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.