Christmas with our kids!!

When it was all said and done....this is how our house looked!!

Good times baby!

Merry Christmas Evey-Eve!!

It's almost Christmas!!!!!

Wish I had known about Hussey's when I was planning my "wedding" ....

looks like a real classy place!

So Hussey's here got me thinkin' about a place Rich and I love to stop at on our way through Southern Kentucky. It's The Olde Gener'l Store (notice how they spell General....ok, it is Kentucky afterall....)

I really like the order of priority on the sign below...... Bourbon, Whiskey, Candy, Coca-Cola!

HO HO HO!! Don't forget to round up your grab bag stuff for the Annual Grab Bag Festival at Jill's house!!

Come one, Come all - it is gonna be a ball!

What the heck is that???

I'm sitting here at my computer and all of a sudden, over my speakers, I'm picking up a Brittish radio station or TV station. Even though I'm cranking the sound to see what they are saying - I can't get the sound to go louder.

Needless to say, it scared the heck out of me. It's late (12:45am) and I'm sitting here working away on a couple of websites I'm building when all of a sudden I'm hearing voices. Now let's all face it....I might hear voices more than the average person does but this time they aren't in my head!

Scared the baheepers outta me!

The Wrappin' Man and His Wrappin' Creations

Rich's Wrapping Station

Over the last 2 days, I finished our Christams shopping while Richie was at home resting his back, sitting on the couch, wrapping what I bought. He loves to wrap presents but he sure knows how to create a MESS!!! Check out what I'm lovingly calling :

Rich's Crapping ( I mean) Wrapping Station:

As much as I love dachshund's - and as much as I really, really want one, I'm afraid my allergies will just drive me crazy. So I've been researching hypoallergenic dogs. Do they make em? Yep - they sure do! Labradoodles!!! They are a mix of labrador (one of the best dogs on the planet earth) and a poodle (ok not my favorite dog of all time).

What I'm reading is these dogs are bred specifically to eliminate the allergy factor!!! Now before you say - a lab and a poodle??????? ....check out how stinkin' cute these babies are!!!!!

The pictures below are from the breeder Yesteryearacres in Ohio (I think)
Check out this breeder's website: http://www.yesteryearacres.com/

I want one!!!!

A challenge to the family:

This Christmas season,

as you wonder what to get Grammy ...

I'd like to challenge each cousin to buy Grammy a Kroger gift certificate.

Each year I get her a gift certificate for Christmas and her birthday too. When she runs out of money on her cards, she always mentions that she has to start buying groceries again out of her own money.

I know she would appreciate it if we all banded together and pitched in to buy her groceries for most of the year.

I'm going to try to get a $100.00 gift certificate for her for Christmas - which is tough to do but I'm going for it - I'll make more money.

I know that's not possible for everyone to go that high but if everyone gave her at least a $20.00 certificate from Kroger - she'd have a bunch of money!!! Even the smallest amount helps her on her limited income.

See you at Christmas!!

Andrea

There's nothing like blowing and drifting snow to say .... "Winter's Here!!"

Santa's lighted stocking

Santa's home away from home!!!!!

Girls, have you ever bought lip gloss only to find out the taste totally grossed you out? Don't you hate it when your lip gloss feels like wax on your lips?

INTRODUCING.......
The lip gloss that changed my life!

GLOW BABY GLOW Hook Up Lip Gloss - from AVON

This is the best lip gloss I've ever had.

It comes in a variety of colors and isn't it convenient that Sarah is an Avon lady?

Have you seen my lips lately? Are they dry? Chapped? NOPE! All thanks to Glow Baby Glow!

Get yours today!

GO COLTS!!!

In case anyone forgot - here's the list from our cousin gift exchange:

Sarah buys for Rich
Andrea buys for Adam
John buys for Allison
Rich buys for Chad
Rosie buys for Liz
Ryan buys for Jenny
Allison buys for Craig
Liz buys for Aaron
Jenny buys for Sarah
Chad buys for John
Craig buys for Ryan
Adam buys for Rosie
Aaron buys for Andrea.

This is probably my favorite picture from the trip

Check out the hurricane damage in Destin Florida

And the beach erosion in Seaside Florida

Just got back from sunny Destin Florida. Here are a couple of pictures to share with you.

I was roaming around the Walmart website and ran into recipes online. Who would ever guess! Looks like Walmart is putting together an Employee Cookbook. They've listed a few really yummy looking recipes on their website. Hey some of them look mighty tasty!!!

Check em out~http://walmart.triaddigital.com/Bake-Center-Event.aspx

Now's your chance!!

Announcing my new column, Ask Andrea.

• Do you need advice?
• Want to vent and need someone to back you up?
• Want to know which grocery store has the best deal on Diet Coke is this week?
• Need to know which hairspray will withstand hurricane force winds?
• Looking for mindless trivia from the net?

Please submit your questions or requests to my blog. No question is too crazy, stupid or out of reach! I'll do my best to get you what you need.

Anyone ever been to Crown Hill Cemetry? The highest point in Indianapolis is there.

James Whitcomb Riley is buried at the highest point along with 2 other shrines to people I don't know. The view of downtown is unmatched!

I took some great pictures from that perch high above the city (and around the grounds too). Here are a few of the shots.

On to a more pleasant subject......

Went to the Indianapolis Art Museum today. Got some great shots! Here are a few.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is what happens when an eyebrow waxing goes terribly wrong!!


If you have a weak stomach .... this may just gross you out. Sorry about the poor quality. I couldn't take the picture and focus on the eyebrow abscess at the same time. These are about as good as it gets.

Anyone want to hear my eyebrow waxing horror story?

Ok, Ok, I know some of you know the beginning of the tail.....for the slow people I'll start at the beginning.

Get my eyebrows waxed (as I always do) about 12 weeks ago. She pinches me with the eyebrown wax "roller-on-er". OUCH, I think to myself but think nothing more of it.

Later, I notice a small bump - tiny I'd say in comparision of what's to come. I look at the bump and think to myself - great a zit.

The zit never comes - and the bump doesn't go away or come to a head. Next thing I know, I have a knot above my eyebrow. And it's getting bigger all the time!

So about 4 weeks go by. The knot is there. It hurts. It's BIG. I'm sick of it. I visit my general doctor - who at this point probably thinks I'm nuts for coming to see her with a bump on an eyebrow. So what? It hurt dang it and it was way too close to my eye and brain for my comfort.

She says it's a sack of blood. GROSS, I'm thinking silently. The Doc says - "It'll disolve on it's own...give it time." So patient as I am, I wait .... and I wait. And I wait. Still the bump is there - and dare I say it's getting bigger - not smaller.

Now - TWELVE stinkin' weeks after the "alleged" incident...this sucker is killing me. I mean I have an extremely high tolerance for pain but this sucker about knocks me off my feet.

That was Monday. I've got to go to a dermatologist - so I convince myself & make the appointment. I see him on Wednesday this week.

He comes in. Looks at the now boil like object above my eyebrow and says with a horrified look on his face.....that's an abscess and it's so infected I won't touch it today. You need the strongest antibiotic and you need alot of it. So take 3 of these 500 mil. pills every day and come back to see me on Monday.

Thank God I went. The bump, that turned into a lump, that turned into a boil like object that turned into an eraser sized puss volcano finally erupted yesterday.

It's fair to say it was probably the most disgusting thing that ever happened to me to date - in all my 40 years. I mean, other than me, who do you know that's ever had a face abscess?

So girls the moral of this story is....there really is a high price to beauty & Beauty is more than skin deep.

My advice to you? Tweeze. Don't wax.

I can prove damages. I sure had pain and suffering. And I have 3 Doctor bills to prove I have expenses.

Girls.......I ask you, is this the get rich quick scheme I've been waiting for all of my life?

Should I call Keller and Keller? Vaughn Wamsley? Roni Deutch?

Your input will be invaluable as always!!

P.S. I have pictures of the puss ball on my face - if you'd like to see them, let me know, I'll post them here

Ever wish YOU could appear on a real stamp? Since most commemorative stamps only come out AFTER you die - were you not willing to pay the price just to get your face on a stamp?

WAIT NO MORE!!!

Now is your chance to have your very own real U.S. stamps, courtesy of Yahoo Pictures.

http://photos.yahoo.com/ph/page?.file=holiday_stamps.html

You select the picture you want on the stamp, send it through the Yahoo photos process and a few days later you'll get your very own, real U.S. stamps in the mail - with your beautiful mug shot right there for everyone to see!!!

How cool is that?

Ok girls. It's up to us to decide....

What are we going to do about Christmas? Grammy is super stressed out at the thought of having Christmas at her house. She can't stand the commotion and the crowd makes her nervous. She doesn't enjoy herself and darn it, she's too old to stress out and not have fun.

We can't think about what's best for us we have to think about what's best for her.

What do we do? Should we rent a place?

HAPPY
BIRTHDAY
ALLISON!!!!!

Finally, the cool crisp fall air. I love it!! My favorite time of year. Some of the trees are starting to change. Is there anything more beautiful in nature? I've got my camera ready, the first signs of fall are here. Time to go capture it all on film...er, uh I mean capture it all on memory stick!
Here's one of my fall pics from last year.

Loves it!

I'm afraid I've got another addiction.

Welch's juice popcicles.

YUM!!!

Are you in the market for a new purse. I am!

It's fall (allegedly), we're not supposed to wear white anymore (though I am cause I think rules are meant to be broken) and here I am still carrying that flowery purse from summer. Is there anything more embarrassing?

I think not. So I've been on a quest for a really cool, perfect purse. Yeah I've found a couple. Most over the $100.00 range. With all the destruction in the Gulf States, I can't justify spending $100.00 on a purse when those poor people have no homes to go to and when my cousin Allison is living with no water! So the hunt goes on.

Cheap purses - reveal yourself to me!

Here are a couple of good websites for purses, if you're in the market:

www.purseboutique.com
www.zappos.com (I order shoes from this site ALL the time)
www.ebags.com

You'll surely find something you can't live without on one of these sites.

Happy hunting!

Ever wished you could have received information about that boss you're going to work for, before you go to work for him/her?

Ever wonder what information is online about YOU?

Or, are you nosey and have an enquiring mind that just won't quit?

Well, here's a cool new tool that searches the internet and pulls back results showing websites referencing the name you enter!

Check it out: www.zoominfo.com

Check out the cheap gas finder I added to the right hand menu of my blog.

I wish each and every one of you cheap gas - whenever you want it!

Pen lovers be on the look out.
Coming to a Christmas stocking near you!

I just got this really cool pen from one of my colleagues. She was on vacation, saw this in an ergonomic store and bought it for me. It's the weirdest, most comfortable pen I've ever owned.

Check out the website: www.penagain.com

You'll love it too!

(no that's not an actual photo of my hand)