New year=new look. Early!

Don't 'cha love it?!?!?!?

Devon offered to do a blog makeover for me, so of course I said "yes, please!"

Little Pissy helped with the header.

It's nice having my very own "techies". ;-)

Hope all of you are enjoying your holiday.

I have several new "irons" in the fire for the new year.

Super exciting (to me) stuff which I'll share with you as the various pieces (hopefully) fall into place.

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Happy New Year!!!!!!!

Merry MoMo Christmas!!!!

Yay! My boys are back in town!

MoMo wanted to come back to my apartment with me for a sleep-over.

He's still not too sure about the fridge being 5 feet away from the bed. He keeps giving it funny looks.

Here is is trying out the bed for the first time:

I think he likes it.

As you can see, I'm much happier about this than he is.


Buster didn't want to leave Mike, so he didn't come for the sleep-over.
Maybe next time.

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Wishing you all the best this holiday season!


xoxo
~Pissy

So I'm laying on the rug....

wearing my pajamas and the cozy fleece polka dot socks Devon gave me.
Admiring the Christmas greenery that I bought at Whole Foods today.

See it there on the left?

and I'm tired because I've been super busy today
~but~
I want to post something.

Pictures are the easiest thing.

Plus I like 'em.

I understand if y'all are bored with them.

I like shadows.

I put these white tie-backs on my Ikea curtains.
Devon suggested some of the ribbon
I already had left over from my teeny tree.

I really like how it looks.

Thanks, Dev!

Speedo Santa Race

Yep, you read it right: Speedo. Santa. Race.

I think the girls in their little red Santa dresses look cute.

But the guys?!?!?!

Santa Maria Madre de Dios!!!!!!!!

Look at the one on the left.
Yeah, the one with the long beard.
ACK!

And the guy up front in the blue Speedo with the
Ghetto Fabulous Afro wig?

Dude......


Too bad they didn't look in one of these first, huh?

I realize that's one creepy ass picture, but a mirror is a mirror!

Ahem.

I know the "race" was all in good fun and to raise money for
charity, etc. But some "things" just need to be
kept under wraps.

Know what I'm sayin'?

So.....

Let's cleanse our palates, shall we?


Ah.....

THIS is better!

Clean, simple lines on that crisp white!



and look at this beauty:

Sparkly, fairy tale-like and lovely.


I feel much better now, how about you?

Or do you prefer the Speedos?

Why ask why? Christmas shopping edition

*Why is shopping for other people so much more difficult than shopping for myself?

*Why am I so easy to buy for?

*Why did Gap have to have all scarves, hats and gloves on sale for $10 each?

*Why was I unable to resist buying 2 scarves for myself when I already own about 15?

*Why did the "greeter" at Pottery Barn say "Welcome to the world's largest Pottery Barn!" to everyone who entered the store?

*Why would anyone want a job that required you to say a phrase that includes the words "world's largest"?

*Why don't malls have shopping carts like Target and Wal-mart?

*Why didn't I just rent a stroller from the mall kiosk to carry all my purchases?

*Why aren't there more employees at Crate and Barrel?

*Why are there so many employees at Macy's, yet you can never find one when you need one?

*Why am I STILL not finished Christmas shopping?????

Cutastic Christmas Puppy

I mean, c'mon!!!!!

Could he BE any cuter?!?!?

(No, I didn't take this picture. I found it online.)

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I DID take this picture.

I thought it was pretty good considering
it was taken with a Blackberry.

I like the reflections and the raindrops.


And they make good pizza there too. ;-)

Christmas Tree Expedition = silly pictures

I've probably mentioned before that my son-in-law is a professional photographer.

His name is Zach. He's married to my oldest daughter, Devon.

Zach has a day job as a photographer, but his first love is photography in general. Taking photos of anything, anyone, anytime....rather than "assignments". So, yeah, we ALL enjoy taking pictures for fun, but Zach is our professional. He photographed Little Pissy's wedding and the pictures are simply breathtaking. We're so lucky to have the talented Zach in our family.

Friday afternoon he and Devon were going to get their Christmas tree. Zach wanted me to come along so that I could take pictures of them as they went through the tree purchasing process, carrying it home, etc., which he would later edit into a film (I think that's what he's going to do. He loses me sometimes on the technical stuff).

On the walk over to the church tree lot and while we were there, Zach took a few pictures of me and Devon being silly.

Here they are:

Walkin' over and crackin' up!

Still laughin'....

I'm trying to hold it together here....

I love my beautiful, sweet, Dev!
This was the day after her 31st birthday. :)

Hi, Zach!!!

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If you have some time and would like to check out his website, please click here.

There is some absolutely beautiful work there.

Sure I'm biased, but if you do go over and look I think you'll agree. :)

Miniature Christmas Cuteness

Look!!!

Dev gave me a pack of mini
Mary Englebreit ornaments.

This one is my favorite.

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p.s. I can't believe Florida lost!

Finally! Lights!

Behold!!!

*Magical Christmas Window Lights*

(I know it's a little hokey and not expertly
done, but they make me happy. :)
2 100 light strings= $4.00 Wal-mart)

Vase filled with bulbs
( 2 boxes of 24 bulbs $4.00 each (sale) at Wal-mart)

Cubbies with one more string of 100 lights, more of the bulbs
and 1 more "HoHoHo"


I am of the opinion that you can never have too many
"HoHoHo's"
at Christmas time.

P.S. I know I haven't posted much this week, but I've been busier than usual. Have already worked twice this week for the new family and will again Saturday night. They are awesome and the baby is adorable. Spending time in that fabulous house that looks like it belongs in Architectural Digest while caring for and playing with a lovely baby boy? AND getting paid really well to do it? AWESOME! *insert big cheesy grin*

Still no lights....

...but more decorations!

YAY Target!!!

They always have such cute stuff!

Adorable welcome mat ($8.00 on sale) which of course goes along
with my color scheme.

Picture frame ($4.00) with one of my favorite pictures of
my oldest daughter.
Also tall tin ($2.99) which matches the frame.

(They won't stay on the desk near the tree.
This was just for picture taking purposes.)

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and of course

The $5.00 Christmas sleep t-shirt.
You can almost make out where it says
"gnome-made goodness"
in pink.

Who doesn't love a pun about gnomes?

Teeny Apartment=Teeny Decorations

I wasn't going to decorate at all here in my tiny place. Then I got to thinking about how cute and fun putting white lights around the three big windows in the main room would be, and then I got carried away.

The lights aren't up yet because I think I'm going to need some help hanging them.

Or...who knows? I may decide to try to hang them on my own tomorrow.

I've never hung lights before, but first time for everything, right?

Until I get those hung and can take pictures of that, here are a couple to hold you over:

lampshade wrapped in wired ribbon with
$1.00 Wal-mart ornament attached

2 foot tall Christmas tree
$8.00 at Wal-mart
decorated with $5.00 worth of
Wal-mart decorations.
Including ribbon garland.

My fleece throw is from Marshall's.
A splurge at $12.99, but it's over-sized
and super fluffy so I think
it was worth it.

What about y'all?

Do you have your places decorated already?

It's Time to Trot!!!!

I got the job!!!!!!!!!!!

I start next week!


I'll be working two days a week, caring for an 8 month old baby boy.


I'm SO excited! I LOVE babies! And the house is in a lovely, old neighborhood with great places to take him for walks and little pocket parks for outings.


I showed my daughter the house where I'll working. She couldn't get over how massive it is. I thought it was on two lots. Dev thinks it's more like 3 or 4 lots. It's like it's set in its own little forest. Pretty incredible.


YAY!!!!!!!!


Thanks, all of you, for the well wishes with the job and the good vibes I know you were sending me.


They worked!


Y'all, I am SO, SO lucky! I have so much to be grateful for in my life.

This quote from Coco Chanel sums up how I feel.

I'm rich!

An Education

This film is a must see.

It held me in its thrall from start to finish.

It is beautifully photographed, styled, directed and acted.

Carey Mulligan gave the best performance I've seen this year.

I won't attempt to review it. There are pages and pages of reviews you can Google.

Just know that I loved it and highly recommend it.



Cinematic perfection.

Frustrated!

When I interviewed on Tuesday evening, the family told me they would email me within "a couple of days". I took that to mean that I would hear from them by Thursday, or certainly by today. Instead I've heard nothing. Boo! :(

So...to take my mind off that, I went and found some pretty, girly pictures of rooms that I could never have. I mean, I COULD have them...I just wouldn't. There are elements in each room that I like, but over all the look is just too "fou-fou" for me.

Oh! This is an actual house in England that is for rent for location shoots. Apparently all this fou-fou works for somebody. :)

*if you click on the pictures they enlarge*

This looks like a 50's sorority house to me.
Well...maybe not that gold bust on the wall, but the rest of it. :)

This is a lovely room for a young girl.

That dressing table is to die for!

and those drapes?

Swoon!

But that wallpaper is just too much. :(

ADORE that beveled mirror!

Want!!!!

and that rack that fits over the tub to hold
books? Love it!

There's that awesome mirror again!
I love some of the trinkets on the counter.

btw: I have a pink shower curtain too.
In the guest bathroom in our house in Enterprise.
Pink with a black monogram
in the center.

I know.

It's sharing details like that with y'all
that keeps you coming back, right?

Let's back up

That post I did the other day?

The one about saying sweet things to five people?

Do dogs count?

If not, I only managed to say sweet things to three people

Personally I think dogs should count.

Most of the time they're much nicer than people.

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Spending the day with Baby V yesterday was so much fun.

We had a great time together.

I brought her a stuffed puppy.

I think she liked it.

Of course I put her hair in pig tails again.

It just looks so fabulously cute!

Anybody know where I can get one of these?

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Received a very nice email yesterday from the people-of-the-big-house asking for my references (I had offered to give them references when I met with them).

I'm cautiously optimistic about that being a good sign.

We shall see. :)

Nanny Diaries: Call back and new adventures

Guess where I'm working tomorrow?!?!?!

Yep, back with the cute Baby V !!!!

Her mom emailed me Sunday to ask if I could help out on Wednesday.

I almost said no.

Because like my oldest daughter said: I've already had "closure" there.

But then I thought: well, I'm not doing anything else that day and it's a little extra money..... so I said yes.

~and

In other nanny news: I interviewed for a new nanny position today. The family lives in a house that looks a lot like the one pictured below.


only cooler and not on a lake.

Fingers crossed, everybody!!!!!!!!!

I'm gonna do this

I'll let y'all know how it turns out.

I'm trying not to.....

I've considered posting about this before and could never bring myself to do it.

Even now....while I'm typing this....I've typed whole paragraphs and deleted them...not sure exactly how I wanted to say what I want to say.

So I'm just going to say it: my husband and I are separated. We have no plans to divorce at this time. We consider each other good friends, and economically for both of us it makes the most sense to remain married.

When I first moved to Atlanta, it was with the intent that I would go back and forth to Alabama. Spend time in both places. This would be a trial of sorts for both of us to see how we liked being on our own. Over the course of the summer and then into the fall, I spent less and less time going to Alabama. My husband NEVER comes to Atlanta. He doesn't like it here. At all. I respect that. Just as he respects the fact that I'm bored with living in small town lower Alabama.

These past six months have taught us both quite a bit about ourselves: Mike has found that he enjoys living alone. He's 62 and this is the first time in his life he's ever lived alone. He's enjoying being able to do his own thing (golf 6 days a week) without having to worry about anyone (me) being upset about the amount of time he spends on the golf course.

I've found that (shockingly enough) I can~ in fact~ live without a dog in my home. This is the first time in 21 years that I haven't had a dog sitting right next to me as I sit on a couch. Yes, I miss my "boys", but I know they're better off, happier, etc....living in surroundings that they're used to. I'm SO fortunate that both of my daughters have dogs (the adorable Reuben and the sweet Sadie) that I get to spend so much time with....so that lessens the pain of being away from my own pups.

I just realized something: doesn't the fact that all I've written about is Mike's golf and our dogs speak volumes about how little there is left of what most people consider a "normal" marriage?

Mike and I have regular phone conversations and they're always amicable. There is no anger and no remorse. We spent months and months before I moved "discussing" the state of our marriage and what led to its decline. There is fault on both sides. But really...as cliche' as it sounds....we simply grew apart. We're both beyond being angry, laying blame, crying, discussing the same issues over and over again. We've done that. And this is where we are now.

We both feel lucky that we've come to this point. That we can speak on a regular basis without there being any angry words exchanged. We share too many years and too many good memories to not be friends. That would be sad. We've discussed how we want to remain friends and be a part of each others lives. I can't imagine it being any other way. I realize that could change....for me or for Mike. But right now....this year....this November....he's coming to Atlanta to spend Thanksgiving with all of us here in Atlanta. And he's bringing the pups.

That's good enough for me.

It's a Reuben Weekend!!!!

Yes, I am on voluntary Reuben duty this weekend.

Look at that picture.

He is working his cuteness SO hard.

I can't resist him.

I absolutely ADORE dogs.

I'd have 10 if I could.

So.....

Who is a "dog" person?

and

Who are the "cat" people?

Anybody out there have both?

Nanny Diaries: Bye, Bye Baby

Baby V did this for the first time yesterday:

....put her hands on my cheeks and her forehead

against mine.

It was so sweet and spontaneous.

I almost cried.

Thank goodness today was the last day.

*sigh*

I would have just gotten more and more attached.

Now on to the next job adventure!

Why is Pissy blogging at 12:50 a.m.?

Because she has severe gas pains.

Between her shoulder blades!!!!

Thanks old age! You officially SUCK!!!!

Ok. Enough of the third person.


I'm here to tell y'all: This stuff HURTS! I've been up trying to get rid of the pains for over an hour now.

I've taken Rolaids, drank some coke to try to burp (TMI, I know), walked around, stretched, used a heating pad, made the mistake of Googling my symptoms and then considered going to the ER on the off chance I was having a heart attack.....

Yeah.

Fun night.

*sigh*

I've even resorted to taking quizzes on facebook just to pass the time. I can't concentrate on reading anything.

Just to make this post more interesting, here's a version of one of my favorite Beatles songs that I'm really loving right now.

How have I not heard this before?

Nanny Diaries: Only one week left

Can y'all believe it?

Next week is my last one taking care of that adorable little munchkin pictured above.

It's been interesting, educational, exciting, exhausting, fun, frustrating, and seldom boring.

I will miss her and her great family.

I think they'll miss me too.

Luckily they are neighbors of Little Pissy's, so I WILL see them again.

Otherwise I'd be sad.

p.s. Yes, I AM the one who put her hair in pigtails for the first time. It suits her: she's a spunky little thing!

~Buddies~

Fancy cookware and eyebrows

Yep, you read it right!

How's that for randomness! haha!!!

I have so many things rolling around that I could blog about...and I will. But since I'd complained about my Dollar General skillet, I thought y'all would want to see what I went and bought to replace it.

Ta-dah!!!

Simply Calphalon!!!

Isn't it beautiful?!?!?
Found it at Ross for only $35 bucks!!!

Score!

I'm cooking a pasta sauce in it right now. :)

Also....

I love this saucepan!!!

It's a great size and just really pretty.
I especially like the copper on the base of the pan.

I always get excited about cooking when the weather turns cooler.

Do y'all do that?


Now for the brows....

Y'all....it had been at least a month since I'd gotten them waxed.
Sure I've plucked, but it's not the same.
All you women know what I'm talking about!

So off to the Vietnamese nail salon I went.
and $7 bucks later.....

Praise the Lord!!!

I have no idea what is going on with my left eye.
Jeez! I could carry a week's worth of clothes
in that bag under my eye!
(and of course no make-up 'cuz what's the point when you're going to get waxed?)

Alrighty!

This dose of randomness is complete!

Hope everyone's week is off to a good start!