We're Off To See The.....

.....Mouse.

By the time you read this, we should be approx. 3 hours into our driving trip. If you notice the time this was pre-posted then you'll know that we got on the road at 3 a.m.

Yeah, that's what I said, too.

But I'm not taking the first leg. Mom is. God Bless Mom!

Enjoy the entertaining group of guest bloggers I have lined up for the next few days. With the exception of Saturday and Sunday, you'll have a guest poster for 7 whole days.

You lucky ducks.

Anyhoo, have lots of fun my bloggie peeps.

If y'all could all do me a HUGE favor and not post on your own blogs for the next 10 days, that would be fabulous. I don't want to have to try to play catch up when I get back. Thanks, you guys are the best! As your reward for doing so, I promise to post lots and lots and lots and lots of vacation pictures with intense descriptions of every sight, smell and sound we experience. If you don't, then your punishment will be just a couple of posts and a handful of pics. Your choice. Choose wisely.

Later taters,

Mama Dawg, LOML and Mom

Role Model

This is who you should consider a proper role model.

-Top 10 in her class.

-Member of the National Merit Society

-Attending Loyola University in the fall

-Incredible singer and actress

-Accomplished flutist (yes, I googled that before I typed it. Who knew there is a masculine and feminine name for a flute player)

-Polite

-Beautiful (not only on the outside, y'all)

-Generous

-Kind

-Best kid ever (next to mine, natch).

I am proud to call her a friend and family member (by choice, not blood).

Congrats Vicki on your graduation. I am so glad to have you in my life and LOML's. She adores you and looks up to you and you know what?

I'm fine with that.

Love ya!

Later,

Mama Dawg

Who Loves Strawberries?

Why, I-55 does, of course.

Mom thought she was hallucinating when she saw giant strawberries traveling up I-55 Monday afternoon.

Yeah, I'm being lazy with my posts. All photos, all week. I have surprises lined up all next week while I'm visiting the Mouse's house.

Later,

Mama Dawg

WTF?

Yeah, that's on some guys ass.

Who has this much TIME on their hands?

Later,

Mama Dawg

'Tis the Season

Wonder what LOML is up to now that school's out for the summer?

No clue.

Later,

Mama Dawg

Mama Needs Some Cash

As most of you know, we're getting ready to go visit the Mouse next weekend.



Even though I got a great deal on my package (hee, hee, I said package), you still need some spending cash...you know, for food and whatnot.



I've saved up some but could always use a little more.



My creative juices got to flowing recently (funny how that worked out when I needed some spare cash) and I made some new earrings and lanyards for my etsy shop.



I have this one pair of earrings that I bought way back in my early 20's. I paid about $10 for them. I adore them and wear them often.



I took a good hard look at them one day and realized that I could easily make them. And sell them for a lot less.



Below are the earrings that were spawned out of that creative thought.



If you see a pair you like, please, by all means, head on over the right side of my blog and click on my etsy shop. I've got tons more than what I've shown on here. These are just my personal favs.

Now that it's the end of the school year, some of you may be wondering what to get that special teacher in your kids life as a thank you for edumacatin' your kid.

My lanyards are the PERFECT gift for any teacher. They keep their pockets free of i.d. badges and keys.

If you don't have a teacher in your life (or, really, your kids life), you can always purchase one of these bad boys for any lady in your life that has an office job where badges or keys are an everyday item that they use. Not only are they handy, but they're pretty, too!

Again, this is just a small sampling of what I've made recently. Head on over to my shop to see more!

This is one of my more INEXPENSIVE lanyards that I've made. Since the economy has taken a dump on many of our finances, I made a few lanyards that are mostly made up of acrylic (as opposed to glass, which many of mine are made from) beads. I sell them for about half the price of the regular ones.

LOML got in a creative mood as well and made several new pairs of earrings as well as 2 bracelets.

If you have a little girl in your life, you will want to check out her latest creations. She also takes special orders. Just drop her an e-mail or a convo and she'll get cracking on it. Just ask Sassy Stephanie. She'll tell you!

LOML's etsy is over the right, as well. Just click and peruse!

Thanks everyone for indulging me in a bit of self-promotion. Some of my best customers have come from my loyal blog readers.

Later,

Mama Dawg

Who Would You Do?

It's Monday...again.

Sigh......I totally live for the weekends.

LOML got 2 awards at Friday's ceremony! Yay! She got one for being on Principal's honor roll all year long and one for having the highest AR (accelerated reading) points. However, she not only had the highest points for the entire third grade, she had the highest points for the ENTIRE SCHOOL!!!!! The average is like 60 points or so and she had 152!!!!! That's my girl!

Anywho, onto what you really came here for. "Who Would You Do?" (book by Susan Segrest).

You're at a sex party playing a perfectly innocent game of Strip Twister with a group of hot female celebrities. Everyone's close to falling into a naked heap of bodies on the mat when you spin the wheel and land on "left butt cheek red". As you make your move, you slip and fall on a very famous face. Does it belong to Julia Roberts, Gwen Stefani, Ashley Judd or Reese Witherspoon?

(the book originally had Janet Reno as the 4th choice. WTF? So, for the safety of your eyes, I chose Reese instead. You're welcome.)

As usual:

*Editor's Note---You HAVE to pick one of the choices. Even if you're a guy and the only choices are guys...same for girls...believe me, there are lots where it's only girls to choose from.

Did you have a good weekend?

Later,

Mama Dawg

Ready to Random?

Yeah, yeah, I know. Tuesday is the dedicated Random day around here in bloggie land, but you know what? Tuesday just doesn't feel like a very random day to me. I'm never in a random mood then, ya know?

Plus, doesn't that defeat the whole purpose of being random? Kind of like planning to be spontaneous.

---------------

Sigh........will May 31st EVER get here?

---------------

Captain Dumbass promised me a polar bear but I've yet to see it. It's probably hung up in customs or it's being quarantined for potential swine flu or it was arrested for smuggling crack up its...well, crack.

---------------

I've mastered the art of invisibility.

---------------

I've mastered the art of feigned anger while trying to hide my lack of credibility.

---------------

I've also mastered the art of random mysterious postings within a blog post.

---------------

I finally conquered the automatic flushing toilet that gives me performance anxiety whenever I'm forced to use that potty instead of the old fashioned toilet that you flush using your foot so you don't have to touch it.

I put toilet paper over the sensor.

That'll teach it to splash my ass again.

---------------

I still have performance anxiety though. Can't shake the feeling that it's gonna find a way to peer around the toilet paper and get me in a sneak attack.

---------------

LOML and I have been playing a lot of rummy these days. My mom taught her how to play and like everyone in our family, she's already a pro.

Seriously, I've only won ONCE in like 12 games against her.

And I'm that mean parent that never let her win or gave her a break when playing games. It's all about teaching how to lose gracefully.

Someone forgot to teach me how, though!

No, seriously, she's a card shark. Or sharp. I can never remember which one it is. Do you know?

---------------

While we're playing rummy, we listen to music. LOML got a Monkees c.d. from the Easter Bunny and she's now hooked to Davey, Mickey et al.....

I found a song on there that I had never heard before and am in LOVE. We play it on repeat. All the time.

I tried to find a youtube video with it, but I couldn't.

It's called Heart and Soul and it's one that they did when they did that reunion tour back in the 80's.

It's addictive.

---------------

I find the way people from India speak to be so lyrical. I used to *snort* and *giggle* when I heard them speak, but after watching "Slumdog Millionaire" and listening to interviews with them on NPR (shut up), I'm now in love with the way they speak.

---------------

LOML is getting some award on Friday. She doesn't know how many. Last year, they told us she was getting an award and she walked away with 5 of them!

I'm letting her assume that I can't make it due to work, but I talked to my boss and she's letting me come in real early on Friday to do my important work then I'll be off at 11. I'll be able to make it to the award ceremony. It's gonna be a surprise.

---------------

I'm listening to "Think of Me" from Phantom of the Opera as I type this.

---------------

I'm so disappointed that Helen won on The Biggest Loser last night. I thought Tara deserved it but I really wanted Mike to win it. I want to write him a letter asking him not to date or fall in love or get married for the next 10 years. He'll be 29 then and LOML will be 19. I'll overlook the 10 year age difference because he's such a GOOD GUY! They're so hard to come by, I want to reserve him for LOML.

---------------

It smells like hot peppers in here.

Later,

Mama Dawg

Who Would You Do?

I had a wonderful Mother's Day yesterday and I just want to thank my daughter for the beautiful gifts and cards I received. I'll share what I received with all of you tomorrow.

Right now? It's time for "Who Would You Do?" (book by Susan Segrest) and I'm in a Western mood today.

"You're on the set of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Paul Newman and Robert Redford are both giving you smoldering x-rated stares but you can only have one of them. Who would you do?"

And, as usual:

*Editor's Note---You HAVE to pick one of the choices. Even if you're a guy and the only choices are guys...same for girls...believe me, there are lots where it's only girls to choose from.

For you mama's out there, how was your special day?

Later,

Mama Dawg

The Grandest of All Ships...

...is Friendship.

I've got this on my mind a lot these days.

Mostly due to renewed friendships via Facebook.

But I'm not going to talk about those today.

Today I'm talking about my bloggie friendships.

Who knew when I started this whole thing that I would become friends with strangers? Strangers who I've never met face to face. Strangers that I would share parts of my life with.

And to go even further, I actually consider them FRIENDS.

Not people I merely talk to through the miracle of modern science but honest to goodness real friends.

I read a lot of blogs (not lately but I'll get back into the swing shortly) and chit-chat with many bloggers, but there's only a handful out there that I'd consider a friend. Someone with whom I've either talked to on the phone or shared a deep dark secret (or not) with via a series of e-mails.

I've even been on the receiving end of gifts AND I've sent gifts or a card.

I mean, that's trust right there. To give out your address.

I've even gotten drunk phone calls and drunk texts. But of course, that's from one person and one person only! Hi, Jess! Love ya!

So, today, I'm going to give a big old shout out and THANK YOU to several bloggers who have touched my life in someway outside of this bloggie world.

To Jess: Thank you for the many phone calls both drunk AND sober. You never fail to put me in a good mood either from a drunken text message at 11 at night or an instant message when I'm having a shitty day at work. I can not WAIT to meet you in August. You are someone that if I had met you in real life first, I would have instantly been friends with. You are my kind of people.

To Kat: I have to have you right behind Jess because I kind of think of all of us as the Three Stooges, except without all the eye poking and face slapping. Somehow, in 140 characters on Twitter, you managed to ease some of my fears I have about a friend going to Afghanistan in August. Just knowing that you're there for me to use as a sounding board or a shoulder to cry on brings me comfort. I do hope that when you do come back to the States, we are able to meet up in Savannah and get totally hammered with Jess and Co.

To Sassy: You rock for making my little girls day by doing a special order for earrings for your daughters. She was so proud of herself for doing such a good job. You will always hold a special place in my heart for making her feel so big. Damn, Sassy just reminded me that we're meeting up in October! Can't wait for that one, too! I love all the bloggers that are coming to New Orleans this year!

To Pseudo: I don't know what it is about you that touches my heart so, but you do. I consider you to be a very special friend and I can't even tell you why. There are just some people out there that touch you and you can't explain it. You're one of those. Of course, anytime someone does anything for my daughter (see Sassy's above), they will always, always, always have a spot carved out for them in my heart. That completely AWESOME birthday present you sent her not only made her day, but made mine as well. The Hawaii themed items inside made for a very special present indeed. The card you included was fantastic and even though she's only 9, I think she understood the meaning in the words and understood the wonder that is the Internet for bringing you into her life. Anytime I talk about my blog at home, she always asks about Aunt Pseudo. She is thrilled that she has a BFF in Hawaii.

To Rhea: I can't even begin to thank you for all that you've done for me and LOML with our etsy businesses. Rhea was my first customer when I started this whole etsy thing. She's bought a few more items from me since then and not surprisingly, was also LOML's first customer. It's not so much the money that you spent that makes you special. It's that you believed in my product enough to actually make the purchase. That purchase gave me the confidence I needed to persevere.

To Captain Dumbass: You know, I can't really thank you for what you've done for me. Well, I can say thank you, but of course, I can't tell the whole Internets exactly why. All they need to know is that you are an incredible secret keeper and for that, you will always have my gratitude. Plus, you're sending me a polar bear. Who needs anything more? Have you gotten your package (hee, hee, I said package) yet? I hope they didn't explode. If you want more, holler and I'll go get some.

To Irish Gumbo: Thank you. Thank you for listening. Thank you for trusting me with your stories. Thank you for being there. I mean for really being there.

There are so many others out there that have touched my life in some way or another. Even if in a small way. There are way too many to lists in one post. Perhaps I shall save another list for another day. To each of you, though, I give thanks right now.

This is the first post in a series of thankful posts I plan to do every weekend. So, if you weren't mentioned above, don't fret. You'll get your day in the Dawg house sun soon enough.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Later,

Mama Dawg

It's Baaaaaaack!

That's right ladies and germs.

He Blogs/She Blogs is back and located at their own private cozy cottage.

If you've been missing the latest male v. female points of view on anything from high heels to long hair v. short hair to how men REALLY feel about shopping, you can now get your crack at the low, low price of FREE!

So, head on over and check 'em out. They're looking for a good topic to discuss on their first ever post on the new site.



Click it. You know you wanna.

Later,

Mama Dawg

Who Would You Do?

Four weeks left til my Magical vacation at the Happiest Place on Earth.

I really miss working my 4 day work weeks. Hopefully they'll hire someone soon so I can flex again.

Here's your Monday morning "Who Would You Do?" (book by Susan Segrest).

He's filthy rich, single and looks great in leather. What's not to love? The only problem with pursuing Batman is that you've got to decide which one you want the most, Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney or Christan Bale?

Since everyone needs a superhero every once in a while, I chose a Batman theme this week. Batman (with Wolverine right behind) is my most favorite wounded soul super hero. I love the mythology behind both characters.

Per the usual:

*Editor's Note---You HAVE to pick one of the choices. Even if you're a guy and the only choices are guys...same for girls...believe me, there are lots where it's only girls to choose from.

And how was your weekend my lovelies?

Later,

Mama Dawg

Hookers, the Virgin Mary and Shoes

It's Friday. Yesterday was the last day of the month and work was kicking my ass like crazy. Thank goodness that day is over.

Now I can relax and give you guys an awesome taste of complete and utter useless random crap from my life.

---------------

I found a flea in my underwear this morning. Hoping he was just a peeping tom instead of hungry. So far, my crotch area isn't itching, so I think he was just a little perv.

---------------

Here's a pic of Max's latest find.

A shoe.

Yes, a shoe.

WTF?



---------------

In the shower yesterday morning, I was trying to recall the latest weird dream I had and couldn't. Then that got me to thinking about why I've been having such weird dreams lately. Then that got me to thinking I was pregnant. But then I remembered that in order to GET pregnant, there's a little sumpin' sumpin' you have to be doing (or at least do ONCE) and well, not to give out TMI, but that well has been dry long enough that that is quite literally an IMPOSSIBILITY and I breathed a sigh of relief.

Then I remembered the Virgin Mary and how she had an immaculate conception. Then I freaked out again. Then I remembered that I'm not a virgin, so that was out.

But then THAT got me to thinking about what would they call it if someone who WASN'T a virgin got pregnant like Mary did. I mean, you can't call it an immaculate conception then, now could you?

Yeah, this is how my brain works. Especially before coffee.

---------------

You know who I feel sorry for in today's economy?

The hookers.

Think about it. When you're depressed over losing your job and not being able to provide for your family, the last thing you're thinking of doing is going downtown and finding a local lady of the night to pay to bang.

So what's a working girl to do?

---------------

I'm brown bagging it for lunch today.

Literally. My lunch is in a brown bag.

To further old skool it, inside my brown bag is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

However, to show off how adult I really am (and yes, despite evidence to the contrary, I AM an adult), I have Asiago and peppercorn cheese puffs to accompany my PB & J.

---------------

I came home yesterday to the most wonderful of surprises.

My best friend Mimi (who I'm going to see in 1 MONTH y'all!!!!!!), sent me a package of some jewelry making ideas, patterns for some bags, some beads and two Disney pins.

That was so awesome and totally made my day.

But what made me cry was the card she included in the package. And the words she wrote inside.

I did not realize until that very moment exactly how MUCH I missed having her in my life. How much I missed having a girlfriend that KNOWS me. That LOVES me. That GETS me. That WILL ALWAYS BE THERE for me.

As excited as I got to see some old guy friends from HS and whatnot recently, the level of excitement I have for seeing her again in a month is off the charts.

I can honestly say that I'm more excited about seeing her than going to Disney World (but only by like 1 point....if we were keeping score, which we're not, cause I don't want Disney World to get wind that it's a competition or they may ruin my trip on purpose just to be spiteful).

But that's why I'm so excited about Disney World. Not only do I get to see her again but I get to see her AT Disney World. It's like....well, there's really no words to describe how freakin' awesome June is going to be for me.

That card now has a permanent place in my purse. I've read it like 6 times now.

---------------

I was on Facebook the other day and noticed that you can become a "fan" of God.

Huh?

Do you really think God really cares about that? I mean, by virtue of believing, haven't you kind of already proclaimed your loyalty and all that?

Weird.

---------------

I was listening to something on the radio the other day. May have been on NPR (shut up) but maybe not.

Anyway, it got me to thinking about gay marriage and how so many people are against it because they believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman and how so many people use religion as a reason for not condoning it. I personally think some homophobes are using religion as a shield, but that's neither here nor there.

What it got me to thinking is that those who believe in gay marriage should start their own religion and have their own Bible that makes vague references to heterosexual marriages being unholy or whatever.

Because the way it appears to me, if you have religion behind you as a reason you believe in something, it just makes your argument THAT much stronger.

Or so it seems.

(This was NOT directed at anyone that reads my blog. It's just a THOUGHT that I had. It's MY OPINION...not fact based in any way. I did not do any research. I'm just talking out of my ass. That's why it's MY blog and not YOURS.)

And speaking of gays and religion and yada, yada, yada...you need to go check out Jess's recent post.

I heart Jess.

---------------

And now, to leave you on a GOOD note.....here's the shoes I'm wearing today.

Yeah, I know.

They ARE awesome.

Have a good weekend y'all! Anyone doing anything good?

Later,

Mama Dawg