Quick thoughts...

Celeste moved...from the second level of an apartment .5 miles away...to the second level of an apartment 50 miles away. That was fun.

And by fun I mean totally miserable.

Ever run across pictures, tee shirts, songs, etc., that remind you of an insignificant something from your past...that evidently meant more to you than you thought?

Here's my most recent something...

Ring any bells?

Why yes he is, thank you for putting it in print.

Totally works.

Felt ALL "Mo'beta" an hour or so after drinking it!

"Have a nice day..."

Happy Thanksgiving

Dr. Hogan shared this story with us and I thought it was too great to not share:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A 92-year old, petite, well-poised and proud man, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock, with his hair fashionably combed and shaved perfectly, even though he is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today.

His wife of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary. After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, he smiled sweetly when told his room was ready.

As he maneuvered his waker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of his tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on his window. "I love it," he stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented a new puppy...

"Mr. Jones, you haven't seen the room; just wait!"

"That doesn't have anything to do with it," he replied,...

"Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time."

"Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is arranged...it's how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it. It's a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do.

Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open, I'll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I've stored away... Just for this time in my life.

Old age is like a bank account. You withdraw from what you've put in.

So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of the happiness in the bank account of memories!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The story reminded me of my Grandpa Davis:

I love him so much!

After the story, there were "five simple rules to happiness" listed (all easier said than done, of course):

1. Free your heart from hatred.

2. Free your mind from worries.

3. Live simply.

4. Give more.

5. Expect less.

Thoughts?

This Thanksgiving I'm soooo grateful for...everything. Life is fun. You go through things that make you grateful for the little things...but I still know I take so much for granted. Reading stories like this and talking with all the different people I get to meet each week help me to become more and more aware of my blessings...and the need for me to be grateful, and more importantly, share what I have with those that are less fortunate.

Hope everyone has a wonderful turkey day and...happy eating!

~Cheers :)

Grimaldi's

I...hate authentic Italian pizza. BUT, if you like it....or want to try it, go to Grimaldi's. It looks and tastes just like the crap I had in Rome...and Venice (a bit better, to be honest).

About a week ago, I met up with a big group of "hygiene girls" (girls I went to school with) at this pizza place across town. I love meeting up with them, but the gathering happened to fall on one of the boys' (many) November-weekdays off of school. They had already been stuck in the house the entire previous day, so I thought I'd drag them along.

They are funny. I love how well they get along and how cute they are...but mostly I love their conversation.

They are not little boys anymore...sooo observant and...hilarious.

Definitely Tuttles :)

I kinda' loved this shot.

Aaaand...I think I'll stick with my Americanized Pizza and RANCH DRESSING (which Grimaldi's does NOT carry!?!?), thank you very much.

:)

Palm Desert

As previously discussed (briefly), the Josh Groban concert was in Palm Desert, California. I'd never been out that way and could not believe how beautiful the area was!

I described the place to a few friends as Jurassic Park without the dinosaurs, but as we spent a little more time there, I came to realize that the area was...infested with old people.

Please allow me to amend my previous description and state that Palm Desert is Jurassic Park, with human dinosaurs.

Oh! AND, there are TONS of windmills as you're driving thru the area...

Only an elite few will truly appreciate this license plate... :)

Ha. As we're just on the outskirts of the town, I tell Celeste my "Jurassic Park + People Dinosaurs" description, and we spot this guy.

What are the odds?

Maybe, one day...in the far off future, I'll retire. Hopefully, it'll be somewhere as nice as this little city!

For Celeste.

A month or so ago, I got bombarded with urgent texts from my sister. She wanted me to call her "ASAPPPPP." Naturally, I expected an emergency....but to my pleasant surprise, she merely wanted to inform me that, "JOSH GROBAN IS GOING TO BE IN CONCERT!!!!!" (her words. and enthusiasm. ...not that I don't love him. but...she's his #1 fan, I can, without question, attest to that.) I told her we should go...and she took it from there.

Luckily, this concert took place on a date that didn't clash with any of my crazy-October happenings, so it must've been meant to be :)

The fun all started when:

Celeste came and picked me up. We hadn't eaten and decided to grab some veggie burgers from BK before hitting the road.

Here's how that went down:

Celeste (ordering): May I get two veggie burgers please.

BK Genius: Would you like to make them complete meals?

Celeste: No thank you.

BK Genius: $x.xx at the first window

[drive up to first window]

BK Genius: Welcome to the first window

Celeste: Thanks. I don't think I've ever been to this window before...usually it's deserted! (I'm 99% sure she was being a jack a**, but maybe not...either way, I was entertained).

BK Genius: I've been here 2 years

Celeste: [looks at me] What the crap do I care?

Me: LMAO.

BK Genius: [takes money, gives change and food] We only had one spork. Have a nice day

Celeste: [looks at me with her classic WTF!? expression, turns back to BK Genius and says] You too

[we make our way out of the drive thru]

BK Genius: [running frantically from the BK entrance doors] "Ma'am, Ma'am!"

Celeste: [slows, rolls window back down and awaits whats coming to her...]

BK Genius: I'm not sure what I've handed you, but here are your Veggie patties

Celeste: [TOTALLY confused, reaches to grab and then proceeds to hand the joker whatever bag he had given us initially, takes the new bag and asks:] Are these JUST the patties?

BK Genius: [triumphantly] Yes. Two veggie patties.

Celeste: [Another INGENIOUS "WTF?!" glance my way and then:] Do I have to assemble the damn thing myself?!

BK Genius: Didn't you just want the patty?

Celeste: [while simultaneously driving away from the idiot to park] UGH! So that's what the "spork" bit was about...Idiot. If I'd wanted just the patties, I would have simply ordered JUST the patties...

Celeste parked, walked inside, settled the situation and came back out with our order...but the whole thing was just...amazing. Sorry if it I wasn't able to completely capture the hilarity of it all...but seriously, while typing the story...I still get teary eye'd from laughing about it all...

Okay, after the awesome BK experience, we took off to Palm Desert, California (one of the prettiest places I've ever been in my entire life...but that's for a later post).

The Concert: (here are some...more than you've ever wanted...unless you're Celeste...photos of the event)

We were first row on the balcony.

Best seats in the house!

(it was in a small auditorium of maybe 500 seats)

This is my friend. He's 150. He offered to take a photo of Celeste and I with my camera. We (naturally) accepted the offer. I handed over my camera...and briefly (loudly, clearly) tried explaining to him how it worked. I truly don't think he could hear. Anything. He looked through an imaginary peep hole and pushed down somewhere on top of the camera (in the general upper right corner, where most shutter-button-things are located), no flash, handed me back the camera and asked, "How did it turn out?"

Celeste and I nearly spontaneously combusted due to our laughter-stifling. But, because we're seasoned pros, we maturely proceeded to look at the camera, smiled in amazement of how wonderful the "picture" had turned out, and graciously thanked him...

Bless his heart... (and the few beats it has left)

To Celeste's left sat a colorful J.G. enthusiast who carried on marry conversation (mostly with herself) during the few minutes we waited before the concert began...but she also offered to take our photo...and actually knew how to operate a post 1890's camera.

Had to.

Again. Had to.

Let the fun begin:

The many faces of Josh Groban:

Tah daaaaah :)

BEST. WEBSITE. EVER. !!!.

Go here now:

http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com/category/photos/awkward-hall-of-fame/

You WILL NOT regret it!!!

Don't believe me? Well here's a teaser:

"All she wanted was a tire change, but she ended up with so much more."

Arbitrary deliberations

I’m human. That bugs.

The T.Ocho Show is my new favorite anything

I love fall…because I love winter…because I love Christmas

I HATE saving money/budgeting

Sometimes, it’s okay to come home from work and…just...stay home. Really. It doesn’t make me antisocial or lazy (still trying to convince myself thru repetition)

I’m getting life insurance… wow I’m old

I use a lot of pictures and overuse both emoticons and ellipses in my writing. Sorry.

... :P

Halloween at home

Halloween isn't exactly a beloved holiday in our home...nevertheless, myself, mom and Jess made "nancy" cookies and carved pumpkins on Halloween Eve (why not be festive?).

Our "organic" pumpkins

BROKE my mom's knife! :O

An artist at work

("my fingers hurt!")

Mini me

(she's a natural)

Jess' creation #1

My only work of art

Jess' creation #2

Tah daaahh!

Note to self: When you overwork your fingers and hands during the week, it's not the best idea to do the same over the weekend. Makes for a very PAINFUL following week.

Anyone know of a good hand-masseuse (<-sp = thank you google)?