A meme

1. My uncle once had an awesome green Camaro it sparkled.
2. Never in my life have I been to Disney.
3. When I was five I had a really fun birthday party and my mom did everything and I love M&M Bingo to this day for it.
4. High school was meh.
5. I will never forget Mark’s transplant
6. Once I met Robert Townsend at a basketball game at my high school.
7. There’s this boy I know who is adorable, and looks like Nick Jonas. They both have diabetes.
8. Once, at a bar, I got in and was like 17 or something – and I didn’t even want to be there in the first place. Lame.
9. By noon, I will have consumed four cups of coffee.
10. Last night I went to bed before anyone.
11. If only I had paid more attention.
12. Next time I go to church I will be “extra” thankful.
13. What worries me most is that which I cannot control.
14. When I turn my head left I see a very messy kitchen.
15. When I turn my head right I see a very messy closet.
16. You know I’m lying when I can’t keep a straight face.
17. What I miss most about the Eighties is Reebok hightops.
18. If I were a character in Shakespeare I’d be … can I be Shakespeare?
19. By this time next year I hope that I have more answers.
20. A better name for me would be Rachel, apparently, people always tell me that or have called me it.
21. I have a hard time understanding numbers, math, the whole right side of the brain.
22. If I ever go back to school, I’ll study religion.
23. You know I like you if I tell you I do, or suggest we should spend more time together or get to know one another better. Why play games? Tell ‘em!
24. If I ever won an award, the first person I would thank would be God.
25. Take my advice, never my clothes.
26. My ideal breakfast is at a comfy restaurant.
27. A song I love but do not have is Jars of Clay “There is a River.”
28. If you visit my hometown, I suggest Kirchbaum’s!
29. Why won’t people believe.
30. If you spend a night at my house, you’ll sleep with a dog on your bed.
31. I’d stop my wedding for any emergency.
32. The world could do without just about anything that blows up (except fireworks!).
33. I’d rather lick the belly of a cockroach than eat a live octopus.
34. My favorite blondie is from Applebees. Yummmmm.
35. Paper clips are more useful than tape.
36. If I do anything well it’s “be there”.
37. I can’t help but I can listen.
38. I usually cry when I am just too overwhelmed and feeling depressed and have held it in just too long.
39. My advice to my nephew/niece is to read the Bible, everything you need to know is in there.
40. And by the way, it really doesn’t matter how much money you make, whether or not you have a degree or that you have everything big and great and beautiful. It matters that you make your life right with God. All you take with you is you character.

Santa's Little Helper

It's hard to believe how fast time is flying. I am starting to think about how I am going to shop for Christmas gifts, wondering where all our Christmas decor might possibly be (Here? In storage?). I am getting anxious for Christmas music... do they have a station here like in Chicago that plays all Christmas music from Turkey Day to New Years? This will be our first Christmas away from IL. It's going to be strange, for sure. I am thinking positive that it will still be as meaningful, cozy and full of love that it always is. It's what the season is about, no matter where you are. Er, I am.

Even though in recent seasons Christmas has come to mean more to me than just cookie exchanges (though I love them!) and gingerbread lattes (okay, love those, too!), there is a fun tradition we (okay, I) began with the kids. I was introduced to this fun tradition in our neighborhood a few years back. Elves.

Yes, elves from the North Pole visit us from December 1st until Christmas Eve. In some homes, each child might have an elf assigned to them, or one elf might watch over all the children. These elves of course have a job while at the North Pole, and if/when they get their work done they can come and stay with your kids and report on their behavior to ol’ Mr. Kringle. Then on Christmas Eve when Santa delivers, he also picks up the elves and takes them home with him.

The elves do as much or as little as you like. North Pole Magic has done all the work for you, with their 25-day fun calendar and elf notes, kits, goodies, treats and more. We just up the naughty factor ‘round here. Our elves tend to get into a LOT of trouble at night while they are with us. They have TPed the bathroom, hung Dax’s underwear on the Christmas tree and rearranged the entire pantry. Now, they aren’t always naughty. These elves will play a game of Uno at night with the Barbies, or read ALL the books that were on the bookshelf. They bring a new DVD or special PJ’s for the kids. It all depends on how tired mom is. I mean ‘they’ are… the elves… How tired the elves are! The children have been sad to see them go many a year. The first year Remy cried for Delaney to stay. That's her elf's name. She is a horse-toy-maker. Dax’s elf, Spencer, is in charge of the car department at the North Pole!

I just hope that Remy is not too old this year. Both my kids still talk about Santa, so I think I might have another year or so until Remy has to keep mum for her brother. I want them to 'believe' for a while yet. Keep them young as long as we can. Keep that magic alive.

Take a trip to the North Pole Magic and see who can come visit your kids for the season. One of the women that own the company was a neighbor of mine in IL. She is a sweet, sweet gal that adores Christmas-time and she is so passionate about making this fun for the kids, and making a memory for the children to last the whole month through. Or throughout the years to come, even.

The kids in the old neighborhood already had elves. When our kids got them all the kids would play together with their elves. Kids even dressed like the elves for Halloween around there! I got my sister hooked, and her girls have them - imagine the fun when all the cousins get together! It's elfin madness! Grandpa got one when he retired too, because he was going to get into too much trouble with all that free time on his hands, so he needed someone to keep him in line and report to the Man in Red!

Unlike all the other holiday decorations, I have the elves, I know where they are and I am ready for their arrival. But what will they do next, this year? I can’t wait!

No Doodle Dandy Here

She was supposed to be be born on the Fourth of July...
but today actually marks her eighth birthday.
Can you believe it?

I'm a nut

A long time ago, on this very day, my niece gave me a birthday card. It was cut out like a cloud and in different colored crayon it read "Happy Birthday Anut Candy". My mom and sister and I have never forgotten that. So, now you know where the title from my original blog "aNut Candy" comes from. You also know now that it's my birthday. He he. Oh, and my niece... she's getting her driver's license next weekend!

On this day in 2002

One year older today... with one less tooth.

Love ya, dude.

Happy Mother's D-eh!

Well it’s no wonder the man is retiring

I read that after the next Tour de France Lance Armstrong is retiring. Well, after tonight’s Cardio Cycling class at the Y, I can see why! My word, it was so hard! I can’t stand and pedal (known as second position) or do third position either which is like leaning over the bike. Holy smokes, I had two six-pound babies with no epidural and it was less painful than sitting on that spin bike seat. I even had the add-on cushy seat thing! I’ll tell ya, I am going to be sore tomorrow. I can’t believe that when he had cancer and things swelled on him that he just kept movin' on! You know what I am talking about right, you all watch Oprah, don’t you? They talked about it. I don’t want to talk about it. But one thing is for sure; I am ordering a Live Strong band ASAP. I don’t have one. I have a green Donate Life and a purple Live Well (National Kidney Foundation for kidney health awareness) but I hadn’t been quick to get the Live Strong one. Well, I’m gettin' one. I’m also going to dive into the book that he wrote that my friend Amy let me borrow. Now I am intrigued. All from one little bike ride. I came in the house and said to Mark, ”That was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.” He says to me, “What? Ride a bike?” Mark won’t be doing much of anything but watching movies and eating bon bons here in the next week. He’s getting his hernia(s) repaired down at Northwestern. I am kind of freaking out about it, but trying to stay relatively calm. I know that things won’t be as hectic as they were when he had his transplant. But the same transplant surgeon that did the kidney-pancreas will do this procedure, as well. That’s good. It’s also like an hour and half surgery instead of eight. Still, it’s scary and just well, okay, scary. So, I’ll be even more nuts than I have been this week. I am so distracted. I seriously am just not together. I realized it when I took Remy to school today. But man, I don’t know what it is. (The full moon?) Maybe Mark’s surgery is a subconscious worry. This also just happens to be the busiest time of year in general for me. But if I wasn’t this busy, I would be miserable. I have to be busy, it’s just something about me. My kids are well on their way. They don’t seem to be happy lately unless they are miserable. It saddens be greatly. Remy had picked out an outfit that totally didn’t match and I said okay to it. It’s a battle I am trying not to pick anymore. But, even after saying yes (did she think I would say no?), she still was upset and went on to pick something even more mismatched. She was upset with me about having to wear long sleeves so she just went way over the top on this one. But, it all got straightened out and she went to school looking lovely. When Remy went to bed I sat with her for a bit, and Taffy was lying in there with us. I love to see how much she likes having a dog. She had her arm wrapped around her and would stroke her fur now and again. It was sweet. Then, you could tell it kind of bugged her. Taffy was kind of laying on her legs on top the blankets. Remy tried moving a bit and couldn’t. As we laid there listening to the Playhouse Disney CD, the Great Big Book of Everything song from Stanley came on. There’s this part in the song with kazoos that reminds me of Sixteen Candles! That made me think of teen movies, which I still love. I think Clueless is one of my favorite movies. I loved Felicity and 90210 when that was all on TV, too. Speaking of ages ago, they had great tunes in this Cardio Cycling class tonight. I’d like to be able to get the “Y” soundtrack. It was a great mix of Beastie Boys and Red Hot Chili Peppers with some Green Day and Kelly Clarkson mixed in. Yes, you read that right. This chick that’s never watched American Idol likes Kelly Clarkson. My niece would be so proud! I want to start making my own CD’s to play in the car. When the weather gets nice I love blasting the tunes with the windows down. Yeah, I still think I’m, like, 18. I must look so cool in my SUV... with the carseats in back. I am a total dork. And, how many places do I really go by myself. Yeah, that’s me in the grocery store parking lot, jammin’. Getting back, it must take a lot of time to do though, compile all the songs you like. How do people do it for iPods and stuff? I am so not there yet. I looked at the Yahoo Buzz the other night and checked out the soundtrack music links, I love soundtracks! One link led me to the Garden State soundtrack; the movie from Zach Braff. I like him on Scrubs. Funny guy. That then led me to his blog. I am so intrigued by this blog thing. Especially intrigued by the celebrity blog. I checked out David Duchuvny’s (he is promoting his latest film, House of D), which is here on Blogger, before starting my own blog. I used to watch X-Files with Mark but I love Return to Me with him and Minnie Driver. You know, it’s a transplant movie. We actually saw it long before we even knew about Mark needing one. Weird when I think about it now. I can’t even get through the movie now without bawling. So, it’s neat to me to read these other people’s random (promotional, subliminal perhaps even?) thoughts. Totally enjoying Zach Braff’s blog, though it makes me question if it’s his or not at this point. Pretty sure it’s him. He writes, “anyone saying it’s me at any other site isn’t me.” That’s like when you get those emails that are a hoax. See Step 3 from about.com’s steps to spot an email hoax:

3. Look for statements like 'This is NOT a hoax' or 'This is NOT an urban legend.' They typically mean the opposite of what they say.

Okay, so maybe not totally the same. But it seems like it to me. Make a note to self - bookmark the about.com Urban Legends site and go there anytime you question an email that you get. Do that before sending it on to everyone else! Now, back to the ZB blog, he does something that I think is cool. He’ll list things to check out, like music or just sayings or whatever, sometimes-random thoughts. So, here’s my list:

Live Strong
Moreena started it all for me!
And yes… I’m still feeling the burn.

And danced by the light of the moon

Do you remember the TV show ThirtySomething? I was like in middle school and I barely remember it, I think my sister watched it. At the end of the credits a couple sang “And danced by the light of the moon.” Well let me tell ya, the full moon must not yet be waning. Or is that waxing. Whatever the moon does after being full. I am still feeling the effects of it. I can’t stop laughing at myself about what happened to me, I’m such a dork. I worry about everything so much that I never take the time to laugh at myself. But yesterday was downright hilarious. As I was walking from the kitchen to the bedroom I had an itch on my left ankle, so, I rubbed the left foot with my right. This is when it happened - my right foot got caught on my left pant leg. I seriously went sailing – arms flailing out at my sides like a kid pretending to be an airplane. Though I was more like a helicopter with a broken propeller that was going down. I slammed my foot down on the hardwood floor so hard I thought I broke it. I had to run to get myself upright again because my nose was about to touch the floor when my foot did. My gawd it was so hilarious. I still can’t stop laughing about it. The kids couldn’t make sense of what had happened. They just kept eating their cereal at the kitchen table. Remy says to me, “Did a bug on the floor, like, trip you or something Mom?” Yeah, that was it.