Love is in the air

Mondays are my cleaning day but this morning after announcing that I was going on strike I declared today craft day, put the cleaning supplies away and set out to duplicate several things my friend Maggie had made. She found these ideas on a blog and told me the name twice but I cannot remember it {remember I have the memory of an anorexic gnat} so if these are your ideas please let me know so I can give credit where credit is due}.

These super cute battery operated candles, a set of 3, cost a total of $5 courtesy of the Dollar Store.

I wrapped the top portion of the candle with packing tape.

Slapped on a coat of red paint...

Sprinkled Epsom Salt over the wet paint and let dry.

I picked up some ribbon and heart picks, to finish the look.

Once they were dry I peeled the tape off, tied on the ribbon and hot glued the hearts in place.

Not bad for $5 and about 20 minutes huh?

Next I made this adorable flower heart in the frame.

I picked up 4 stems of generic red flowers at the Dollar Store and a frame at WalMart for $3, I already had the 8x10 canvas board. I painted the canvas pink, snipped the flowers off as close to the base as I could and hot glued them on in the shape of a heart, then I placed the canvas in the frame minus the glass.

The white X's and O's I picked up at Joannes for $2.50 each and just tied on some left over ribbon and hearts from the picks and a few buttons from my craft box. Total cost, $17 for all 5 pieces.

Now when you come in the front door you may not hear the love but you'll certainly see it!

The last thing I did before I called and end to my strike {the dog hair and knowledge that my sheets wouldn't be clean tonight got the better of me} and went back to "work" was finishing my PINKtastic swap gift {Amy, I'm not ruining your surprise with a picture of what I made you but trust me it's uber cute}. Everything is all wrapped up and ready to go, a record for me since I always wait to the day it's supposed to be mailed!

Yep, love is in the air...

Friday Confessional

My life has once again provided me with material for another Friday Confessional with Mamarazzi!

Today I confess that I had the best of intentions, my best wasn't good enough and that the this story has a sad ending!

It was a beautiful day yesterday, lots of sunshine in a blue sky with a crisp breeze. I decided to open the doors to air out the house. As usual the dogs ran outside barking at what I assumed to be nothing.

Jewel stopped barking.

Deja stopped barking.

Rogue, not so much.

After a minute of his near nonstop barking I went to the door to call him in. He didn't come. Instead he continued to run in a semi-circle barking and almost cat like pouncing at the ground. My first thought was that he found another snake. Usually the snakes are nonpoisonous but just to be sure I went out to take a look.

He was really pissed off! His hair was standing on end down his entire back, his lip was raised and he was giving whatever he had pinned against the landscaping bricks a real scare.

As I got closer it appeared that there was a green sweatshirt in the yard, Abercrombie green to be exact. I just assumed that Peanut had left her sweatshirt outside and a snake had crawled inside.

I was way off!

Laying limp against the bricks was a beautiful green macaw, barely able to let out a cry for help. I instantly became nauseous and couldn't look to see what kind of damage had been done to this poor bird.

Honey came to my rescue and wrapped it in a beach towel while Peanut drug Rogue inside and ran for the phone so I could call our vet.

We jumped in the car to go to the nearest vet that treats exotic animals. Honey held the bird while I drove. I told her that the bird could not get out of that towel and to keep her fingers away from his beak.

The bird suddenly got a slight burst of energy and tried to escape, twisting its head back towards her body. She freaked slightly but was ok until her sister yelled from the back seat, "careful, it looks like he's gonna bite your nipple off!". Needless to say I had to pull over, take the bird and let Honey drive. I will admit to grabbing the softball glove and putting it between me and that killer beak...I happen to like my nipples!

We made it not even 1/4 mile before the bird died. We took it to the vet at the corner to confirm it was dead. It was.

I had to know if Rogue had killed it, I was feeling so very guilty and sad. She confirmed the puncture wounds and scratches came from a cat not my 90 pound German Shepherd. I felt much better but still had a crying Peanut and my awkward laugher and twisted sense of humor {I have no idea where she gets that from} 16 year old, who was quietly singing "I Just Died In Your Arms Tonight", to deal with.

The vet offered to let me take the bird home and bury it but warned that since it "tastes like chicken" {I kid you not, those were her exact words, I just can't make this crap up} the possibilities of the dogs digging it up were high.

Ummm, seriously! There was no need for thought on that one, I let her keep the bird!

I can look at this two ways.

1-This beautiful bird was more than likely a pet that got out, was attacked by a feral cat and had the misfortune of landing in my yard, meeting Rogue and ultimately his death.

or

2-This beautiful bird was more than likely a pet that got out, was attacked by a feral cat, had the misfortune of landing in my yard and meeting Rogue who has me for a doggy Mamma, someone who loves animals and tried her best to save it's life.

Both scenarios leaves me with this...Irresponsible pet owners SUCK!

People if you have a bird, please keep it in its cage while your doors are open. And yes, I'm about to go all Bob Barker on you, if you own a cat spay or neuter it and keep it inside.

I hate having stray cats crap in my yard {cat poop is like freaking candy to dogs}.

I hate cats in my yard that taunt my dogs by hiding in the bushes then run away like a scaredy-cats {insert twisted humor here} when chased!

I hate seeing dead animals on the side of the road because people are stupid and irresponsible.

I know all road kill is not caused by stupid people and that accidents happen but really y'all I just had bird die in my hands so forgive me if I'm a little fired up!

Have something to confess? Head on over to Mamarazzis and get it off your chest!

Let our Travels begin

Peanut plays softball and loves it. She has played two seasons of Fall ball and one season on Spring ball at our local sports complex and has been ready to make to commitment to a travel ball team since her very first game. Her Daddy and I were not nearly as eager.

Is she good enough to play with "those" girls?

Are we willing to give up almost every spare minute we have to the rigorous schedule that comes with being part of a travel ball team?

Is Peanut {and Mommy} willing to get up at least two Sundays a month for tournaments that last all day and every Saturday for either practice or a tournament?

Those are the questions we kicked around for several months before we discovered our answers were yes, yes and yes. So Peanut started the long process of trying out for one of the local travel ball teams...and...she...made...it!

Last weekend, while I was in Nashville she participated in her first two day tournament and she was thrilled! She was sent in several times as a relief runner {she stole 2nd, 3rd and home each time!} and took her turn in the outfield and up to bat. I was bummed to have missed it but spending the time away with my sisters was worth it!

Yesterday she and her team participated in a Sunday only tournament and took home the title of Grand Champions! They played four games, the first at 8:30 {when it was still 36 degrees} and then due to a team not showing up the next three games where played with NO break in between.

Being the new girl and the youngest on the team she doesn't get the playing time she's used to but we are all fine with that. She is part of a well structured, well coached team with twelve of the best 11-13 year old girls I have ever been around! Her time is coming, she has already showed such growth since she made the team last month, I know it won't be long before she has a starting position again!

Congratulations LB's, y'all played your hearts out and nothing beats winning in the bottom of the 7th by one run!

A "Champions" plaque was presented to the team and hoodies were given to each player.

No, you don't need glasses, to protect the privacy of her teammates and coaches I distorted every face but Peanuts.

So, let the traveling begin! It was a very long day yesterday, we left at 6:45am and didn't get home until 8pm {a stop at Beefs to celebrate was in order dontcha know!}. We saw the sun rise and set while gone, which is going to be a regular thing now, and it was a great day. I think I'm gonna love travel ball too!

Feel free to judge me...I've already judged you!

It's time for Friday Confessional. I have to say that I really didn't think I was going to be able to come up with anything but I was way wrong, this is week number two and I'm still going strong! I'm beginning to understand all you Catholics a little better now, I guess confession really is good for the soul!

I confess that...

My house smells like ass! I have cranked my air down forcing it to run non stop, I'm now wearing gloves and a parka, and it's not getting much better. I'm not exactly sure what or where the smell is coming from {I have showered I promise} but I'm hoping that the cold air mixed with the arsenal of cleaning supplies I've armed myself with will make it go away. I'm thinking its just the smell of stagnant air, it's been too cold for the air and too warm for the heat and the dogs drive me batty barking every time my neighbor farts so the doors have been closed for way too long! So yeah, under the category "What's that smell", with the question being "Why does Shawn's house smell like ass?" I'll take "Uncirculated air, not what's died in the drywall" for $1,000 Alex.

I confess...

That I have many of you deceived about my true size because I was recently called, and I quote, a "skinny bitch". Now I won't say who called me that because I'm a nice bloggy-friend but I will tell you that her name rhymes with Misty. I also confess that after a rather fun GNO {girls night out} I had enough liquid courage to text her a half naked picture {I made sure the lights were low, I wasn't that drunk} of myself to prove that underneath my Miss Me jeans and sassy top I'm one Fluffy Mamma! I also confess that she still didn't believe me which then forced me to send her a video of my "lunch lady arms" waving hello. I think she may be a believer now!

I confess...

That after telling y'all {and for the record y'all includes my Mom & Dad}, that I sent a half naked picture of myself to a near stranger via text I feel dirty and in need of a hot scalding shower.

Now click on the link below and head on over to join in on the F.C. fun!

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P.S.

I also confess that I need to define "half naked". The picture was from neck to bellybutton and I had a bra on, so basically I sent her a picture of me sitting {I was actually standing, sitting would have been way too ugly!} poolside at night! There was at no time any "sexting" going on!

While I have the Microphone...

I found this video over at LLOL {Literally Laughing Out Loud} and just had to share. I know it's rather lengthy at 7 minutes and 31 seconds but trust me when I say it's worth it.

I may or may not have peed just a little while watching it!

Down with the "no reply"!

Call me crazy but I think Mamarazzi may be on to something here! I posted last week about spam comments, oh how I loath spammers, but I do believe that my distaste for no reply commenter's may be right up there with the spammers. Now it's not that they leave inappropriate comments like my foreign friends but the fact that I cannot reply to them really tweaks my beak! Since Mamarazzi came up with her newest bloggy revolution I have received two comments from two different people requesting for my response {I do think one comment may be a little off and possibly even computer generated} but because they do not have their email linked I cannot answer their questions.

So just in case these questions came from legitimate bloggers who read my blog on the regular here are your answers...

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Happy 50th Sheila! <http://seriously-shawn.blogspot.com/2011/01/happy-50th-sheila.html> ":

Hello there,

This is a question for the webmaster/admin here at seriously-shawn.blogspot.com.

Can I use part of the information from this post right above if I provide a backlink back to your website?

Thanks,
Peter

Dear Peter,

Not no but hell no! That post was about a fun weekend with my sisters and niece and I highly doubt there was anything interesting enough for you to re post.

Seriously,

~Shawn

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "It's PINKtastic! <http://seriously-shawn.blogspot.com/2011/01/its-pinktastic.html> ":

Hey,

Thanks for sharing this link - but unfortunately it seems to be down? Does anybody here at seriously-shawn.blogspot.com have a mirror or another source?


Cheers,
Jules

Dear Jules,

I'm sorry the link on the snazzy PINKtastic button above is not working. You can learn all about the swap by visiting Mamarazzi {click on her link above}. However, I do believe the swap has already been closed. Better luck next time.

Seriously,

~Shawn

Now wouldn't it have been better if I was able to reply to just the two of them leaving y'all out of it? So for the sake of all of our blogging sanity I'm asking all of you "no reply" bloggers to go to your dashboard, add your email address and turn on the show my email address option. Oh, one more thing, while you're there can you also enable the comment box to be a pop-up window {this can be found under the settings tab, in the comments section, just click on the Pop-up window option in the Comment Form Placement} please. It makes commenting in detail a lot easier when the post is right there to review. Mkay, thanks Pumpkins!

Happy 50th Sheila!

I am the baby of four.

My oldest sister, Selena, is soon to be 52.

Sheila just turned 50.

Larry, the only boy, is 47.

I turned 40 in August.

Being the baby is a beautiful thing. It allows me to remind them all as often as I can that I am MUCH younger than them. It gives me the opportunity to do horribly embarrassing things to them when they hit milestone birthdays WAY before me, this weekend was one of those opportunities!

My niece lives in Nashville which just so happens to be the half way point between us. So a weekend trip was planned to celebrate this momentous occasion! The two sisters drove in from northern Illinois and I flew up from Florida. They met me at the airport where the nonstop celebrating and laughter commenced!

Before we headed out the first night Selena re-gifted Sheila with the wine glass Sheila had given her two years prior. It was not an option for her to drink from any other glass the rest of the weekend.

Selena also brought a special t-shirt to sleep in every night, I love that she embraces the fact that she is over 50 with such humor!

We made our way up and down Broadway and ended the night at Big Bang, a dueling piano bar, it was crack for a people watcher like me! My favorite was the bride that was prancing around, humping every willing man and acting like a total dumb blonde drunk on too much peach schnapps. I'm confident her name was Buffy!

Samantha, my niece, was able to get Sheila on stage, she isn't quiet the extrovert as her little sister, and made an exit stage left in under 5 seconds. Although this picture is terrible it includes Buffy so like OMG I totally had to share it!

I do believe Samantha was showing off the fact that her boobs, unlike her Mom and Aunt, are still just a few inches south of her chin. They had a name for her, I won't say it but it rhymes with witch!

This dude, we called him Missouri because yep that's where he's from, couldn't have caught a clue to go away if he was Jerry Rice. He managed to find his way into several of our pictures which was really starting to piss me off. To try to make my point that we didn't want him around a little more clear I went as far as to tell him is half-assed attempt of growing a beard made him look Amish or a little like a Leprechaun. He still wouldn't go away. The fact that we were all sisters really confused him especially when he found out two of us were Sam's Aunts. "Now how does that work?" he kept asking. After attempting to explain it to him several times I just conceded to the fact that he was a douchenozzle and could not be taught!

Sam has a beautiful voice and knew the band playing at one of the bars we went to so they allowed her to sign a few songs. Listening to her sing is a always a treat!

The next day was rather low key. We had breakfast at 2 in the afternoon and walked around the Opryland hotel where I had chocolate chip, cinnamon, cayenne pepper gelato {surprisingly it was very delicious!}. Selena and Sam went to watch the Packers embarrass the Falcons {more dead bird sightings} while Sheila and I took a nap, enjoyed a late massage and a very late dinner before we met up for round two out on the town! Due to the incredible amount of pictures I will skip pictures from night number two {you can thank me later}.

Sunday was Sheila's actual birthday, while she ran out Selena and I made the room look a little festive. All of these were things were sitting out at Selena's 50th. Ya'll she saved all of this crap, down to a zip lock baggie full of confetti, from her birthday and she made Sheila take it home with her for my 50th...in 10 years!

The hotel door now had caution tape on it and a sign, intentionally not personalized for the purpose of recycling!

The Hooter Hoister hung from the peep hole!

The room was full of over the hill confetti, 50 signs and streamers. We forgot to bring tape, but found use number 51 for super strong hair spray!

Truth be told, I needed this more than my older sisters!

Just a few gifts for the birthday girl which included these...

I made shirts for all of us to wear out that night! There was no need for that cute little outfit she had set out to be ironed because she would wear this along with a black and silver boa feather and tiara!

While the rest of us wore these!

Seriously, just how cute do we look?!!?

They were each personalized on the front and the backs all said "we're celebrating the 29th anniversary of Sheila's 21st birthday." They were simply freaking fabulous I tell ya!

While at our first stop I noticed something rather strange. There was a Santa hanging from out of the ceiling overlooking the bar. When I said "he's watching all the twenty something hootches loose woman and pointing and yelling at them Ho, Ho, Ho! the table of nearby men bought us all a drink saying that was the funniest thing they had ever heard and it deserved a round! Well, thank you Sirs and you're welcome sisters!

We moved onto the Stage a great bar that had a fantastic band playing and where I found my boyfriend for the rest of the night. To protect his privacy I will only refer to him as Tex. Now before you get all up in arms over the fact that I'm married {apparently a minor detail for many, one dude was sportin' a pretty snazzy looking "thumb ring" while canoodling with a bar slut seemingly nice young lady} Babe already knows about my love affair in Nashville and he has no problem with it, he's cool like that!

Me and Tex...I may be in love!

I'm not sure what the attraction was but Sam even agreed.

He was a true gentleman and try as we may he refused to choose his favorite! Clearly I could offer more experience and Sam had youth and the persuasion of alcohol on her side but he was having no part of pitting family against family. Tex remained a true gentleman through and through!

As you can see I had a great time with my sisters and niece, I am a very lucky BABY sister indeed! And for the record, I may officially be a cougar now but the two of you are Lynxes {yes, that's correct I googled it}!

Happy Birthday Sheila, I love you!

It's PINKtastic!

Mamarazzi is hosting what's sure to be another fantastic, or should I say pinktastic, swap. And since I'm such a sucker for all things good coming in the mail I of course had to join! I'm not sure when she's closing it so hurry over if you want to play along!

I'm looking forward to meeting another new bloggy friend..it could be you!

Back to normal

It's no secret that I love to decorate for Fall, Halloween Fall again and finally Christmas. I have so much stuff that all of my every day items get boxed up and put away September through January.

The best part of this is putting everything back out and finding new ways to display old things.

So once all of my Christmas is put back in my favorite room I set all of my decorations out on the dinning room table. I dust all of the shelves and tables that haven't seen a dusting cloth in weeks months and start redecorating my house.

Oh what fun!

OPA! I think Rogue may be Greek not German

Last night was a very relaxing night.

I made chicken fajita salad for dinner.

Honey was off studying for her hardest exam.

Peanut was reading a book.

Babe was watching TV.

I let the dishes sit where they were to play a game of Spider Solitaire on the iPad, the same game mind you that I've been playing and replaying for days because I HATE losing!

And the dogs were chilling on the couch {it's a ruff life for a dog at our house dontcha ya know}.

Finally I decided to take a break and clean up the kitchen.

Now I usually have help in this department but it doesn't come from any of the 2 legged humans that enjoyed my dinner but instead from three very eager to lick every morsel not rinsed off the plate or utensil 4 legged beasts. This is something that I have tried and tried to not let them do, I know the dishes are about to be cleaned with soap that could remove paint if left on long enough and water hotter than Hades but it's still just gross.

I turned to get a pan off the stove and almost immediately I heard a loud crash followed by the rattling of silverware, the banging of something against the walls and the shattering of glass. I turned to see Rogue running full steam around the house with the lower rack {yes, the entire lower rack of the dishwasher!} of the dishwasher attached to his collar. He was in full fledged panic mode!

I started chasing him, which I'm sure was freaking him out even more, I'm not sure what I was going to do when I caught him, tackle him maybe, I'm not sure I just needed to make the destruction stop.

Finally he was able to get loose, he just laid there shaking and completely petrified! Babe ran in and was not very happy. He ever so gently, with loving, caring and tender hands drug Rogue to his cage. He was heading there anyway, there was really no need to offer him any assistance. He was scared and breathing heavy, I was fearful he was going to have a heart attack, I was concerned for Rogue too!

I made sure Rogue was OK, breathing fine with no cuts from the broken glass and knives before I headed out to face the mess and rage of my husband.

I tend to handle crazy things with laughter, especially things as crazy as this. Seriously, what are the other options? A few plates were broken {actually more like all that were in there}, the coffee table had been moved about 3 feet, the couch was shifted totally out of place, there were small fragments of glass and silverware strewn everywhere along with a soggy red pepper or two here and there but other than that {ha, I say "other than that" like this kind of crap happens daily} nothing else was wrong. So I started to laugh. It really could have been so much worse, he could have sliced one of his paws, jabbed a knife in his eye or neck or strangled himself before I was able to get him unhooked.

Babe on the other hand did not find any part of this situation funny. Sometimes he's such a buzz kill! He went immediately to the "how much more damage are we going to allow him to do?...the yard is a mess...he doesn't listen...he's costing us a fortune in vet bills...Shawn, this is ridiculous!"

I'll be honest at this point the only thing I was able to hear was WAH WAH WOH WAH WAH, I swear I had to look to see if Charlie Brown was on the TV!

I.Could.Not.Stop.Laughing!

That may or may not have pissed my darling husband off even more.

I was unable to make eye contact with him the rest of the night and when he came to kiss me good-night I had to turn my head because my inappropriate laughter started all over again when I saw the angry twisted look in his eyes. He asked "are you laughing?" and all I was able to muster out was "Mmm Hmm". "This isn't funny Shawn" was his reply and mine was "you're right, it's effing hysterical!"

In the words of my friend Natalie, "You need a reality show!"...I think she may be on the something!

Oh how I love that boy!