Neighborhood Luminares!

My neighbor, Tracy, and I spearheaded a Christmas Eve "First" for our little sub-division. She recalled to me how when she was a kid her neighbors all put out luminares on Christmas Eve, and what a peaceful thing that was to see. So, of course, I fell for that - hook, line and sinker! Then only to realize we need 500 bags! Here are just a few of them filling up her basement floor. Thankfully, my other neighbors, Amy & Derek volunteered to fund this crazy scheme.This is Eric and her husband, Jeff, dutifully carrying bags to the two trucks we used to disperse them. We had fun filling them, really the only slight mishap was her dog, Lila, managed to eat one of the tea candles. LOL! Oh, did I mention that my Christmas guests were expected to help me disperse these lovely bags? My sister Gina and brother-in-law Chad had the honors. Hee-Hee! (that was after they helped us put our pool table together- hey the family that works together stays together!)

Candle lighting in progress... And...the finished project. Ahh, peace on earth, goodwill towards men. This lasted about 20 minutes until the first rain shower and then a second heavy rain dowsed them all out by 8:00pm. Maybe it was a good thing. With the wind, John Jr. and I did have to stomp out 3 bags that managed to catch on fire. Whew! This was an I Love Lucy moment. The Christmas Eve Special.

Im"PECK"able Presidential Candidates

I'm not a very competitive person. I like to do things for fun. Bowling - use the bumper guards, Watching football - root for the team with the cutest coach. And, when my son's youth soccer team is whoopin' up on the other team I'm on the sidelines consoling the other team's goalie. So, I've just been waiting for y'all to whip out the political posts on your blogs so I can non-competitively enter the arena! There's too much cable news watching in this house. So, a few years ago I had to come up with some kind of interesting twist on how I was going to predict the Presidential favorite, just to keep my sanity. The last Presidential race I chose the "First Lady Material" test. In other words, who had the wife that seemed to fit the shoes of a First Lady the best. It worked just fine. I predicted the top dog just by judging outfits, hairstyles and congeniality. Of course, the queen of ketchup made that a pretty easy prediction. This year let's do "The Kiss" test. Meaning, if I woke up one morning and turned to see a presidential candidate lying next to me instead of my wonderful husband, John, would the candidate get a "Kiss" from me? "Kiss" being a metaphor for VOTE. Okay, so here we go;

JOHN EDWARDS- Ooh, I'm sorry John, with the expensive haircut and all, I think you're a little too METRO-SEXUAL for my taste. I bet your using more Mary Kay product than I am. You would need to rough-up your style a little before you would get a kiss from me. Maybe you should read my hairspray blog.

MITT ROMNEY- Ooh La La! Tall, dark, and handsome, now here's a guy I could look at on the TV for the next 4 years. But, Mitt, I'm just wondering...if I did "kiss" you, would you still call me in the morning?

HILLARY CLINTON- Now Hillary, I want to play fair with you. Since I'm not Gay, of course I wouldn't "kiss" you. So, I thought I would let my husband weigh in on your fate. When asked if he would "kiss" you he answers a flat out NO. Sorry Hill, he doesn't like blondes OR short hair so put your Chap stick away.

JOHN MCCAIN- Okay, now here's the real tough guy I was looking for earlier. Boy, John, you just might have it all. Character, humor, honesty and integrity. I'll just keep reminding myself that's a cancer treatment in your jaw, not a huge wad of smokeless tobacco.

BARACK OBAMA- Okay, this guy's not half bad. A little geeky looking. He just needs to grow into his ears and his grin. He reminds me of a nerdy guy in high school that grows up to be some really successful handsome catch 20 years later. You know, the one everyone wishes they would have dated, but never gave him a chance. In that case, Barack, we'll touch base with you in a few years.

RUDY GIULIANI - Rudy, Rudy, Rudy...Now, I'm tempted to "kiss" you, because you seem like a real 'take charge' kind of guy. The kind of guy that everybody wants to be around. The guy that acts like he owns the place. Hmm. But, that's got me a little worried. If I say I don't want to "kiss" you are you gonna send some mob guy after me?

FRED THOMPSON- Now Fred's great. He's older, wiser and even if he doesn't know what he's talking about he could at least ACT like he does. But he looked a lot cuter when he was acting. Fred, have you lost weight? Because it's not flattering! And to think, the camera adds ten pounds! You're beginning to look a little 'chicken-esque'. Didn't your doctor tell you that you need to put on a few pounds in your later years? One broken hip and your history! I'll consider giving you a "kiss" once you get back to being a biscuit away from 250.

MIKE HUCKABEE- I like MIKE! He's a good catch! They kind of guy you could bring home to mama. Strong values, tough character and no B.S. Yep, he gets a "kiss". And, unlike the last President from Hope, Arkansas, he doesn't smoke cigars! So- that's a plus! What's that Mike? No one knows about you yet? Oh, okay. I guess our "kiss" will just be our little secret for now. Don't worry Mike, we'll show them when it's time to enter the "Kissing" booths!

20 YEARS OF HAIRSPRAY

My senior class just held our 20 year reunion a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, I was unable to make the trip to attend, since school started for my own kids just two days later than the reunion. I wasn't very good at keeping in touch over the years. In fact, I was told I couldn't be found for the 10 year reunion. So, I've had a good time catching up with friends and reminiscing some of the more memorable times we had together. I was a BAND DORK (a darned good-looking dork, I might add), Band President my senior year, an A-B student, quiet around the popular crowd but a big flirt among my band friends and possibly remembered for dating a boy younger AND shorter than I was! One friend I've caught up with I've known since kindergarten. We used to hold hands across the isle on the bus on the way to school. Now he is a Cosmetologist! This got me to thinking. Since I was unable to make the reunion, I thought I would give him and my friends a good chuckle and share 20 years of hairstyles with them. So, here goes... SENIOR PHOTO hair. 1986. To get this look I spent a lot of time with a curling iron and hairspray. I showed this to my kids once (I was proud of this photo) and the first thing they both said was how bad my hair looked! What!?! PROM HAIR 1987. Can you say, "Zana-du?" Hey, this was a Texas prom you know. In Texas the bigger the hair the better! MARILYN hair. 1989. Oh, just kidding, it's a Halloween wig and costume ;) ENGAGEMENT hair. 1990. I don't know what kind of look I was going for here, but I do remember thinking Cybil Sheppard had good hair LOL! JUST MARRIED hair. 1992. A little better than Ms. Sheppard's 'do'. I think we shall refer to this as the 'Bozo' period! Who needs extensions with a full head of hair like that?!

NEW MOM hair. 1993. Awe, me and my first born. I think he was about a month old here and obviously I chose this 'helmet head' hairstyle as a form of birth control because it is pretty hideous!!!! ICE SKATER hair. 1995. I don't know...maybe I was in preparations for the '96 Olympics?

SECOND BABY hair. 1996. Ooh, the magic of hairspray...pushed a baby out in only ten minutes and not a hair out of place! Just call me Super Mom armed with a bottle of hairspray at my side!

BUSY MOM hair. 1997. Hmm. I kind of like this one. Sort of simple but a little sophisticated. I guess this is what I would have looked like at the 10 year reunion.

TRYING TO BE BLOND AGAIN hair. 1998. This was me trying to be blond like I was as a little girl. Ladies, don't try this at home!! I quickly found out my husband prefers brunettes after this one!

FORGOT TO BRUSH OUT THE CURLS hair? late 1999? This one hurts right in the gut! I must have a healthy self-esteem to put this one up! DIDN'T LIKE THE WAY I LOOKED hair. 2002. This is a strange phenomenon women do. I think I didn't like being fat here, so since it was too hard to change being fat, I changed my hair instead! LOL! It doesn't work, the next day I didn't like my hair either. TODAY hair. 2007. So I skipped a few years, but I don't think much has changed in a while. This is me this week, on a good hair day. Meaning, I actually tried to fix my hair! Usually these days, I am sporting a tom-boy looking pony tail. Plain Jane, almost forty year old me. No hairspray, hot curlers or curling iron needed. On a special occasion I might use a flat iron, but I'm not a whiz with that new invention either! HAPPY 20TH to my friends, and I hope this blog qualifies for a free make-over *wink*wink* :)