TANAYA LODGE IN YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK FOR NEW YEARS EVE!!!

Hunk and I are going here tomorrow!!! We are meeting another couple and spending New Years Eve at Tanaya Lodge.

The party starts at 6:30 PM and ends at 12:30AM with a balloon drop and champagne toast.

We also get champagne breakfast the next morning. I'm going to feel like royalty!

Hunk will actually lose the Wranglers for a pair of dress pants..... What is this world coming to?


They have an indoor pool! I can finally sport my new BIKINI!!!

YA RIGHT! You all know better than that!

The room.........sigh........

We even get to take a ride on a horse drawn sleigh!!

Sorry I fainted........ I'm back.......

We are staying two nights. One night with our friends and one night just Hunk and I.

Whatever will we do with ourselves? A night alone with NO RUGRATS!.......oh sorry, I was lost in day dreams for a minute there...... I'm back!

That being said this will be the first New Years in YEARS UPON YEARS that we are spending it without our Rugrats! But no worries they are going to my Aunt and Uncles and are having a party there. They are very excited about it.

Almost as excited as we are!

HAVE A WONDERFUL NEW YEARS EVERYONE.......

I plan to.....wink..wink

Ciao Bellas~

IT'S 7:50 PM AND I'M IN MY PAJAMAS.............STILL......

Okay, someone needs to stop the madness.

To say it's 7:50 pm and I'm in my pajamas seems harmless enough. It seems like I'm just prepared to turn in early tonight when the truth of the matter is I've had them on ALL DAY.

I'm starting to see a pattern. I'm starting to think I may need help with this? It's not like I didn't do anything all day.

I got up and out of bed at 6:00am. I saw my Rugrat and Hunk off to another big wrestling tournament (over 70 schools) I made breakfast for my Rugrat daughter and myself. I started laundry and then..........THEN I MADE MY FIRST MISTAKE.... I headed to my desk and started working.

I GOT SUCKED IN! And my mean ol' nasty boss (ME) wouldn't let go. I stopped for a quick potty break and to holler something to my Rugrats along these lines................

"ALERT THE MEDIA, BUT IF YOU TURN THE TV OFF AND SWITCH OVER THE LAUNDRY FOR ME YOU WON'T DIE" ........I'm not sure if they believed me but I think my pajamas and what can only be described as a "beast like hair do" made them do it anyway.

I wonder though.............. When I was making phone calls to customers....... did they have a clue that half of my hair looked like I hadn't brushed it for a week (in just one nights sleep.......how does this happen?) and that I was sitting in my Mickey Mouse pajamas.......

ME: "Hello, May I speak with your Accounts Payable Department please?"

Customer: "I'll transfer you"

ME: "Thank you!"

Customer: "click........ring.....ring... Accounting?"

ME: "Hello this is Stephanie and I'm calling in regards to our past due invoice # 3596, and I was wondering when we can expect payment on this?"

Customer: "What is the invoice number again?

Me: "3596, it is dated November 13th"

Customer: "Hmmmmmmm......I think I already paid it, one moment"

Me: "No problem" ......ie: whatever people

Customer: "Hmmmmmmm, I don't have it, we never received it"

Me : owwwwwwwwwww, my tongue hurts from biting it. "Ok, can I email it to you?"

Customer" Sure, that would be fine."

Me: "Ok, I'll send it now, once you receive the email of the invoice when can I expect payment?"

Customer: "ummmmm, well, give me about two weeks or so"

Me: "Ok, thank you"......man my tongue hurts......

Yes, this all took place in my pajamas.......and many many more calls. To my Workman's comp company, vendors, Prevailing Wage Labor Board, employees, etc.

Am I alone? Am I the only one who ever ends up in their pajamas all day because they don't take the time to stop and actually get ready for the day? Because if they stop working everything wont get finished, even though there isn't enough time for it all to get finished by the end of the day anyway?

I need to make a change........that or buy more pajamas.....

I hear Target is having a sell this week.......this could be a tough decision.....

Ciao Bellas~

Ps. I have LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS of photos from a day of cooking with my mom and cousins to upload......I can't tell you how many photos I have my cousin sitting very still on the kitchen floor trying to avoid wetting herself, because of laughing so hard.........sadly, it runs in the family.......I SOOOOOOOOOO do that! Oh the stories I could tell......

SICK WITH THE FLU ALL WEEK~

I have been sick with the flu. My girl rugrats stayed over with my parents for 3 days, in fact one of them is still there. The other is a Mommas Girl and wanted to come home. Of course she and Hunk have been out riding quads all over the countryside today.

Christmas day was at my parents. I got up, took a shower, Hunk drove us over there, we all opened gifts and I went and laid down in my Moms bed for the rest of the day. I got up a few times, I wanted so much to visit with everyone.

My Aunt made her wonderful cream cheese ball with crackers and I couldn't even bring myself to try a single bite. Turkey, Ham, you name, it was there. As always, there is NEVER a shortage of food around our homes when we have get -togethers.

We went home and I slept some more.... multiple trips back and forth to the bathroom.......TMI (too much information) I know......sorry........ and I realize I'm dehydrated. I can't tolerate anything on my stomach so I go for sucking on ice cubes.

Last night I decided I wanted to try some soup. I wanted vegetable beef soup with barley. So Hunk went to the market and bought some for me, dropped it back off here for my rugrat son and his friends to make for me and then left to go pick up our rugrat daughter from my parents and deliver some firewood to some friends of ours.

There is knock on my door and it is three 17 year old boys. They carry in a plate with my bowl of soup on it. The plate has crackers fanned out around the bowl and tangerines fanned out on the left and right side of the bowl also. Another one of these sweet boys is carrying a fresh glass of ICE...... They hand it to me worried they didn't get it hot enough and asking if there is anything else they can get me. My heart melted...... These boys are the rough tough rugrats who have the POW WOW's out in our meadow each month. They also are all wrestlers. And yet when Momma is sick, they turn into sweet little men, willing to do anything to help me feel better. I am so blessed.

In the midst of feeling like the biggest piece of........well, I'll just say it......CRAP.....these boys made a smile appear from one side of my face to the other.

Sadly, I wasn't able to eat the soup, MISTAKENLY I ate a couple pieces of tangerine (much too much acidity) and the saltine cracker was perfect.

Great group of boys. Love them.....

Today I'm feeling about 1/2 human. I got up and loaded the dishwasher, felt shaky and my back started hurting so I came and laid back down. But I wanted you all to know I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, I just feel like I did.

On a positive note I lost 14 pounds! On a negative as soon as I can eat again, I'm sure I'll find them......

I do hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!!

I plan to have a DO-OVER DINNER soon...... (and the pounds were found)

Ciao Bellas~

KEEPIN' IT REAL WITH SPANX.. IS THAT ON OXYMORON?

So I've been holding out on you...... I apologize. I'm dedicated to keepin' it real on my blog. Being true and honest in all my posts. So I'm going to keep it real and be true and honest in this one.......even if it embarrasses me....... it must be done....

So the other day we went to a dinner event with friends. It was a fancy dinner that Hunk and I don't normally make a habit of attending.

Confession: I pulled out his suit pants and shirt that he has worn two times. Both times were for funerals.

2nd Confession: Hunk looked so good that we almost didn't make it to the dinner...

So I'm getting ready and I pull out a skirt and blouse I had purchased and not worn yet. I realize I have no nice black "heels" anymore. I think it's from living in the "HILLS" for too long...... So I call a friend and she rushes over a few pair for me to choose from. While she is here I decide to pull out my Spanx and see what she thinks. She tells me she really can't tell a difference because of the length of my blouse but I decide to wear them anyway.

I did struggle a bit getting them pulled up....probably due to all the sweating I was doing.... those suckers don't go up without a fight.....

I get them up and she helps me "tuck my Spanx up under my bra" so it will stay nice and secure for the evening.

Hunk and I leave (after I hike my skirt up to my waist in order to be able to hike myself up into his lifted cowboy work truck) for the dinner.

We get there and check out the silent auction items, mingle with friends and sit down for dinner. It is then that I realize I need to go to the bathroom. I excuse myself and head for the restroom.

Once I get in the stall I realize this may not be so easy. I have on Spanx and they are tucked under my bra. Crap, what am I going to do. Am I going to have to undress? I'm going to take so long in here they are going to send someone in to check on me...... or worse, they are going to think I'm having stomach problems...... Now I'm sweating again, I'll never get them back on if I take them off.....

I ask myself if I can just hold it for a few more hours....... NO screamed my bladder.

I wonder if I can pull them up on my leg far enough to hike them over to the side......it is then that I realize that there is a nice PEE HOLE. Spanx maker I love you. You have thought of everything. I am able to hike up my skirt (much like I had to do to get into Hunks truck) and sit down and tinkle through the ever so clever "opening".

Of course as I'm doing my thang I get stricken with fear.........what if I pee on them.....

3rd confession: The other night I got up to pee in the middle of the night and when I pulled my pajama bottoms back up I found quickly that I had inadvertently pulled them part way over the potty and well......you get the idea...... new jammies in the middle of the night...... You may think no big deal, but we are powered by a generator.......a generator that we turn off each night......needless to say I'm using a flashlight to find new jam jams..... shinning moment for me......sadly I have so many more

Sooooooo I'm thinking if I pee on them what will I do? I'll have to strip down in the bathroom stall and wad the Spanx up and put them............crap!, I left my purse at the table with Hunk.....Where will I put them???. Well, I'll have to throw them away. Let my gut hang out and head back to the table.

I'm happy to say that I did not pee on my Spanx. I made it back to the table safe and sound....and more importantly, DRY....

But now I wonder..........How exactly is it that I sat there all night with a hole in the ummmmmmmm you know.. "area" all night and I never even realized it? That is sad, and a bit scarry really...

So glad I sat like a lady all night.... wouldn't have been the time to have too much wine and try to show off any Yoga moves.........not that I could do any if I wanted to......

Embarrassing, yeah, but ya know.......I have to keep it real with you all....

By now, you know I'm a dorko anyway......

Ciao Bellas~

RUGRATS WRESTLING MATCH~

There is my Rugrat warming up with Teammates.

Love it when they do this huddle.....such team spirit. They are really like a family. They spend so much time together, working hard.....great group of boys...

Taking their chairs and getting ready for the match...

My Rugrat pacing, he can never stand/sit still while his friends are on the mat.

All the Varsity wrestlers line up to meet who they will wrestle with...

And there in the back, in his cute little outfit and head gear, is my rugrat jumping rope and getting ready for his match coming up....

And there he goes........and by the way this is when I repeat over and over to my friends in the stand that I want to barf.......

Do NOT hurt my Rugrat please.......oh I still want to barf, and did I mention my heart is racing? Did I also mention I want to barf? Oh I can't watch.......GO BLUE!

Ok, he's on top and he just got two points, according to the refs fingers in the air. GO RUGRAT GO! yes, I still want to barf......

Get up, flip around, something.....OMIGOSH......I feel sick.....

Ok, Rugrat lifting him up in the air is good now just pin him please so my heart can stop pounding outside of my chest...

Omigosh, what are you doing to my Rugrats arm? Please don't break it.....seriously, I need to lay down.....I'm hiding behind this camera, it's a little easier to watch through a lens....

Ok, this might be good. Now do those crazy rolls you do and win this please....

And there he goes......I hope my future grandchildren aren't being injured in this move.

GET HIM!!!!!! Oh please let this be over already...... I'm sooooooooo NOT a good wrestling momma...... Where is Hunk? Oh Hunk please come home.....

When I see the ref start to go down and Rugrats on top I know it's getting close....HOPEFULLY......

YES!

Almost there.......

Closer....

And he pinned him........Oh thank you, thank you, thank you.......why do I still feel sick?

And he's getting up off that poor boy.....I'm sorry boy's momma.... I feel your pain, I honestly do......

See.....he's pulling those things down.... Lord please let me furture grandbabies be fine.... ;)

And I missed the photo of him holding his arm up in the air to symbolize that he won because I jumped up to my feet and yelled "woooooo hooooooo".....I'm so embarrassing......sorry rugrat...

And he goes back to his team and I try to catch my breath.

And both teams shake hands and thank them for coming...

I have decided that I'm not the best sports momma. I do okay with soccer and softball but wrestling just about does me in. My heart races faster that if I was trying to run a marathon......

SORRY FOR THAT VISUAL....

Ciao Bellas~

FIVE DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!

Christmas vacation is upon us. School is out for two (and some schools ...three) weeks! All Rugrats are at home. Well, except for our Rugrat who no longer lives at home....sniff....sniff....

Many of my friends were not looking forward to this vacation. I for one LOVE it. I wish I could keep my rugrats home every day. Well, ALMOST everyday. I'm all about being 100% honest here...There are times when I would like for them to stay the night at school. But MOST days I'd rather have them here.

I love to hang out with my rugrats. I love to bake with them, cook with them, watch movies with them, laugh with them and love on them. I love to have their help around the house. They are usually great at helping switch over the laundry, fold the towels, etc.

We have started out loafing around for the most part. I've done laundry, dishes, cooking, baking but I've also done it in my pajamas. I stayed in my pajamas until 1:15 today! So you ask why bother changing at that point???..... Well I HAD to. I had to take the girls to a Christmas cooking class. I guess I could have gone in my pajamas, in fact every other mom there dropping off their little bakers would probably given me a high five... But I couldn't bring myself to do it.

I've also been watching a lot of movies the last two days. It's been WONDERFUL. Did I ever mention I'm addicted to movies? I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE movies. I love going to the movies, I love watching movies at home. I love watching movies with lots of friends or family and I love watching movies alone. I have favorites that I watch over and over and over again.

I have many friends who borrow movies from me. I have somewhat of a library of movies. Maybe I should start my own rental company...

So all that to say I've had a very enjoyable weekend.

Hunk filled the tractor up with firewood and brought it down to the house, got the rugrats go-kart running again and pulled the boat out of the lake for the winter.

The rugrats took off on the quads and rode around on the hills, exploring and watching the deer.

I love relaxing weekends. I love my family. I love my life.....

And I love that I have all of you to share it with.....

Ciao Bellas~

CHRISTMAS TEARS OF JOY

My lil Rugrat getting ready for her school Christmas program. They all looked so cute. It was Kindergarten through 5th graders. They were all so precious.

I had an exhausting day and I just wanted to stay home and rest. I was never so glad and couldn't stop thanking my lil Rugrat enough for all the effort they all put into such a beautiful show for all of us warn out parents.

Some of the tired Mommas and Daddy's and Grandma's and Grandpa's.

My lil Rugrat is the 3rd one from the left in the front row. With her Old Navy red sweat suit.

Aren't these little ones so cute? The one on the far left in the back row is a friend of mines little cutie pie.. She was searching the crowd for her parents when she came out, it was so adorable........

I loved this snow man! And the one on the far right in the black and yellow jacket is one of my good friends little boys. So adorable!

Back to my lil' Rugrat. She is 5th from the right. She is so tiny! When she was little everyone called her tiny baby. Yes she is standing with her 5th grade class... My LIL Rugrat..

Santa and the Snowman and Rudolph were all coming back up on stage after having run through the crowd....

So precious.......

Have you ever seen so many Santa's?

And then it happened..........

It was the moment I knew exactly why I NEEDED to be here...not just to watch my Rugrat.. The moment I knew I had to thank my Rugrat for all her hard work......

These adorable, precious children all started ever so softly singing...... "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Jack Frost nipping at your nose..."....
And I cried........ My heart melted. I could hardly see them through the tears.

I could feel the love of Christmas around me. The love and innocence pouring out of these little children.

Nobody could have meant the words more than these little ones....

And the crowd cheered and wiped their eyes and all the little Rugrats waived to their families saying "Merry Christmas".

And I wipe a tear AGAIN as I type this to you and look at this photo.

So many things have gone on this past year in many peoples lives. So many loses, many financial situations that have hurt so many people we know and love...... but when you sit and watch the innocence up on this stage and the love these children have for their families, it brings you back instantly to what is most important in our lives. It speaks to your heart and soul and it reminds you what you still have left to be so very thankful for.

And Mommas Soapbox says "MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL"

Ciao Bellas~

PROUD OF MY LITTLE CRAFTY BAKER GIRL~

My Rugrat offered to make Gingerbread Cookies for her "2nd grade buddies" to decorate at school.

I was so proud of her. She made the dough, rolled them out, cut them out, put them on the sheet, preheated the oven, baked them, pulled them out and decorated them. ALL ON HER OWN. When I was 11 I'm very sure I couldn't do that. Nor did I have the desire to do that.....

When I went to check on here she had placed Gingerbread men into clear bags and decorated them with ribbon and cute name tags. One for each of her teachers. I'm so thankful for her giving, kind heart.

She was so excited and couldn't wait to give them to her teachers.....

Don't we all just have so many reasons to be "Proud Mommas"?

Tis' the season to remember this........

Eight more days until Christmas.....OH MY!

Ciao Bellas~

YOU KNOW YOU ARE LIVING IN 2009 WHEN......

Living in 2009

YOU KNOW YOU ARE LIVING IN 2009 when...

1. You accidentally enter your password on the microwave.

2 You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.

3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of 4..

4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you..

5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don't have e-mail addresses.

6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your mobile phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the shopping.

7 Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the screen

8. Leaving the house without your mobile, which you didn't have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it.

10. You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your coffee.

11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. : )

12 You're reading this and nodding and laughing.

13. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this message.

14. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list.

15. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn't a #9 on this list AND NOW YOU ARE LAUGHING at yourself.

A friend sent me this and I thought it was so true....I have done many of them. Even #6, how sad (aka. LAZY) is that?

I'm thinking if it's on the list I can't be the only one.

Ciao Bellas~

DID YOU KNOW RUGRATS CAN WRESTLE?

My Rugrat.

The little boy who kept me on bed rest for MONTHS. The boy who had me sleeping in the hospital(I think that is an oxy moron) taking medicine and trying to make my contractions stop. The boy who helped out with my "oh so lovely" stretch marks.... The boy who wanted to come early and then decided to wait so long to try to enter the world again that I ended up having my labor induced. The same delivery that my epidural fell out and had to be put in again....poor Hunk, he was helping the doctor while I was bent over contracting and thinking of how I was ready for him to take over the birthing process for me....

I love this Rugrat. I'm proud of this Rugrat. This Rugrat puts a lot of hard work and dedication in to practicing wrestling.

He also brings his momma stinky, sweaty, nasty wrestling practice clothes to wash every day.

Did I mention how much I love him?

Well, this Rugrat of ours took the Gold Medal in his weight class again last weekend at the tournament. Two 1st Place medals in two tournaments. YEAH Rugrat!

Whether he places or not, wins or loses, he's a winner to me. I love him and I'm proud of him.....

And I'm thankful nothing broken.......now that is a two for two I am more than happy to have!

Ciao Bellas~

PS. He has a match tonight, so I'll be going through all the motions again...sick to my stomach when someone bends his body in a direction God never intended, excited if he wins, sad for him if he doesn't.

Whatever the case may be. The only things you can count on is that I'll be proud of him and I wont have much of a voice tomorrow

CHRISTMAS PARTY WITH GIRLFRIENDS~

Sitting at this table are a group of some of my very close friends. My sweet friend, Jackie, had a party for all of us gals. She is such a sweetheart and she made her home so inviting. Of course, I would expect nothing less from her.

Not only was it inviting but it was FUN. We had wonderful food and fellowship. We started off with a bowl of homemade soup. It was DELICIOUS. We sat around and talked and we played a game. We were given a piece of paper and a pencil, and a few items we had to draw. Pictionary. I was on a team with my two friends Sara and Sarah. We won! It was so much fun. Sarah was drawing and Sara and I were shouting out what we thought it was. I will have to say Sara was very good at guessing.

Next Jackie's Hunk served us each a plate of salad. We didn't even have to get up. He refilled our drinks and was such a gentleman. What a man. She has a keeper. And you can see the love he has for his wife every time he looks at her. And the same with her for him. It's so heartwarming to see.

The salad was followed by another game which was HYSTERICAL. Jackie read a story that just happened to be about Sara and her Hunk Stan. Every time the word "she" or "her" was used you passed the gift to the right (because us gals are ALWAYS right) and when the word "he" or "him" was used you passed it to the left. At the end of the story whoever had the gift in hand got to keep it. It was a hoot!

Here is Jackie's Hunk helping her remove some chairs that weren't needed. A few of our friends were not feeling well and weren't able to join us.

Jackie's Hunk received in the mail this day four bottles of wine of which he generously put out for us to share. I'm tellin' ya, she has a keeper....I'm also tellin' ya SO DOES HE... and Hunk and I are lucky enough to be able to call them friends. It's so nice to see how blessed we are. Especially this time of year.

Aren't they adorable? The two on the left are Sarah and Sara.......my teammates! ;)

And the other b-e-a-utiful side of the table. Look at that beautiful smile my friend Kristin has......

We now got up and served ourselves some ham, potatoes and bread. Perfect ending to our meal....

No it's isn't cold inside. Jackie is showing us how we are going to play a game I've never played before. It is also a game I can't wait to play again. I laughed so hard I thought I was going to pee my pants. In fact if you have a weak bladder (YES THAT WOULD BE ME) it wouldn't be a bad idea to wear a little extra. ....ehemmm. .........padding... while playing this game.

Jackie explains while Rhonda is ready to go.

SO..... this is how it works....

You start with a gift that is wrapped and put it in a bigger wrapped box and then a bigger wrapped box and then a bigger wrapped box and so on and so forth. You put on a hat, gloves (makes it harder to unwrap) and a scarf. Now that hat and scarf are mainly to slow you down because you can't start unwrapping until you are "dressed".

The person next to you rolls a pair of dice until they get doubles. Once they get doubles you have to stop unwrapping the gift and pass it to the person on your right. They have to get "dressed" and you start rolling until you get doubles. It goes round and round until someone finally opens the actual gift. It was a blast.

Forgive me now for the picture overload you are about to receive. And I even held back a few photos because I was..........well.......out of control.

I snapped a ton of photos and then when I wasn't snappin' Sara grabbed my camera and started snappin'.... There were so many funny moments during this that a video camera probably would have been the better plan.

I hope you enjoy, half as much as I did......you may want to stop and go "tinkle" before you proceed......

There I am in all my glory. Me and both of my chins.... I'm trying to get the hat off so I can give it to Sarah so she can put it on and I can start rolling the dice.....

I wold have to say that I'm shocked and amazed at what I just rolled....or just a big dork, which is most likely the case......

Sarah......love her.....we both share having the nasty "C" word in our past. Happy to say she is in remission as well.......

I'm not sure if Kristin can see but she is doing some damage on the wrapping paper..

Go girl! Go!

Sara are you under there?

Yes, there was a little struggle between Rhonda and Sara. This would have been one of the moments that a little extra padding could have come in handy.

Rhonda is free, but not without much struggle......LOL

Rhonda was rolling as fast as she could.......you all really have to do this game, if you haven't before......

Oh man, my turn again. It was really getting hard to unwrap with the gloves on. The smaller it got the harder it was.....


I'll admit it..........I had to resort to............

Using my teeth...........

Back to Sarah.......

My turn to roll......and I just have to point out here how long I have gone without getting my nails done. I STILL have the black on the tips of my nails from Halloween. It's almost Christmas......REALLY, STEPHANIE? REALLY?

And Sarah did it! She got to the present before I rolled doubles.....

That big ol' box for this WONDERFUL STARBUCKS GIFT CARD!

Sara took my photo and I just couldn't resist............

We ended the evening in the family room opening up our "gift exchange". We drew numbers and whoever had number one went first in picking one of the wrapped gifts. The person with #2 could either steal #1's gift or open another gift. It went down through the line and each gift could only be taken 3 times.

I was the last person and I ended up with a pack of batteries and a $25 gift card to Starbucks......

YES, I DID STEAL IT.......there were LOTS of really cute gifts.....great times!.

That was Jackie's party. It was fun, it was yummy and I am soooooooo blessed to have such a great group of people in my life that I am lucky enough to have call me thier friend.......

I hope you enjoyed a peak into my crazy life......

Ciao Bellas~

PS. The pie and cookies she sent me home with were much appreciated by Hunk and the Rugrats...... What a perfect Hostess!