I might need a Walgreen's intervention.

Because I bought these socks. At Walgreen's.



I don't know how they ended up in my basket. All I know is that I just can't resist the impulse buys there. Someday I'll have to write an entire blog about my love affair with the 'As Seen on TV' aisle they have. A 'Bumpit'? A 'Slider Station'?!! Yes, please!

Anyway, I'm not sure how these socks manage it, but they are simultaneously the cutest AND the most hideous socks I've ever owned.

They also pick up an entire tree's worth of dry leaves when I wear them into the garage. Plus, I suspect that they will have to be washed apart from anything else I have in the laundry.

But they are freaking comfy. And they keep my feet warm.

So I'm going back to Walgreen's tomorrow to see if they have them in different colors.

And I dare you to try and stop me.

If you're only as old as you feel... then, daaaamn.

Reasons I have been feeling old lately:

1. I just had a birthday, and I’m practically wedged in the butt crack of 40. I mean, I know 38 is two years away from it, but 40 is knocking at my door, trying to sell me something, and I’m cowering upstairs.

2. I am sleeping in Santa’s sleigh. Okay, it’s not *really* Santa’s sleigh, but Phil said it might as well be, considering the head of the bed is now raised up by an extra 5 inches, and it feels like we’re sleeping on a ski slope. And all of this is supposed to help my stomach issues, how?! GERD. What an ugly, ugly word.

3. The doctor mentioned that women often get GERD as they get older. So yeah, there’s that.

4. I finally figured out the texting program on my phone. I *could* text before, but it was very time intensive for me, hitting enter after each letter, and I wasn’t all that good at the lingo. You know, except for LOL. Which I did a lot. Not so much because you’re that funny, but more that I just didn’t have an hour to text you back.

5. Oh yeah… and these kids? My kids have a real knack for making me feel ancient, too. Davis told me the other day that his class got to visit their 5th grade ‘buddy class’ in their portable building.

Him: Mom, have you ever seen a portable? It’s really cool!
Me: I used to teach in a portable.
Him (dubiously): 2nd grade? Did you teach 2nd grade in a portable?
Me: Yeah, actually, I did.
Him: Wow. I wish I could have lived back in those old times.


6. Next spring will be 10 years since I have taught in a classroom, 16 years since I graduated from college, 20 years since I graduated from high school, and 24 years since I graduated from junior high. Not necessarily all that interesting, but I wanted to prove that I can still do the math.

7. Next week, I am planning on having coffee with one of my former students. Need I say more?

8. I keep forgetting things. Like to charge my cell phone. Or to call you back (sorry! I suck!) Or my passwords for various and sundry things… like websites, the garage door, and my debit card.

...Or forgetting that no one wants to hear about my GERD. Because only old people rattle off their litany of health issues and think that other people might be interested.

Sooo, I guess you don’t want to hear about my carpal tunnel syndrome?! ;)

I used to...

I used to clear off the coffee table by shoving old magazines under the couch before friends would come over, but I don’t do that anymore.

I used to judge people who said ‘supposably’ instead of ‘supposedly’, but I don’t do that anymore.

I used to shave my legs with Phil’s razor when I was mad at him, but I don’t do that anymore.

I used to look at other people’s friend lists on Facebook to check and see if they had more ‘friends’ than me, but I don’t do that anymore.

I used to go into Jack-in-the-Box to refill my Diet Coke cup so I wouldn’t have to buy another one, but I don’t do that anymore.

I used to set my alarm 18 minutes ahead of when I needed to actually get up just so I could hit the Snooze button twice, but I don’t do that anymore.

I used to hide upstairs and peek around the corner if someone rang my doorbell and it looked like they were selling something, but I don’t do that anymore.

I used to go to Barnes and Noble, just so my kids could play with the train table while I read a gossip magazine for free, but I don’t do that anymore.




I used to make lists of things that I ‘supposedly’ had stopped doing… but I don’t do that anymore. ;)

All I want for Christmas...

My son has learned to whistle. Say it with me… “Awww…”

And I have learned something, too.




How very much I hate the sound of whistling. It is annoying as hell.

He whistles ALL THE TIME. No joke. In his room, playing with his toys. In the shower. At the dinner table (which has consequently been declared a *No Whistling* zone.)

It would probably still drive me crazy even if he managed to actually whistle a tune. Which he can’t.

Me: Wow. You’ve really been working on that whistle of yours.

Him: I know. Isn’t it awesome?!

Me (in a pained whisper): Awesome.

My suspicions are that he’s doing it to keep himself out of trouble. As in, ‘if I just whistle all day, I won’t be able to say anything that will land me on Santa’s naughty list’. It’s tempting to tell him that a little bit of whistling is okay… but that too much whistling gives Santa a headache (“and don’t question me on how I know this.”)

Remember that song ‘All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth…so I can whistle ‘Merry Christmas!’”

Well, I’m praying that he loses his two front teeth soon. Very soon.

Hark!

I just love the Christmas season! Okay, let me clarify… I love the Christmas season, once December hits. Before that, I’m just not ready.

Not ready to hear the music. Not ready to see the decorations. Not ready to wrap gifts or see Santa or to eat a candy cane or to see commercials for every conceivable toy manufactured in China or commercials for that one particular toy that results in Wal-Mart stampedes on Black Friday.

Not ready.

Now, though? Now, I am. It’s December, and the house is decked out with our trees, our stockings, our ‘Elf on a Shelf’, and various candles, wreaths, and Santa Claus cookie jars.

And of course, our Fisher Price Nativity set.

The kids have loved this set ever since they received it as a gift, several years ago (thank you, Aunt Megan!) They love to push the little angel perched on top of the stable, listen to the strains of ‘Away in a Manger’, and when Davis was younger, he would even carry the little baby Jesus around. We’d find that baby in some of the strangest places. Oh, and we’d find the toy, too. ;)

And now, its Libby’s turn. To move around the figures of the three wise men, to sing along to the music, and to say in her bossiest ‘angel voice’…

“Move along! Move along! Nothin' to see here!”

Ummmm… excuse me?!

Yeah. Now that I think of it, it’s probably a good thing that my own little *angel with an attitude* wasn’t the angel present at the birth of our Savior. Can you just picture it?

“Yes... while I realize that you may have traveled from afar, this baby needs his sleep. He’s got a big job ahead of him. You know… being Savior of the entire world? Move along! Oh, and if someone could get that lamb to stop eating the hay out of the baby’s manger, that would be great.”

Juuuust great.

Blogged down...

No blogs for the last couple of days… I mean, it *was* my birthday!! I gave myself the weekend off.

And after the male strippers, the private jet to Vegas, participating in that Cirque Du Soleil show, and the rounds of shots that Owen Wilson bought for me and my girlfriends, I was just exhausted.

So, yeah… ;)


(Thanks, everyone, for all the birthday wishes!! I had a lovely day. :)

S'no'w way!!

It didn't last long, and it didn't stick around... but it was really, truly SNOWING in Austin, Texas today!





I was so excited to see it. Funny to think about all the times I looked out my window in Colorado to see the same sight. Feels like eons ago...

You'll have to really look at the picture(s) to see the flakes... they were small, but they were there.

Libby thought it was pretty cool, but reminded me that we used to get snow in Texas all the time.

Me: "What?"

Libby: "It *used* to snow in Texas. I saw all those pictures of us in the scrapbook."

Me: "Which pictures?"

Libby: "The ones where we were playing in all that snow!"

Oh, right. THOSE pictures.



Of our last visit to Colorado. ;)