Death by nickels and dimes

Ok, it's time for me to vent a little. I am ALL for donating to charity, and giving to those less fortunate. I believe strongly in things like Breast Cancer research, The American Heart Association, and the March of Dimes, and give freely each year. But, this constant barage by employers to have you "participate" in a fundraising campaign for a cause is getting out of hand. I personally like to choose my charity of choice (namely the ones I listed above), and sometimes it works out that my company chooses one of those. That was the case this year, as we are raising funds for The American Heart Association. I lost my grandfather after years of complications due to multiple strokes, and my grandmother is now sporting a shiny pacemaker. This cause is close to my heart (pun intended).

I personally raised $350 towards my heart walk last weekend, and through various activities have personally donated around $150 through cash, t-shirts, raffle basket donations (Mary Kay products), etc, and am feeling 100% tapped out. It never seems to be enough for these sharks. I have been harassed eight ways to Sunday to give more and more. I have already donated 1/4 of my annual raise (1 whole percent! Can you hear the affection in my voice??) from last year, and I just can't keep going. We have 4 more days of this crap next week and I am just about ready to scream.

I don't like forced donations. They feel like extortion. Last year they literally baricaded the exits and would not let people go home until they donated. Then they publically humiliated those who didn't have any money, or those they felt didn't give enough. Enough already!!

Sorry, but I am just being nickeled and dimed to death, and as a mostly single-income family, I just can't afford it.

The Sweet Pea... of Doom

Historically, Halloween is supposed to be about dressing up in scary costumes to ward off the evil spirits. In the past few years, we have gotten away from this and gone completely commercial in our costuming ideas. There really isn't anything scary about Sponge Bob or a Care Bear. I was talking with a friend about this topic the other day and he said, "Well, everything sounds scarier if you add 'Of Doom' to the end of it. 'Look, there's a squirrel...of doom'." So, for your Halloween pleasure, I present "Madison: The Sweet Pea... of Doom":

Admit it... you are scared. We also have "Madison: The Half-naked-bumble-bee...of doom" for your enjoyment:

And finally, "Madison: The Itsy-Bitsy-Spider...of doom":

Maddy spent her first Halloween helping Mommy and Aunt Liz pass out candy to the trick-or-treaters. She was super cute.

A Blast from the Past

Someone sent me this email this morning and I about wet my pants. I had to post it. I would give props to the author, but no name was listed. Sorry Mr. Annonymous Guy. ~Liz

Last weekend I put an exhaust fan in the ceiling for my wife's grandfather. While my wife's brother and I were fitting the fan in between the joists, we found something under the insulation. What we found was this:
A JC Penney catalog from 1977. It's not often blog fodder just falls in my lap, but holy hell this was two solid inches of it, right there for the taking. I thumbed through it quickly and found my next dining room set, which is apparently made by adding upholstery to old barrels:
Also, I am totally getting this for my bathroom:
There's plenty more home furnishings where those came from, however I'm not going to bore you with that. Instead, I'm going to bore you with something else. The clothes. The clothes are fantastic . Just look at that belt. It's like a boob-job for your pants. He probably needed help just to lift it into place. The belt loops have to be three inches long. And way to pull them up to your armpits, grandpa.
This kid looks like he's pretending to be David Soul, who is pretending to be a cop who is pretending to be a pimp that everyone knows is really an undercover cop. Who is pretending to be 15.

This "all purpose jumpsuit" is, according to the description, equally appropriate for playing golf or simply relaxing around the house. Personally, I can't see wearing this unless you happen to be relaxing around your cell in D-block . Even then, the only reason you should put this thing on is because the warden made you, and as a one-piece, it's slightly more effective as a deterrent against a** -rapery.
If you look at that picture quickly, it looks like Mr. Bob "No-pants" Saget has his hand in the other guy's pocket. In this case, he doesn't, although you can tell just by looking at them that it's happened - or if it hasn't happened it will. Oh yes. It will. As soon as he puts down his matching coffee cup. (I want to know why he is wearing a dress - Liz)
He looks like he's reaching for a gun, but you know it's probably just a bottle of suntan lotion in a holster.
If you wear this suit and don't sell used cars for a living, I believe you can be fined and face serious repercussions, up to and including termination. Or imprisonment, in which case you'd be forced to wear that orange jumpsuit.
Dear god in heaven, I don't believe that color exists in nature. There is NO excuse for wearing either of these ensembles unless you're working as a body guard for the Lucky Charms leprechaun. In this next one, Your Search For VALUE Ends at Penneys.
As does your search for chest hair. And this -- Seriously. No words. Oh wait, it turns out that there are words after all. Those words are What. The. F***. I'm guessing the snap front gives you quick access to the chest hair. The little tie must be the pull tab. Also, judging by the sheer amount of matching his/hers outfits, I'm guessing that in 1977 it was considered pretty stylish for couples to dress alike. These couples look happy, don't they?
I am especially fond of this one, which I have entitled "Cowboy Chachi Loves You Best."
And nothing showcases your everlasting love more than the commitment of matching bathing suits. That, and a blonde girl with a look on her face that says "I love the way your junk fights against that fabric."

Then, after the lovin', you can relax in your one-piece matching terry cloth jumpsuits:

I could go on, but I'm tired, and my eyes hurt from this trip back in time. I think it's the colors. That said, I will leave you with these tasteful little numbers:

Pico Reporting for Guard Duty

As most of you know, Steve and I have a little bundle of joy in our lives. Our fur-baby, Picasso (aka Pico) is a "miniature" (not!) Dachshund, and pretty much rules the house. Pico is one of the most loving dogs you will ever come across. If someone broke into our house, they would probably leave out of the pure annoyance that is Pico wanting his belly scratched, or begging for treats. This is the most food obsessed animal I have ever seen in my life.

We have had Pico since he was 3 1/2 years old (he is now 8 1/2) and we noticed just how bad the food obsession was when we ordered pizza one day. Of course, he does the typical begging, whining, crying, and finally grabbing the nearest toy and throwing it up in the air to distract you from how cute he is in hopes of getting a taste (which would never be enough). Steve put the pizza box on the floor and suddenly the maddness took him. He will actually guard the pizza box! He will sit on top of it, stare at it, knock it around ~ whatever it takes. Here is photographic evidence of his obsession:

And finally... falling asleep "on duty":

How can you not love this dog??

Heart Healthy Walk

Hello friends, family, and avid readers!

I am participating in the American Heart Association's annual heart walk on November 3rd in Houston. If you would like to donate to this worthy cause (and get a tax write off in the process), please follow this link to my donation website!

http://heartwalk.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=221163&supId=193909550

I am walking in support of my Grandmother, who had a pacemaker put in ealier this year. As heart disease is the number 1 killer in the United States, I am sure we all know someone who has been touched by this awful disease.

Farewell to a friend

As many of you know, we have had the same beloved family pet, Rex (also known as Rex the Wonder Pup) since I was in Jr. High school. His exact age is among debate with the family with each person remembering "exactly" when we got Rex, but all the dates are different. Since this is my blog, we will go with my memory which brings Rex to the Blessitt clan when I was in the 7th grade (making him 19 years old in November). I got a much anticipated call from my mom on Friday last week that, like Grandpa, Rex finally made his peaceful transition home. This has been a rough year!

Let me start by saying that Rex was a cool dog. He was always a hair shy of wild, and was known to bite a person or two if they caught him off gaurd (sorry Melanie!!). He was also the sweetest dog you have ever seen. He was certainly a scrapper to say the least. I will miss him a lot. He really taught me a lot about loyalty and love. He was the first pet we ever had to last the night (note all other pets were of the swimming persuasion), and he would bark incessently if he was not close to the family. The neighbors loved him (NOT). He was always up to something.

I remember a few years ago, Dad called me at work and said, "You will never guess what your dog just did." My response was always, "Which dog?!?" as we had several with "attitude." Dad informed me that about 8:30am he opened the door in the garage and saw Rex trotting up with a fully wrapped Subway sandwich in his mouth (backstory - we lived across the street from the high school) and handed it to my dad like, "Open this please". I asked Dad what he did and he said he opened it and gave it to the dog. You had to admire the ingenuity it must have taken to convince some poor kid walking to school to part with such a coveted lunch. Funny dog.

Anyways, when we sold dad's house last year, Steve and I were unable to take him with us to the apartment, so my mom begrudgling allowed him to stay in her back yard. This turned out to be hog-heaven for Rex, as mom is easily trained to provided people-food, many treats, and a bed inside on a cold, wet, or pretty much any night with a pitiful face. In the past few years his health has really deteriated, so his passing, like Pawpaw's was a blessing. We will miss the old boy for sure.

Happy Birthday!

I had a great birthday this year! As I posted before, I turned 31 years old last week. I thought it would be kind of a downer, but I think I have had one of the most fun birthdays ever (although it's hard to beat last year's big 30th bash). I ended up celebrating twice with two wonderful friends.

The Melting Pot ~

I made reservations on Thursday for Steve and I to go to The Melting Pot, which is an awesome fondue restaurant. I had never been before and have heard so many wonderful things from friends. One of the downfalls of sharing my birthday with Steve is that he would must prefer NOT to celebrate his birthday, where as I love birthdays. So every year we go through the same thing where he wants to go home and I want to go out and one of us is always disappointed. This year he wasn't really excited about fondue, so I let him stay home and took my BFF Monica instead!! It was fabulous! We ended up having the four-course dinner and martinis. We talked, laughed, and enjoyed some wonderful food. We have decided that it should be a birthday tradition (as her birthday is 4 days before mine). Here are a few photos:

Friday~

Not only did I have a great celebration Thursday, but I also met up on Friday with my friend, Winnie, to celebrate our joint birthdays (her's is October 2nd). We went over to the Edward's complex and had dinner at Cafe Adobe. After dinner we went over to what used to be Jillian's (but is now Dave and Busters) to play a little skeeball. We decided that we should be pro-skeeball players as we brought our game faces! After we spent all the money we could stomach on skeeball, we sat out in the courtyard area people watching. In that area you see all kinds of different people. We had a blast. We decided to finish off the night at Red Robin for some killer cocktails. Here are a few pictures:

All in all, my 31st birthday was great fun. Steve got to spend his time at home, which he finally decided wasn't so great after all. Age really is just a number. I am going to have a fabulous year!