A sassenach gaun ta Alba, ye ken?

"No one in Scotland can escape from the past.
It is everywhere, haunting like a ghost" ~ Geddes MacGregor

I've talked a little about some of the places I want to go here and here. I talked about going to California to visit the ancient redwoods because I felt the need to be among things that are much, much older than anything I know.

Well, I suppose the tug to go to Ireland and Scotland is for the same reasons. I want very much to go to a place that has existed before time was time. I want to visit the Cliffs of Moher and feel like I am standing on the edge of the world. I want to place my hands on a standing stone to see if I'm lucky enough to feel anything. I want to meet a highland coo and an Irish sheep. I want to explore Killarney National Park and have a picnic by Loch Ness. Maybe I'd be lucky enough to get to watch some highland games. Maybe I'd get lucky enough to learn what men REALLY wear underneath their kilts....just kidding...sort of.

Anyway, I could go on and on. I want to hear the music in the pubs, and walk along the cobbled streets, and eat fish and chips, and drink a pint (even though I HATE beer..I would drink it there..because you just have to), and learn the local slang..or try to anyways. I want to climb over stone walls, and visit crumbling castles. I want to kiss the Blarney Stone, even though that is SUCH a tourist thing to do..I don't care, I want to do it anyways. I want to hike, and drive, and tour.

And someday I will...do all of that..and maybe more.

If I could talk to myself 10 years ago...

I would tell myself:

1. Start putting money in your 401K right now.

2. Start putting money in a savings account right now.

3. NO CREDIT CARDS.

4. You are so cute right now.

5. Take care of yourself. Go run up and down the stairs three times RIGHT NOW!

6. Forget about the stupid birth control.

7. Throw the diary away.

8. Jeremy loves you a whole lot, you really do mean the world to him.

9. That money you are putting in savings should be used for a fabulous honeymoon.

10. After the honeymonn the money in savings shouldn't be touched but for emergencies and maybe a really great down payment on a new house.

11. NO CREDIT CARDS...I mean it!

I've been a bad blogger..

I know..I know! I'm sorry! Can y'all forgive me? I've been sidetracked..distracted..bamboozled! lol. I have a side project going on right now and this last month has been used for basically tweeking it and getting it up and running.

I've been spending my time over at my other website Two Phat Chicks. It's a pretty big deal for me right now. I am determined to lose some weight. And no, this is not a new years resolution. I don't really do those. I just happened to have the money (from Christmas) to get back on weight watchers and to pay for a domain subscription. I have a vision of myself, healthier and skinnier. And I need to get there.

So, I've been wrapped up in new recipes, healthier snack ideas, exercising, and battling the cravings for this or that. I have NOT forgotten about this place. I just have nothing of any substance to report. I've barely picked up my camera this month, sadly. I promise to do better next month...or the month after that. I'll be doing some traveling in March that I am really excited about. We are going to see Jeff Dunham in San Antonio and I'm hoping to attend a Postsecrets event in Lubbock.

Until I get my groove back over here please fill free to check in over at Two Phat Chicks to see what I am up to over there.

Superhero Photo Challenge: Hands

Talking is like playing on the harp (or guitar ~ jinny); there is as much in laying the hands on the strings to stop their vibration as in twanging them to bring out their music. ~Oliver Wendell Holmes

What are little girls made of?

We went to my in-laws this weekend for 'family day' as Jeremy's Grandpa likes to call it. About every other weekend we go out there, along with Jeremy's grandparents and his brothers and their kids. We just spend the day hanging out, swimming if the weather is nice enough for it, catching up.

After dinner it's not uncommen for my mother-in-law to stick my two neices in the bathtub. And last Saturday was no different. She gath Dolly a quick bath and then let her leave the bathroom naked. There is just something so cute and so funny about a naked toddler. She has the cutest dimpled butt. Anyway, she went wondering from the living room into the dining room, which opens into the sun room (its actually a pretty open space, all the rooms are open to each other). That's when my husband spotted her. Laughing, he asked her 'What are you doing? You don't have any clothes on!' And, with a sweet baby smile on her face she stood there in the dining room and pee'd on the floor.

Sugar and spice and everything nice, indeed.

101 Update

I've been slacking on my 101 list. Nothing much to report until recently. I'm hoping that know that the holidays are over and spring is right around the corner I can start marking more off.

I can mark off #66. I made chocolate chip cookies and rice crispie treats to take out to my in-laws last month. Those chocolate chip cookies were gone in snap. As good as they were..I hope I don't have to make another cookie from scratch until many NEXT Christmas.

Thanks to my wonderful husband, I can mark of #83. After running to the store for cleaning supplies, or so I thought, he came back with the makings for smores. Later that evening he started up the fire in the outdoor pit we have and we had a fine time making some smores.





And last, for now, I can mark of #95. Last night we watched Juno, finally. I cried. That's all I'm gonna' say about that right now.

My New Years Eve

I guess I could finally get around to posting about our new years eve out. I gave a little teaser shot of my dress and then failed to reveal the rest of it for a week now. Sorry about that. I've been busy, I swear! Anyway, there is a saying in Italy: "What you do at New Year's, you'll do the whole year". Oh man, y'all. If that IS true I'm in for a wild year.

All you need is good head

I get up early. Very early. Probably earlier than I need to, but we won't go looking to deeply at my reasoning. It seems to work for me, so I'm sticking to it. Even though I choose to get up as early as I do, sometimes the only thing that drags me out of that bed is the thought of a nice hot shower.

Until recently.

My shower very nearly turned me into a naked sobbing mess in the corner of my tub. Not a pretty sight..not at all. We've had on and off issues with the water temp and the water pressure since we've lived here, but nothing as bad as recently. The water coming from my shower head turned into a trickle. Much like this.



Imagine me..very tired..up at the crack of dawn...trying to shower in that. I was nearly plastered to the wall just trying to rinse all the soap off my body. It made for many a miserable morning showers. I nagged at Jeremy. Fix it! Please?! PLEASE! He thought it might just be the cold weather. I wasn't convinced considering it wasn't affecting any of the other faucets. Neither one of us wanted to consider the idea that it might be the piping. Please Lord, do not make us go under the house or in the wall to replace pipes..because in this house, once you start repairs there is no stop until it's ALL been replaced...usually to the tune of lots of money.

So, I did a quick google search under 'how to improve water pressure'. Sure enough one of the first links offered talked about cleaning the filter on your shower head and possibly removing the water flow regulator thingy. I mentioned it to Jeremy and he was game. We, meaning he, took the shower head off and cleaned the filter. Put it back on...no change. Dang it! After that we started to think that maybe the whole shower head needed to be replaced. Yeah! That's the ticket. A short trip to Wal-mart and TA-DA! It was like giving my shower Viagra!!!

For the last few mornings, I have been showering in heaven.

Christmas - Part II

Christmas with my husbands family has gone to the kids. lol. Who cares about the adults when you have KIDS to open their presents under the tree?

My nephew, Mack, has the right idea. He knows how this whole Christmas thing goes.
Maddison is learning fast, although she doesn't tear into her gifts with as much gusto as Mack.And, Dolly..well, Dolly doesn't understand what all the hoopla is about. All she wants is to munch on her paper in peace.One gift that the girls could get excited about were the little bikes that Grandma got them. Maddison jumped right on hers, while Dolly needed a little help.MMMMmmmmm, tastes like a griddle.Jeremy introuducing Mack to the fine art of football.Proof that she really does like Jeremy.

Christmas - Part I

I guess I could post some Christmas pictures. It's not like I don't have a gazillion. I've just been lazy and sort of busy, but mostly lazy.

Ah, technology. It always amazes me how far its come and the things we can do with it. This year we used my cousins laptop to connect with his two brothers that could not be here for the holidays.

My Grandma gave out her traditional gag gifts. Uncle Gary got one because he parked in front of the wrong house and wondered why his garage door opener wasn't working..meanwhile, a few houses down, my aunt is wondering what is wrong with the garage door as it kept opening and closing. lol. And my sister got one because she seems to have the worst luck with tires and she didn't own a proper lug wrench
Of course, there is always a lot of laughter and silliness.

A Year in Review

January - Photo Hunt: Important

February - How Do You Know?

March - Life and Death

April - Walking Home Today

May - More on the New Do

June - Tuesday Funny

July - I Nearly Burnt My Boobs Off

August - Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

September - Do not stand in the shadow; Come into the light

October - Daddy Dearest

November - So this is what a de-thawing turkey feels like

December - Counting My Blessings