My Favorite Week of the Year

I'm gonna go out on a Christmas tree limb here and say, 'TIS OFFICIALLY THE SEASON..... except for that part about dropping the ragtop of my mom's convertible while shopping because it was 75 degrees on December 21st (p.s. anyone that complains about weather like that is certifiably insane and obviously mad at the world. Why would ANYONE complain about that???)

Anyhoooo - the tree is dressed in red and gold, like a royal tree of Lucas, TX. Dad's sitting on the couch across the room watching KERA channel 13 on mute, listening to his favorite blues CD on the stereo. I can't get a good grasp of what this FASCINATING special is about. There are chimpanzees, intermittent violinists and an overweight woman showing pictures of her childhood journal maybe? But what cracks me up most is that while we sit here in the same room, watching the same show on mute, I know he must be as confused as I am... but yet there he sits, so peacefully enjoying his show... there he sits, in the very utter simplicity that confuses the hell out of me. I'll tell you all about The Possum later.

And then there's grandma over there in her little house out back. She's the sweetest little putterer south of the Red River. She spent the last 72 hours baking chocolates, snicker doodles, datenut pinwheels, pralines and more. And I've spent the last 72 hours pretending I'm going to the bathroom, but really sneaking over there and eating 1-3 servings of the latest batch.

Brooke, Max and Mom are on their way home from OKC now. They're bringing me 3 of my favorite things for the holidays:
My culinary math book
My 2nd niece or nephew in utero
and
My First Love

See that bib??? I didn't even buy it for him. He just does sweet things like that for me.

So as soon as Alyssa is released by the Work Police and Grandma Joy finds her way to the house, the Anderson village will be complete for my Favorite Week of the Year! We need to hang our stockings and ask Santa what he wants to snack on this year... it was Shiner Bock in '09... and then Alyssa and I will prepare to annoy the hell out of the entire family for the umpteenth time. We like to wake up at about 6am to open presents. It works because it's tradition, and tradition is pretty much THE Anderson family foundation. That and story telling. And sarcasm. Or stuffed bellpeppers.

It's Finals Week

I probably SHOULD be stressed, but instead... I chose the DressAsAChristmasTreeAndForgetAboutFinalsForTheKids exit. Good choice, because I l i v e to hulahoop. Remember skipits?? Man, those were the days.

1,850 Kcals and 1,000 Pics

According to the Diabetic Exchange list, that's the number of calories I consumed until I stopped counting around 3pm on Thanksgiving..... gross. Someone stick a fork in me, cause I am so done. But trust me, I didn't let any of my newfound nutrition education keep me from eating anything, so quit rolling your eyes. I had my customary 2 helpings of everything, 3 crescent rolls, 3 slivers of each of mom's pies (apple, cherry and pumpkin) and alllll the fixins. But other than overeating on National Overeat Day, I got to do some cool things...

Drive my dad's almost finished toy - 1965 Ford truck. It's a standard with just 3 gears. Really goes to show you how slow the pace was 45 years ago if a car's highest gear was THREE.



Just a beautiful piece of the 60's waiting for me right there in Lucas, Texas (it's gonna be mine when dad dies!!!!). We also got to see Vin's hard work come to fruition as he took his first steps :) He started out rather unstable a few weeks ago, but a little practice makes perfect and BAM, I fear for the safety of all breakables in our house in the months to come. The little boy is on the loose.

It was also the Year of Hair and Funny Faces. Vin got a mohawk

and I got a new sister. Everyone, please meet Alyssa's dark brunette "special" twin, Alisha. At least she's got a nice personality.

and as much as I'd like to solely throw her under the bus for taking the Weird Award of the holiday, here are my contributions. VINCENT LOVES THAT FACE, MIND YOU.






And in the name of no nightmares for my readers, I'll conclude with some sweet, normal family moments





I lub us.

Study or Relive Dream Wedding Weekend?

A.D.D. votes wedding.

Three weeks ago I laughed in the face of every person who told me I'd die in the harsh Oklahoma winter as I SUNBATHED in our backyard. Today, those people laughed back as I cried tears of cold pain during Saturday Morning Routine [at 7:45am, bundle baby up, walk to bakery, purchase fresh delicious pastries, bundle baby up, continue walking to Starbucks, purchase delicious coffees, eat fresh delicious pastries with delicious coffees, bundle baby up, walk home. And I don't do this to burn off the calories, I swear. I do this because Brooke and Max do this and I'm part of the family now. It's so fun.]

But I bring this up because I have yet to give a detailed account of Nikki's wedding which was the reason I sunbathed a few weeks ago. It didn't do a lick of good as you can see in the pics below, but I'm PROUD TO BE CANCER FREE! No fake n' bake here.

But seeing as her wedding was in mid-November, I was actually afraid it was gonna be too cold for a short, strapless purple dress, but it was in the 60s-70s all weekend! And the weather wasn't the only thing that was perfect. I was an absolute emotional ball of happiness the whole time. Nikki looked like a boutique wedding gown model, I saw faces I haven't seen since we were 12, Nikki and Justin were glowing, the ease at which everything happened was just amazing.

We got ready in a room just a few doors down from where the ceremony would be held and took most of our pics there too. Exhibits A - E:






Nikki wasn't nervous at all until right before we had to walk out ... so we did what any nervous bride and maid-of-honor would do - we sang. Very loudly. One of our favorite songs from eons ago when we were 16 and carpooling to soccer practices: Oh Happy Day from Sister Act :) :) :) it took the edge off because everyone was laughing, probably at how off-key we were, but WHATEVER. It worked. The ceremony was something out of a dream and the reception was the perfect combination of laughter and tears. More specifically, a lot of the laughter came just following the bouquet and garter toss............

I'm competitive. If you know me at all, you know this. And I'm not superstitious at all, because 1. it's stupid, and 2. because I've caught at least 15 bouquets and I'm still unmarried. Just sayin. So to prepare for a bouquet victory, I usually sharpen my elbows, take off my heels and put on my A-Team glasses. I'll be damned if any other hussy is gonna catch that bouquet when I'm in the zone -- I have a great vertical for a white girl. So it was of no surprise to myself that I caught Nikki's bouquet (cheers for myself). Now I can't remember if I hurt anyone in the process this time, but I really wanted those callalilies! They were gorgeous. But that isn't the awkward part. The awkward part is when my date, a 6'5" white guy stood among 5-10 regular sized black guys for the garter toss. See? tall....



but it wasn't until Justin flicked the thing towards the group and it landed in Mark's hand that things turned weird. I mean, I'm not superstitious, but c'mon ya'll. That can get weird if you haven't had more than 2 drinks. Good thing, I was on my 3rd-5th, really can't be sure (HEY! don't judge. maid-of-honor toasts are nerve-wracking!) Either way, after our little internal freak outs of what just happened subsided, we embraced the coincidence. He, wearing the garter around his arm and I, wearing his tie around my neck? I don't know why, but also flashing my victorious callalilies ...




The dancing, the fun, the food, the spirits. Is it too much to ask them to get married again? After the reception, the bride and groom made their way to their galleria honeymoon suite that looked more like a penthouse (JEALOUS) and then on to Jamaica for some quality time. OHHHHHH I lurv me some Mr. and Mrs. Justin Lewis :) Even if we can't get Justin to smile for a damn picture.



So I would love to start my THRILLING stories about Thanksgiving and Vin's new mohawk, but ALAS, I'm late for Big 12 championship watching party. "Boomer and Brauts". Yes, I made that up and, doubleYES, I'm really proud of it.

DVD Part II - Year One

Life for DVD began one stinkin' year ago today.



I remember it like it was yesterday...... but mostly because I can go back to my blog entry of his arrival and relive every second. It was rather entertaining, from the first phone call from mom at the butt-crack of dawn to the call from dad right after he was born to let me hear him scream :) Little did I know I'd be hearing that scream up close and personal for years to come. Now it's a little different. Like louder and not quite as deserved as traveling down the birth canal for many, many hours. But for some reason I still look forward to hearing him every morning around 7-7:15am. That's L O V E for ya.

On his actual birthday, we took him to a precious new cupcake shop in town called Pinkitzle. I guilt tripped Brooke into thinking she was a bad mom for not giving him a Pinkitzle cupcake on his birthday, so the whole family (new nanny included!) piled into the car for a trip downtown. It was just as fantastic as ever. Candy out the wazoo, glitzy, black and white decor, $17 bows for babygirl heads, taffy spilling over huge cement birdbaths, big pink horses you can pose on, an authentic circus themed party room! ugh. I could LIVE there.



Vincent enjoyed it too, but not as much as his real birthday party. Great grandma, Pops and Mimi came for a small family celebration on Saturday and it was just delightful. I never understood why parents have knock-down-drag-out first birthday parties. I mean, there are at least 17 others to throw that they'll actually remember! Take it easy. But momma/Brooke did well...... if Vin could live anywhere besides Pinkitzle, it'd be in a banana...... so Brooke made him a banana cake from scratch with a cream cheese icing. Y o u g u y s, it was delish.





Ugh, I could steal kisses from those baby blues all day long (p.s. I promise we did more than just feed him sugar for his birthday).

So for the obligatory 1 year update: he's not quite walking yet, but we think it's close - you can feel his center of gravity strengthening when you're holding his hands !! He's eating like an adult already, which is evidenced by the lack of cake on his face above. Great table manners. He knows a few baby signs: "light", "milk", "all done" and "you look beautiful in that outfit, Auntie Ash". Being able to communicate with him is pretttty cool, even when he isn't complimenting me. He's SUPER responsive to the word "no", even if you aren't saying it to him. I often get stage-3-square-mouth cries on accident when I say it too loudly in his presence. It's pretty freaking hilarious. He still goes for the tags on every stuffed animal or blanket he gets his hands on, can climb up the stairs and dismount a couch like a pro. He's developed the most amazingly contagious laugh. I just can't get enough bottle feeds and snuggles and sniffs of his little self.

I can't believe he was a bump on a log 12 months ago and now he's a vibrant ball of energy. I can't wait to see what he has in store for us next.....





Happy Birthday my babyboyhead Bincent/Vincenzo/other other white meat. Auntie Ash loves the dirty diaper out of you.

A Picture's Worth 1,000 Words

and since I don't have time right now to give Nikki and Justin's wedding the recap it deserves, these treasures will have to do for now.... I still get goosebumps just looking at them!....

My Halloweekend 2K10

There's nothing quite like Halloween in this Oklahoma City neighborhood. I learned that last year when I came to host Brooke's baby shower (which kind of deserves a flashback for the brilliant theme "A Baby Boy is Brewing!" C'mon now, how cute is that???)




This year though I got to see the festivities every day... driving through the streets watching the creepiness unfold...

These people seriously go ALL OUT with skeletons coming up out of the grass, boarding up their windows and caution taping their lawns... one house even built up scaffolding and designed it like a ship for pirates to stand on and scare trick-or-treaters. I can't hardly wait for Christmas to throw up here! With the decorative possibilities and the really, really good chance of snow, it might be my favorite Christmas e v e r :)

So this year, my friend Cody came up and we spent the weekend gallivanted around the city. I got to embarrass my bffl by talking/yelling at her belly in a large crowd of people (dude, I had to teach her baby how to dougie and she couldn't hear me with all the drunks around!)



I've always wanted to be a cheerleader. That's a lie. But I HAVE always wanted to be a Sooner fan, and what better way to show my spirit than to be totally cheesy and pose in a cardboard cut out?? I don't think there IS a better way.




So at some point during that not-so-freezing Halloween night game, the mood struck me to dress up and go out. This was totally UNpremeditated, but I decided the infamous Pocahontas costume needed to see the dance floor this year, so I took one for the team and made it happen. And guess who I ran into on the way to the dancefloor! My buffalo!! What are the odds, right? Haven't seen that guy in ages. He looked really good... a little stiff, but good...





It was pretty fantastic. But not as fantastic as being a total VIP at the Thunder game on Sunday. It's good to know the GM :) And although we're not acting like VIP's in this particular picture, I promise I behaved myself.



I wish I could say the same for Cody when these "ladies" showed up


More importantly though, we had the pleasure of watching this Thunder fan show his enthusiasm, amongst other things, the w h o l e game


It was totally hilarious and entertaining, and also a fantastic reminder of why I'm back in school to become a Registered Dietitian.

So this time next week, I'll be in Houston for Nikki's wedding. So much happiness coursing through my veins, I can't hardly stand myself! And many of you will be pleased to know, I'm not tanning in the tanning beds for the wedding. Instead, I'm advocating backyard tanning in cold weather and changing the old elementary program tagline to... I'm Proud To Be Cancer Free!