Thanks, Punk Rock Dad.

I had a couple of posts in mind for this morning, but they'll have to wait.  Punk Rock Dad gave me an award and I'm sincerely flattered.  He's a cool person and I'm a dork. 

You might be wondering why such a "cool person" would be passing out an award graphic with a hat/purse/little-dog wearing girl on it.  It really isn't his style.  BUT, because he's secure in his masculinity, and is a bit of a Renaissance man, he graciously accepted, posted and forwarded this cute little stamp.  He also created a new version of the award that has a different "F" word in it.  I'm no prude - I actually battle impulsive potty-mouth -  but, I'm choosing to go with the nancy-boy version.  My nominees may choose to display the newer, hipper, PRD-stylized award, found on his site.

THE RULES (*gag)  *PRD's word, not mine.  I LOVE rules.

1. You have to pass it on to 5 other fabulous blogs in a post.

2. You have to list 5 of your fabulous addictions in the post.

3. You must copy and paste the rules and the instructions below in the post.

Instructions: On your post of receiving this award, make
sure you include the person that gave you the award and link it back to
them. When you post your five winners, make sure you link them as well.
To add the award to your post, simply right-click, save image, then
“add image” it in your post as a picture so your winners can save it as
well. To add it to your sidebar, add the “picture” widget. Also, don’t
forget to let your winners know they won an award from you by emailing
them or leaving a comment on their blog.

Because it says list 5 of your fabulous addictions, I guess that means I can leave the shitty, life-shattering ones off the list.  Whew.

Five Fabulous Addictions:

1. All Bran.  I eat All Bran almost every day, sometimes twice.  Prepare yourself for TMI once again, but I love to have a good BM.   EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.


2. Retin-A - It really works.  I've been using it for a year now.  My age spots are fading and my skin looks a little smoother.


3. Hand Lotion - I get dry-hand anxiety if I don't keep lotion on my hands.


4. Order - Punk Rock Dad teasingly said I couldn't list "cleaning" as
   an addiction.  I wouldn't say cleanliness is my problem though.  I can't relax when there's clutter in my space.  Order soothes me.


5. Coffee, Wine, Cheese, Bread, M&Ms and Taco Bell Mild Sauce
   

Five Fabulous Bloggers:

1. Sherri at Oh. Hey. Hi! - She's crazy smart, strong, funny, and I'm thrilled to call her my friend.  I anxiously await her posts.


2. The Demigod - He's soooo entertaining, and VERY good looking, plus he lives where my mother lived as a child.  I heart you Pumpkin/Buttercup/Mustang Burn!


3. Decoy Betty - This gal with the curliest hair I've EVER seen, should be doing homework instead of blogging... but I adore her posts.  She makes me feel young again...


4. Tinsenpup - She's a gritty Maya Angelou.  Check her out, and snoop around her sidebar links.  Good stuff.


5. The Floydster - A woman who's on a life adventure right now.  Surviving and blogging.  Cool.

Thanks again Punk Rock Dad.  Off to eat my All Bran...

Detox and Decorate

I'm puffy.  Everywhere.  I've consumed too much fat, sugar, meat, and alcohol and stayed up past my bedtime three nights in a row.  It was worth it, but I'm on the wagon for a while.

We've slowly begun the Thanksgiving to Christmas transition in our house.  We have a kissing ball and carolers.

 

I managed to throw some coffee berries in a vase and ensure there's
plenty of seasonal food on hand - every variety of M&Ms ever created. 
I prefer Dark Chocolate, Plain M&M's.  Chris likes Dark Chocolate, Peanut.  We
have a few other flavors, so please stop by and pick your poison.  We've also placed our dancing Santa on the mantel... with care.

We purchased our Christmas tree and it's resting peacefully, and naked, in our family room.  I decided I kind of like the tree naked.

Our last decoration (for now) is an important reminder to everyone...

 

...and one I'm considering leaving right where it is - all year long.  Maybe if I look at this once in a while, my detoxing days will become a Ghost of Christmas Past.

Busyness

I am thankful that during "this time", my kids are well, as are Chris, our immediate family and I.  Chris has a job, we have our home, and  we generally aren't dealing with a major health or financial crisis.

What we do have...  is busyness.  I don't think we have it as badly as others I observe, but life moves at a pace that is too fast.  We're over-scheduled, tired, stressed, running ourselves and kids to and from *important* activities.  Getting through days - divide and conquer I tell myself, just divide and conquer - so we can start the next one and do it all again.  A week passes.  A friend asks on the phone, anything new?  Yes.  Everything and nothing all at the same time.  I'm unable to sift through it all and articulate the highs, the lows, the special moments.

I'm a believer in simplicity.  I think I dress simply, most say our home is decorated simply, I try to simplify our family routines - bedtime, homework, cleaning up - in an effort to minimize chaos and stress for the kids, Chris and myself.  There's still room for improvement though.  Maybe in the space, called my head.  I need to declutter and remove thoughts that don't contribute to the peace I desire.  It's time to defragment the hard drive.

So today as I chip away at my "to-do" list in anxious anticipation of family arriving this evening, I will take deep breaths, remind myself of what is truly important, and attempt to accomplish a few simple things... hopefully well, with sincerity, and joy in the process.