Christmas Eve

I put the tree up today at about 5pm. Not kidding. 5pm. I meant to put it up on Monday or Tuesday, but time definitely got away from me. I would've put it up sooner today, but I spent 8 hours working on Steve's present. Not kidding once again. I honestly thought TOMORROW was Christmas Eve. But his present will definitely show how much effort I put into it. I've been planning it and designing it for a month.

The Christmas lights were put up last Saturday. That wasn't easy. There are parts of the roofline that I can't even reach while I'm standing on the top of the ladder. You know, the step that says, "Do not step on this it's too dangerous!"

Some electrical details had to be worked out, and once they were, the icicles came to life!!!



Oh, but there's more....

The metal cactus in the front yard has the big old style lights on it, and the dry river bed (strictly a southwest thing...) has lights in it!



And then there's the little details, like the 4 foot tall stocking, and the red festive ribbons, and the pine garland all around the front porch area....



Saturday it's all coming down!!

Wild Horses

I don't know why I haven't ordered this CD yet, it's been out for about a month or so. Susan Boyles' original performance last summer on "Britain's Got Talent" still brings tears to my eyes, she was so wonderful and so folksy. But her voice is that of an angel, literally.
Her version of the Rolling Stones' "Wild Horses" is amazing, and it makes Mick Jagger sound incredibly awful. Really!
Here it is on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yb3XAP0c8WU

I hope she has people taking care of her, because the industry that she's chosen to take part in will chew her up and spit her out. Just think of Brittany Spears, Lindsey Lohan, and Britney Murphy. Yes, I know, they're 20 years younger than her but they probably started out with 80% more street knowledge than Susan did.

I've got to get on Amazon now and order this CD.

The Pink Chaps

I've had my chaps for a few years, and they're just right. We don't ride when it's really cold, most of the time. But when we do happen to get out there, I'm sportin' the chaps.

And then BARBIE had to copy off me. Why can't she just be ORIGINAL???



I bought this Barbie for my niece, who hopefully will appreciate the fact that Barbie's trying real hard to be Shawna.

Here's what I was wearing my pink chaps for:

We lined up on motorcycles at a friend's house...



And paraded around town in the dark...



Looking at Christmas lights...



And since we were on the big red Budweiser trike, I got comfortable with my "to go" cup, and sipped on some good stuff. Not easy with a helmet...



We were the only ones wearing helmets; we usually are. We just aren't as hard core as the others. There's no helmet law in Arizona, so it's nice that people can make their own decision on that. We wear ours because:

1. We like our brains on the INSIDE of our skulls.
2. We don't like our cheeks to be all cold and chapped.

Ol' Mike, he's hard core, and he doesn't wear his helmet. See those red cheeks???



But when he rides at home in California, he puts on the helmet. They have a law for everything over there (I am pretty sure it's the law to wear a helmet on your bicycle, for crying out loud!) so when Mike comes to AZ he lets it all hang out.

Well, anyway, more Christmas lights:



I wish I could do this to our palm trees. They'd be decorated year round. I can't do it without a boom truck.



After the ride we went to the trendy biker bar. That's the biker bar where no one has patches on their leather vest for killing someone or orchestrating a stabbing. The yuppie biker bar.....
We had Friday night fish and chips, then held court. We had King Rick with us so that guaranteed a minimum number of visitors to our table. COOL!
Even Steve's brother stopped over. He was getting ready to play onstage with his band. Mojo.
Never make a face when I have my camera. It WILL get published....





Alas, even though I wore my helmet outside, I still ended up with red cheeks...



Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize...

Whaaaat???

Miss Olivia from Sesame Street died today.

Eventually I Figure Things Out

I went to the doctor in September, and listed some symptoms I'd been experiencing. Tests were done, not a lot, just a couple.
Nothing came from that. Doctor suggested I try the "Eat Clean Diet." It would make me feel better. Thanks. I'll just eat some celery and that'll fix everything.

A few months later, I don't feel better. I feel worse. The symptoms have worsened.
In fact the symptoms have gotten downright obnoxious. I get yelled at for my symptoms. Nice, huh?

So I googled.

Google didn't tell me to eat more celery. It said I have hormonal imbalances. It said to try a couple of different supplements.

I'll continue to eat my celery, but I think I'll try those supplements.

Thanks, Dr. Google.

The Leather Jacket

In 1990 I had short, curly hair. It was a perm, or what was left of it I am sure. I had just moved here the summer before from the midwest. I gave away all my winter clothing and jackets.
I was dating Shay's dad, and he gave me a leather jacket for Christmas. Which was good because I was told that I didn't need a jacket at all in Arizona. That turned out to be soooo false.
It does actually get cold here.

Now, the jacket didn't have a smudge on it. That was just the photo. It's rather old. Nearly 20 years old.

Yesterday in Phoenix, I took this picture with Steve and his cousin Sarah:



I was feeling a little weird so I didn't smile too huge. There was some uncomfortable stuff going on. But I still have my leather jacket!!!
The hair is curly on its own now, no perm necessary. Don't know why that is.

The jacket remains.

Not To Be Taken Lightly

Today I was sworn in as the new Republican Women's President. I haven't had much time to give it thought, but it is a bit of a big deal. So that makes me a big deal.
Just kiddin.

I will have better pictures when Doug and Linda email them to me (AHEM! Doug and Linda, if you're reading this...)

But here's what Buster took with my camera:



That's a local judge, Jill Davis, swearing us in at the podium. I'm the big-haired short person next to her. Then the rest of the Republican Women's board is lined up next to me.

Besides the installment of officers, we had a couple of little presentations. Linda (outgoing President) gave me a President's pin. Then Sue (outgoing 1st Vice President) gave Linda a pin. I got choked up and thankfully had time to breathe and get calm. I knew this was a big responsibility being trusted to me and I had to think for a few moments that maybe it would be much better if Linda just stayed President. Then I could keep my spot in the back of the room during the meetings.

Now I've got a gavel. I will only use it when things get roudy. Which means never. Or maybe I'll develop a horrible power complex and use it all the damn time!