Merry Christmas~

I have been one busy elf....
The tree has been up for a week and there are lots of wrapped gifts underneath it!
This was taken with my phone so it isn't very clear but it gives an idea of how things are shaping up at the Carter Casa ~

I am going to take a little Christmas computer break and  enjoy all the things that are filling my heart and mind
Christmas  Cocoa  Friends Cheer Jesus Elfs Santa Gatherings Jingle Bells Fireplaces Stockings Shopping Baking Wrapping Carols Lights Trees family Reindeer ho ho ho Slippers Memories Christmas Movies


Take some extra time to enjoy all the special moments of this most beautiful Season ! 
I promise I wont be gone long.....

Sh*t my best friend says...

I really try not to cuss but I have to in this title, and here's why! There is an author who has written a book called  

"Sh*t my dad says"

He started off with a blog, has a twitter account and from that he has written a book. It's pretty funny stuff sometimes! Just funny quotes that his father shares with him in everyday life. And now its a TV show starring William Shatner. Well I have always wanted to be an author, I want lots of twitter peeps and mostly I really want a TV show! So I am thinkin of calling mine " Sh*t Your Best Friend Says"  and  I can steal the thunder right out from underneath this guy! {along with the cash and notoriety  of course}  

You may remember my post called "Random  Portuguese tidbits" {click here to re visit }  

Well this is  just the beginning. Sandy cracks me up every single time we talk ! Last night she was explaining  how busy she is and how messy her house has become. She said her bathroom is not just dirty, it's "gas station"  dirty. Something about that word picture just cracked me up! She said the mold is as thick as her toenails. Then last week she left  a message on my machine saying " I just want you to know how happy I was to get your message and hear all about your ho hum boring life. It made me miss you even more"

What?  I have a ho-hum boring life?  I have been trying like crazy to find a program that records your messages just so I could share them with you for a laugh! She went on to say her hair was gray, her face was hairy and she ate two Marie Callendar chicken pot pies and was still hungry. She also made me promise to bury her in her Spanks and we pinky promised each other that if anything happens to either of us we will be the only ones to clean out the panty drawer so no one knows how long we held onto some that were long overdue for the trash!

The funny thing is she is the CLEANEST housekeeper I have ever met! And you will be hard pressed to find even one extra hanger in her closet or one weed in her flower beds . She does it perfect or not at all. So I know when she says things are a mess, to you and I it is not even close.  

It is simply the BEST to have a friend like we have in each other.

We never get bored and there is nothing  that we think is weird to talk about.I never had a sister but I can imagine this relationship  is pretty darn close.

So I am going to start jotting these musings down, and get myself a agent. Who knows what's next??

A book? Hollywood?

Or maybe we better be a little less honest and make some better stuff up.

Let it snow...

I added snow to my blog because I am ready for Christmas!! Once these come out at Starbucks its like my heart kicks into full  Christmas mode! 

I went to Michaels today to buy wrapping paper and was told they don't have it out yet. What the heck? Its November 7th and I am ready to put up my tree. I wish that I could take it slower but it's that childlike part of me that simply cant help it. I have been doing lots of shopping,I picked out the "Reindeer" names for my kids, & bought my holiday note book to write down all my ideas. I am working on a new Christmas banner for my blog and had peppermint creamer in my coffee today while listening to Holiday music!
{yes I have alienated my best friend with all this talk. She told me today she bought the three pack dog toys at Costco and that is the extent of her shopping} Guess I wont be inviting her over for the wrapping party quite yet.

But I do have some cute Halloween pics to share...
Sara as a Bunny in a Hat ! Soooo cute 

Dave as hmmmm ? I'm not sure its legal

And Chad was adorable as Tom Cruise from Risky Business  {front left}  

So while I am getting ready for our "Big Fat Greek Thanksgiving"  I am really in my heart well on my way to Christmas!
How about you? What do you love about this time of year? Please share~
I wish you all a beautiful week full of love and giggles! 
And a bit of holiday cheer thrown in too !!

Given the choice, I will always choose fun!

This was such a social week and I have decided I am way too old to go out three nights in one week. Never mind that most nights I was home by 9, this old girl is wiped out. Tuesday we had our book club and celebrated Casey's birthday at a new restaurant called Raviolis. It was marvelous and so fun to celebrate with her! Our next book is "The Zookeepers Wife"  I will be sure to share how it is!


Wednesday we had our moms dinner at Panera and that was fun too! A great evening chatting with the girls, and getting caught up. Two of our boys got engaged and it's so fun to hear the wedding and engagement details.  We have known each other since kindergarten and I adore that we're still friends all these years later!   
I truly believe we will still be meeting and sharing grandma stories one day


Friday night was our Redhawk work dinner and that was a blast!  There was eleven of us girls and our old boss Kirk.He seems perfectly happy to sit with us and chat the night away and we love that he comes! We are all scattered now, but for one night time stands still and we are together. And I love it ! 


Saturday Kenny and Lindsay came out to spend the afternoon and we were all tired. We were laying on the  couches like the grandparents from Willy Wonka ! We cracked up calling each other Grandpa George and Grandma Georgina!

So since I had been up since 4am I suggested we all take a little nap before dinner. That's the BeSt part about family,  It's quite OK to suggest a nap smack in the middle of a visit.So we all slept for an hour then got up and went to a  fabulous Jewish Deli for dinner. Good grief what has happened to our Saturday nights?? We were the Seinfelds & Costanzas and had a fabulous time. We are so thankful for such great, comfortable friends! {yep we used a coupon,the girls rode in the back seat with the boys up front, we brought home doggy bags but I promise no one ordered the Borscht }  


Then today Chad surprised us by coming home to spend Halloween with us old folks. We watched football, handed out candy and played cards. Now we are cozy on the couch with the fire roaring watching scary movies! 


Sometimes its a boring life.... 
But its a good life and I am most grateful! 

Bragging Rights....

                                                 ~ Behind this great man is a sweet wife cheering him on~ 

The title " Bragging Rights" has been used a lot which means we have much to be thankful for! Indulge me one more time while I brag about Travis Paul~ We are sooo very proud of him for so many reasons. The person and husband that he is, his love for the Lord and commitment to follow Him, and his incredible sense of humor and love for laughter. But his biggest attribute I believe is his incredible drive for excellence.  
He was simply born with it!

He has always wanted to learn and pushed himself in sports and academics. And now he is pouring that drive into his work with such passion that he surprises us constantly with his achievements. When he applied at Irving Hughes they were not even hiring. But he walked right in and told them he wanted to work for them. He had studied all about the company and knew that they were the number one company in San Diego.They told him he would be a liability because he didn't know enough about the business to represent them. But he sold them on his idea of learning from the best and after a two hour interview left with the job. They had NEVER hired someone off the street before! I will never forget him calling us after, telling us the story of them firing questions at him about how he would handle certain situations and he never backed down. He held his own with such confidence and at 23 began working in his dream job learning from the very best! {because he was 23 they did have to endure fart sprays in the boardroom, cornhole games in the hall, dart gun shootings and all kinds of pranks and jokes.{ he is successful ,but I never said he was boring } 

They have been so good to him! They treat him like a son, and have wanted him to work his way up little by little so he would not become spoiled.  

They always have had his best interest at heart.

Two days ago one of the owners handed him  new business cards that said Travis Carter "Vice President"   Of course we are thrilled  about the earning potential that comes along with it but mostly we are thrilled that after a few short years he has proved himself worthy of the risk they took hiring him. He has made the company thousands of dollars, knows San Diego like the back of his hand and has become a huge asset!  
Travis we never had any doubt you would !

If you want to visit the company website click here.

With a very thankful heart, Karen 

              aka June Cleaver

Memory Lane~

Uncle Pete sent this to me today out of the blue and I love it!  My mom, us kids and our uncle Angelo ~ We look like we had never seen so much money before and you can almost feel the excitement of what we would buy with our HUGE windfall. Such a simple time ~ I love our dorky little tree with the huge bulbs, the Christmas pajamas, the boys darling hair cuts,  but mostly I love my moms smile ! I can hardly wait to see it again in heaven

 
Hey did I get jipped? Mine looks like a blank piece of paper? I'm going to call Angelo now and get to the bottom of this .........Someone owes me ten bucks!

Fill in the blanks~

{one}
When I get a day to myself, I like to...
Putzy! ,clean, cook, a long walk with Brody and lunch with a friend is always a fun treat too! 
Of course I always vacuum cause I feel so much better with clean floors? I have so many weird quirks and that for sure is one of them!  Gotta start the day with clean floors?

{two}
High School was...
Three years too long but it did give me some of my bestest friends! After my brothers all left I was ready to leave too.So I gradated early as a junior and started real life.

{three}
A little dream I have is...
To travel... a lot. I'd like to see America! I also dream of taking a cruise with ALL the family. The Greeks , all my brothers and their families, We could just take over that darn ship and have seven days of pure fun and laughs! 

{four}
A big dream I have is...
To be retired with Steve. I think we would have so much fun! We have talked about getting a RV and just taking off. Who knows if the reality of that is as fun as the dream but it sure would
be fun to try. I can see us packing up and  driving up the coast. Of course we would bring our pup and  bikes. Just typing this gets my heart racing with excitement over the idea of it. This working thing is getting kinda old. 

{five}
If I could drive any car it would be...
I'm not really a car person. But I have been lusting after the new Toyota Venza! I have been to the car lot three times to drool and dream. I also love the Nissan  Murado.  But my practical side always kicks in and I love being "car payment free" more than the smell of that nice leather. 
But soon we are going to make it happen!

{six}
A time that I felt truly beautiful was...
I felt beautiful being pregnant. I was so proud of that baby bump and LOVED all the attention you get! And I loved to hear Steve talking to the boys while they were in my tummy. 
And I know it's a mega cheesy answer, but I feel most beautiful when I'm around Mr Carter.He really does see me as cute?? We can joke about how old and pudgy we are and feel so comfortable in each others presence. 
I think that's when I'm happiest and Happy is always beautiful.

{seven}
Tomorrow I will...
Be at my old store for a couple days for work! Its always such fun to be with my buddies and the laughter is always good for my heart. 

So play along and fill in your own blanks! Its always fun to have a format when life gets busy and you feel like you don't have much to blog about!

I wish you all a great week, filled with love and giggles!!

More birthday fun & more of my village~

I refer to the friends and family in my life as my 'Village' because I have always said it takes a village to raise good kids and to have a balanced life. People who know you well, share the struggles you have with marriage, kids etc and are always there to listen and give good advice. Well my book club girls have become such good friends and another vital part of my life. I look so forward to seeing them every month, and we often meet for breakfast and coffee in between. Last month we all met up at Seau's for happy hour and they celebrated my birthday. It was so fun! Complete with sweet gifts, and little mini cupcakes home made by Nancy. I love you all so much and am so happy Nancy came through my line at work one day and asked "Since you love to read you should try our book club sometime"  I remember being so nervous about meeting up with people I didn't really know, but excited about a new opportunity. Feels like a lifetime ago now! You have pushed me to read more and have nourished my love of books .
But mostly you have become such wonderful, fun friends! 

I think you can tell we are a very intellectual group? 

Here's to more books,more time to laugh,and many more birthdays to celebrate!

Memories of my Mom

When Sara calls lately she has really been wanting to share memories she has of her YaYa. My mom of course loved Sara with all her heart. Even more because Sara was the first grandchild and my mom spent so much time with her. They had a precious relationship and  Sara LOVED her YaYa .

One of the blessings of autistic kids is that they remember everything! And we love to hear the stories of my mom that we have forgotten but Sara remembers . Last week this letter came in the mail for me and Steve 

She wanted me to post on my blog what a good grandma she was, and how she took such good care of her. She also wants all the grandkids to share their favorite stories too! So I am going to be sharing stories from each of them over the year.She was such a precious YaYa and I agree we need to keep her memory and funny stories  alive in all our hearts.
Thank you Sara for asking auntie to do this!

I also got a text this week from Dave that read.....
Gods gift to me today. GEAR foundation right? GERA....I never saw that till today!

Dave named his foundation for the kids the "GEAR"  foundation and it is the exact letters of our moms name,Gera~ Such a sweet serendipity! We love you Momala and thank God for continuing to show  your love to each of us in such sweet unexpected ways. 

Too much fun!

It has been such a fun week away from work! And of course the time goes much too quickly.
Tuesday night I hosted the Bunco girls for dinner so I shopped and cleaned on Monday, then cooked on Tuesday. I made a new recipe for lasagna, my famous lentil soup, bread and salad and lots of munchies and desserts. It was so fun having my "homies" here! We were a few girls short because some were sick or away but it ended up being so cozy and fun just us seven! We never played any games, but we curled up under blankets and watched Dancing with the Stars and laughed about EVERYTHING! I don't know why we found every little thing so funny but we did! And we giggled until late in the night. I was so sad when they all had to leave. 
I love my "village" and they are the sisters of my heart.

Then Wednesday morning we headed out for our little four day get away to the Hoover Dam. {we don't like to say Vegas cause it sounds so trashy, so that's what we nicknamed it } We had three free nights at the Palazzo and it was wonderful! Steve bought me a facial at the ahhhmazing spa there and it was *bliss* Lindsay got one too so we totally felt pampered and relaxed.Still cant quite get the "hang" of most of the ladies walking around naked but we wore our suits, tried to keep our eyes averted, and had a blast! I wanted to use my noodle in the jacuzzi  but thought better of it and behaved like a grown up. I used all the special showers, the aromatherapy saunas, the steam rooms, and felt like a queen! We took our books into the quiet room and lounged on big comfy chairs sipping iced tea for hours .
I think I have a new addiction..... SPAS!
We also walked to " Serendipity" and crossed off one of the items on my bucket list.
To eat a frozen Hot Chocolate at Serendipity!  And I didn't even have to go to New York to do it! My sweet Steve just goes along with it all, but he did ask "isn't it kinda like a ten dollar milkshake? No silly~ It is so much more!

My sweet sis and niece also delivered these to our hotel  sweet  suite !

Along with darling birthday plates and napkins. They are so darn thoughtful and I love how my birthday dragged on for over a week!   Yes those are "Sprinkles" cupcakes and they were so yummy! Thank you guys!
We had such a nice get away...we slept late, took great long walks, relaxed and had so much fun! And now today we are home sweet home

Another sweet surprise was this.....

 

It bloomed on my birthday! I woke up and saw this one perfect rose on my moms memory bush.
Thank you Mom .....I love you too!

I barely remember this girl

When I look at the photos of my wedding 28 years ago today  I can barely remember who that young girl was. I was so young and naive but so in love with the Lord and my husband to be. 
If I could talk to her today there would be so much I would want to tell her. So many truths that I have learned over the 28 years of being a wife and having a family .

~ I would tell her to not be self conscience! Wow what I would give for that darling body now. But I was so nervous about being with Steve.I remember buying four bathing suits for my honeymoon and worrying if any of them would be cute on me. If I looked like that now I would probably wear those bathing suits all day!  I would give her confidence and tell her to be darling

~ I would tell her not to worry! I remember often having a sense of worry if the kids would be all right and if we were good enough parents.I am so glad that someone told me that you cant spoil kids with too much love. So when they cried I never hesitated to jump up in the middle of the night and cuddle them. Those cuddle days go way too fast! But of course this young girl didn't know that!


~ But  mostly I would tell her to LOVE her husband with all her heart always!
When you are young your friends, family and kids sometimes have a way of taking over your time and heart. But I would make her realize that in the end it will be him that is still standing by her side. After the kids are gone , and her parents have passed away it will be him that greets her every morning and comforts her in the night when she is sick. It will be him who is the constant source of unconditional love and a daily joy in her life. He deserves her love and devotion above everyone else! 

But I guess you cant really tell someone those things. They wouldn't understand ! Those things need to be lived to be learned.  So today Steve I thank you for giving me time to grow up and always loving me even when I didn't love you back the way I should have. Its been fun these last few years making up for lost time. Just hanging out with you,traveling and being BEST friends. Having less distractions and plenty of time to put you first! I am so thankful that the  vows we spoke are still being lived out in our lives today .

In good times and in bad...in sickness and in health...for richer and for poorer.
We still promise 
God is so faithful and I am so blessed that you are too!

I feel like shouting "We did it"  The kids are grown and are practically perfect! We are still laughing every day and having tons of fun! And we will be the BEST grandparents ever!!!  It's all such joy!
I love you with all my heart! Happy Anniversary

Bed Bath and Beyond~

I'm thinkin they need to change their name to Bed,Bath and What?  I hate to shop but I'm a sucker for any kind of home store! My absolute favorite being Homegoods. But I also love a trip to Bed Bath and Beyond !  It is so fun to walk in with my 20% off coupon and look around for what I  don't  need. I love the canisters to organize my pantry, all fun new kitchen gadgets, I have a obsession for bowls, and don't even get me started on the linens!
I love them
But I have noticed that the " Beyond" is becoming more and more weird?  In this weeks ad they have  these?

Now I will be the first to admit I've been  tempted to get out the ole duct tape and give  myself a nice lift for a certain outfit.  Sometimes a girls underwire can use a bit more reinforcement.But can you really see yourself "taping  up" on a daily basis? Well if the answer is yes they are on sale!  $ 9.99 for ten lifts.  A buck a lift isn't too bad and with that coupon you get another two dollars off. Heck maybe I will look into it! With menopause hitting me full force I can probably freeze them first and keep myself cool at the same time?

Then there was these...

You just slip these onto your existing button and you can have another inch! So instead of buying pants that fit you can wear the tight ones and  add a button. And they come in all colors! Never mind the huge gaping flap by the top of the  zipper . No thanks, I think I will keep cutting out the waistbands of my size 8 pants and use the maternity spandex. Then I can still say in all honesty that I wear a  size 8 ! But I  hope to God no one ever sees whats going on under my  shirt. 

My other favorite is the Booty Pop!

I can hardly wait to get my hands on these. But the thing is once you wear them do you need to wear them everyday? Do you save the big butt for special occasions? Or do you wear it out to the post office and library? We all have skinny / fat days but do we all have big butt days too? I can just hear the neighbors " Karen looks good today , nope never mind that butt is back, wow that girl can sure fluctuate a few pounds in one day"   Maybe I will wait on that one!

So wish me luck...I am off with my coupon and who knows what I will come back with.
A potato peeler? eyebrow plucker?  Or maybe some new junk in my trunk..... Literally

I am happy about....

*The coolness of the mornings and the chill in the air at night! I LOVE Fall and can feel it inching closer and closer every day! 

*All the fun birthdays and anniversaries this month! So many fun celebrations and reasons to be thankful.
Our precious Lindsay turned 50! We love her sooo much and had such fun being together to celebrate her birthday! She is always doing so much for everyone so its nice to have a chance to spoil her for a change.

*We had the best day at dog beach with Brody and the family last weekend. Travis brought Bentley and they played for hours ! I could sit down there all day watching the pups run in and out of the water having so much fun! Steve was so happy just spending the day with his kids! We all went out to dinner to celebrate Pops birthday and it was perfect!  At the beach we ran into the cutest lifeguard ever ! He even drove me to the "good bathrooms" in his rescue truck. So cute  and I was such a proud momma !

*I am planning a anniversary get away with the hubby! Just knowing I have a weeks vacation on the books makes me sooo happy! We will go away for a few days and the rest will be spent putzing around the house and enjoying being home!  It will be our 28th anniversary! Wow time goes so fast! But lucky me to share my life with my bestest friend !


*This weekend is  the other " Mr and Mr's Carter"  2nd anniversary! We are still so incredibly grateful that the Lord brought Ashlyn into our lives! And we have loved watching these two precious people become one! They are so darn cute to be around and their love is such a joy to see! We love you kids with our whole hearts and wish you the Happiest Anniversary!

*Lastly on a totally random note,  another thing I Love is....These

I have always been a fan of the regular magic erasers and the bathroom ones are MAGIC!  They clean so good ! I just love finding new things to adore! Thank you Linds  for telling me about these.  Get some you wont be disappointed!

I wish you all a great day, filled with love and joy! 
Maybe we wont find 14,000 things to be happy about. But we can certainly always find a few! And for that, I give Thanks
 

Memory Lane~

I was browsing through old photos to do a "Memory Lane"  post and came across these pictures. I started laughing remembering this day! The kids were living in Point Loma in a house everyone just called "Piedmont" There was 6 boys including Travis and Chad.They all surfed and the bathroom had a 1/2 inch of sand in the showers. Travis was finishing up college and he and Chad were back sharing a room. It was such a cool old house in a neighborhood with lots of older homes and original owners. So most of them were seniors and surprisingly loved having the boys on the block. One neighbor told Chad she loved hearing the fun, and sounds of life coming from the house. Chad would go over and take out her barrels on trash day and the boys always had homemade treats around the house that the ladies would send over. So the kids decided to host a BBQ for them and invited us to come too. They put flyers on everyone's doors telling them for come on by for a block party.  I was a bit puzzled " You invited all the neighbors? " Yep...and most were coming. So Steve and I went and helped put out the food and straighten up a bit. The boys had gone shopping and bought all the stuff and before long they all came! Pushing their walkers, carrying dishes to share. Chads 90 year old friend called and asked if he could come get her brownies for her and help her across the street. He went running over!  It was simply precious to watch. I felt so proud of the boys to reach out to their neighbors and most of them stayed for the whole afternoon. They sat on couches on the back porch? {ran out of lawn chairs so they just lifted the couch outside} watched the kids play ping pong, sat around and chatted. It was a really fun day and they all said "thanks for the great time"  when they went home ! Made me realize that it doesn't matter  if everything is perfect for a party. They just bought some burgers, put the open chip bags on the counter and had people over. And I am sure it will be a memory they will have for a very long time. 
I know I will.......

A better mood & better things to share!

Despite my grumbling in the last post it was a great week filled with joys! The kids all came home Friday night and we were off to see our favorite comedian ~ Brian Regan. If you ever have a chance to see him live GO!  We laughed for two straight hours ! Then we laughed some more in the parking lot just rehashing how darn funny he is. I 'almost' peed my pants and had to make a run for the bathroom in fear that I was going to have an accident.He is that funny! Then we had a nice sleepover and breakfast together the next day. Chad had to go to work, and Travlyn were off to visit her family.

Steve and I went to a "surprise" birthday party for  Dennis.
WE LOVE DENNIS and have been friends with him long before he married my best friend. He has the BEST Irish family who are so much fun.Dennis loves peanut butter and games more than anything so we played games and feasted on peanut butter sandwiches,peanut butter cookies, Abba Zabbas and tons of yummy appetizers. It was a Blast! Happy  50th Dennis!

Lastly Chad was nominated for  a incredible award at work and they all attended a dinner in their honor. He was picked as one of five out of over 300 guards. He didn't win but what an honor to be nominated. We are so proud of that boy !  And always humble Chad said that the person who won really deserved it and he was so happy for them. He has the strongest work ethic and is such a joy to be around. Here's a cute photo of him goofing around one day at work. Always the prankster but when needed, he spends his days on jet skis  and paddle boards rescuing people who need help.  { I sure hope you read this quick cause I am going to get a call telling me I am bragging and that I need to take it down }  I cant help myself!
I am such a proud momma!

Well I sure wish you all a great week, filled with love and joy! And more reasons to smile !
Love and giggles....Karen~

You know by now I try hard to be up beat and happy!
I try to blog about all the really good things in our life and live with a grateful heart.
BUT everyone has bad days
And this is how I felt on Thursday afternoon.....
Like sitting all alone on a beach with this sign stuck in the sand
'LEAVE ME ALONE'
We have a new promotion at work and they want us to wear "chefs hats" to promote our cookware?
Really???
I have done the Hawaiian days, the country western days, the football jerseys and happy heart week. But a hat?  So of course you get the comments all day
Nice hat...whats with the hat.....why are you you guys wearing hats.....
And by the end of the day you want to scream!
I felt like I was working at Hot Dog on a Stick for goodness sakes.
But I smiled and  kept an upbeat heart
UNTIL 
Some man scumbag was walking past me and I said " Thank you, have a good day" and he screamed across the front end.
"You get paid 10 bucks an hour to say Thank you"
My front end girl looked at me like what the heck?
So I walked right by him and said  
"I get 20 bucks an hour and next time I will completely ignore you"  {and I said it with the total disdain he deserved} 
Yes, not polite....yes it might have started a fight...yes my boss wouldn't love it....
But a person can only take so much. I told Steve I don't ever think I can ever get used to a stranger yelling at me! And he sweetly said "don't ever allow it"
So it felt good to dish some back. But I put my big girl panties on, stuck that stupid hat back on my head, and let it slide. But you can bet if I ever wait on him again I will squish his bread,  maybe break a few eggs and certainly never, ever say 'Thank You' 
Thankfully soon after my sweet customer Ruth who comes in everyday stopped by and brought a smile to my face. She always gives me a big hug and a smile.....

How cute is she? And so interesting too. She was a military nurse in the war and was married for over 60 years!  Sooo precious and she reminds me that most people are good.  

The week had LOTS of fun too! So as soon as I recover from my sour mood I will share the good stuff!
I wish you all lots of good stuff too!

Here's Holly!

When Karen asked me to do a "guest blog," my fingers froze immediately!  What in the world do I have to blog about that anyone would be interested in?  How could I possibly step into the shoes of my favorite blogger for even an iota?  As I was pondering, an all too familiar "craving" came over me.  It was that 3:00 urge for a splurge! (of sugar that is)
And then I knew
I knew it was time to confess the sins and secrets of this "sugar mama!"

I'm not sure exactly when our friendship began.  All I know, is that my friend Sugar has been a lifer. The kind of friend that will always pick you up.  Sugar is there when you need her (yes, she's a her) and even when you don't.  She hangs around though, just in case, and it's usually in the vicinity of my thighs. 

Before I was married, I played many a trick on my then boyfriend, Mike.  I always made sure I was the one to serve the dessert.  Privately in the kitchen of course.  He was never the wiser when his dessert was missing the gooey, cream cheese topping, the cinnamon streusel, or a few bites from the middle. Had I no shame?  When we would go to Swenson's Ice Cream Parlor, he always said "hold the whip creme."  Well, you know I had them hold it long enough just to put it on mine instead. Why wasn't I trying to impress this boy?  I still play the same tricks on him.  I'll  have to tell him!  Maybe next time.

I could go on and on with my tricks and deceptions.  I'll just divulge a few:   Did you know you can eat half of a 9 x 13 pan of rice krispie treats, and no one will ever know?  Just put the remainder into a smaller pan and gently pat.  Everyone will be amazed at your will power when you "pass" on dessert that night.  

I don't do this anymore, really I don't, but I use to go through the Christmas stockings before anyone else was up!  Only my mom knew that I had wiped clean the cherry life savers out of all the socks.  I'm still so ashamed!

This one's pathetic.  I use to call the local donut hut on Saturday mornings to have them "hold" any remaining maple bars.  I'm pretty sure I pulled up like I was holdin' up the joint...bag over my head and all.  (I don't do this anymore, only once or twice.)

And my sweet friend Laura, who was half the size of me, used to run into the store and buy me Reese's on our lunch hour.  I convinced her that it would look better if the skinnier one went in to clear the shelf. 

I'm sure the Bunco girls could attest, they've witnessed me throwing back a few!  Hot tamales and whatever else is in the candy dishes.  And the ole' "could I take some leftovers home for the kids?"  Not true. 

Whew!  All of these confessions have got me missin' that ole' girl...it must be time for a visit! 

May everything in life be sweet and delicious!

*Karen' s thoughts~

I told you she was witty, 

I told you she should blog, 

& I told you she was my kindred spirit! 

My family will die laughing at this because they KNOW my love affair with candy! Holly you are so darn fun and as someone who has witnessed you plow through a candy dish with shrapnel flying I know these stories are as true as true! The funny thing is she not only "chews" the normal candy but the hard candy too! There once was a bowl of lemon heads and let me just say Holly won that round ! Last week at our crab boil she ate FOUR ice cream drumsticks! She kept looking around the table asking if anyone wanted another but her eyes were pleading " please say no "  All 12 of us could share a memory of Holly and a candy bowl! 

Holly ~ I  LOVE that you shared a piece of your life with us and can hardly wait until you send me another story to post! I hope you all leave a comment so she knows how much we loved her stopping by.....