Technical Difficulties

Either there's something wrong with my blog hosting service, or I have suddenly turned into a re-re. Either way, I am having big problems - when I try to log in, a bunch of windows open, but eventually I can get to my blog dashboard. Then the real fun starts. I can't post anything with photos because it gives me an error message about my html not being supported. Huh?? Some of my older posts (I'm told) are not linking correctly to the photos. And to make matters worse, I can't leave comments on anyone else's blogs. Just so you all know - I am still reading and laughing, sympathizing, etc. I just can't TELL you. If I didn't know any better, I'd think my hubby was sabotaging my time-waster......

My Worst Nightmare

Ever wonder what would flash through your mind if one of your kids went missing? How 'bout if they BOTH went missing? How 'bout if they BOTH went missing AND took your friend's son along for the adventure? What if you were at the mall when it happened? Well, let me tell you from experience, every episode of America's Most Wanted (also known as "turn in your neighbor"), Dateline, local news reports, everything you've ever heard about Jacob Wetterling and any other missing child swirls around your brain at lightning speed while you try to remain calm while describing what they were wearing, where you last saw them, where they might go - all while trying not to throw up. It's terrifying and awful and when you find your kids, you're not sure if you should hug them and never let go, or yell at them. SO you do both, at the same time. And you THANK GOD they are safe and no weirdo tried to do anything disgusting to them.
So now that you know my kids are okay, I'll give you all the gory details. Friday afternoon we headed over to Ridgedale to see Santa. We met up with my friend and her son who is Annie's age. There was a 1.5 hour wait to see him! We all settled in with snacks to pass the time, but the kids got squirrely, like they tend to do. My husband jokingly told the kids to go for a walk. They all held hands and walked around the Santa house - all within our sight. When they looked like they were going to keep going, he got up to follow behind them. The problem is, he went one direction - they went the other. My friend & I had no idea anything was amiss until he returned WITHOUT the kids. My heart stopped beating - I'm sure of it. I ran off in one direction, hubby in another and left friend waiting to see if the kids found their way back. I made a few quick passes - saw nothing but utter panic and tears in her eyes and I grabbed the 1st security guard I could find. He broadcast their description to the other guards and it became official. They were missing.
5 mall security guards were looking everywhere inside, while the Mtka police manned to exits and parking lot. I lost it when I heard that. Somehow, having the police involved makes it even scarier. It seemed like an eternity before Ted located them looking at the toys in Sears without a care in the world. Seems our 8 year old was testing his independence a bit - leading everyone off into toyland. He still won't admit to doing anything wrong, but he's incredibly embarrassed by the whole thing. My friend's son knew he shouldn't go so far from mom, but also knew he shouldn't leave the group (thank goodness!). My daughter thought she was fine because she was with big brother - yikes! Let's just say we've had some very lengthy discussions about safety again.

Here's your time waster of the day...

Here's a website I learned about from my N. Hudson friend (whose hubby is a sheriff's deputy). It's the public record website for the MN court system. Yes friends, you too can be a Gladys Kravitz and spy on all your friends and neighbors (or relatives in some cases!!)! WARNING: this becomes very addicting very quickly. All it takes is getting the dirt on one person you love to hate and you can't stop. DWI's, petty misdemeanors, financial judgements - no skeletons in the closet are safe here. You're welcome.

I'm so bad at vomit.

Oh, I SO hate it when one of the kids wakes me (why never Dad?)up in the middle of the night to inform me that they've hurled, vomited, puked, up-chucked, barfed....you get the picture. Last night, about a mere hour into my REM sleep, I was greeted with the tell-tale "my tummy hurts" by my oldest. I hustled him back to his room, grabbing a bucket on the way, and proceeded to spend the rest of the night holding it for him, emptying it out, rubbing his back, all the while trying not to lose it myself. You see, I am a sympathy puker. Yep. Throw up in front of me and I will inevitably join in. It's why I don't have any friends who are bulimic (well, not really - I like my friends to be crazy in other ways).

A funny story from the past: my roommate & I give a very cute, very intoxicated guy a ride home from a party. She's driving her brand-new car and thinking she's so cool & this guy is going to fall in love with her (or at least remember her in the morning). Suddenly, he starts retching in the backseat. I roll down my window and throw up out the window at 50 mph. Not a good idea since I was wearing my cute new eyeglasses (right about the time glasses became an accessory, not just a necessity). You guessed it - my glasses flew off my face along with my dinner. Never to be seen again.

I'm proud to say that when one of my off-spring needs me to buck up and hold the bucket, I am able to do it. I didn't breathe out of my nose, but I didn't puke either!

What a weekend, and NO you may not see the photos.

Well. Saturday and Sunday were so very fun. So, so very fun. I wish I could share some photos with you, but I think the subjects of the photos might disown me. Instead, I'll tell you all about the 2nd annual "Ladies Luncheon weekend."
The Ladies Luncheon was always a not-so looked forward to tradition in my friends' (yes, there are 2 of them, and yes they are related) family. All the ladies in the family would gather for lunch one Saturday in December and gab, eat, exchange a gift (the only good ones were the ones my 2 friends brought), but NO cocktails were involved. After my friends mom passed away, she felt the need to become the organizer and spent a lot of time and effort trying to get her dysFUNctional family together to carry on this tradition. Despite her best intentions, it dwindled away (and Really, is that such a bad thing?).
Enter the New and Improved Ladies Luncheon: My 2 friends (also known as my "peeps") and I (an honorary family member) gather for a weekend of shopping, eating, drinking, laughing, drinking, hanging with the locals in local bars, and generally cuttin' loose. As far as I'm concerned, this is a much more fun tradition.
This year we ventured to Albertville and stayed at the lovely Country Inn & Suites (the ONLY hotel in town - but it was clean!) and hung out at some places downtown. I can't remember the name of the 1st place we patronized ($5 all you can drink tap beer), but we wandered down the block a bit and dined at "the 152". The owner, "Debbie" was so awesome! While it was only about 7:30pm, she was closing down the kitchen for the night because the local snowmobile club was taking over with a fundraiser that included sloppy joes (I KNOW!). She very graciously fired up her fryers to serve us up some good, greasy bar food. She even threw in a free order of deep fried green beans (they're awesome!) because she was hungry for them. Then she kept popping back to our table to snack with us. She was hilarious! The food was great (but they do need to get some homemade sauces/dips cookin') so if you're ever at the outlet mall in Albertville, stop in to the 152 and say hi to Debbie for us.
Well, it was 9:30pm before we knew it. I was just getting ready to ramp up the fun but the other girls (one in particular) were a little over-served, so back to the hotel we went. I was in the bathroom for maybe 5 minutes (I was washing off my make-up!) and when I came out, one friend was sleeping already! And the other was "sleeping" too. If you can call laying face down in the middle of the bed with your pants half off and your long undies showing "sleeping."
And now you understand why I can't share any photos with you, as desperately as I want to! I love my peeps more and want to be able to continue this annual tradition.

Cookies!!

I hosted the annual cookie exchange for my family last weekend. Annie (she's got style! LOVE the leopard print leggings, heart socks, and velvet dress!) and I baked 13 dozen dipped ginger cookies on Saturday - whew! Sunday afternoon the ladies all converged at my house to trade cookies. There were 12 different kinds of yummy cookies to share! I know it's hard to believe, but my cookies are all in the freezer waiting for Christmas - I didn't eat them all!