How do you dress a reindeer??

Just like this....

{double click on image for a double-dose of cuteness..}

Ella Ireland at Build-a-Bear..Dog..Build-a-Reindeer!

Yeppers, she's going to be a great Mommy..or fashion designer!  Or both.

As for me...I'm still trying to wrap up all the loose ends..literally, "wrap up" get it?  ..hahahha..

Ahhh..Sometimes I just crack me up ..

-me

Well..our Christmas home is finally ...

..looking Christmas-y.  The lights on our teensy tree are wonderful.  The lights on the garland on the shelf are lovely..

The lights in Mr. B's eyes are soooo sweet..for a 'man,y-man' of course..{disclaimer}

And the light in my heart, seeing all of this, and learning that Mr. B loves the Christmas specials on TV as much..or even more..that I do..

Well, it's no wonder this is the season of magic & wonder...

Happy Sunday.

-me & Mr. B

Oooo.Oooo..I found something FuN!

So, I was feeling a bit deprived of chocolate, remember?

Yeah..well I've come this far and I don't want to be like one of thise orange inflatable boats that you pull the cord and...

WHOOSH!  I'm round and chubby and unhealthy all over again..

Soooo..chocolates {in the quantities that I really want } are out of the question.

In the evenings, after dinner, I have been enjoying a cuppa tea..various flavored teas..but settled on English Breakfast..yes, at night..but when they are eating breakfast, I'm probably eating dinner, right?

Or is it the other way around?

Never mind.  Doesn't matter. 

But it still was..uh..lacking that "Oh! La! La!" feeling, you know?

Then I discovered....TaDa...

and, together with a few packs of Spenda...it becomes sorta like a hot, creamy...

Sorta...

But really, for a warm, soothing pepperminty-mocha-y drink on a cold winter's night..you can't beat it.

Yes, I know it has calories..and points..and is probably not the very best choice, but it beats devouring a whole lotta...

 

..and, after all, tea, especially English Breakfast is so, so, sooo, civilized.. 

 ..Um..I mean...

So, if you want a "not-too-bad-for-you-chocolaty-peperminty-" treat. have a cuppa..

..but hurry..I think this particular flavor is seasonal..

-me

Sometimes, I am sooo easy..

..to make happy.

Finding a little left-over coffee in my cup that I thought was empty..

 Getting the perfect bubble-gum bubble..

Getting all 5 fingers in the correct slots in my gloves on.the.first.try.  happy happy happy!

Deciding to actually throw away the sock that you just discovered has a wee hole in the heel.. life's too short for holey socks.

Not getting stopped by the for-ever-red-light..you know, as in it's GREEN..not that I don't stop...when it's red...or "getting stopped" by the police..

Someone doing the obligatory "thank you" wave when I let them in front of me..

Yes, happyhappyhappy..

But, I guess I can get equally in serious grumpage-mode pretty easily too.


Getting three fingers in one slot and trying to adjust and not being able to figure out who's not in the right place...

Finding an empty, cold, messy  coffee cup when my brain says it needs more..

Deciding not to toss the socks..no wait..I've gone beyond that.  I WILL TOSS HOLEY SOCKS!

So, what I'm apparently saying is that I am totally hot & cold..black & white..happy & grumpy..at any given moment.

For practically NO reason at all..

huh..maybe I'm not all lightness & fluff all the time.

Maybe...deep down inside, I am a curmudgeon...a Scrooge...a GRINCH!

Nah.  Just having deep thoughts on a chocolate-deprived day.

What  makes YOU happy? Mad? Crabby? Is it BIG things..... or wee things?

Well, anyway..maybe I should just get some of those fingerless gloves and call it good...

-me 

It's my Mr. B's brother's (Mr. B v.2.0) birthday!

These two "boys" have been at it for years...

 Randy and his big brother..Robert..

 I can only imagine what my Mother-in-law had on her hands all those years ago..

...in Iowa..

...in the snow..

..buddies..

..then...

...now..

..brats..

Oh. My. Gosh.

.. brother....cuties..good men....

Happy Birthday Robert!

Love,

-me

How can week-ends make you sooo tired??

Hmmm..maybe that's why we go back to work...to rest up after the non-stop week-ends.

Saturday stared with lunch with " Breezy"..another blogger {she's on my sidebar} and it seems we have a mutual admiration society going on here.

She is a reading resource teacher for the 5th grade.  I know, huh.?  One of the most important and under appreciated jobs in the world..or at least in the US..sadly..

Her son is a firefighter and her hubby, a postal worker..all three in "service" mode..what a legacy that is, right?

We had a leisurely lunch and gabbed like 2 long lost friends..maybe we are..2 long lost friends from another time & place..?

It was sooo much fun!  We will definitely do this again..soon hopefully.  As they say.."the ice has been broken.." {if there was any ice..blogging make you feel you know them already..another perk!}


Then it was home to Jeff & Rachael giving me a belated birthday gift of a trip to Build-a-Bear....where I got o pick out my own "furry friend"..a dog..What? you were expecting a frog maybe??

So here I am, building "Brecken" {yes, you have to name therm- then & there..for their birth certificate, of course!}

I chose the name because, depending on how I want to dress {her/him} I can choose darling outfits (!} either for a dude or a girly-girl..

Ta-da1 Christmas Brecken with his text-camera-cell-phone personalized with "his" photo and elf-shoes..

{his shirt lights  up!}

Yeah..It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here..but not in a good way...yet.

I have this thing lately, that the kitchen table is not really meant to be a dropping place for..anything...that happens to come into the kitchen at any given moment.

So I've been compulsive...obsessed..bent..determined to keep it clear..and it was wonderful..until yesterday...

Eiyee yiy yiy..it looks like Christmas sneezed all over the kitchen..but it will look wonderful soon..

..then for a couple of weeks..we'll be in a Christmas wonderland of sorts { we don't do a fancy-schmancy lovely Christmas, but an eclectic mix of silly, child-like, fun, home made, with a dash of red-neck {the lighted reindeer with big teeth that sings "Grandma got run over by a reindeer.." while bobbing it's bells-on-his-antlers-head}

But it's wonderful..and magical..and happy..and..

Oh who am I kidding,..it's a LOT of work for a SHORT time.  But soooo worth it.

So, what do you do that completely wears you out on the week-ends??

-me

'Tis the season to be...

..tired.. 

Don't know why really...

Really..well..maybe I know  a little.

Seems Lulu is a  watch dog. 

A real watch dog...

A watch me dog..

And when my breathing is labored {much less labored since I've lost some weight}she wakes me up. 

So I get up, let her out and she obliges me with a token pee.. ...piddle...potty.

Then, I try to go back to sleep..ah, who am I kidding..as soon as my head hits the pillow I'm back to sleep..

I have actually fallen asleep while standing in the yard and waiting...and waiting..and ..

So, I go back to sleep and a few hours later, we go through that again. 

The reason we know it's all about the breathing is that Mr. B witnessed it one day as I fell asleep on the sofa..and started doin' the old head-bobbing thing..and was making noises.

She became very attentive, then was nervous, then concerned..then she crawled into my lap and gently woke me up.

How can I gt mad at that?

Yep, I can't..

But I do get tired...a lot.

Because before you know it, it's 4:45am and I am getting up for the day.

So, I am in that "having a new baby and getting 2 hours of sleep at a time" mode.

And I love my baby, Lulu.

But, what I would give for a full night's sleep..safely and so Lulu could sleep, too.

How much sleep do you get?  Is it enough?

OK, so go rest now and have a great tomorrow.

-me...and Lulu

PS...I really do love you Lulu..and Braxton. Sweet dreams...