Let’s see …where to start?  During Christmas break we lost power for about 45 minutes.  The extremely high winds were unbelievable.  Put that with the cool air and it was too much for the country transformers.  My neighbor, without mentioning any names but he’s a fireman, called and asked if we had lost our power.  While on the phone Bill asked “what is that noise in the background”?  To which our fireman friend answered…are you ready?…. he fired up his generator (you know the one used in hurricane emergencies) to start his coffee pot!!!!!  We were on the floor.  Not to keep the fridge cold for important stuff like wine and beer but to make his coffee.  Only in the country!

Now Magoo, in the mean time has decided to battle the 50 mph winds to see why there is no electricity.  Like it’s going to be written in jet vapor across the sky.  And… after we told him to stay put it was too dangerous to go venturing out.  But of course roaming the porch is one of the things he does best…the other is not listening…so off he goes!  Picture a sail boat in a hurricane, a flag in a tornado, a Kleenex in front of the Jolly Green Giant’s fan.  Well, that’s what Magoo and his walker resembled.  His robe was all over the place.  Kinda like Superman’s cape. It looked like a missile had been launched as he soared by his porch swing only to be stopped by the pillar at the end of the porch .  If it hadn’t been for that…he would have plowed face first into a mole hole…which not even the mole was stupid enough to stick his head out on this day.  Compare it to a football player parallel to the ground trying to cross the goal line.

I know some things do not deserve recognition but I’ll throw it in anyway.  I like sitting in my chase lounge to relax.  I don’t get to do it often especially during the busy holidays.  But I was sitting relaxing and thinking about cancer related stuff.  (One reason I don’t like to think to deeply).  Worrying about family.  Husband, dad, kids.  Thinking of friends.  And thinking what if God calls right now and your sitting here watching your husband flipping the remote from one channel to the next …clueless that you are worried about the future.  What is it with that dumb remote and the male species?  It’s like you put it in their hands and they are in another world.  Now I’m thinking wouldn’t it be great if there was a remote for life.  Push a button and cancer is gone.  Push a button and there is peace.  Push a button and you can visit friends and family who have passed.  Push a button and your husband disappears and the remote is all yours!  Hey, this is fun…I bet I could think of several interesting scenarios.  Several would include George Strait!!!!

Then you have Magoo calling me because his house shoe is disassembling.  Get the duct tape.  So, over to his house I go.  Walk in his door…people, I could have cooked a chicken in the heat!  No oven required.  It was so hot his dog (Lilly) was half in and half out the doggy door.  Easy deed for a dashshund.  Head and front paws sticking outside…probably to breathe, and back end staying toasty.  Magoo is sitting in his recliner messing with his shoe.  He is dressed in sweat clothes and his famous robe.  “Dad…how can you breathe”?  He said it was fine to him.  Every flower on his poinsettia had dropped off!!!  If there was any living thing in that house… it had bailed!  I wonder if there is a button on that remote for this?

Rockets red glare, bombs bursting in air…literally.  Horses, cows, goats, chickens, rabbits, donkeys, dogs, cats and birds were going crazy.  Starr (our black lab) was under her pillow.  One of our neighbors down the street decided to put on a “country club” fireworks show.  It lasted 22 minutes.  I counted.  Magoo came out asking where the bunkers were?  No dad, you are not back in WW ll and we are not in Italy.  I put my boots on and went out to check to make sure the horses didn’t break through the fence.  They were not happy but were OK.  Guess what the two men of my house were doing?  You guessed it…snoring.  Bill and Moochie were out like lights.  I mean even the vibration would have been enough.  So I did what every good wife would do.  I stuck his hearing aids in his ears and sat back and watched the look on his face.   Works every time!

I received an e-mail from a lady named Shirley.  I tried to e-mail her back but the e-mail address given was not correct.  So Shirley, if you are reading this please contact me through this website.  I am so humbled by your gracious words and know what you are going through.  Thank you for buying my book for your nook and I wish you all the best.

Take care everyone.  I hope you have a blessed 2013.
Ride,Baby,Ride! 
Hugs!!!!!!
Leilani 

Hope everyone young and old and those in the middle, had a wonderful Christmas Season.  Bill and I would like to wish everyone a blessed and safe 2013.  May your guardian angels travel along side you, may the good memories of 2012 keep you going, may God hold and keep our love ones that we lost until we are reunited with them again and may God bless you always!  A BIG New Year’s Eve hug from our family to yours.

I will post a blog later this week.  Lots of interesting stuff has gone on.  I’m sure you will find them quite amusing!

Ride,Baby,Ride!
Leilani

After recovering from a very rough week…I am ready to head into the beautiful season of Christmas.  It will be tough without two of my favorite people in the world but life goes on and they would not want it any other way.  (I wrote a small blog yesterday on the passing of my cousins…6 days apart).  So onward into the hustle and bustle of the holidays.  Actually, my favorite time of year.  Parties, family, friends, turkey and ham, Lani’s green bean casserole and presents! 

It sounds like the animals in the adjacent farms know that it’s Christmas too.  And how do I know that?  OMG!  During my morning ritual of letting the dogs out to roam the property, clinging to my cup of coffee, I am bombarded with the sound of dueling roosters.  Seriously, the testosterone was running berserk.  One would crow then the next one.  Wasn’t sure how many cocks were involved but it was extremely annoying!  And if that wasn’t enough….Jenny decided to do her morning hee-hawing at the same time.  Almost like chiming in.  Either that little donkey was pissed at the chanticleers or she wanted to grow feathers and join in.  To add to that, the cows that Jenny is protecting were wondering why she was running around the pasture kicking and bucking.  So they add their two cents.   I watched the sunrise and drank my coffee thinking …Noah had to have drank A LOT!!!!!!

We were sorry to see my brother D and his bride Libby leave.  The few weeks they stayed with us went much too fast.  But they found a cute house in Kerrville.  It sits on top a hill and looks down over the town.  While they were here we would enjoy cocktails at night while either watching football or Hallmark Christmas movies or just sitting outside gazing at the stars and freezing our butts off.  The only problem was…there seemed to be a Crown Royal bandit on the loose.  And for once you can’t blame me because “wine” is my weapon of choice.  Every other day there was a new bottle of Crown on the bar because the last bottle was empty.  So we decided the Crown Royal bandit hides until we all go to bed and then pops out with it’s straw and sucks the life out of the Crown bottles!  Can’t you just in-vision a pesky little gnome wearing a crown on it’s head with a purple bag of jiggers and straws in tote, grinning from ear to ear, reciting “catch me if you can”!  I’m telling you …it does exist.  A night vision camera sounds like the perfect Christmas gift for our home.  Now, how do you get a crown bottle in a mouse trap?

Is anyone else being harrassed by telephone from security companies?  I mean 2 to 3 phone calls daily.  Messages on the answering machine to the tune that the FBI says there have been several break-ins in our “neck of the woods” and we had better secure our home with their product.  Number one…wouldn’t we know if there had been a break-in around us.  All the neighbors know each other and look out for each other.  A strange car can’t even go down the road without one of us calling the other to find out what’s going on.  So to all of you security companies…Don’t Bother!!!!  We have roosters, a jenny, cows, dogs, plenty of Merlot and guns!  Don’t mess with Texas!!!

HOLIDAY HUGS!
Ride,Baby,Ride!
Leilani

I can not imagine the loss of a child.  I have lost my mother.  But the  thought of losing a child is unbearable.  I will start this blog by saying that in times of grief and suffering you reach for  family or friends.  In addition to all our nation is enduring at this time …I too, lost two family members within 6 days.  I lost my cousin Sandra to lung cancer on Tuesday morning.  Her service was Thursday night.  Sunday morning I lost my cousin Norma.  They were both my favorite confidantes and both incredible ladies.  I will remember the things that made me smile.  I will remember the things that made me cry.  And I will remember their unconditional love.  Of their families, their friends, and me.  I will be lost for a while but I know they are with God.  I know exactly what each one is up to in the Heavenly kingdom.  Norma is painting the sunsets (wonderful artist) and Sandra is flying around her family with her new set of wings.  Oh…and the wings have O U tatooed on them.  ( Grad of Oklahoma Univ….and always rubbed it in).  I know that the faith feeding thoughts that the ones left behind for us to remember them by are… beautiful, loving, caring, and full of getting things done and not giving up.  At least not until their bodies did.  God bless the families of ones that lost treasures this week and keep them safe and warm in your unending love.  

So for tonight please keep those who have lost a loved one in your prayers.  God calls us all home.  I will write a blog entry again tomorrow.   Ride,Baby,Ride!
Hugs!
Leilani

Windy, chilly, and damp.  Finally getting some “holiday” weather.  I mean, Christmas isn’t Christmas unless there is at least a hint of winter weather.  Right?  I think Santa Claus thought so last night when the northerner blew in.  Fulshear winds were gaged at 35 MPH.  Our 4′ light -up porch Santa was no where to be found this morning.  At 5 AM I turned on the outdoor Christmas lights just to find his red ass.  Cleverly….I followed the extention cord to the front bushes.  There he was upside down, looking like a pot head ( in other words his head was in a potted plant and his feet straight up in the air).  Rough night St. Nick? 

The kids all came over for our traditional night of watching the movie “Christmas Vacation”.  Lani baked cookies and this year I ordered everyone a “Griswold’s Christmas Vacation” shirt to wear.  The kids think I have totally gone off the deep end but that’s OK.  When I’m long gone they will think back on how humorous I was each Christmas.  One year t-shirts, one year matching this or matching that.  And they will wish I were still around to surprise them every year with something different or stupid.   Well, maybe not.  But hopefully they will be talking about it with fond memories and laugh on how much fun we had.   Maybe next year Griswold boxer shorts!

Magoo had to go to the dentist again.  He had been complaining for a few days so I gave in.  $645.00 later…I drag his unhappy butt home.  There has to be a better way to handle old peoples teeth.  Dr.K and his crew are so good with him but he takes it out on whoever is stuck taking him on the way there and back.  Anyway, on the way home I get no conversation.  I try to make a couple of funny comments about his mouth looking like a drooping bloodhounds but to no avail.  He was having no part of that.  Then I tried to turn on Christmas music and get him to enjoy “Jingle Bell Rock”…..turn that down….it’s too loud.  Hell, I like “Jingle Bell Rock”.  It’s one of my favorites.  So I started singing it without the radio.  Then I get the look from a “Tales of the Crypt” character and told I can’t sing.  So, I hummed “Jingle Bell Rock”.  The man actually put his hands over his ears!  I laughed so hard. A friend of mine, Ronny,  who is in my breakfast club said “karma is only a bitch if you are”!   Boy, is Magoo in for a major encounter with karma.  And I hope it’s singing “Jingle Bell Rock”…off key!

Tackling the treadmill again.  Always a fun activity when you’ve gotten so fat that even your stored away “fat clothes” don’t fit.  The bag of clothes that are stuck way back in the closet and are labeled  “only use in case of emergency”.  The bag that you swore you would never see again.  The BS bag.  (Before Steroids).  OMG!  Have you ever had a treadmill tell you to get off and add more oil.  Then a light comes on and tells the world your weight.  The little “treadmill gnome”  had better watch it.  I’m really close to doing something abusive with it’s circuits. 

Lani walked into the den and told me that it looked like the Christmas Elf threw up in the house.  She has always teased me about all the crap I put out for the Christmas holidays.  I can’t help it.  It’s not Christmas if you can walk safely threw the den.  In fact, navigating with a wine helps.  I have discovered “box wine”.  The big box contains 37 glasses of wine.  Has a tap, how convenient, and saves money and shopping time.  Of course it’s not your “14 Hands” or a Frances Coppola, but it serves it’s purpose…cheap and it’s not half bad.  Perfect for finding your way through the decorations, Santa’s, presents, tree and sleeping dogs, without using your Garmin. 

Bill and I were invited to a Children’s Cancer Fundraiser at the beautiful home of Tilman Fertitta.  It was so gracious of them to open their house to all of us for the evening.  Lots of money was raised for MD Anderson’s Children’s Cancer Research.  Kids are such incredible little troopers.  God bless them.  And Lani and I went to see the Santaland Diaries at the Alley Theater.  If you have not seen it…it is a hoot.  Very funny and adult rated.  It is about a disgruntled Macy’s Santa’s elf.  Everyone and everything are made fun of.  A classic!

Stay warm my friends.  Hugs!
Ride,Baby,Ride!
Leilani

Douglas Fir is a family Christmas Tradition.  He is an 18″ tall artificial Douglas fir Christmas tree that lights up his eyes and mouth when he sings and talks.  And can be extremely annoying.  Especially to Lani.  So Libby, Bill and I decided to wake her up one morning at 6 AM with Douglas.  We cracked her door and set him in the doorway and turned him on.  Lani was not amused.  So we set him on her sink so when she went in to the bathroom the motion detector would pick her up and he would go off.  Lani was not amused.  I think the last words we heard Douglas speak were “Have a tree-mendous Christmas”!  And they were garbled due to the fact he was going treetop first in the toilet. 

The holiday season is full of surprises.  Some wanted….others not.  After removing all the decorations from fall and storing the crock pots and roasters until Christmas dinner I started trying to locate my egg timer.  There needs to be a alarm locater on the egg timer.  No, it was not in the refrigerator next to the phone and shaving cream.  That’s the first place my wonderful family wanted me to look.  (Check out previous blogs to get the details on that).  Anyway, the timer turned up in the kitchen drawer, upside down,incognito, just like it was mooning me.  I was daring the damn thing to “ding” on me.  You know, like…the ha ha, screw you ding.  Then Bill…OMG… loses the gate remote.  This,  at this point and time actually makes me feel better.  At least the egg timer is easily replaced!  Everyone was summoned for the scavenger hunt.  We know it’s somewhere on the property because he let himself in the gate.  Still have not found it.  Again, why don’t these gadgets have an “here I am alarm” on them?

My brother D turned 59 over the past week.  My nephew, Walker, brought over a big birthday cake.  I left the three guys with the cake to go over and watch “60 Minutes” with Magoo.  Came back and all that was left of the cake was the outer edge.  All icing.  I mean this was a serious group of cake eaters.  It reminded me of when Lani was christened and we had a christening cake for her.  We got back from the church and our dachshund “Buttons” had eaten exactly half the cake.  And I picked up after her for two days.  These 3 looked just as green.

The horses have been put on a serious diet.  Our farrier, Trini,  was here to do their pedicures and said they were too fat.  I don’t think Bud was phased by the insult but Poco was devistated.  Since he is the one courting the neighbors “jenny”, and is going through his vain stage.  So….cutting grain in half and no carrot and apple treats.  Poor babies!  I’m sure they are psycho doctors for equines…somewhere.  Then magoo’s dog, Lilly, was chewing on something.  She tried to hide it in her blanket.  I asked her what she had.  She looks straight at the corner of the couch.  Then she looks down at the corner of the coffee table.  In about 10 strategic spots I found hidden pecans.  Now in Magoo’s fenced yard there are no pecan trees.  So how did the pecans get within Lilly’s reach?  Being the detective that I am….I see the huge crows flying over dad’s yard and dropping them as if to bombard Lilly.  Lilly grabs them and then buries, hides and eats the rest.  Isn’t mother nature funny?

Bill sat up in bed at 1:30AM and screamed “hello”!  Scared the holy crap out of me.  Then he precedes to carry on a conversation with “whoever”.  Ah Bill…oh Bill….he looks at me and says someone knocked on the door.  So you are going to answer the door from the bed?  Oh…I must be dreaming.  No s_ _t!  Please dear Lord…..let me get just one whack in!!!!!  Maybe I can put him back out on the ladder.  Ceiling fans ON!

Enjoy everyday my friends.  Life is a blessing!  Believe!!!!!!

Hugs!
Ride,Baby,Ride!
Leilani

I do believe that we have all finally lost it.  Thanksgiving morning started with rise and shine at 4:30 AM.  Well, rise…not to sure about the shine part.  Libby and I meet outside to venture to Magoo’s to get the turkey out of his fridge.  We could not fit another thing in ours… or hers.  So 27 pound Tom begins his fate.  Lani gets up at 6 and starts the Bloody Mary’s.  At 8 AM I am talking to the refrigerator.  No…cussing at the refrigerator.  The damn door alarm kept sounding because the doors had been left open too long.  Libby is laughing at me while she is carrying on a complete conversation with her lap top.  (For those who don’t know …Lib is a travel agent and everyone was bothering her on Thanksgiving morning).  At 8:30, Bill has his first beer.  I think it had something to do with being ordered out of the kitchen and a restraining order to stay at least 15 feet away from us at all times.  Then to really get Bill going, the girls decided we would hide his coffee cup.  Don’t be fooled.  There wasn’t coffee in the coffee cup.  At 10 Am  Butterball Tom was ready.  At 11, family and friends arrived.  At 11:30 the Texans started.  By 3 we were all jumping up and down with the second big overtime victory in four days.  It was a wonderful day.  Full of football games, on TV and outside, pecan picking, golf cart riding, and guitar playing. 

Then there is the after Thanksgiving fun.  Hitting the grocery store for regular food and diet pills.  Word of advice,  don’t go shopping until you are sure all the kids are back in school.  I feel that it is OK to discipline kids.  I feel it is OK to “water-board” brats!  Better yet…let them grow up like we did.  Not with these wussy parents they have now but with Magoo!  I would have rather been water-boarded.  One look from him would send those kids to their room screaming for cover.  I mean, I heard a kid say “no” to his mother.  And the mom just looks at him and says something like “don’t say that”.  WHAT….a “no” would have gotten me in a coma for days.  I really believe if I had the balls to say no to Magoo today…I would be emergency room bound.  What happened to the parental guts?  I would definitely rank some of these kids right up there with Hitler, Son of Sam, and Manson.  And what’s the deal about thinking it’s alright to get a girl pregnant right after you toss your diapers?  I can’t imagine, boy or girl, being a parent at 15 or 16.  Greg Gutfeld of Fox Network’s “Red Eye” and one of the host of “The Five” says “children are just tiny criminals”!  I think he’s on to something.  Now we can’t even turn them into “Twinkies Kids”.  It was fun to make them fat and harmless.  That way they couldn’t out run you or Grandma when you were coming after them with a switch in your hand!

Our buckskin horse Poco, has a new girlfriend.  The jenny in the back field is his new flame.  They meet at the fence and hug.  He licks her ears.  She makes her noises and all is good.  I can honestly say that he has found him a “piece of ass”…jackass that is.  They are so cute together.  The other horse, Bud, just looks at Poco like he has lost his mind.  Probably telling him that she is just “fun size”.

Ever thought about funny little sayings.  Like….”how did you get yourself in such a pickle”?  Or “dumb as a door knob”, “not the sharpest knife in the drawer”,  “not the brightest crayon in the box”, “she eats like a bird”.  Well, I was thinking…how would you get yourself in a pickle.  Look kinda funny in a pickle costume.  How would you know which one was the dullest knife…try them all?  What if the box only contained black, gray, white, and brown?  Which would be the brightest?  Eat like a bird….birds eat constantly…what an insult!  Now if someone says “he’s hung like a bull”, I expect an e-mail with detailed pics. 

I saw a commercial on TV.  The Charmin ad where the 3 bears are the stars.  Momma bear is doing laundry and finds “skid marks” in baby bears briefs.  Papa bear is playing X-box in the den.  The point is, why do laundry if they all are running around naked.  The bears are bare!  None of them have clothes on but yet poor momma is washing clothes.  I mean how do you know baby bear didn’t wipe good if he’s not wearing briefs.  Just one of those things like the tampon ads that drive me nuts!

Will be putting Christmas decorations up this week.  Already got the tree out and as Libby puts it, “fluffed it up”.  I decided to be extra careful this year on what goes out.  Two reasons.  Having to put everything back up is a pain in the ass!  And I need to keep Bill off the ladder.  Thank goodness it’s cooler and the ceiling fans will remain off.  Now, if they would just invent rubber concrete.  Magoo has decided he doesn’t want his Christmas stuff up just yet.  Can’t figure out why.  Either he is planing on leaving us before Santa gets here or he’s afraid he’ll trip over everything.  We have given up on his “life” time table.  Whatever batteries he’s equipped with are still putting out energy.  Barely, but tiny sparks still keep him going.

Hugs,
Ride,Baby,Ride!
Leilani

As Lani and I were pulling away from the house, I casually said to her “I don’t know about this. Leaving four men alone unattended while we dine with the girls….kinda makes me nervous.”  Lani shot me the “I agree with you look” while rolling her eyes.  But we thought of the bright side.  We were only going down the road to “Ray’s Grill” in Fulshear for steak and lobster night.  Nothing could possibly happen.  At least Casey is there with Bill, Magoo, and Uncle D (my brother) if something comes up.  As we pulled into our parking spot I could only imagine the 911 call in my mind.  And the poor operator who was destined to receive it.  As we finish our dinner and wine with good friends Benny and Carol…we say our goodbyes and they wished us well on what we would find when we returned home.  At least we did not have an interrupting phone call.  Yet!  We arrived at the house and Bill is standing at the side door.  So, Bill is OK and in one piece.  Where are the other three?  Bill informs us that Casey went home.  Smart Casey!  And he and D had gone to Magoo’s for “Wheel of Fortune”.  And…..And what Bill?  Well, D goes to his bungalow and I come back over here and your dad calls me.  He had hit his shin on his recliner.  And what Bill?  And there is blood everywhere and I tried to bandage him but you’d better look at it.  OMG…it looked like a war zone.  Who threw the grenade?  The whole house smelled of Fabuloso.  No… a Fabuloso factory.  Why didn’t I drink more wine at dinner?  Bill, Fabuloso doesn’t take blood out of the carpet.  Blood drops were everywhere.  Dad, next time you cut yourself…sit still.  I spent the next hour cleaning up Magoo’s phlebotomy cave.  Isn’t there a quote somewhere about patience being a virtue…Screw that crap!!!!  Henry Drummond once said, “You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you really have lived, are the moments you have done things in a spirit of love.”  Well, I will look back on this moment that in the “spirit of love” …I didn’t kill anybody!

Does everyone have the same aggravation with the metric system as I do?  The scales at the doctor’s office and hospitals are now in metrics.  The nurse says “let’s see what you weigh.”  No, let’s not!  I mean you get your fat butt up there and it reads 70.  70? What the hell does that mean?  I haven’t weighed 70 since I was in third grade.  In actuality that means you are too frigg’in fat!  Why can’t a word just pop up?  Like “too skinny”, “average”, or “get your fat ass off of me you’re going to break my digital system computer.”  I guess this means I’m stuck somewhere between the lack of estrogen stage and the death stage.  So at this age we are just trying to stay in the holding pattern.  You know …your shirts are dying from hot flash sweat.  You want to punch someone out if they ask “are you cold?”  Does this shirt look like I’m cold?  It’s really the “metallic group” age.  Where we should live by the Periodic Chart of Elements.  We have silver hair, take Silver Centrum vitamins, put gold in our teeth and bridges, carry a metal cane, have steel toed shoes, (Bill needs steel protection everywhere especially when he’s on a mission with the ladder) and we take Zinc for our colds.  We are at a time where you can advertise anything on TV or billboards.  I always thought the feminine hygiene product commercials were disgusting.  Have you ever passed a billboard on I10 and there is a 10 foot tampon talking to you?  Saying something like “I can do everything but answer the phone.”   As women are complaining about having to go through that time of month (every month) men are about to run off the freeway thinking about where the talking tampon is inserted.  Bless their hearts.  Even though I no longer require the service of the talking tampon, if they ever invent them to vibrate…look me up!

Starting to get ready for Turkey day.  I have used, abused, and worn out  Mr. Clean.  And I don’t even know his first name.  It’s about time we are on a first name basis.    All the Yankee Candle scents are just amazing.  I bought two to go with all of Mr. Clean’s hard work.  “Farmer’s Market” and “Spiced Pumpkin”.   Give them a try. 

They must have a school somewhere for “assholes”.  Asshole classes.  Not the orifice between your two cheeks but the nasty people who are determined to be mean.  Logic says being an asshole is not an illness…it’s an aquried option.  So I went on a counting assholes hunt.  I woke up and said to myself…Self, we are going to count asses today.  These people are individuals who deliberately ,or not , cause other people mental stress.  First of all they come in all shapes,sizes,colors, and ages.  They pop up everywhere.  They really love to drive!  In fact they thrive on pissing off people on the highways and byways.  So, everyone I encounter I’m going to kill them with kindness.  That lasted through exactly  4 assholes and approximately thirty minutes.  How do these people live that way?  I just close my eyes and imagine them as a big pile of poop…and that just makes me SMILE!  After all it’s Thanksgiving.  And God wants us to love everyone… even the assholes.

Closing out today I wanted to say that Bill and I saw the best NFL game ever yesterday.  No one left the stadium and if they did they were sure sorry they did.  Go Texans!!!  Awesome game and awesome win!  Thanks Texans for such an entertaining game but you almost gave us all a heart attack.  They play Detroit on Thanksgiving.  Let’s go 10-1.  And SUPERBOWL!   Thanks to dear friends Linda and David for going with us to the game.  We always have fun! 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  We pray for peace and we give thanks for all we have.  God bless the USA!!

Hugs! 
Ride,Baby,Ride!
Leilani 

All the way to lunch with Bill in tow, I was so excited.  Kinda like when your souffle doesn’t fall or when your dinner is ready in the crock-pot when you get home.  (Erma Bombeck, my heroine, said somewhere in one of her books….”don’t ever let the sun set on an empty crock-pot”).  I feel like I’m finally coming together after way too many months filled with bypasses, check-ups, heart rehabs and so forth.  No longer do I care what I look like when my fat ass passes a mirror.  Everything now is focused on the holidays and fun,fun,fun.  Looking forward to spending time with Lani in the kitchen, pretending we are master chefs and drinking our wine while we con-cock our famous feast. 

Being a tomboy, of sorts, growing up….I never was real comfortable with all the domestic crap.  Of course, all that came to a screeching halt when motherhood arrived,  But I would much rather, as a teen, to be in the swimming pool or riding my favorite horse at Lakeside Country club (when they still had stables).  And what a great time we are having as a family now.  My kids are all happy, working, and actually talking to me.  And by that I mean…remember when kids were at the age when they didn’t want anything to do with you.  Wouldn’t talk to you because parents weren’t cool.  And heaven forbid being in the same room with you if one of their pals showed up!  So, now I’ll feeling on top of the world.  So spunky that I am getting ready to do a few changes to the house. 

Bill always says that my eyes start to sparkle when I’m up to something.  I can’t help it.  My mind goes into gear and then that’s it.  Well, I’ve decided the kitchen needs an addition.  A TV addition.  So that anyone eating at the bay window bar will be able to view the “boob tube” while dining on the “bird”.  The Texans play at 11:30 on Thanksgiving morning.  If you are sitting at the beautiful mosaic bar that Casey made, you will not be able to see the big screen that everyone else can view from all other points in the kitchen.  Electrician Casey, will hook it up and have it ready to go.  The kitchen ceiling fan is near by so Bill is banned from the area when a ladder is in play.  My non-domestic type lifestyle needs football to help me make it through the day of hungry friends and family that visit the compound. 

Bookstores are stuffed with discounts, coupons, and suggestive books on how to throw a successful Thanksgiving meal.  Really?  A $30.00 book on instructions on how to screw up my turkey.  Some of the things they come up with…to do…to that poor bird.  Isn’t that why we bought a roaster, so we can stick Tom’s butt in there and turn it on without having to mess with it?  Isn’t that why my mom forced me to learn how to make homemade cornbread because store bought stuffing’s sucks?  Isn’t that why you open a can of Del Monte green beans and a can of the miracle substance, Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup, so that you can’t fail?  Then I see dad walking across his porch.  I think back on how he and men and women like him (of course, there is no one like Magoo), made all of this possible.  Possible for us to sit and give thanks with the ones we love.  Possible to cuss in the kitchen over an “over cooked bird”.  Thank you dad.  WW ll, U.S. Army Captain, and  reconnaissance pilot.  And Bill U.S. Air Force.  And all the men and women that fought for our freedom…our green bean casseroles and a TV in the kitchen! 

So, as you know, mom’s have 4 sets of eyeballs.  No, really.  Mine did.  And radar to go with it.  It is an acquired skill but it does exist.  Ask any kid or husband.  We have vision towards the north, east, south, and west.  For instance, if Bill is in the kitchen…sink water running….then I hear him in a different room of the house and I shout what are you doing?  Answer comes back letting the dogs out.  Then why is the water on in the kitchen?  How do you know that?    PLEASE!!!!   Have you ever seen the TV ad about the dad saying after everything he attempts (and I mean the key word is attempts) he always says “don’t tell mom”!?  Well, Lani and I fought the grocery store mob yesterday to make sure we had everything needed for the big day.  I am determined not to set foot in a store the entire week of “turkey Thursday”.  Men should not be allowed to grocery shop.  Better yet make them go to cart driving school.  Every isle where a man is left unattended with children you hear stuff like this.  Mom said not to get that.  Mom said that’s not healthy.  Mom’s going to be mad.  Mom is going to rip you a new one dad.  Not to mention driving the cart all over the isle.  Come on guys …it’s like driving a car.  Stay to the right.  And corral your kids.  Either keep them in or near your cart.  Climbing the shelf to reach the Oreo Snacksters doesn’t cut it.  If they had 4 sets of eyeballs like us….they wouldn’t have to retrieve their lost brat at customer service!

Enjoy life my friends.  Reach out to someone that needs a little attention.
Ride,Baby,Ride!
Hugs,
Leilani