wedding- so he drives back to his hometown and decides to kill himself. Upon arrival, in a very nasty car accident, he meets up with his mother. His dead mother. She's been gone nine years, but he spends an entire day with her- reliving the past. He gets the opportunity to apologize for stupid things kids do to hurt their parents, tells her he loves her... etc...

It got me to thinking that we all wish we had one more day with SOMEONE... and I was thinking that if that someone is still here with us, maybe you should send that person a little note or card or call them up, while you can- and share how you feel about them. It would be such a shame to wait until it's too late and then regret never saying anything. It may be the best present you give someone.

Merry Christmas

Karyn

I am laughing...

I swear ya'll- I do NOT have it in for Britney Spears but this morning I read a few headlines and died laughing.

I go to People.com in the mornings to get my celebrity news. Today- big as life it said "Britney's 16 year old sister, Jamie-Lynn, pregnant"... so I am like OH GOD- and I read on. It happened with her boyfriend, she's 12 weeks, she has just told her parents, she went away to "think about it" for awhile before telling anyone and she's raising it in Louisiana, so it can have a "normal life", etc... I look down a few headlines and the next one I see is pertaining to the Spears clan is:

"Lynne Spears Parenting Book- Delayed Indefinetly".

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

I can not stop laughing. You don't say Lynne? You think you may want to delay that book- seeing as how you have one out of control daughter who CLEARLY married a gangster wanna be, had two children back to back- is a papparazzi nightmare, runs red lights and over cameraman with frightening reguarlity, is killing herself with saturated fats and Starbucks, smokes, drinks, SHAVED HER HEAD and tried to beat a photographer to death with an UMBRELLA... and parties to the wee hours and now your 16 year old who HAS A SHOW ON NICKELODEON is pregnant. Huh. Not sure why you'd cancel your book.

OH MY GOD. Hollywood is something else. Maybe she can write a joint book with Lindsey Lohan's mom and dad. I think that would be a bestseller.

I had another topic today, but this has just pushed it out of my mind. I am so stunned I barely know what to say... except for WOW, just WOW.

Karyn

Secret Santa

Well... the day has arrived! Today was Secret Santa Day # 1. We have three all total. There are 21 people participating and now I can tell you- I drew my BOSS.


I was in a momentary panic mode the day I drew the name. My boss is the BEST, nice lady, fun, great personality, etc... but she has expensive taste and I wasn't sure I would get it right. We did fill out a questionaire and it had stuff like Do You Think Gift Cards are Impersonal?... and she answered " Depends on who it's coming from- hint, hint"... which meas, "if you work for me, you KNOW me and I better not get an impersonal gift card" . OH THE STRESS!


Anyway- I figured it out and today was a HIT!


My first gift was an LSU plate. She is a DIE HARD fan. She has season tickets and bleeds purple and yellow, God bless her. So I went to Wal-Mart and got one of those clear holiday plates for a buck. I went to work and printed off pictures of the team during this season- pics of the National Championship a few years ago and also I did some text art with like Geaux Tigers and Angie's Team to personalize. This weekend I decopuged the plate.. painted the back black to fill in the holes and dated it. I bought a plate easel and painted it too- and gave it to her today. We have a $30 limit- so this present cost me about $2 and my time... not bad.


I had someone sneak it in her office while she was talking to us this morning. When she got back to her office, the screams filled the building. She was SO excited. She showed everyone- I saw her walking the halls for an hour with this thing in her hands... she showed everyone and said that the person who did this is creative as all get out and is getting a big RAISE, HA HA HA.


Anyway- it was creative and it stressed me to the max. I didn't want my present to look "homemade" but it actually turned out cute as could be. I heard her tell someone she wanted one for her dad- so guess what- I am back to Wal-Mart tonight to get another plate and start on that...


Oh- here is the pic I promised yesterday.

Still makes me laugh.


Karyn

Weekend Update

Ha Ha - Weekend Update like Dennis Miller (God bless him) used to have on Saturday Night Live.

There's uh- really nothing to update. We did go to the Westlake Chemical Year End Dinner (don't you DARE call it a Christmas party!) Friday night. We had been warned by many that it was lame, but it wasn't.... it was really pretty great. Everyone was all gussied up and happy to be there. The food was really good and it didn't last too long. I enjoyed myself.

Saturday/ Sunday were basic errand days although Conrad disappeared AGAIN for more Christmas shopping (keep 'em coming Conrad)! ... I have one more gift for him that will be purchased tomorrow. I had to wait for it to be available and it's not- til tomorrow. Am I giving it away?

I found this online today- and it's pretty dog gone funny. Britney- goodness gracious. Her behavior is really very bizarre... I also found another one of her in this terrible bikini/ dance outfit with a bucket of chicken next to her... KFC because nothing but the best for Britney! ... there is also a dog popping on a dress and in her hand is a bag of "Celulite Crispers"... and she is smoking a cig - pretty funny stuff. That Britney is a class act.

That one made me laugh too.

Perhaps tomorrow, in the spirit of Day 1 of Westlake Secret Santa (there are three days ending with a potluck) I will post it. I think the bucket of chicken thing made me laugh the hardest. Everyone knows how fond I am of poultry- I can't believe it was allowed to be maligned in such a way...

Tracy- might I suggest Britney as your ZERO of the day in an upcoming post of yours....

Karyn

Reflections

If any of you know my friend Tracy (from Castrol) she now has a blog as well. http://dailyheroorzero.blogspot.com/

I was reading hers the other day and she had highlighted God as her hero. As I alluded to yesterday, I'm going through kind of a weird work situation. Some hours it doesn't bother me and others I am mentally handing in my resignation. I think we are all feeling that way up here... so I read Tracy's blog and I started thinking that maybe I should be handling this with Grace and I'm really not. I want to be a manger one day or at the very least in a little higher position, so I should handle work trials and disappointments with grace and maturity not with pouting and resignation letters. But I have already been through one bad work situation in my past and I handled it with a resignation. At the time, it was really tough and my heart was broken. I felt betrayed and angry and hurt. I would have walked out that day, but I had to really think about it and not be rash. I did opt for the resignation and it was horribly painful... but with a little bit of time and distance between that time and now, I can see what I did was for the best... it started a chain of events I would not take back for the world. At the time, it was maybe looked on with a little bit of shock and WOW- she's immature, but I did it with as much Grace as I possibly could. I think handling change is good and getting through challenges is character building, but I do think that sometimes, your time is just up and you have to move on, as painful as it is. I felt that way when I made the decision to leave Dallas. I truly just felt that I would go no further there, as much as it was my home. I was too comfortable and my dad had told me many times that for whatever reason, somtimes you ARE supposed to leave and move on... there is no such thing anymore as security. There are no longer guaranteed pensions and 40 years of work and a gold watch at the end with one company.

I don't think resignation is the way to handle this situation- YET. However it has jolted me out of my comfort zone. I need to make a decision about what I want professionally and where I want to pursue it... and it begins with going back to school. My plan is now to start in January. We just got word we ARE getting the End of the Year Bonus, and we do have a 90% payback plan here at work for college... so I think I need to register ASAP and get this moving.

I also read somewhere or heard somewhere that God puts you where He wants you. Clearly, He wants me here- for whatever reason...

Enough reflection for today

Karyn

Tis the Season

I have really nothing to post about today.

The only thing on my mind is work related stuff... I have a problem or not even really a problem, but I have something going on here that bothers me a little bit. I'm trying to deal with it without being a ninny and at the same time, watching others and following their lead.

We DO have our Christmas party tomorrow night- the company calls it the Year End Dinner... so that starts at 6:30 and they are letting us out about 2. So I'll have time to get home, let B out and then get ready and go. Conrad will meet me there- he has something going on tomorrow that will prevent him from coming home early.

Otherwise, that is all that is going on with our little family. I still have done NO wedding planning, but if we get a Christmas bonus this year, I will start on that right away... I was waiting on some funds to move forward on a few things. If that bonus kicks in, then we will be full steam ahead on many of the items on the list. I haven't even opened my wedding book in what seems like weeks.

Shame on me. Either I am lazy or a true low-maintainence girl.

Karyn

SECURITY!

Christmas in Philly... a lot more Christmasy than around here!
I am no fan of the north, being a hard core southerner, but I must admit, with this one, they get it right. First of all, it was cold. None of this 80 degree nonsense. It was also rainy, none of this draught nonsense. Everyone was running around in long wool coats and matching hat and scarf sets. If I was in a cold climate, you can bet your socks I'd have more matching sets than you could count. One in every color! But what really got me was the Christmas window displays- they had them in all kinds and shapes and colors. All of the stores have these huge windows and they were made up so pretty for Christmas. It was a few days of heaven- until some Philadelphian would do one of two things- open their mouths thus exposing their accents OR make a comment about my World Champion Dallas Cowboys.

However the reason for my post today is to warn you to pay attention at the airports this season. I caused a mild security breach at the Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport on Monday morning.

I went to the kiosk as always to check in. It said "welcome K. Abercrombie" as always I got my pass, took out my license and went through security. No delays- awesome.
I get to the gate and it says Reno 8:30 instead of Philadelphia 8:50. I thought MAN they changed the gate, so I wandered over to the departures screen and sure enough, I was at the wrong gate. I went to the right gate (after the strap on my bag broke) and I just as fast as I can, with a bag tucked under my arm, arrive at the correct gate. I glance down to verify flight numbers and what's this?- wrong flight number... I look a little harder. My ticket says Julie Haver to Reno. WHAT?!

So I approached the ticket counter and explained to the lady I had gone to the kiosk, the kiosk had greeted me with my correct name, it printed my ticket, I went to security, then to what I thought was the wrong gate, then to the right gate and my ticket was wrong. You would have thought I was holding a pilot up at gun point. The rapid fire questions started. Why did you not look at your ticket? If you were at C35 then WHO told you this flight was leaving from C19? Did you just take the wrong ticket from the kiosk? Where are going? Why are you going? Did you check bags? Did you go through security? Who initialed this ticket - are you SURE they looked at your license?

I really and truly thought she was going to call airport security and maybe, she should have. I certainly did nothing wrong, but it was clear to me, her and all the people around us listening a HUGE breach had occured. The woman at the security area had looked at my ticket, my drivers license and let me through and they didn't match AT ALL. It was kind of scary.... and all the people around me at the gate were concerned too. I am not one of those impatient people. Forget that I hate to fly and any delay is a good delay- I am just one of those people who says safety first. If they had to strip search us every time we got on a plane to guarantee my safety- I would just learn to deal with it. Like I've learned to pack my toiletries in a see through bag which is ridiculous- like I've learned to wear socks because my shoes ARE going through the X-ray machine. So if they had needed to detain me and question me further, I totally get that. I don't get why they didn't... I think that in itself was another breach. I am deeply concerned for the air safety of the nation's airports...

I was very sure when flying home yesterday to check my boarding pass! So do the same.. or you'll end up in Airport Prison, where I was sure I was going Monday...

Happy Holidays,

Karyn

Philly

I'm going to be in Philly for the next few days- so no posting!

Conrad's birthday is Tuesday- so I guess my next post should be Wednesday some time. As soon as I get off the plane, I have to run to his birthday dinner... so Wednesday it is! Feel free to leave your "happy birthday's" here!

We had a great time at the Dane Cook show on Friday night. That guy is FUNNY! We tried the new pineapple upside down cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory too. YUM!

We've just been wrapping presents all weekend- Blanca had her pic with Santa, and I THINK Conrad is almost done with his shopping.

That's all folks!

Karyn

Skinny Cow

I am halfway on the plan!

Last night after dinner ( I cooked at home) I told Conrad we are ON the plan. We need to walk! But the trouble is by the time I've driven an hour to work, worked for 8 hours, driven home for an hour and then some, I am SO DOG TIRED when I get in the door- all I have energy for is cooking dinner... I said you have to MAKE me walk. He said well once you go for about two weeks, maybe you'll start to feel better then you'll WANT to walk.

My Conrad... he is SO smart. That is EXACTLY what is going to happen. I will complain and cry about it for two weeks and then it will become commonplace, so I'll want to walk. I told him his JOB is to MAKE me do it. He's afraid he'll get in trouble but I said NO, you won't. You only get in trouble if you give in to my whining and say it's ok to stay home.

The plan begins tomorrow because tonight we are going to The Cheesecake Factory and also to see Dane Cook at the Toyota Center for Conrad's birthday, courtesy of ME. My friend Lori and her hubby are coming from Beaumont- it'll be a rip roaring good time!

So to begin my plan (the one I am going to kill today by being at The Cheesecake Factory), last night I had a Skinny Cow. It's an ice cream endorsed by Oprah and on the Best Life Diet by Bob Greene. Not half bad- I had the nutty buddy looking one with caramel dripping off the sides. YUM-O.

I highly recommend this healthy treat- something like 100 calories for a treat. They are even regular human sized. FABULOUS!

I'll report in tomorrow on the show, the dinner.

Blanca has her pics with Santa tomorrow. We are SO excited about that!!!!

HO HO HO

Karyn

Dreams

I think I'm starting to freak out.

After the cake tasting and last visit to County Line, I just sort of stopped working on the wedding. AGAIN. I need to do a little bit of shopping for like the bubbles and things- I need to get some shoes, etc... there ARE things I could be doing, but for some reason, I guess Christmas or something has happened and the wedding has taken a backseat.

I am starting to get concerned about the minister- we still don't have one, although there are several options. I've dreamed every night this week about not having one. We get to the wedding and everyone is having a great time- then when we get to the reception part, I realize we never got married and we can't find a minister. This is completely freaking me out. I emailed Conrad's mom today and said we gotta get this cleared up so I can sleep again!

Not much more to report than that... Conrad is going Christmas shopping this weekend. I have Blanca's Santa pictures to handle. We have the Dane Cook show for Conrad's birthday tomorrow night - I'm in Philadelphia next week for work and then his birthday is Tuesday... we also have my Christmas party, mine and Conrad's business potlucks and then Secret Santa here at my work. There's just too much going on.

Aren't we all supposed to start fresh on January 1? How can we when we're so exhausted from December?

Ka

Boys...

Well played, Alex Menchaca, well played....

You see, Conrad and I have ANOTHER mutual friend we had in high school.... his name is Alex. He was so super cute in high school- he probably still is... and he was a good friend of mine, several years older.... (I don't know why I just told you he was cute- it's not relevent, but I know Candice knows and Mikel knows- so for you girls, I threw that in)... he was also in the band, a friend of Conrad's and took private lessons from Conrad's dad (band director). So we both knew him and of course, even through Alex, our paths in high school never crossed. Alex, God bless him, is apparently a faithful reader aka "fan" of this blog and yesterday Conrad said he received an email entitled "Ham N Cheese" hmmmm... and Alex proceeded to tell Conrad all about how he understood his plight and gave him advice based off ten years of marriage. Oh ha ha ha- you silly boys... you will NEVER figure us out- not even after fifty years of marriage... but I appreciate Alex's efforts and it was well played because he was trying to help his brother out - but his brother is weak and forward me the email. WA HA HA HA HA (evil laugh).

Speaking of his brother, Conrad - another funny incident last night- it made me laugh.

When we were doing the Dallas to Houston long distance thing I noticed Conrad was a faithful subscriber to Maxim Magazine. He could hardly ever be found without one ragtag, dog-eared copy clutched in his little hands. They were stacked under his living room tables and there were so many in the bathroom, it was a firehazard. I am SERIOUS- there were at LEAST 40 of them, probably more... and I mentioned one day that I thought Maxim was stupid and one step below Playboy. Kinda like people say Hooters is one step below a strip joint, which by the way is complete PHOOEY- that place serves the nectar of the Gods... they have the most pure ranch dressing to be found on the planet... and I daresay even if they BECAME a stip joint, I would still go just to get the wings. But I digress... Maxim is smut- but Conrad doesn't read so besides his unholy fixation on the evening news, this magazine is where he gets all his information... so I never said stop reading it, I said how offensive- this magazine is trash! Where did he get that I didn't like it out of that?! Anyway- Conrad is so super sweet and so good to me, he immediately, without my knowledge canceled his subscription and did not renew it. Once I moved to Houston, I realized it wasn't coming in the mail any more. I asked about it and he said I didn't like it- so he stopped it. Well now isn't he the sweetest thing you've ever laid eyes on in your whole LIFE? If I did not love him then (which I did) I would have loved him after that.. I said PLEASE don't stop your life for me- read the magazine, it doesn't really OFFEND me I just think it's dumb and smutty- and I laugh at you behind your back when you read it- but you can keep on, it's not hurting my feelings. But he didn't renew and alas, his knowledge of every day life in America went WAAAAAAAAAY downhill... as did his knowlege on up and coming gadgets, witty little snippets on how to deal with girls or how to GET an actual girl, upcoming movies, what's good on DVD, why your girl acts like she does and also what bikinis the celebs are wearing- (with pics!) just what DOES Lindsey Lohan want in a boyfriend and how come Angelina Jolie would NEVER EVER date a married man. Such crap.

Fast forward to a few months later- Delta Airlines sent me this thing and said you have miles, but not enough to count- so be a good girl and cash these things in - here are some magazines you can get. So being an EXCELLENT wife-to-be I got Conrad Maxim and Cigar Afficiando (spelling?) and told him... I guess he forgot.

Yesterday his first Maxim arrived in the mail- and I was off doing something else. When I walked by with a mixture of fear and giddiness he said " I SWEAR I did not renew my subscription- look!" and he had a copy of Maxim in his hand- a very sweaty and messy looking Eva Menendez on the cover, but whatever..... and I said "Um- I know, I ordered it for you. Remember- with my miles".... he was so relieved he was not in trouble.

But I went back into a back room to pack up some presents and I chuckled...

These are the differences between boys and girls....

Ka

Sugar Plums, Sugar Cookies

Today I am back to being totally cute. I LOVE WINTER!
I am wearing a black sweater, gray trumpet skirt and black boots... people have been commenting on it AGAIN. I really must be a complete bum in the summer- a vision of ultimate distress. It's hard to dress well when it's so hot outside and walking out to the car to go to lunch causes a heat stroke. Who cares about how you look when you feel so awful?

Ah well... speaking of looking awful... my eating is out of control! Sugar plums- sugar cookies, whatever- Christmas is a baaaaad time of year for me! I have Conrad's birthday, Christmas parties... Christmas potlucks, not to mention cookie swaps and all that. It's a nightmare and destroying my diet! Now I have gotten hooked on making sugar cookies at night and drinking hot cocoa (made with milk!) before I go to bed. I have been watching Paula Deen obsessively and dreaming of all the lavish spreads I could make and parties I could hold... I HATE her! This is the time of year when I wish I had kids... I only want some for like one month out of the year... I want them to get in the kitchen with me and make cookies and all these cool Christmas cakes. I finally came to the conclusion though that HOLD UP- Conrad has two nephews (soon to be mine). I can always borrow them... Keagan is old enough. He's 6. I wonder if he'd want to head to Wal-Mart with me later this month to get some green food coloring. I bet he would be a willing party to help me mess up his mother's kitchen and create something fabulous for the family. You never know, it could become tradition. I could start taking over Mikel's kitchen and children for one day a year... I don't think she'd mind... the only thing is, I can't see 16 and 14 year old boys ( in a few years) REALLY being all that excited to continue the tradition... and that would break my heart... but that's what kids do right- break your heart- so I REALLY would be experiencing parenthood first hand. AH YES- this is a BRILLIANT idea. I am going to talk to Keagan about this STAT! But let's take this farther - what if Keagan and Kamden LOVE cooking and baking and it becomes their life's work- and they get rich like Paula Deen or that Art Smith that Oprah is so fond of. OMG- then we would all be SET for life and they could like put dedications to us in their cookbooks. SHUT UP- I need to talk to Keagan RIGHT NOW.

Anyway- back to my little problem... It's almost like I have forgotten I'm getting married in five months and will be showing everyone I've ever known in my life, and all the people our parents have ever known - all those cookies I scarfed down this season. My leg? No- no that's not a LEG- that's a bunch of chicken wings I ate during football season at Buffalo Wild Wings- OMG, have you tried their nachos!? My arms... yes, those are my arms... I know they look like they are ringed with Krispy Kremes, but what's a girl to do in Biloxi on Thanksgiving morning- nothing else was open! (GROAN ..... )

I had to physically MAKE myself go home and cook last night. All I wanted to do was go home and grab my partner in crime (who is NO help when it comes to willpower, by the way) and head to the nearest Chuy's for their delicious jalapeno ranch dip. YUM-O!

But instead I went home and started frying bacon immediately (because if I start dinner, I'll finish it- no waste!)... for BLT's... and that is what we had. All the while though I was thinking about those blue corn enchiladas and sugar cookies. I am SO sad.

Today I am going to lunch at Wal-Mart so I can pick up some Curvelle. There was an article in First about this month - it's like the holistic soution to that awful Alli thing that came out earlier this year. It's supposed to curb carb cravings- I HOPE so! I never met a piece of bread or a bowl of chips and hot sauce I didn't like.... so I am going there to pick that up. Sadly, Taco Cabana shares the parking lot- I'll try to navigate my truck back on the freeway, but for me, Taco Cabana is like a beacon of light in a dark, scary storm.

I have PROBLEMS.

Karyn

All is Well

It's 8:30 AM in Houston and all is well. We had a nice weekend. I seem to have gotten my raging emotions (see Hardee's post) under control and things are back to normal.

I am SUPER excited to report that we now have a guest room with a Queen sized bed in it. That sound make all the visitors happy! I was sad for Conrad to dismantle his office, but he really did never use it. I kept telling him it was not necessary, but he dismantled it anyway. He said once he got the wireless internet, he never went in there, which is actually true...

So I spent about three hours Saturday morning painting the "office". It was an ok color before, but it was the kind of paint (flat) that shows all the dirt. So I got that done, moved the furniture in and ta-da! It's beautiful. I'll take pics soon and post.

At lunch today I am off to Macy's to see if I can find a dress for the company Christmas party. It's FORMAL. FORMAL! Ick... Everyone was enamored with me on Friday- I am feeling pressure to be all dressed up for the party. Ha Ha

EDITED TO ADD:
I totally just got back from Macy's. TOTAL SCORE!
I found the cutest one piece black tank dress... everyone should have one. Well, ok- if you're female or if you are male and have a burlesque show on the weekends, you should have one. Very versitale! It was $89 and on sale for $33 and I also had a 20% off coupon. That's RIGHT- Conrad is getting himself a bargain shopper! Then I wandered over to another rack and got an eggplant colored sweater/shaw thing... it's open (no buttons) made of sweater material and all around the neckline and down the sides it's the same color, but gauzy fabric. It draped down past my hips. I can wear both pieces again, for other things.

I can wear either my black pumps or my black boots.

Karyn