The Votes are in...I'm OFF the Charts!

That sounds like a good thing, right? If someone tells a Rock Star his latest song is 'off the charts' he's thrilled, right? Or when your honey says "baby my love for you is immeasurable...it's off the charts (ok, sometimes I have these crazy dreams....whatever!) - that would be a really good thing, right? But when your chiropractor says it....not so much. FYI - I rarely go to a doctor and I haven't been to a chiropractor since I was two - yeah...the pain was severe!
My doctor has some piece of equipment that looks like it's right out of Star Trek. She starts scanning my back and I hear beep after beep. Then she says...and I quote:
"Let's look at your scan. We're looking at the amount of swelling in the areas you're feeling pain. Yellow means moderate, green means mild and red means severe. Yours are black....off the charts".
I'd love to tell you this pain came because I had attempted some amazing atheletic feat and, while I may have come away with a few bumps and bruises or even a broken bone or two, it was totally worth it - that it was, in fact, just the price of victory. Sadly, it is not the least bit glamorous. So here it is - my words of warning...MAKE SURE YOUR COMPUTER MONITOR IS DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF YOU. You force your muscles to their limits by twisting in an unnatural position for hours on end....and you too can be told you are "off the charts". I don't advise it. Move the monitor!
The good news is...I've gotten some pretty nice neck messages from hubby. At this point I'm not sure I'll tell him when the pain is gone. :-)

More and MUCH MORE from our friends' points of view - CLICK HERE!

It Clearly Says "Omelet Pan"

Hubby and I love, love, love weekend brunch and would dearly love to experience it every other day of the week but there’s that little thing called ‘work’ that keeps cramping our lifestyle. Nonetheless – I'm talking about a slow, laid-back kind of day where we drink coffee till 10:00 a.m. and follow it up with, what he refers to as, a ‘country girl breakfast’. That means biscuits and cream gravy, strawberry jam and scrambled eggs with cheese and, just for that extra bit of tasty, caloric delight….bacon. AHHH – bacon. So we talk about how yummy that would be and reminisce about the days before we knew what ‘carbs’ were. Then we agree that, perhaps, we should stick to omelets – which we love and since I’m from Texas – I, naturally, top mine with pico de gallo. Now THAT is what I call good eatin’!

So – here’s the point…..we decided to go shopping for a bona-fide omelet pan. Sure, you can cook them in a traditional non-stick pan that you’d use for grilled cheese sandwiches or salmon fillet but what if we had a pan that was made specifically for cooking omelets? How distinguished we would feel and how magnificent those omelets would surely taste. SO…off to “Kitchen Gadget Store” (I love the store but am not so sure the employees are the sharpest knives in the drawer – kitchen humor – ha!). Hubby and I walk the aisles in search of the HOLY GRAIL of omelet pans since we have committed to less carbs, more protein. Alas – there it was. I picked it up and it said in big, bold letters “Omelet Pan”. It was beautiful and shiny and EXPENSIVE which had to mean something wonderful. As mentioned previously, hubby doesn’t love (abhors) shopping so this meant our trip to said store had come to an end. We proceed to the checkout counter with treasure in hand. The young man, whose job was to scan item, collect money, and bid us a heart-felt “have a good day”, says “Yea…this is a ‘good pan’ but I hear EGGS STICK TO IT”. I looked around to see if we were on one of those hidden camera shows – or if Ashton Kutcher was crouched behind the register!! I’m thinking about contacting Alanis Morissette to ask her to re-write her song….”Isn’t it Ironic”?

Want to hear what our girlfriends are saying today? Read more HERE

He's Tall, I'm Short...It just works!

I'm 5'2" and that's with my Texas hair - he's 6'5". We gets "looks" when we walk through the mall...which is rare because hubby hates to shop!! But we are a "sight" and people ask strange questions - well, some they never really come out and ask but they certainly imply that they are wondering. I just stop them and say...."we're the same height laying down".

That pretty much brings a screeching halt to the conversation!

There are several advantages to being married to a tall guy....I don't have to keep a step stool in the kitchen, he can clean the ceiling fans without standing on a chair and we are pretty awesome at vollyeball. Ok - he's awesome but I have a pretty good serve - alright fine....it's not all that great but whatever! But - I discovered that his height is not always a blessing - at least not to ME because I had NO IDEA what was on the top of my refrigerator!! Do you know what's on top of yours? Let me tell you....if you haven't looked in over a year, well.... I'll just say that if hubby and I are coming over to your house - I'll give you fair warning!

Check out what our girlfriends are talking about HERE!

A Swim With The Opposite Sex Could Lead to Scrabble

I grew up going to summer camp and I LOVED IT. I learned ‘oh so much’ at camp (some of which I’ll just leave to your imagination….ok, sadly, it really was just "PG" rated but it sounded risqué for a minute). Contrary to my view of the opposite sex today, in those days I saw them strictly as competition. I despised the phrase 'you’re pretty good….for a girl'. That was like throwing gasoline on a bon-fire and caused me to scream obscenities like 'Oh yea? I can whip your butt in ping-pong!' I should stop right here and tell you that saying "butt" in my house growing up was cause for immediate grounding. Did I mention I was a preacher’s daughter? More on that topic later.

So when it came time for 'girls' swim' (because who knows what mischief would have happened if 12 and 13 year old boys and girls swam together under the watchful eye of 10 camp counselors…..well, then again – maybe they did know ) I quickly scurried up the TREE (yes, tree…..we swam in the river) and headed for the diving platform. That’s when the shouting began….."You can’t go up there….that's the BOY'S diving platform". “OH NO YOU DIDN’T just say that!!”

Years later I became an excellent diver, I parasailed UPSIDE DOWN, and I still play a pretty wicked game of ping-pong. Yes….I still have a competitive streak but today when my husband asks if I want to play ping-pong or tennis or Scrabble (our own version - yea...you know what I mean!) it’s because it’s just want to have fun. And quite frankly, you’d be surprised how MUCH fun it can be….. when you just use that imagination.

Having FUN?? Read what my girlfriends are talking about: She Just Got Married Bloggers

Lights, Video Cam, Action!

Ok - seriously...I may need to start charging the FLIP FOLKS to advertise for them. I have to tell you - I've truly flipped for the FLIP (oh...how cliché but I can't help myself).

The fun was catching the brides-to-be by surprise and asking them a certain question - if you want to see their reactions and answers I'll just let the video do the talking!

CLICK HERE - YES, HERE

Enjoy!

Fun with my new Toy

Meet Chloe and Casey

I just bought a Flip Video Camera and while I am not quite ready to start my own production company, I do, however, feel pretty much the same as I did when I got my first cell phone (only I'm not hiding behind racks of clothes in a department store like I used to because I thought someone might think I was pretentious and snobby because I owned a cell phone which, by the way, was about the size of a brick!) FYI - my little video camera is smaller than my first cell phone actually. But - this - this is MAGIC! I feel like I've just entered into a new dimension...like being on the Starship Enterprise where Captain Kirk can teleport me anywhere I want to go in the blink of an eye - to BOLDLY go where no man has gone before!! (Simmer down....I'm still talking about the camera!) This little piece of technological ingenuity has opened up a whole new world of possibility! And now....my family lives in fear. Here's why (and I quote):

"Oh my goodness.....Mom is on FaceBook. Did you know Mom was on FaceBook?"

"Oh great - someone gave her a digital camera AND she's on FaceBook."

"Who told Mom about the Flip Video Camera? What?? She saw it advertised on FaceBook?"

"Are you KIDDING ME?? She has her own YouTube account?"

Yeah....I'm pretty excited.

His Name is Eric

They met in the sixth grade and he was her ‘bully’ – or more accurately, he was doing what sixth grade boys do when they like a girl. And if that girl’s assigned seat just happened to be directly in front of said ‘bully’, then it made it just a little easier for him to get her attention. They had their first date in the ninth grade and he asked her to marry him on her 20th birthday.

When Eric accompanied our family to Costa Rica to be a part of the wedding celebration of my son and soon to be daughter in law, anyone would be hard-pressed to think he could have ever bullied her even on a sixth grade level. At the reception we girls kicked off our sassy high heels shoes and danced the night away, barefoot, while the Costa Rican monsoon dropped buckets from the moonlit sky. It was fantastic! When we got back to our garden of paradise hotel we were soaking wet and drenched in happiness. We all went our separate ways to change into dry clothes. As I walked down the hall to say goodnight to my own mom, she silently motioned for me to stop, put her finger up to her lips in the universal “shhhh” position then pointed, directing my attention to the room on the left. I know my mom’s smiles – the ones that say “thank you” or “you’re still so silly” but this one let me know that I was about to be witness to something that would speak volumes about the man who would soon be my only daughter’s husband. As I walked closer I heard a giggle. I turned back and looked at my mom with an expression that asked “are you sure I should look?” With her nod of approval, I cautiously peeked in, hoping not to be seen, and there I caught a glimpse of love in action. My daughter sat perched barefoot on the edge of the bathroom sink as Eric washed her dance weary feet like she was a princess. Bully? I think not. I can’t help but wonder… did the thought ever occur to her as she squirmed in her sixth grade classroom chair or when she threatened to tell the teacher on him if he didn’t stop teasing her….. “Today I met the boy I’m gonna marry”.

**Just a Thought**