Things that just need to stop right now

Please, I beg of you, stop it.  If you are guilty of one of the crimes below, please know that I ask you to stop out of love.

• Giraffe print bags.  OMG these are EVERYWHERE.  Listen up, if you are carrying the same bag as every other woman in the mall, then it’s time to get a new bag.  I was out at lunch having the soup/salad/breadsticks deal at Olive Garden with a girlfriend and we counted 7 of these bags within sight of our table.  THAT’S TOO MANY!
• People who ask themselves questions and then answer them.  Ugh.  This gets on my nerves so badly.  Does it bother me?  Why, yes it does!
• Facebook profile pictures that aren’t of you.  As we all know, FB is a virtual high school reunion.  When I get a friend request and I can’t quite place the name I’ll instantly look at the profile pic.  If the pic shows a child or a dog or a sports team’s logo and you are NO WHERE to be found in said picture, I click ignore.  I understand that people love and are proud of their dogs, children, teams, etc.  But we want to see your face!  So annoying when I want to see a long lost friend’s face and I have to dig through albums on their FB page because their pic is of a mountainside!  Look, everyone is a little self conscious.  This isn’t a beauty pageant. No one’s judging. Find the most flattering, RECENT, photo of yourself and stick it up there!
• Speidi
• Jon Gosselin
• TV shows about people who have 49 children.  Hooray!  You gave birth a bunch of times!  Lots of people do it.  All over the world.  Not impressed.  Now, go adopt 23 kids (most with special needs) like this family and I’ll watch your show. They don’t have a show.  They should, because that my friends, is  IMPRESSIVE.

The Cruelest Show on Earth

You all know I’m an animal lover.  My love for animals goes way beyond my 3 pugs.  I was recently heartbroken when I saw a video made this year at Ringling Brothers Circus.  I’ve never been a fan of the circus and I’ve long known that they abuse animals, but to see that STILL, in 2009, that they haven’t cleaned up their act just sickens me. PLEASE do not support ANY animal circus.   Now, the circus says that PETA is just a wacky, out of control group, but hey, video doesn’t lie.  Need proof of what’s going on?

Click here and watch the video I saw recently.

Click here to read accounts of abuse straight from the mouths of Ringling employees.

Please tell your friends and family members about what’s going on in the circus.  Show them the pictures and the videos.  Animals can’t ask for help.  We have to step up for them.

Tiny Bladders Rejoice!

FINALLY there is a resource online for those of us who can’t sit through a long movie without having to run pee.  RunPee.com is so awesome I can barely contain myself!  They screen all the new movies that are currently out in the theater.  Then they post the best times to go pee.  And it’s easy to follow too.  You don’t have to time the movie or anything.  Example:  You’re going to see The Hangover.  RunPee will tell you that you have approx 4 minutes to run pee right after Phil calls the fiancee.  Then, if you want to see what you’ve missed, just click and they give you an outline of the scene you peed through!  Genius!  Most movies have at least 2 pee times.  Plus, they tell you if you should stay for the credits.  You know how some movies play extra scenes and whatnot during the credits.  There is also an iPhone app!  I know, I know, I agree- these people need an award or something!

New iGoogle Comic Themes

I have a short attention span and like to change out my iGoogle theme quite often.  So imagine my delight when I saw the new crop of iGoogle new comic themes! Owly & ALIEEEN are my faves.

Just keep fwimming

Yesterday Shannon & Emily met me over at Papa & Gigi’s house.  P&G were still at church.  We let ourselves in, changed into our swimsuits, put on sunscreen & hit the pool!   We swam for a long time.  It was fun playing with Emmy & chatting with Shannon.  Emily LOVES to “fwim”.  Gah she is just so cute!  I wish I had a waterproof camera, I’d have taken a ton of pictures.  P & G got home from church and came out to say hello.  A little bit later we went in for lunch.  Gigi had a nice spread out for us.  Gigi gave Emily a cute little necklace- a clear crown that lights up with lcd lights.  Well Em just loved it.  And Papa & Gigi fell in love with her, calling her a darling and a delight.  Emily fell right back in love…with Papa.  She liked Gigi just fine but Papa was the talk of the day.  “Papa fwim?  Where Papa?  Papa outside?”  If you mentioned her necklace it was “Papa gave it to me.”  What can I say, Papa’s a ladies man!

Shannon & Emily left after lunch & Gigi & I pulled up the famous wedding dance video so Papa could see it.  If you haven’t seen it get ready to just love it!  I adore these people.  This video makes you want to be there.  Such a joyful scene!  Well, it brought tears to my eyes.  Gigi’s too.  We couldn’t wait to see Papa’s reaction.  The older he gets the more emotional he gets.  Well, bless his heart, by the end of it he was practically weeping.  Wiping his face, he was all overcome.  So cute!

We went downstairs and watched a couple movies.  Then I went home.  By the time I got home I was ON FIRE.  Dumb me didn’t reapply my sunscreen.  I haven’t had a burn in years and I’m not thrilled about this AT ALL.  I tossed and turned all night last night.  Just couldn’t get comfy.  I twittered about my situation and my tweet posted on my Facebook page too.  Luckily I have some super smart girlfriends who hooked me up with great suggestions.  The one repeated the most was vinegar.  I’m burned mostly on my shoulders, chest, upper back & face so a vinegar bath would have been difficult.  Instead I soaked some cloth napkins in vinegar and tied them around my upper self.  That way a napkin covered each shoulder and part of my back, and one covered my chest.  I look like a smelly superhero.  Captain Whitey!  Able to burn to a crisp in a single afternoon!  It is working though.  I foresee a much more comfortable night’s sleep tonight.  Thank you my ladies! xo

Blew me away

CSP & I were at Lowe’s the other day and I snuck a hummingbird feeder into the buggy. He didn’t think it was going to work. That I’d fill it up with nectar and it would sit lonely in the back yard. Within 24 hours 3 hummingbirds had declared our feeder to be their new nectar joint! Yay! I hung it on a shepherd’s hook. Since it drew a small crowd CSP was on board with adding another feeder to the other side of the hook. One of the male hummers is a little territorial and he’d been running some birds off from the feeder. We thought 2 would make it easier on him. By the way, CSP named them Hector, Heather & Pat. Pat because we can’t tell if one is a girl or boy.  We set up the feeder so we can watch them from inside the screened porch.  I’ll try and get pics soon.  They are so fast!

Anyway, back to Lowe’s we go. On the way we saw a Walmart truck & CSP remarked that it must be lost as there weren’t any Walmarts where we were. Or so we thought! They had built a new Walmart seemingly overnight without us knowing a thing about it. So we decided to check it out and see if they had hummingbird feeders there. We went in through the lawn & garden section and they had these ginormous fans! Gale force winds! I’ve never seen anything like it! This Walmart was clean, had nice people, and I didn’t see a single child getting beat like we usually do.  They also had a better hummingbird feeder.  One with a perch going all the way around it and it was only $3.88.  We might actually return!

Technicolor fizz

CSP & I were out running errands the other day when we saw this cool Pepsi display. Love the fun colors!

In case you missed it…

Buried at the bottom of my trip report on the last visit to Valle Crucis was a bunch of pictures we took on the last night.  Papa, Gigi, Sara & Momo lined up on the porch with their glow sticks. Jake & Joey provided sideline art with their glow sticks. I stood in the lawn & set my shutter speed to slooow. I timed it out and gave them a 3 count beat. I’d say “Ready, go. 1,2,3.” During the 3 count they would draw their letters. We had to practice a bit but then we all got really good at it. I’m very pleased with the results! We took a bunch of glow stick pictures and we also played with sparklers. I know it’s a little tooting of my own horn kind of thing but they are just so fun! Click here to see all the shots.

Members Only

After I uploaded my recent Valle Crucis pictures to flickr I looked for a Valle Crucis flickr group.  There wasn’t one so I started one.  We’re already up to 11 members. I love looking at my favorite spot through other peoples’ eyes. If you’ve ever visited VC & have pics, please join our group and post your photos!

Summer Loves

When I love something I like to share it with my peeps. I don’t get paid for pimpin out my Summer loves and I don’t get swag either.  I sure wouldn’t turn either one down though!

• Mega Shower Foamer~  This stuff seriously works.  I loathe cleaning the shower and bathtub.  I’d seriously rather clean multiple toilets instead.  I found this Mega Shower Foamer and tried it and it is insane how well it works.  No scrubbing involved.  NONE.  Just spray and your shower is clean. Love.

• Cover Girl Outlast Lip Stain ~ I tweeted about this lip stain after I saw an ad and got mixed reviews on my Facebook page.  I bought 2 tubes when CVS was running a BOGO 1/2 off sale.  I bought Everbloom Kiss & Teasing Blush.  Odd names but good stuff.  You’ve gotta put it on when your lips are dry and free from any other product.  Then I let it dry and top with gloss.  This stain goes on so lightweight you’d never know you had product on at all.  And it LASTS.  First time I tried it I put it on at 8 pm.  Ate dinner, drank beverages, lived my life.  Went to bed at 12:30 am and it was still going strong!  Anything that will last through eating and drinking is fab in my book!  I let my mom & sisters try it and they loved it too!

• Pampered Chef Executive Cookware ~ I may have blogged about this before, but it bares repeating.  Every time I cook and especially every time I wash dishes I am thankful we bought this cookware.  I had a party in the month of September when they run the cookware host special.  I made sure to get my sales up there so I could get the maximum discount.  Even if I hadn’t got the discount, this cookware would be worth the price.  It cleans like a DREAM.  Nothing sticks! We’ve given pieces of this cookware to both sets of parents and they also rave about it.  My favorite piece is the stir fry skillet.  I use it for everything from stir fry to spaghetti sauce to chili.  Now, you could go buy cheap pots and pans that you have to replace every 3-5 years or you could make an investment in cookware you’ll have forever.  Plus it comes with a lifetime warranty so you know it’s money well spent.

• AAA ~ We’re going to Las Vegas to celebrate my birthday this year.  While there we are going to see the Blue Man Group.  When I was looking at ticket prices I noticed that AAA members received savings of $40 per ticket!  We had just received a special offer in the mail to join AAA for a discounted price.  I called AAA and joined.  I chatted up the rep a bit so I was able to get us upgraded to AAA plus and add CSP on for free.  Woot!  As soon as our cards arrived I called and bought our Blue Man tickets.  I’ve already saved more than the membership costs!  I also ordered tour books for all of our upcoming trips.  They sent these great, informative books with info on everything you could think of!  Everything from hotels to restaurants to attractions.  They also sent maps and personalized booklets about our trips.  We are all set!  When the cards came CSP was pleased to see that while mine was made out to plain old Shannon his says Mr. CSP.  “That’s right!  You can call me MR. from now on!”  Who knew a Triple A membership came with an ego boost?!