My gracious husband dared me to eat a spoonful of ground cinnamon.

I said okay.

At first he started back tracking and explaining it will really hurt my tongue. But I'm an easy target. I have a competitive spirit and I'm an easy person to dare.

In went the spoonful of cinnamon.

It instantly dried up my entire mouth and throat. Desert like, I'm telling you. I laughed, cinnamon flew out of my mouth, a puff of red smoke. I would not give up. Brian told me to spit it out. Oh no. I was not giving up on this dare. I get to pick anything I want off my amazon wish list if I swallow this spoonful of evilness.

I got up, still not able to breathe and poured a glass of water. There was no feasible way to swallow when I had no moisture at all in my mouth. I took a sip of water and swallowed the evilness.

Meanwhile Brian is laughing, Braeden is clueless as to what is happening and there is cinnamon residue all over the kitchen floor. But I swallowed it, yes I did, I followed through with the dare. No one said I couldn't take a sip of water. It had been 10 minutes and I have not thrown up. I get a wish list item!

Labels: married life

Alright, alright, I'm a giddy Christmas lovin' fool!

Today is the Eve of Christmas Eve and I already can't even think of sleeping. There is just way too much cheer and magic surrounding me right now!

And right now nothing else can even waltz with this feeling. It's off twirling around in the imaginary snow all on its own.

I wrote about Christmas on "Her Kids" which is a blog I contribute to for delawareonline.com. You can read the post here, thank you to those who already follow that blog, I appreciate your comments.

In other news, Braeden is sitting beside me in his penguin pajammies. He is playing his Leapster and reciting the alphabet and each letters special sound. I am wearing cozy Hello Kitty pajammies! Carrie bought them for me for Christmas and I love them!

Yesterday we went up into Wilmington to Carrie's house because it was Charlotte's birthday party. She had a dance party of sorts. As dance party as you can get for a two-year-old. She had a blast and her excitement was infectious. Braeden has told me twice now that he had fun at the party. It was one of the first things he said this morning actually.

It's not 9 a.m. yet and Brian is already awake and out of bed. Everyone write the day on their calendar and go play the numbers on a lottery ticket.

Labels: christmas

Doctors are not my friend, never have been and probably never will be. Maybe it is because I've NEVER had one who I felt gave a hoot about me. I'm not a hypochondriac like many people in this world seem to be. I don't typically take sick days for myself, only for my son. And I won't go to the doctor unless I'm in a great deal of pain or discomfort. Ever.

Even when that is the case, even when I have been sick for WEEKS, I still often am told that it is just a virus and there is nothing I can do. Yadayada. Morons. If I were your daughter, wife, sister, etc. would you treat me the same way? Would you throw me off to the wayside just thinking I'm being dramatic or that I am exaggerating?

Temporary insanity or intense peer pressure have set in, because I just made a freakin' appointment to see an eye doctor. I sincerely believe the majority of my issues are currently lying with my eyes in some way. Light sensitivity, blurry vision and eye strain are probably the reason I am having such bad headaches. The headaches make me stressed and cause muscle pain in my neck and shoulder due to tension. Then I have trouble sleeping and become irritable. It is a trickle down or domino effect if you will. (Coupled with a four-year-old who has poor sleeping habits, yes, that is my fault).

If there was less stress in my life and if I was able to get more uninterrupted sleep I bet I would feel like a million bucks. I've got a great life, one that I wish more people could somehow have because I feel so blessed. Here we are 72 hours from Christmas and I'm feeling crappy. Not even just physically, you know, because I know if my mental well being were in check I'd be feeling pretty chipper right now. I mean, I can't make it sound awful...I am happy. I am excited. But it's kind of like there is a battle going on inside me, a tug of war...the fight between good and evil. Any further explanation would sound more absurd and make less sense.

"Do, or do not. There is no try." - Yoda

Labels: life

Today is December 20, 2007 and you can still get two-day free shipping if you are an Amazon Prime customer. =o) Or over-night shipping for $1.99 what a steal. For me that means still wanting to get more little things for my family. When it comes the holidays the best thing for me is giving gifts. I put a lot of thought into gifts and always get excited because I can't wait to see how the receiver likes them...or in some cases, doesn't like them. Usually I'm pretty good at being on par with their tastes though.

This is our first Christmas in our own home, our first Christmas as husband and wife and our first Christmas as a family. We have had our decorations up for nearly a month and it still hasn't gotten old. Every time I drive up the street and see all the lights it makes me smile. And I love sitting in the family room just to be near the lit Christmas tree.

In other news, I have such a wicked headache today. I'm not sure why. The weather isn't rainy and I have eaten. Perhaps it is just because we're nearing the end of the work week and this old pup is tired. (Yes, I'm just a pup, but even pups can feel old).

Chris bought me an Emily the Strange calendar for Christmas. I love it! She apparently bought it off my wish list and I had no idea! Tomorrow is her birthday and she is taking off so I won't see her again until the new year. This will definitely become posters for my office. My Tinkerbell calendar is already hanging, I cut out each of the months and they border the top of the wall to the left of my desk. I also have an "Of Montreal" poster, a "Cat Power" poster and a Strangeling poster....and of course my Emily the Strange poster. I think the only reason I can pull off such crazy decor is because I am a designer. ;oP

Well now back to work. Happy Thursday!

Labels: christmas, emily strange, work

Okay, so I need to know your favorite holiday drink?

I was reading an article on MSN about America's six favorite holiday drinks and I found that I'm not sure I can narrow it down to just one.

You see, I very much enjoy hot cocoa, apple cider and egg nog...all of which are considered holiday drinks. And as it turns out there are two seasonal beers which I also find delicious. Blue Moon puts out Full Moon during this time of year and it is simply divine! And then Brian introduced me to Samuel Adams' Winter Lager and it is also yummy!

So I gotta know folks, do you have a favorite holiday drink and if so what is it?

Labels: christmas, drink

This is just cracking me up!

Labels: chicken, christmas, comic

To see the Stephan-Mannering Elf Family, click here.

Labels: christmas

We're watching an Emeril Live cooking show tonight. It is a holiday episode from previous years. Yesterday was the last day of taping for the Emeril Live Show. The Food Network has cancelled the show. This saddens me and my family. Both Brian and Braeden very much enjoy watching his show. He's such a pleasure to watch, so animated and joyful, especially live.

Of course we also enjoy watching Rachel Ray and Paula Dean. At this moment, I do not own any Paula Dean cookbooks, but I do own two Rachel Ray cookbooks. I have only made two dishes from them, but I would like to make more. It just takes some planning because we don't have a "Rachel Ray Pantry" yet, you know what I mean?

Tonight I made her rendition of a tuna casserole which really isn't a casserole at all. Like she says, it really only takes 30 minutes or less to prepare her meals. This dish was so easy I surprised all of us. Plus it was quite deeeeelish.

Brian is far more of a natural when it comes to cooking. I have never seen him open the cookbooks and yet he still comes up with fabulous dishes. He made fantastic lasagna the other day and I ate it multiple times throughout multiple days during the week. Needless to say my waist and hips are showing how yummy it was...haha.

 

Labels: brian, cooking

Hello there blog world. How are you all doing on this fine Saturday evening?

Me?

I'm irritable and irritated and irritating. Can you be all those things at once?

I'm tired of seeing this same commercial for the Delovely Kohl's sales. It's not delicious, it's not delightful and it's not delovely. Are we unlovifying something? What is "delovely" and who thought that marketing slogan would do a bit of good? I never shop at Kohl's anyway. The reason they have all their sales is because items need to be 50% to be closer to a decent price and even then they are sometimes high.

Braeden is still snotty but he has more energy today and has eaten a bit more; very sporadically and undecided as it may have been.

Every muscle in my body feels as though it was pulled. I didn't run any marathons that I know of but I imagine one would feel this sore afterwards..but have nothing great to show for it like a race time or knowledge of having completed a feat.

Brian, Braeden and I watched National Treasure this afternoon. As someone who loves Nicholas Cage, I am upset with myself for never having seen the movie until today. It was excellent, very intriguing. I am finding that I also enjoy Justin Bartha, he played Riley in this movie and was Ace in "Failure to Launch." Anyway back to the flick, how can you not be interested in possible conspiracy theories and mysteries involving real historical facts? Very cool movie.

Turning the movie off we immediately were faced with the last 15 minutes of the Polar Express movie which Braeden has watched at least two dozen times. But afterwards we saw part of the making of that movie. Much respect to Tom Hanks who played nearly every adult male in that movie if not all of them. And all in green screen and digital which was then transposed into animation. Awesome!

You know what stinks? The fact that I have been intensely and passionately excited about Christmas up until very recently. And now. I don't know. I guess it's like when people keep telling you you are ugly and you start to believe it...well...when people keep bah-humbug-ing around you it starts to rub off. Plus I'm sick again and have zero energy or motivation to even begin making cookies. I should be wrapping presents and I haven't had the gumption. I was so excited about the gifts I have in my room waiting to be wrapped. What happened? Where did Christmas go? Sitting here three feet from the Christmas tree glowing, I can't help but wonder why the magic went away, how did I let that happen?

Cocoa. Candy canes. Sparkling lights. The smell of cinnamon and gingerbread. Christmas music. Presents. Love. Magic. Peace. Contentment.

I am down.

Labels: christmas

Here we are laying on the sofa bed without sheets, but we do have cozy blankets. "Honey I Shrunk The Kids" is playing in HD On Demand and I must say it has never looked better than it does right now on this new TV. (Much thanks to Brian)

Why the sofa bed?

Well as you know Braeden hasn't been feeling well for a few weeks now. He has a lingering cough and intense congestion. When I called his pediatrician yesterday they were unable to fit him in until 2:50 today. But last night Brae spiked a high fever of 102.4 degrees and his congestion became so thick that he began throwing up when coughing. I know what you're thinking...yum. =o/

So Brian stripped his bed down while I cleaned up the bathroom floor and Braeden stood there shivering with gunk in his eyes that was quickly crusting. Brian opened the sofa bed from our lagoon sofa for the first time. It is a queen size and we don't have any sheets to fit it. Always and adventure.

And now it is 10 a.m. feeling like 2 a.m. there is snow in the forecast and I'm anxious to get Brae to the doctor. I will not leave until they help to ease his discomfort. I don't care about the new rules of children cold medicine. I don't care about the new theories in regards to sinus infections not requiring antibiotics to cure. My little boy is going to be treated; they will help him feel better!

In funner news please head over to Odat's blog entry for today because it is flippin' hilarious!

Labels: brae, health

Idea from the always hilarious and enlightening "Pickled Beef"

Labels: christmas, mistletoe

Braeden returned home from his weekend visit with his father and at first things were a bit difficult. Transition can be hard for anyone and Brae is especially sensitive to change.

But just now my little boy ran out of my bedroom and back into his bedroom, waving good night as he made his way down the hall. He knows I'm not feeling well so he gave me a hug, gave me a kiss and told me he hopes things are better in the morning. He climbed down off my bed and then turned around, reached up...grabbed my hand and kissed the top of it.

I don't know about you but I don't think a good night wish can be any more sincere and wonderful than that. =o)

Labels: brae