The GIANT Candy Cane

Did anyone else have a love affair with the giant candy cane when they were a kid? I did. I would literally drool over them. (And then on them, down inside the wrapper that I'd only partially pulled back so I could suck on the end of them in front of my brothers and refuse to share.)

True story. (Both the drooling down into the soggy wrapper and the not sharing.) I was a gross kid, and kind of a mean one sometimes. (I like to think that both of those were normal.)

Anyway... I looooooved the giant candy canes when I was little. I can picture in my head where they were displayed at Ed's (at the end cap, I want to say at the 2nd register, but it might have been the 3rd). I would stand and look at them and wish I had a quarter so I could buy one for my own self. They weren't as good when you had to share them. (Probably because Mom would break them with a hammer and then we'd share. And, as previously discussed, I hated to share.)

You can imagine my thrill when I saw this bad boy at the dollar store this weekend. I'm pretty sure I shrieked with joy, and then I snatched it right up. Of course, due to inflation, the cost has gone from 25 cents to 67 cents. (Argh.) Also, the candy can is no longer bigger than my forearm. (But I'm consoling myself with the thought that it would take me ALL MONTH to gnaw through a piece of candy that big.)

Ahhhh... the giant candy cane = pure joy. (And probably cavities, but whatever.)

Merry Christmas and happy candy cane eating - TO ME! (37 yrs old and still not sharing.)

I heart Santa

Always have.

Always will.

30 Days of Christmas

You know how everyone's been Facebooking all month about Thanksgiving, coming up with something they're thankful for every day in preparation of Thanksgiving?

Yeah, well. I didn't do that.

It's not like I don't enjoy Thanksgiving. I do. I love pie. I adore mashed potatoes and gravy. Cranberry and turkey together send me to the moon (and back). And I do make an honest effort every day to be grateful for the big and little things in my life that make me happy and bring me joy. I love my life. I am grateful for it, for all the creature comforts that make me happy (I seriously LOVE my rice bag, because it keeps my feet warm when nothing else will) and for the people who love me even though I'm a crazy person (insert your name here, whoever you are, reading this - I love you and I'm grateful for you).

I love Thanksgiving. I do.

But I've been looking forward to Christmas ... well, for what seems like ALL YEAR LONG. Christmas is everything that is fun and joyous and peaceful and charitable and warm and fuzzy and fantastic to me.

Christmas music makes my heart soar. Christmas movies are nostalgic and make me happy to my core. Christmas treats are fun to make - and fun to eat. (Can I tell you how much I'm in love with these stupid Egg Nog rolled cookies? Oh, that's right. I cannot, because there are not words for the love.)

In case I haven't mentioned it... I love Christmas. And to that end, I've decided to post something "I love Christmass-y" for 30 days in a row. It might be a song, a movie clip, a recipe, a random thought ... or a combination of all of the above.

All I can say is, I love Christmas. And I'll keep saying it all month long. So, if that doesn't sound boring to you - stay tuned. (And if that does sound boring to you, then don't stay tuned. Scrooge.)

Merry Christmas y'all! (I can say that now that Thanksgiving is over and all those "give Thanksgiving the respect it deserves!" people have had their fun.)

Never were there such devoted sisters...

It's my sister's birthday today. She's 25. That's CRAZY to me!

My sister is pretty amazing, and super fantastic. I love her for a lot of reasons. Here are a few of them.

She's:

funny
kind
a peace maker
principled
a survivor
a HUGE movie buff
introspective
big-mouthed (literally, not so much figuratively)
a quoter of TV and movie lines
good
witty
strong

She was the baby girl I spent my entire childhood praying for. She's an incredible woman. She's done a lot of amazing and really hard things, and she's done them with grace and with dignity, and for that, she is my hero. She's one of my best friends.

She's my seester.



Happy Birthday, Mooey! I love you!

Argh...

Unnecessary apostrophes are the bane of my existence.



Do these snacks belong to SnackWell? No, I don't think they do. So, why is there an apostrophe there? ... Oh, to make them plural?

That's wrong.

Sick and wrong. And totally unnecessary. (Anybody want to guess what brand of snacks I did not buy, based solely on their improper use of an apostrophe? ... Also, I hate raisins, but that's not the point here.)

I wish I could teach the world a lesson on where and how to appropriately use apostrophes.

The End.

Hottest. Dad. Ever.

"What I do have are a very particular set of skills."

I shudder. (And not necessarily in a bad way.) I tell you what... Hottest. Dad. EVER!

If you haven't seen Taken, you must! It's an adrenalin rush and a half. I've seen it a good 10-15 times (easily) and even now, I'm exhausted when it's over. This movie is fan-freaking-tastic, in a kick-ass dad, don't-mess-with-my-kid-or-I'll-hunt-you-down-and-make-you-pay sort of way. (Also, it made me decide that I never want to go to Europe alone. Even if I am a paunchy woman in her mid-late 30's and am therefore not the type who's gonna bring a good price on the black market, I think it's just too big a risk to take.)

Call me crazy for likening movies a little bit too much to my own life, but I can tell you right now that I feel a lot safer since I made the decision to stay away from kidnappers in foreign lands. ... Just imagine how safe I'd feel if I had a man in my life who had those same special skills that Liam has. (He's delicious!)

I love this movie!

(But who's kidding who? I love Liam. Almost without fail.)

For real, if you haven't seen it - you must. Call me. I'll bring my dvd and the popcorn. It'll be a good time!

TV and how it touches my life

I've been watching a lot of Alias today. (Netflix is my one true love.) And Sydney Bristow's chiseled jaw blows my freaking mind.




I tell you what, her jaw (as well as the rest of her, let's be honest) borders on not being human.

I've given a lot of thought to how I could accomplish having such a chiseled jaw at some point in my life and I've come to the conclusion that I'd have to a) give up eating potato chips by the bag for pretty much ... well, forever ... as well as b) take up kick boxing or running or some other such madness.

So, I've decided that I should keep BOTH of my chins and stop wondering how in the world Jennifer Garner got her one chin so darn defined.

That being said, I'm pretty sure that there's a pint of ice cream in the freezer that needs to be polished off. (Whilst I watch Syd kick some serious terrorist trash.)

That's all for now. But stay tuned, because when I OD on TV like this, it usually stirs up all kind of drama in my life. (By which I mean: I start imagining all kinds of things, like what I'd do if I were a spy and had to choose between letting my former lover be shot to death or stabbing him not-quite-to-death myself so I could save his life, or what I'd do if I was sharing a pint of ice cream with one Will Tippen and we ended up kissing over the hot fudge.) I tell you what, good dramatic TV (esp spy shows) make my imagination run wild - and that, my friends, could make for some fun posts in the next few days.

Over and out.

And the celebration continues!

Yeah, I know that it's been, like, two weeks since my actual birthday. But I got a little prize in the mail today from my Cousin (with a capital C).

Behold the post-birthday bounty:



For those of you who may have noticed that the bag of chips is "sharing size", don't get your hopes up. This is the one bag of chips that I was gifted for my birthday, and under the Holiday Clause of The Potato Chip Rule of 2011, these are mine -- all mine.