That's a Six Pack!

I'm surfing around on the web tonight, and I really feel like buying something. Shopping soothes me; fills that void left by a deployed soldier hubby. So what should I buy tonight? Hmmmmmm, oh ya...... I KNOW..............

In case you can't see these teeny-tiny images, this is apparel from the NFL shop commemorating the Pittsburgh Steelers' SIXTH SUPERBOWL WIN!!!!! Yup, this stuff is on the way to the house now. Ain't technology great?

To further sing the praises of technology, texting is a great way to pretend you're watching the Steelers' Eight Superbowl appearance alongside the Biggest Steelers Fan in Utah. If we can't be together, at least we can send notes back and forth. Kind of like junior high, but with a lot less paper folding. I remember one time a friend sent me a scroll note. It was 1/4 inch thick and at least 6 feet long. That sucked to open. Okay, where was I? Oh yes, the Superbowl.

Turns out that Stretch's Commander is from Arizona, so I'm sure the pre-game talk through the unit was populated with a few "It's ON, like Donkey Kong!!! " After the Steelers clinched Superbowl XLIII, Stretch was grabbed by the Commander and thrown in the pool! Oh, I wish I could have been there! Small price to pay to see your team make football history!

Congrats to Big Ben, Holmes, Harrison (the big playmakers tonight) and to this little boy in his Steelers shirt 25+ years ago......and to these two little girls and their hero Dad!

Steelers Nation, Baby!!!

Goodnight all. I'm off to work on my next craft project!

Oliver Wood: Monster Cat

I know I promised to scale back on the cat talk, but there is a breaking feline development which requires addressing.

That development is Oliver, who evidently took his development to new heights, or weights if you will.

This creature belongs to my mom and her hubby. They got him at a shelter that places "senior cats" with "seniors". I'm sure my mom just loves qualifying as a "senior", but she got a free cat out of it. Little Bear could barely pick up the fat lard. But that didn't stop her from doing it repeatedly. I would say the cat was opposed to the constant mauling, but this animal is so freaking huge, he could totally take out both my kids, and half the Steelers' defensive line if he wanted, so I guess he didn't really mind the attention.

Oliver is very very lovey. He just jumps up on anyone and makes himself at home. He will "knead" with his paws, which Bill calls "fat paws." Here, Oliver has just given me fat paws, and is chillin' like a villian.

These pictures barely represent the enormity of this dude. But trust me, he's giant. I don't have an official count on his weight, but it has been confirmed that he weighs as much as my nearly 2-year-old nephew.

Good luck, Grammalee, keeping this guy fed!

Un-lonely Birthday!

Only a woman totally secure in her 34-ness could throw herself her own birthday party without crying over how sad that is! Being apart from my hubby on my birthday is pretty depressing (not to mention how gloomy it is considering his birthday is two days before mine and all I could do was send a lame ecard), so putting together my own party couldn't be any more depressing. As it turns out, planning your own party is the way to go! I was determined to surround myself with good friends and scrapbooks all night!!! I was overwhelmed with the response I got! We nearly ran out of room. Thanks to all of you who came and partied! It made my whole month!

Wow! What a crowd!

This was scrapbook central. These girls are serious about their art. They worked really hard all night and finished some great projects. This table is made up of an assortment of my friends and family that had never met before. Nights like this are truly a testament to how close a group of girls can get just by scrapbooking! They gabbed and laughed all night, and even shared supplies and advice. See, Maili got some great advice here on some adhesive techniques. See the pop dots on her cardstock circles? Very innovative. What? Why does everyone laugh at this photo. For real, pop dots are great! They can really add dimension to a page. Seriously, what's the problem?

And the group was not limited to human girls. Harley spent most of the night watching over Libby's paper.

And what party would be complete without good food! Well, it may not have been good food, but the junk food was plentiful. Have you ever seen a more beautiful meringue? Lasca, you amaze me! This was a Baked Alaska. She made it with peppermint crunch ice cream and chocolate sauce topped with this amazing meringue. It was sinfully delicious!

The best part was my scrapbook birthday cake made by my own personal baker, Lizzie Bear. My favorites, Smurfette and Eeyore, were popping up through the "paper". And "scraps" of cake surround all the edges of the pan. What a lucky mommy!

I Miss Little Baby Bear

Here's another quick memory I want to make sure gets written. When we brought our children to see our new house for the first time, the Bear had just turned 6. She was sooooooooooooooo darling!! See, look at that sunshiny face, kissable cheeks, and golden blonde hair..........

................and sometimes goofier than crap expressions!

Anyhooooo, we had lived in a cramped neighborhood for years where the lots were .14 acres if you were lucky. When it was time to move, one of the requirements was a nice big yard. Okay, back to the bringing the girls to the new house for the first time story......Our new house sits on a 1/2 acre lot with lots and lots of grass. There are no fences separating us from our neighbors on both sides who also have lawn that seems to go forever. When little Bear got out of the car, she apprehensively crept down the side of the house towards the backyard. We watched as she saw for the first time the seemingly endless expanse that was her new backyard. She paused, took in a deep breath, and then turned to Mom and Dad and declared, "I've got some running to do!" And that was it, off she went to run over every square inch of the yard.

I miss that sparkly little 6 year old. Of course, I'm blessed today to have a beautiful 10 year old, but I wish I could go back for just a moment and watch her when she had some runnning to do. Love you Bearyboo!

So how'd you like the alarm clock story? Super cute, huh? Wow, am I in the storytelling mood! The problem is, I have no good stories coming to mind tonight. So instead, you get a random sampling of photos that haven't made the cut into the scrapbooks. No pun intended. When wanna-be photographers get a fancy new camera, anything and eveything becomes "art." Not good art, mind you, but then again, who's to judge? And sometimes, wanna-be photographers have day jobs but would rather take pictures of the stuff on their desk instead of use the stuff on their desk for productive purposes. See...........................

My company is lucky to have me! Such a hard worker.

It's amazing what photo opps lie right around the corner from the office. I'm not sure what this horse was hollering at. Maybe he was singing, "I'm too sexy for my field....."

"I warned you, it's the yoga ball for you if you don't cooperate!"
D'OH! Death by yoga ball.

Next:

I've had this photo for a couple of years now. We stumbled across this delightfully humongous cat that roams the post at Dugway. It was so clumpy and sad looking that we were almost very sad for it. But then we realized that a cat that enormously fat couldn't be missing many meals. So we snapped a photo and watched him mosey away. To this day, I haven't named the fat thing. So, send me your suggestions and we'll see how it turns out. Maybe, if you're lucky, it will end up on a scrapbook page!

'kay, all done. Thank you and goodnight.

Berrylicious Memory

I really really (remember I like to use that word?!) really need to conjure up a smile today. There are just so many stupid people in this world and they are encroaching on my personal space something fierce lately. I am most grateful to have recalled the following memory today. Not only did it give me something to smile about, but it helped to restore a small fraction of my faith in mankind, or womankind as the case may be.

Once upon a time, in an ancient civilization called Cottonwood Heights, Utah, circa 1982, there lived a beautiful Princess named Potsie Weber. I know, weird name for a Princess, but what do you do? Potsie lived a carefree life in suburbia with her loving family, which included a big brother, we'll call him Jason Carl - son of Knud. Even though he was the brother of the Princess, he did not become a Prince until much later in this story. For now, JC, is the evil villian of the tale. You can't possibly expect anything else from a guy that ate chocolate Malt-O-Meal in this fashion every morning:
Shirtless in a ski cap. Very shady if you ask me!

To further illustrate the haunting behavior of our villian, allow me to submit Exhibit B:

One fine summer afternoon, JC, masquerading as a harmless Boy Scout, was packing for a scout camp. Evidently, scouts aren't very good at rising with the sun in the wilderess, so an alarm clock was a required item on the "Don't Forget to Pack" list. For reasons unknown to most rational thinking people in the kingdom, JC asked Princess Potsie if he could borrow her very precious Strawberry Shortcake dingy-bell wind-up alarm clock.

The angelic Princess Potsie very generously handed over the prized jewel of her nightstand. Okay, maybe the Queen Mother forced her to hand it over and scolded her for being a stingy brat (stin-jee; as in selfish, not stingy like a bee), but that's the same as being angelic and generous, right? The selling point for the Princess may actually have been the image in her head of her teenage brother at camp with all the other neighborhood teenage boys giving him crap for having a Strawberry Shortcake dingy-bell wind-up alarm clock. Whatever the case, off he went with the Princess' treasure.

During the life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness that made up the subsequent days, Princess Potsie gave little thought to the clock. Then, suddenly and without warning, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness came to a screeching halt when the evil JC arrived home from his sojourn in the wild. Out of the blue, the Princess was taken by the Queen to the comfiest of couches and told a horrific tale that, still to this day, wakes the Princess in the middle of the night with cold sweats.

Somehow, when the buses were loaded with luggage for the scouts' return trip, JC's suitcase was not properly secured to the vehicle. Herein lies the reason why JC is our villian. Can you see where this is going? During travel, the bag was launched onto the road where the innocent Strawberry Shortcake was crushed. Ooooooooh the agony!!!

Fast forward twenty-some-odd years. An unsuspecting Princess Potsie opens the card on a Christmas present from JC. A cryptic message brought a furrowed brow to the Princess. What could this message about the past and fixing things mean? Here is where the bad guy is transformed into the Prince. Ready? Wait for it............opening the box and digging through tissue paper, Potsie unveils a vintage Strawberry Shortcake dingy-bell wind-up alarm clock! Miracles exist! Never forget it! And never, ever underestimate the miracle that is ebay!

Thank you big bro. See, he was the Prince after all! And there you have it, the story that will allow me to go to bed remembering that there is some good left in the world.

Later 'Gator

It's here. No, not the new year; but that's true too. It's the start of a really really really long journey for our family. Stretch is off to war....again. As of today, the trip begins with a three week stay in the frozen tundra of an undisclosed northern US state. It is 26 degrees below ZERO there today! I'm not exactly sure how this trains anyone for 140 degree Middle East heat, but I'm sure the Army knows what it is doing. Uummmmkay.

Friday night we had a little send off shin-dig at the VFW, Stretch's home away from home. The people at the VFW have been a second family during some really rough times since the first deployment. Those guys are the only ones who can truly understand how Stretch thinks and feels about his experiences in the military and in combat. I can't thank that group enough for their love and support.

When we arrived, one of the sweet ladies at the club pulled us aside. She handed Stretch a vintage Pittsburgh Steelers hat. Naturally, he was thrilled. But then she explained that the hat had been purchased by a late relative of hers in Pittsburgh in 1980 following the Steelers 4th Super Bowl win. She said the hat had never been worn and she knew that Stretch would give it a good home. What an incredibly touching gesture!

Then it was time for Karaoke! Stretch is the best at this! He has such a fun time, and he can actually sing. Our friends that live two houses up the street from us dropped in and were quite impressed that we would get up and sing. We're just crazy that way. Who cares that I can't carry a tune in a bucket! What does that even mean? I don't know, I just know I sound terrible. But it sure is fun!

Here's Stretch singing the 'Dirty Song' (he calls it that because it's a country song about sleeping with a bunch of women.) So funny!

Dennis, our friend and master of ceremonies. This guy can Karaoke all night long!



Stretch and I belting out Summer Loving from Grease. I promised Stretch I'd practice up while he was gone so maybe we'll sound better when he gets back. I hate to disappoint him, but no amount of practice is going to fix the fact that I was born without a singing voice.


We even got our timid neighbors, Mike and Ann, in on the fun.


Then it was time for a quick raffle. The winning ticket was awarded a professional Texas Hold 'Em poker chip set. Stretch was very excited about this prospect. Since it was his party, the Commander called him up to draw the ticket. Normally, when someone draws the name, it's customary and understood that if you draw your own ticket, you respectfully decline and draw another ticket. Stretch made it very clear that if he drew his own ticket, he was winning! Certainly it wouldn't matter. Stretch never wins anything; plus his odds decreased dramatically when he married me who also never wins anything.

He reaches in........

........draws a ticket........reads the name........

......and WAHOOOOO........he won! And yes, he kept the prize!

Later on, the Post Commander and the Utah Dept Commander honored Stretch and gave him a send off toast. Great, great guys!!! Seriously, these guys have so many extra credit points in heaven it's not funny!

Fun night! I'm still working on eating the leftovers of snack food. For some reason, people tend to drink more than they eat on Friday nights at the bar. Works good for me. I'll have Lil Smokies and chips and dip for a week! Mmmmmm.

And here is the moment I have been dreading for months. This is the worst moment because it makes it all so real. He really is leaving.

7 t-shirts, 7 underwear, 7 boot socks, 2 PT uniforms, 5 desert camo uniforms, etc. Somehow this all fits in a duffle bag. I wish I could fit in the duffle bag too. Or to make it more simple, I wish he didn't have to go. But thank goodness for guys like him who are willing to serve our country!

Thanks again to VFW Post 1481 for everything!

Cold Enough For You?

Why yes, it is cold enough for me. No wait, that's wrong. It's too cold for me. I really love a good fluffy snowstorm for Christmas, but it comes at a price. It was so super cold this holiday season. Thankfully, it has finally warmed up a bit. However, during the peak of the frozenosity, I captured a few sure signs that it's winter. Because I hate the cold so much, I have to look for these kinds of happy sights to make it through the winter.

Oooooooooh, pointy.

Cat paths to and from the porch. And below, kitty prints from a cat who was stupid enough to want to go outside and then waited frantically on the porch for someone to let him in. Dumb Gus.

These are my favorite. Little birdie prints.