Super Stocking Stuffers '08

My dad has taken it upon himself for the past few years to be "the one" to be the stocking stuffer. Last year he gave my brother and me this little gem: a CozyTunes! It's a "sneaker with a speaker," something you can plug your iPod into and listen away!

Here's some footage from this year:


The top right picture, the one of the package of gum is actually gum created "for hunters." Here's my favorite part of the package:

He's headed to San Antonio in January for a conference and will commence shopping for Stocking Stuffers '09.

And I can't wait. :)

Home, So Far

So far my holiday has been pretty uneventful. Today I "helped" Mom bake Christmas goodies (I got a little distracted though, trying to tie up some loose ends back in KY) and this evening Dusty and I went to McCoy's to eat dinner with my friend Rachel.

Tomorrow is the Christmas Eve service, and then it's time for Super.Stocking.Stuffers '08. But more on that later.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Me & Reba

Flying home is always an adventure. This time, I got to fly with Dusty, which may I just say, is hysterical. He's like a little kid; staring out the window with his nosed pressed against it, and yanking on my arms saying, "I can see the turbines, Em! The turbines!"

Then, there was Reba. I am not making up her name.

Let me back up and say that while we went through security there was a lady they had taken aside who had a wrapped Christmas present that was apparently "full of liquid." I thought nothing of it, though she really was giving the TSA lady a hard time.

Fast forward to the plane and this old lady with red hair and a smoker's laugh. She plops down next to me with a bag that I know would not qualify as a sizable bag to carry-on and a purse that looks like she skinned a rattlesnake and proceeds to tell me the story of how TSA owes her $60 because she bought her son-in-law a bottle of Polo cologne that they would not let her take on the plane. (My inner monologue, "Oh no! It's her!")

Then things got interesting:
--Flight attendant #1 made her put her TOO LARGE bag in an overhead bin...all the way at the back of the plane. Reba was not happy.

--Then flight attendant #2 made her put her purse in an overhead bin for takeoff. This made Reba even more unhappy.

--Then the inflight service starts and even though it's only 12:30 pm, Reba wants a rum and Coke. The flight attendant tells her that she can pay with debit or credit. Reba makes it known to everyone in a 5 seat radius that her debit card is in the bag that they made her put at the back of the plane!!! She then turns to me and says, "Well, there's no way I'm tellin' 'em that I left my cell phone on!"

Have I mentioned I'm afraid of flying? This did not help matters.

During landing they, again, made her put her purse away and Reba protested, saying it was more trouble than it was worth. Now, it just so happened that the overhead bin where we were all seated (Dusty still studying cloud formations at this time) was malfunctioning. The flight attendants had to practically beat on it to get it shut the whole flight. And our landing was not smooth. And guess what happened to Reba's purse? The bin flies open, the purse crashes down and hits the man sitting across the aisle in the head causing the flight attendant to have to stand for the rest of the (choppy, choppy) landing to hold the compartment closed.

And Reba settles back into her chair with a contented chuckle, looks at the flight attendant and says, "See. Told you so."

Spoiled Kid

Here are some fresh-from-this-evening pictures of Gabriella, just to make it even harder for me to get motivated to pack!

(The hat is from Grammie Laura, and the shirt is from yours truly.)

Procrastination

I. Hate. Packing.

Everytime I pack for a trip I think I do a really thorough job, then I get to my destination and find myself saying, "What the crap is all this?"

So, I'm blogging instead of packing. Take that empty suitcase that is staring me in the face.

Jamming to the new Killers album, "Day and Age." I got it for Dusty for Christmas and am benefiting from it. Haven't made any decisions on it yet, this is my first spin, but it will be nice to listen to the song Human not as a ringtone. That's what Dusty has on his phone right now, so all I know of it is, "Are we humaaaan? Or are are we danc.." "Hello?" <---- that's Dusty. My rad friend Andrea got me a birthday gift off Etsy (one of my favorite sites) and it came in the mail today. I'm wearing it right now actually. "What is it?" you are thinking? I just so happened to take a picture on my webcam! How convenient!

I would like for you to note three things:
1.) Apparently, felt is all the rage right now.
2.) You can still see the remnants of my black eye!
3.) I am not mad about anything, I just look like it in this picture. I'm really in quite a good mood!

I think I'm going to go scrounge up some felt and try to replicate it. You know, instead of packing.

This time tomorrow I will be in KC, barring any winter weather that may strand us in St. Louis. What a boring airport to be stranded in huh?

-----------e.

Gabby Visits Our Room

It pays to live upstairs from a baby, especially an incredibly adorable baby such as Gabriella Grace.

He Socked Me Good

Dusty gave me a black eye. No, this is not a case of spousal abuse. I see the remorse in his eyes everytime he looks at me. He feels really, really, really bad.

He was having a dream that people were chasing him, throwing knives at him, and then charging him. When the first guy charged, Dusty stepped over a meat cleaver and right hooked him!

When, in all actuality, he had right hooked me. It was the third worst pain I've ever been in coming in behind certain medical procedures and my nose piercing.

(this is my "well I'm stuck with it now" face.)