Shrinking Violets -- April 07 Bandsters

[TracyinKS 7]

I guess I have to explain... for the last 3 christmas's I had been expecting a ring and was always disappointed......

3 christmas's ago .............. shrek stole my son from his babysitter with the aid of the local police (going off old papers) which is what started the battle of the court and is now all in the past since the adoption is final and Shrek couldn't pull that crap again even if he wanted........ anyway....... I have all that I could desire... my son will never have to face going to live with shrek even if something were to happen to me......

[TracyinKS 7]

GEEEEEEEEEshhh I forgot to tell you all about my huge NSV this morning..........

OK.. so we get up and go over to my sisters... I am wearing a pair of my size 12 levis and my good VS pushup bra and a t-shirt......... DH said.. dang you look perky today... LOL....... so we get to my sisters and I feel like I look good.......

my BIL comes in from the garage and he says hey sis...... then he stops, looks again and says....... DAM!!!!!!! YOUR THIN!!!!! as he continues to look at me up and down with his jaw open... my sis, my mom and dh all laughed that he just now noticed the change......... I guess my face turned really red as I blushed and dh made SURE to point it out that I was blushing... IT FELT SO GOOD to look good!

[adorable 1]

I was good all day until dinner - but then I wasn't horrible. I ate 3 veggies of my hubbies tempura, and I ate a spicy tuna sushi roll without rice - they wrap it in cucumber, it's really yummy and light. But then I had a bite of his cream cheese "heart attack" - it's a crispy jalapeno with spicy tuna and cream cheese, then batter dipped and deep fried. I didn't have much, just a bite! I feel so guilty though LOL Probably had about 1000 calories today...not too bad but I did clean in the garage all day so I'm sure I worked some of that off!

Gina I'm so glad that you liked your gift - I fell in love with it when I saw it. If I still had german shepards I would have bought one for me too! :smokin: Merry Christmas! Ho, ho, ho!!! :confused:

[SC-Cindy 0]

A Disney World surprise trip, Michelle?!? I’m also available if you need another person to tag along—Can y’all tell I LOVE to travel? My husband kids me that I only work so I’ll have $$ to travel. He’s a Vietnam veteran and says he’s gotten all the overseas traveling out of his system because of that.

Judy, you and your husband are so fortunate to love to go on cruises together. My family (mother, stepfather, brother, sister-in-law, and niece) and I are going on our first cruise in two weeks as our Christmas present to each other. We’re very excited (understatement). My husband just won’t go. Sigh… We’re leaving from Port Canaveral, a 6-hr. drive from Charleston, for a 3-night trip to the Bahamas.

Terry, I love the jacket you bought! Will you wear it with a skirt or dressy slacks? And please everyone, send more Christmas ideas for husbands. Mine is always the hardest to gift as well.

Germany, Switzerland, Italy this summer? Pamela, let me check my calendar and get back with you and Susanne, but I’m pretty sure I can clear out the appts. When are we going again? :wave: And the California Castle looks like lots of fun. Thanks for sending the link. The costumes are great, too!

Today was busy, busy: my husband and I had our standing-date Saturday morning Breakfast, then my mom and I went to Mepkin Abbey, a Trappist monastery close to our home that has an amazing display of crèches every year. Here’s the link to visit: http://www.mepkinabbey.org/CrecheFestival/dvd.php

Then, it was a quick supper at Ruby Tuesday’s, yum, I love their quiche and salad bar, and from there we went to see the Moscow Ballet’s Nutcracker Suite. My brother and his wife were the Charleston instructors of the local children who auditioned and participated in the performance, and my precious niece was a snowflake. What a fun, blessed day! A wonderful way to Celebrate this season.

TracyKS, you have been in my heart as I read this forum before I officially joined. I salute you for your strength and resolve to make your home a safe haven for Cody. And no Peanut Butter balls? You’re a rock!

Michelle, have you found another dress yet for us to look at?

Have a good Sunday everyone!

Cindy

[TracyK 3]

Terri-I forgot to tell you that I love your Christmas party blouse. Very elegant looking!

Tracy-woohoo, lets hear it for the willpower!! That is awesome! That is a cool NSV....feels great, right?

Pamela-thanks for the link for the castle. That is gonna be such a fun fun fun reunion!! The trip that you have planned for the summer makes me envious!

Cindy-sounds like you had such a wonderful day yesterday!!

Kat-how did the party go?

Judy-how was the concert?

Now to the topic...what does my dh get for christmas? that is an easy one...nothing! He just bought a new truck and that is that! Makes it easier on me. I bought him a pressure washer for this b-day. You would havethought I gave him a million dollars.

My trips for the coming year are still up in the air...except for the most important one...our violets trip in May. I am SO excited about that! I can not wait to meet you all :confused:

We did not win squat at the casino yesterday. Normally I at least have a good time, win or lose, but this time it was disappointing all the way around! I looked cute though...lol I bought some shirts that fit. For the first time in my life I was able to go in and rack up on clothes!! That was fun! This next weekend is my dh company christmas party but we can not go because we are having dss & dsd over that weekend. Its OK though because I love when they are here....and so does Macy!

Speaking of dd, she is coming home today from her weekend with mawmaw & pop. I need to bring her to see santa....ugh I would rather be beat than to stand in that line at the mall. But it is worth it to see the smile on her face!

Have a great day violets!

[TerriDoodle 6]

TracyKS= You are soooooooooo right! You have everything now. Just sit back and enjoy this season with your grateful heart and it'll be the best one yet. I am sooooo happy for you!! Just think where you were a year ago and how much has changed in 2007!! Angels have been watching over you for sure.

Cindy - You had a busy day! Sounds grand! Yeah, I'll just be wearing that jacket with slacks. I also have some pewter (shiny) heels that I can wear with it..should look kewl!

Denise - I have been eating far more than 1000 cals a day....good for you!!! Maybe in 2008 we'll all be wearing WWDD bracelets!

I have been working hard on my Secret Santa gift! I know your shocked to discover that I'm making jewelry! But it's a beauty and I'm even making all of the links myself....and having a ball!! Gotta get back to it.....

Bye for now!

[mdrai 3]

Good Sunday Morn, Vi's~~

Wow! 600 pages on this thread! Are we a chatty group or what??? Loved every click of the keyboard!!

This weekend is flying by... I have 2 competing "to do's" today: put up the tree and work. I'm not sure how they will co-exist, but I'm sure I'll pull it off somehow! (I can't work if I'm putting up the tree; I can't put up the tree if I'm working... yikes!)

Make it a great one, gals!

PS -- Laura... to answer your question... I have no earthly idea what size I am... I currently wear clothes size 14/16 - 28, depending on type & manufacturer! :confused: (granted the 28s are sweatpants that are FALLING off me, but I do still wear them around the house!) I need to measure, I guess... + measure IN the Spanx for the gown... I hate measuring...

[Jennifur 0]

morning gals

still in the dumps so kind of quiet

Terry - love the top

Tracyks - great NSV

Gina - you opened your ss? I was going to put mine under my tree for xmas I don't get presents to open

Tracyk- As of right now I have to long weekends planned, one in march for my Bday w/ the kids to an indoor waterpark at our SixFlags and May. As for my dbf... no gift giving between us, we use to but no more, not in the budget

I had so much more i wanted to say yesterday but i got home late. work is trying right now, it is so busy. I was going to be sent home early last night and then the delevery guy pd me $10 to take the rest of his night, so with my tips and what he gave me, I made$30, not much but I'm going to get my mp3 player with it so I can start walking again.

I am a lazy slug and have gained 10lbs, i feel like a failure and a pc of shit. Tomorrow morning I'm getting up, doing shakes and going to the gym. who cares if I don't walk as fast as everyone else, I just need to walk for 30 mins to get back into the swing of things, I felt so much better doing it. My work week and schedule has been out of control for the last 3 weeks, and Tomorrow starts a new week, and it is a normal week, Monday & Tues off, So what better time to start than a new week? Right?

I am having a scrapbooking party Tuesday night which should be interesting. I need to practice self control.

As for holiday parties, i don't get to go to one this year, my step mom will have a bowling party or something silly in January, so maybe I'll beable to justify a new pr of jeans for that.

well, I'm off to finish getting ready for church.

[mdrai 3]

((Jennifur))

[Teachlady 3]

Gooooooooooooooood Morning, Violets!!!

Just got back from church and have so much to talk about!! HOpe I don't bore everyone. The concert was absolutely fantatic. That boy has the most beautiful voice. And with the symphony backing him up it was just incredible. And he did my absolutely most favorite song for his encore... All is Well. There is an amazing high note at the very end and he nailed it with a spotlight focused right on him for effect. Gives me goosebumps when I think of it. Daughter Kris had a great Christmas present and was very appreciative. We went shopping on Saturday and picked up a couple of things. I got to go to Christopher Banks for the very first time... NOT CJ Banks, the plus sized shop. I got a khaki skirt for $9.99 in a size 16 and it fits. I got a sweater at Khols in a sie Xl and it fits too. NO more plus sizes for this chickie!!!!

We were able to get home just as the storm was hitting the area. When we woke up this morning, there was about 8-10 inches of snow on the ground. Bob had to snow blow the driveway so we could get to church. I shoveled out a path from the garage to the hot tub. That about did me in this morning!! When I got to church this morning, I wasn't expecting anyone to be there cause the roads were so bad, but 90% of my choir was there so we sang our anthem and we were 80% of the congregation!! Sometime during the night a radiator burst and there was a river of Water running downstairs at the church. The music library was a sauna.. Water had blown into that little room and sprayed all the music that was out. Our handbells are stored in that room too. We had to pull out everything that wasn't nailed down and spread everything out to dry. The bells were fine.. just had to wipe the water off the cases. The bad part of all of it was the damage.. but the good part is our son Joe works for Service Master and he does water damage... and it's $25.00 an hour for weekends!! Woooooooo Hooooooooooooo!! He was pleased to be called in.

At 1 I have to be at the mall to wrap presents for an organization Bob belongs to .. Partners in Prevention. They deal with substance abuse issues. Wrapping the gifts for a donation is one of their fund raisers. I doubt there will be many people at the mall today, but Bob can't get there til he gets home from church and Kris won't be driving in on the roads today so it will be just me to hold down the fort!!

Tracyinks.... I am going to be making that fudge this year for gifts!!! Now you and I can be the fudgie twins!!! I will certainly try to be as good as you with the nibbling.

I have a couple of never worn dressier pants outfits in size 18W. One is short sleeve cream colored with cream colored fully lined crepe pants and the other is black 3/4 sleeve velvet glittery top with black pants that have the chiffon overlay to look like a skirt. If anyone is interested, just email me at justincase@lycos.com and I'll send you pics. I would be happy to mail them to anyone who wants these freebies..

I'm finishing up my south Beach lunch befoer I head to the mall. Everyone have a warm, cozy afternoon!!

TTFN!!

[kity 2]

Bula Venaca Violets (Fijian)~

Jennifer~ 2008 is gonna be your year honey! I think your a kind and giving person and 08 will rock for you. Remember...we just gotta get through the holidays, then 08 we are all back to our spring selves!!! I know the holidays are tough for so many reasons..focus on your many blessings...we all should!

TracyKS~ your post is the real Christmas! Have a wonderful season. And the fudge...omg...I remember mom and grandma making fudge. I always was involved w/ the "testing" stage of the fudge production. Congrats on your NSV!

Terry~ Your gift sounds wonderful! There is a very lucky violet who will look stunning in your gift!

I have my gift for my SS. I am so excited and hope she likes it! I will get it into the mail this week!

I am so excited for the holidays this year! Last night we went to the Festival of Lights parade w/ some friends of ours. Then we came home here and had 2 bottles of wine and played electronic Monopoly! We had a blast and stayed up til 1am! That never happens. But the holiday season is so fun and filled w/ family and friends...and wine!!!

I should clarify something. We are planning a trip to Europe this summer, but we have not settled on anything yet. I am pretty sure we are going, but I've left the majority of the planning up to Susanne because she is from Germany and knows how best to travel. Since I planned our last vaca...this one is up to her.

I am kinda in trouble too. She is retiring on May 16! But I think she will be in Phoenix w/ her mom...so I am in the clear for our trip! But the look on her face when I told her broke my heart. Then she remembered she will be gone. I am just praying she doesn't have her retirement ceremony that weekend. That won't even be a decision...I will be w/ her (keep your fingers crossed that the ceremony is in April).

Ok...sorry for the long post! Enjoy your Sunday!

xoxoxoxoxoxooxoxox

[Daisalana 33]

Mornin Violets!

Yesterday.. whew. My co-worker friend came over at 9am.. she kept sayin she'd help me paint my house (she does this as a side job) for free! I still feel weird about it being free, but.. I don't know anything about this stuff, so we decided to do the kitchen/dining room (they're combined in a big open area). Well neither of us realized what an undertaking that would be.. So we went to home depot, I decided on 'Half Moon Bay'. It's a very pretty blue grey color. The pictures don't do it justice hah hah. Anyway, the walls are textured, so we had to like 'scrub' with the rollers to get all the texture filled in. My hands feel broken today. We were painting non-stop until 6pm yesterday. Here's the end result.. I love it!!! She is talking about doing the living room next weekend.. oh man..I don't know how she does this stuff regularly. Pardon the mess, since we painted I decided to re-decorate and I'm still up in the air about it..

Then, I got my FIRST EVER 'real size' Christmas tree. It was only 30 bucks at wal-mart, pre-lit. You can see my little old Xmas tree in the corner in the dining room picture. I was so giddy about it, I got shatter proof ornaments (but this did NOT deter Apollo as you can see). He's already knocked off all the bottom balls. So I sprayed my Cat-Off spray (they don't like the smell).. 2 of my cats smelled it, and ran off. Apollo? Nope. He just jumps head first into the tree.

Hope everyone is havin a great weekend. I went to Red Lobster with my parents last night NUM NUM NUM. I love that place, use to go all the time, till I got with DH.. he's allergic to seafood so now it's a rare treat when I go with my family and DH is busy doing something else.

[mdrai 3]

Wow, Laura! The paint job looks great! Love the color & being able to take a peek into your home!

Your cat is like mine!! Too funny! We have to re-arrange the family room furniture to fit in the tree each year, & they freak out about that, and then they get even crazier when there's a tree in the room! Mine actually chew the lightbulbs!! Stupid cats! But they've never broken one or gotten zapped. I do really think my 1 cat is retarded, btw... but he's a lover... he's sitting right here next to me (he's done "chasing" the curser on my puter screen for the time being... as I said... a bit "slow").

Have done some work... have prepared family room for tree... must do more work and get tree up... onward!

[Daisalana 33]

Ohh maybe that's why he's so uppity!! The spot where the x-mas tree is, is where I normally have a big cat house. It's one of those 5-tiers that go to the ceiling and covered in carpet. I moved it near the front door so I could put the tree up. So, maybe that's why he keeps diving into the tree lol!

We have an automatic cat litter box (Cat Genie), and it dissintigrates the poo and puts it in the toilet, and we've been noticing some tree pieces in there.. so they're definitely eating it too! I use to have a 'slow' cat, only cat I ever knew that couldn't land on his feet. He was a doll, but he was an indoor/outdoor and was hit by car. All 3 of our cats are indoor cats, I can't even remember what it's like to be 'ok' with an outdoor cat. If any of mine got out, I would just die.

[TracyinKS 7]

Love the color Laura!

I took I just updated my avatar... I look more washed out than I am, but here is the full version..

Size 12 Levis!