Because I am snarky this morning...

A bit of this, a bit of that ...

Tami thinks my blog is lovely. I happen to think Tami and Tami's blog are lovely :-) Thanks Tami. (I apologize for being WAAAY late on accepting this award. I was still hung over from the last awards party I went to...)



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In order to survive enjoy the holiday season, I think I will try this. Doesn't she look purty?



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How does one go from this:




To this:



Without me aging a day? Je ne sais quoi! Happy 6th Birthday, my sweetie!!

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Because above-mentioned child is turning 6 and we (in a moment of madness) invited approximately 50 people to her party (can't wait til the wedding), I will be busy. Then, there is the Christmas holiday to get ready for. Then, there is my mid-life crisis trip to Miami thinly disguised as a sales conference in January.

Know this. I may be silent, I may be invisible. But I am out there. Lurking. Watching YOU. Reading YOU. I might not (probably won't) be updating my little bloggy pooh a lot. Will you still love me? Will you still come visit me? Or will you scatter like the little floatie things on a dandelion when it goes all white and puffy?

Look at it this way. You are going to be busy too. I am doing you a favor by keeping your Reader counts lower. See? What a giver I am!!

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I haven't mentioned Edward once this post.

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And my stickies. If you stuck with me this long, here are your stickies for your post it note pleasure.
















Asante na kwaheri!
~Laurie~

P.S. Today I learned the strikeout html code. Golly I impress even me.

Happy Birthday Cabel ...

It’s Cabel Strumheller’s birthday. Who the heck is Cabel, you ask? He is one of the characters in my favorite trilogy by Lisa McMann (www.lisamcmann.com).

Wake, published in 2008, begins the story of a teen named Janie Hannagan. Janie, as we soon learn, gets “sucked” into peoples’ dreams. She meets and befriends Cabel Strumheller who becomes the first person Janie shares her secret with.

My sister first suggested I read this book because she fell in love with Janie and Cabel. (She suggested Twilight to me so I figured I could trust her judgement.) I was immediately hooked. I was instantly drawn into Janie’s world, identifying with her struggles (and falling for the bad boy, because I love me a bad boy). I simply could not put Wake down. I needed to know what happened. I was fascinated by the idea of entering someone else’s dreams. And I am a sucker for a love story. While I would definitely not call this novel a romance, the relationship between Janie and Cabel made me fall in love with them both.

Fade, published in 2009, continues Janie’s story as she learns more about this “gift”. Another page turner that I just couldn’t put down.

Gone, the third and final installment, will be released in 2010. And I cannot wait to get my hands on a copy!! I want Borders to open at midnight so I can get it!!

I love Lisa McMann’s style of writing. I like the way she increments the story. You will need to read it to see what I mean. She is funny and she is serious. Her characters are so real that you feel like you already know them when you meet them.

The novels are written for the Young Adult audience, yet the story is so intriguing, adult readers will enjoy them as well. I look forward to reading more of Ms. McMann’s work in the future!

Take the time to read the books. Click here to purchase them. If you buy both, you can get free shipping! What's not to love??

After you have devoured them, come back and let me know so we can discuss! See you in a few days!

Some open letters ...

Dear Neighbors,

I am really sorry. I tried to talk him out of it, but sometimes it's hard to reason with him. He said, "better to do it now than when it’s really cold. Better now than when there is snow on the ground." So then I tried to talk him out of plugging them in. No can do, he said. Those aren’t Christmas animated deer; they are autumnal animated deer. The lights, well, those are definitely Christmas lights.

And while I hate to be "those people," it's in my best interests to keep him happy. Especially since he cooks me dinner and does my laundry.

So so sorry.
His wife

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Dear Space Shuttle,

Please do not land in our yard. I know that the glow you are about to see from space will be very confusing and you will be convinced that we simply must be Houston from the amount of lights, but please please please listen to Ground Control and land where they say. I am already in trouble with the neighbors.

Thanks.
His Wife

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Dear Soft Bristle Hair Brush,

Why, oh, why did I not meet you about a year ago? Do you know how many tears we could have saved if we had only met sooner? Oh the lamenting! I don’t blame you. It was my lack of intelligence that I didn’t think of you sooner. The blue brush had me so swindled that I just couldn’t think straight. But, better late than never, I’d say! The girls heart you and I simply love the tear-free mornings. I will never foresake you for another. I have seen the light!
You + me = forever!

(And a shout out of thanks to Jesus, for what must have been divine intervention there!)

Love love love,
Their mother

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And just one little itty bitty post-it note, because I have no control over my addiction…

Asante na kwaheri!
~Laurie~

Seriously Silly Sunday

One, two, three. Don't mess with the dress!

Ten Things I Learned at 12:01 am (this morning)

1) When going to a midnight showing of ANY Twilight movie, plan to arrive one hour early to get seats.

2) Movie theater popcorn and soda are a racquet. (I just paid how much???)

3) Your husband must really love you if he attends a midnight showing where a majority of the audience spends the movie squealing.

4) Squealing teenage girls are funny at 1am.

5) If I were 17, Jacob Black would be totally hot without his shirt on. And I might have squealed too.

6) If I were a teenage boy looking to meet a teenage girl, the midnight showing of any Twilight movie is THE PLACE to be.

7) You know you are old when you think Charlie is hot.

8) Your husband may find Victoria hot.

9) The FINAL season of LOST starts in January.

10) Only 222 days until Eclipse. Squeal!!

!! Look What I Won !!

It was early morning, yesterday. I was up before the dawn. (That has a strange yet familiar ring to it. Weird.) Anyway, it's true. My youngest came in to bed with me about an hour earlier than the scheduled awakening and I failed to fall back asleep. So, I was a wee bit grumpy in the shower...thinking thoughts about giving up the blogging thing and just becoming a commenter thing and wah wah wah, woe is me, blah blah blah, I am going to sit at the loser table.

And then it happened!

My bbff (best bloggy friend forever), Chief, sent me an award! How timely and sweet was that? She lifts me up when others kick me down. She's funny and real and I secretly stalk her (but she thinks it's the bbff thing - bwaa haa haa).

So without further ado, here is my lovely award:



I wanted to share some pictures with you from the Awards Night held last night.


So, here I am on the red carpet with Gerard Butler. He desperately wanted to escort me after all the nice things Chief said about me, so I threw him a bone and let him. He was very sweet and a great date, well, until he spilled his drink on me.


Here I am with my award. Notice the hideous dress I had to wear while the other one was being emergency cleaned? I look terrible!

After my acceptance speech, I went back stage for the photo opp and what-not, when Brad came over and asked if I wanted to go to the Vanity Fair party with him. I agreed but when we got there, Angelina was all up in my face and stuff, and since she is pretty psycho, I thought it wise to let her have him. Besides, that beard looks totally ridiculous with those glasses. Really Brad!



Apparently I had one or five too many razberri stoli cosmos, because when I woke up this morning, I was in Vegas, and alledgedly got, um, hitched. To Rob. Huh.

So, all's well that ends well. Don't mind the wretched photo below. I was a bit hungover this morning.



Thanks again, Chief! It was a heck of a night!! And such a nice thing on an otherwise crappy day. You are a true bbff!!