finally. get that incessant jingling out of my head!

the family CHRISTMAS CAKE - special surprise inside!

my mom got these as a present last christmas and uses them alongside our stocking holder thingeys. they make me smile.

me and cousin maggie amidst holiday feast #4,462.

i was not a good picture taker this christmas... which is unfortunate b/c we had a great time with family and friends and everyone looked great and i FAILED to capture any of it on camera. sometimes i guess you forget because you are too caught up with visiting and laughing and being LOUD. i almost - not quite - forgot how loud and large and laughey my family is - both sides. i also almost - not quite - forgot how much everyone loves the F & the GD & the S word(s) in my family - both sides - grandparents included, nay, grandparents worse than us "kids" in some instances...in case you were wondering where my potty mouth was trained. i keep it pretty PG on the blog since you never know who is reading, but those of you who know me, well.. then you know what i am talking about... it's that irish in us - we love potatoes and cursing. just be glad you never had to play next to me or my cousin bridget on the soccer field! this was the first year i felt like THE OUT OF TOWNER for real - even though i have lived in AR for three christmases now and tulsa the four christmases before that (school never counts though). i wouldn't change all the bits that led up to meeting my husband and all my wonderful friends but i hate being so far away from my family... especially being at the starting our own little family juncture in life. it was so nice to grow up with my sister and so many first cousins all in my same age range (10 or so - from both the cronin and the horan side - all within about six years). it is kind of depresso that my kiddos won't have the same experience and makes me want to have AND adopt a gazillion babies to start my own "big" family. now please. ::wink:: the holidays give me the FEVAH (more commonly known as baby fever) hmmm... maybe i should work on taking care of myself and karl a little more first! what do you guys think? ::more winks::

Merry Christmas!

Hope you all had a great holiday! Nothing says CHRISTMAS like christmas tree and plaid pj pants, eh?

we three kings of oreint are, bearing gifts we traverse afar

Arlo is freaking out man. Nobody better touch his Christmas present.

Nobody is at work. BUT ME! (and maybe YOU are if YOU are reading this in the early AM of this lovely Friday before Christmas – if that is the case I apologize for being a poor, poor pitiful me-er. Karl was all snuggled up and sleeping under the warm blankies and I had to leave while he got to sleep. It was quite difficult to extract myself from my warm, uncomfortable guest bed (floors STILL wet!) BUT here I am writing this blog and making my list of mini-goals to accomplish today in my red Harriet the Spy notebook that I use for my lists – I still make lists on paper. Isn’t that awful? Seems like with all the time I spend on the computer/internet I should be able to find some program or use Outlook for my lists. Unfortunately, it is just not as satisfying to cross things off and/or highlight things on the computer.

We had a wonderful Christmas celebration last night with Mary Kay and Rea and Mimi and Christy and Carter at Casa de Graves. Casa de Graves always smells fantastic. Dinner was great, presents were thoughtful…. A very nice evening with family. We got home and gave our doggies their presents. Mmmm… peanut butter and rawhide popsicles. Delish.

he'll say are you married, we'll say nah MAN

Well it is a good thing we didn’t put up a TREE as our bedroom floors are being finished (stinks something awful throughout the whole house – I think I am high from the fumes RIGHT now MAN – shnozberries – I think I might need to go home from WORK). This morning I got dressed from a laundry basket of shoes in my living room, a dresser drawer that is now stored on the floor our office, the guest bedroom where we are sleeping all crammed in, and the coat closet (not just for coats anymore!) that is stuffed with clothing. And I was only five minutes late for work – I was impressed. The above pics show the scary zipper door covering to our bedroom and our pretty floors and the mass destruction of christmas!

I am having trouble concentrating at work but busy so I have to try harder (taste like shnozberries) as I have lots to do.

Elizabeth got a pup-pup-pupalicious. Check out Ms. Parker Posey Poo Poo (sorry e beth – the fumes) – making her grand entrance to the blogosphere on e’s bloggity blog.

Through the years we all will be together, If the Fates allow

Hello my lovely friends and family. Closer and closer to Christmas...

We had a great time at Leah and Blue's Xmas Xtravaganza. For pictures please go HERE and HERE (I forgot my Canon). I hope we do it again next year - and, if we do, I have the perfect theme (i stole this from my sister and her friends) - next year we are having a tacky Christmas sweater requirement in addition to our gift exchange! What do you guys think?

Let's see - what else? hmmm - here is my hubby 2.0.

In other funny picture news, karl gave me my christmas present early (a mac book! it only weighs 5 pounds and the pictures are awesome and i am still trying to figure out how to use it...never owned an apple before.) but it does have a photo booth option. we had dinner at mary kay and rea's last night and carter and christy (family) are in town from CA and we played around with it - carter laughed the whole way through! we particularly liked the mirror option as you can see - i can't wait to show joe and bel and wendy and all the other family!

oh and if you didn't get a fabulous christmas card from us you can see the extremely ridiculous vomitey cuteness HERE. (just imagine it cut in half) Pretty much just wanted to poke fun at the "perfect" picture people try to get every year. I am thinking of making it a tradition.

you're a mean one, mr. grinch, you're a nasty wasty skunk

this is the face i gave the scary man.

this week is the week for exciting work stories.

today i was walking out of my office around 5-ish... and i look over to the parking lot next to ours and there is a window of shattered glass and a scary man inside bent over in the backseat (clearly burglarizing the car which i did not realize at first). At first I just thought, oh that sucks, that guys window got smashed out and then i saw the guy in the truck taking out two big shotguns out of the car and realized it probably wasn't his car and those probably weren't his guns. i looked at him, he looked at me, i pretended to not notice what he was doing and got in my car and locked the doors - the guy bolted immediately. i called my office, they came outside, i called 911 and gave a description and the direction the guy was going. then it got a bit was surreal. The cop comes like FLYING up in his car and he is like "what did he take" and i am like "TWO SHOTGUNS wrapped in camo" (only in Arkansas, i swear. the guns were hunting guns) and he flies off in the direction the guy went - tires squealing, the whole bit. anyway, they apprehended the guy and the guns and i got to go to the police station and give a statement (verbal and written) about the whole incident. the cop who caught the guy said it was the fastest he had ever caught a suspect - i like to think i had a little something to do with that! I told him i thought i deserved some sort of medal or star or at least a gift certicate or something. ;) kidding, kidding but i am glad the owner of the truck now only has to deal with a broken window!

Strike the harp and join the chorus....

After 571 days of successful blogging and 467 posts by his talented and beautiful wife, karl has decided to join the sphere. His blog will be less family-oriented and more about technology information. It is quite fun. He finds really good sites and applications that we wish we had thought of and were making millions from. Check him out here! Welcome to the sphere.

The weekend was good – sorry no pics lately. You know how the holiday season gets. Very Jessie Spano - no time, never any time. But for those of you getting xmas cards look for a supercute pic coming to a mailbox near you sometime this week (hopefully!)

Then He smiled at me, pa rum pum pum pum

Funny work story #2,867

So. It’s Friday children. Time to go out and play!


I have a good, fun story. Right so - the company I work for – we manage the Arkansas Association of Chiefs of Police (chiefs across the state, we plan their events, keep track of their membership database, keep up their website, etc. etc.) The Chiefs are a fun bunch b/c they come to our office for their board meetings and drink lots of coffee (for real) and say ‘darlin’ and ‘little lady’ (and somehow it doesn’t sound derogatory – go figure) and speak Ar-kan-san in the best possible way. Also they give away glocks and other large, scary guns as door prizes at their annual convention. Anyway, the Chiefs have a website. They might not use this site so often as they are busy with their aforementioned coffee and guns and keeping the state of Arkansas safe and sound. But they have one. Well (lean in close for good gossip) their site (I won’t say HOW) got taken over by a PORN site. So their site (and everywhere it is linked) is coming up either blocked or dirty, dirty porn! GAA! If you are that curious or don’t believe me: their new site: www.arkchiefs.org and their old site is the same addy but has the state of Arkansas spelled out (I promise you really don’t want to look). So I spent some time figuring out where we were linked (www.arkansas.gov... HELLO) and calling people and explaining the situation. And that, my friends, should be a situation on ‘The Office’or some other such show. Pure Entertainment.

Hmm… but not really that funny if you think about it from a mgmt/client perspective.

Hmm…I am probably going to get fired for writing this blog.

BUT IT is TOO FUNNY not to share. I mean of all our clients – the CHIEFS OF POLICE. Heheh.

Cause Baby it’s Cold Outside

First of all, Happy Belated Birthdays (yesterday) to both Audra Trotter Wallace and new baby (!!) William A. Koss. Congrats to Matt and Lindsay on their safe delivery and healthy little bit. Maybe your baby and Paris Hilton's baby can now hang out in the kiddie clubs!

Happy Lunch Time. I need it – even if it is VERY brief.

Don’t you just hate it when you make a silly mistake at work? Long story short: There was a board meeting at one of our conventions, the board members needed to be reimbursed for mileage, I calculated mileage and checks were printed (not by me but with the amount I decreed), and then realized (um…it was pointed out to me…yucko) that it was only one way reimbursement and not full trip. Sigh. Stupid. Silly. AnnoYing. And now you get to here alllllllll about it – aren’t you a lucky ducky? Maybe later I will enthrall you with an ever-exciting story of what I cleaned and how long it took me last night. If. You. Are. Lucky.

p.s. I am giving all my blog posts Christmas Song Titles from here until Christmas to get myself IN THE MOOD. (still no tree, still not a single present… just to keep you aBREAST of all the details!) the mall frightens me. As do most retail stores.

comfortable - like my GAP overalls!

that is what this weekend was - comfy like my gap overalls that brooke and i bought a loooooooong time ago and are horribly out of style but that I still love deeply. Look at those big infectious smiles - it is because of the overalls!!! (or the fact that we were 19, in our first college summer apartments, had part time jobs, and spent a lot of quality time at the apartment swimming pool with beer in hand!) i know i need to JUST LET THEM GO!! but i just can not. i refuse. sigh. OVERALLS. hmm. why are they called overalls since they aren't really over all. ANYWAY, i can still wear them around the house. everyone has comfort clothing right??!?!?

we just stayed comfy all weekend - matt dill came in town from tulsa to hang for the weekend, we watched THE GAME (arkansas vs. florida of which we will speak no more!), made food, and watched about a million movies - we got a new television and it came with a trial movie pack - karl and i don't watch many movies so my eyes were glued in my pursuit to catch up on about five years of movies. no christmas tasks were accomplished at the horan/hills household this weekend. oops. no tree, no decor, no cards, no presents, no songs, no cider, nothing! yikes. someone help. i am drowning in non-christmas. and it's freaking cold.

just say no to snow

good morning. i woke up to 68 degrees and left the house to 54 degrees. um....... that ain't right.

i am scared. We drove the truck into work today JUST IN CASE it is like that one time two years ago when it was barely snowing and the city had a panic attack and everyone left work at the same time and like it took us four HOURS to drive FIVE MILES home from downtown to our old apartment.

what is the weather doing where YOU are? Are YOU even at work? or is this a SNOW DAY and you are all comfy cozy in your beds and in front of your TVs/computers (in which case i might be a tad jealous)?

Blogger Baby I’ve been an awful good girl

I would like to point out that the month of November 2006 is almost over. NOVEMBER. Time = warp speed. People are making plans for NEW YEARS EVE 2007. It is almost 2007. Double 007!! (That is the theme of 90% of the conferences planned for work for 2007). I am not sure what is in the works for our NYE – maybe TTOWN!

Important Announcement #675: I have decided to send out Christmas Cards this year (maybe the older you get the more you like the holidays?!!?)! I have a “PLAN” for said cards (big surprise, can’t tell, super cute, we shall see if it happens, Don’t hold your breath! b/c you might just get a dollar store card and you can’t be mad if you do!) If you would like a card from me please send your addy to h.kathleen@gmail.com. I will send them to ANYONE and EVERYONE if you send me your mailing digits (and city and state). Please and thank you. If not I will hunt you down until I find out where you live.

I hope everyone else is having better luck dieting post-turkey day than me. I have no self restraint. And my husband keeps FORCING me to eat Montery Jack Cheese Fries (add bacon, hold the jalapenos, ranch please) from Canon Grill (next time YOU are in town my out of town friends we are going HERE!). Lay off me I’m STARVING.

in no particular order

arlo shaking off some water from the crick.

mimi and her girls and their boys

requirements: bud light, camo duct tape, TWO satellite dishes, and TWO televisions

eric and em in matching attire.

a full plate.

millions of tailgaters...yikes!

mimi and her boys.

john and leslie all decked out in razorback red.

see we ARE labs. we love swimming.

unfortunately...

bloggity blogging kind of feels like just one more thing to add to the list today so forgive me if i am brief. i think i have discovered the secret of life. don't. sit. down. Ever. Because if you don't sit down you don't gain four million pounds from the absolutely wonderful thanksgiving meal you had on Thursday, you don't have piles of laundry stretching for miles across your bedroom, your own kitchen is spotless (along with every other room in your house), your blog is updated, you have worked out today, your friends all have those cards you keep meaning to send, your christmas shopping is nearly complete (and what you already have is neatly wrapped and tied), your miles of laundry are appropriately pressed and/or folded and put in their proper place, you have called those friends you keep meaning to call and catch up with, and your hair is cut and nails are done.... i think i am getting a bit carried away - in the and-you-have-dinner-on-the-table-kind of way. ANYWAY, I unfortunately love and long for sitting down (specifically on my couch from the hours of 5:30 to 9:30 on Monday - Friday) and i am addicted to worthless, vacant television so all of the aforementioned things are on my master list that never goes away! EVER. dear lord help me find some balance. Hope you enjoy the turkey lurkey pics. Maybe someday i can hire someone to do all my Xmas shopping and wrapping for me! my wrapping is frightful people. but i do make kick ass mashed and sweet potatoes. so there. i think we are all better at some holidays than others. mine just happen to be the holidays based soley around potato products.

Turkey lurkey doo and turkey lurkey dap

i have a fun thanksgiving video for you all re: cranberries. (found on vimeo.com)

http://www.vimeo.com/clip:28608

Hopefully, if you are at work, this might make your day speed by a little quicker! Also, a quiet possibly funnier, especially if you use Microsoft Outlook all day long, another fun video HERE re: high priority emails. I hate that little red exclamation point!

Pics from Turkey Day and Tailgating Soon! Some one send the cleaning fairies over to our house real quick like.

Slant that V dot that i

curl that c, t, o, r, y

Last weekend we were in Tulsa running the Marathon Relay and celebrating Matt’s birthday! We finished (chip time) in 4:31 (4 hours and 31 minutes) and 21 seconds. That is around a 10 min 26 second mile for the team which is not bad!! We were quite proud of ourselves and inspired by all the other folks finishing the half and the whole! My part of the run was through Jenks America (yuck!) and it was very quiet (which kind of sucks!) BUT it was nice and FLAT. Audra’s parents and sister came out to support and take some pics!

Brooke and Paul were wonderful hosts for their Friday night shin dig and I really can’t send enough thanks to Jenny and Jeff for putting up with four houseguests all weekend! We had a blast. I have bunches of work to do today so I must get to it before the bell rings (we don’t really have a bell). I do have a fun Turkey Day post for tomorrow or Thursday so stay tuned.

this is all you get!

here is donald the deer. we will be eating him all winter long. come over for some - our freezer is FULL.

let's see.. not much but kind of a lot going on. (all at the same time!)

having lunch with my grand little (chi-o) Holly Sahrmann (coming in town for Chi-O - she is an NC now!!! and lives in Atlanta with my good friend Megan Consedine who I need to send a card to ASAP!) and Audra tomorrow, headed off to Tulsa this weekend to celebrate Matt Price's birthday, Brooke and Paul's housewarming, and to run the inagural ROUTE 66 Marathon! (relay!)

um.... getting excited about gorging myself on potato products this Thanksgiving (and all the PEOPLE - friends and family - coming in town - the whaleys, the robuses, blake, phillip... CAN't WAIT for the hanging and the outing!!! we will have a get together - everyone must come)....

um....lunch is over. i don't want to WORK today!!! Does everyone feel like that some days?!?!?

New Obsession.

Pics of deer coming soon. Promise.

In the meantime check out this complelty crazy and amazing site:

UPDATE: www.wefeelfine.org (then Click on OPEN WE FEEL FINE!)

I am obsessed.

Update: Karl killed a deer!! Ick.

"A nice 9 point, 19 inch spread, weighed approximately 170" according to him. Delicious. and Gross. all at the same time. Maybe that means he won't have to go trapaising thru the deer woods many more time this season and will reach his bag limit early. yuck.

And for the results of the SURVEY:

1. Kat 67.9%
Karl 32.1%

2. Kat 34.5%
Arlo 27.6%
Roxy 27.6%
Karl 10.3%
(A tie b/w the doggies! Poor Karl - I voted for him! Hhaha. I guess we know who is answering these questions, eh?)

3. These are the OTHER answers (17.9%)

• none of the above because I have only met one of them
• Ellie Vedros
• pics should be displayed ;)
• The mouse in An American Tail
• kosmos and eramus (my goldfish)

After those it goes as follows:

1. A TIE b/w Roxy and Izzy - both with a strong 14.3%
2. Arlo Hills - 10.7%
3. A three way tie:
Titan Desjardin - 7.1%
Scarlett Gray - 7.1%
JJ Robus - 7.1%
4. The rest:
Lily Bug - 3.6%
Tyson Gloria - 3.6%
Sketch - 3.6%
Winchester - 3.6%
Nari - 3.6%
Mozart - 3.6%

4. A very important QUESTION and one outcome that makes me sad! A close race my friends....

Liquid Cheese - 55.2%
Powder Cheese - 44.8%

5. Should Karl kill a deer?

Gross - 44.8%
Yes - 31%
No - 24.1%

GROSS takes the cake. That is why I hope to have a picture of Karl with his GROSS deer soon so you can all vomit all over your keyboards. ;)

6. Brit Brit / K Fed:

Ok, here are my "OTHER" (20.7%) answers which clearly could have fit into one of the options but THANK you (really) for expressing pretty much the exact same opinion in your own words.

• In some demented way, I actually feel sorry for her even though she's a dumb ass for ever marrying him and having 2 kids with him in the first place. He's going to steal a lot of her $.
• I really don't give a shit they are both completely worthless individuals
• i dont gaf
• who cares, they're both idiots
• Bout time
• hm

THE WINNER: I don't care (yes I do I just try to cover it up): with 27.6%
Ecstatic; can't wait for the COME BACK ALBUM. 24.1% (!!!!!)
I really don't care (but I knew ALL about it just the same) 20.7%
Pumped; finally she has come to her senses - 6.9%

Ok this is taking too long - the voting one 60% were happy, the cheese dip one El Porton won and a listing on the others of many yummy cheese dips... all of which we must try soon.

And the tribute band answers:

• Karl, a tribute to the man.
• britney spears and hit you baby one more time
• Jimmy Buffett-ette and the Coral Reefers-ettes! Guess who I am?
• Tupac. He is the greatest rapper of all time. He is the first and only Poetic Thug who could make you cry on one track, like "Dear Mama" and then the very next second he makes you want to kill someone like the track "Hiy em Up", on which he drops the F-Bomb an astonishing 70+ times. Also since he is not really dead maybe at one of our tribute concerts he could anounce his so called "resurrection"
• Cher. Because I'd have sososo much fun with costumes and wigs and makeup... omigod. I should do it. Now.
• The Village People starring the following individuals: Jeff will be the indian chief Jenny will be the police man Amber will be the construction worker and Abby Bug and Lill will swap out performances as the fourth. WHY????? Because think of a band that would be more fun. I like to dress up...especially in Karl's big boots!
• ashlee simpson.
• Me in a band? Scary since I am tone deaf! Anything where I can play the drums, loud!!
• your mom
• either Nirvana or Pearl Jam, maybe The Smiths
• We are young, heartache to heartache we stand No promises, no demands Love is a battlefield woh woh woh woh woh woh woh woh wohhh We are strong, no one can tell us we're wrong Searchin' our hearts for so long, both of us knowing Love is a battlefield
• If I could start a tribute band, it would be a Billy Idol tribue band. Jr loves to do the face and it would rock.
• kiss... i love makeup and big platform shoes, id be the guy with the star over his eye
• oh MAN. so many good ones! perhaps journey. even though they are still out there touring with like their 3rd lead singer. hmm...who else. maybe spinal tap, from the movie spinal tap. cause that would be funny. OR speaking of fake movie bands, STILLWATER from almost famous. yeah. boy this sure is ANONYMOUS i am sure you have NO IDEA WHATSOEVER WHO FILLED OUT THIS BALLOT.
• I think I'd probably go with Barbie and the Rockers. Man, I even had the panties back in the day.
• I would be Ben Harper and sing about how everyone should be nice to everyone and that it is up to us to make the world a better place.
• tupac???? b/c my husband told me to
• that's easy... JOURNEY. a) the are the greatest power/soft rock band of my generation. b)steve perry epitomizes the "ugly man = hot man" as long as he's got a mic c) i could name the band the lovin' touchin' squeezins
• Tiffany...classic.
• I would be Mr. T and pay homage to his album Be Somebody (Or Be Sombody's Fool). Great songs like : Peer Pressure, Treat Your Mother Right, and of course Stylin'

All excellent answers. I just don't see a clear winner. We are officially having a TRIBUTE band themed party sometime in the near future where all of these GREAT ideas can be put to use.

more shameless plugging

Exploitation of both dog and child. don't you love our republican friends!?!!?

heehe JUST KIDDING. I love you (both) and your little dog (gies) too.

shameless plug dot com

Update:

Liquid Cheese: 53.8%
Powder Cheese: 46.2%

Powder cheese is making a strong play for the lead. I love powder cheese with my whole heart.

I am leaving the polls open until this evening if you haven't gotten a chance to vote yet. Or i think you can vote again since it is the next day? Maybe?

Audra wanted me to post a picture of Izzy (shameless plug!). I took some artistic liberties. Those are alien thingey's - not very fabulous but give me a break it's 8 a.m. and i haven't had any caffeinne yet. I am barely breathing.

midterm elections.... (did you see the daily show?)

ok, today and yesterday have been all about VOTING. Voting is F-U-N. I love voting. I didn't get to vote at an electronic machine but I love filling in those little arrows on my ballot card. It makes me happy and satisfied and UN-apathetic. I won't tell you exactly which arrows I connected, but I will tell you that I voted to support BINGO (the game) in Arkansas and I can't wait to play it. Anyone want to open a BINGO operation? I'm in. I have my own dobber. I think we only need a 501(c) status or to start some sort of church.

Here is my own little ballot for you to fill out. Come out to my BLOGGER polls and fill out a ballot. I promise to not veto your stem cell research votes. My PLATFORM ISSUES are VERY VERY important to the economy of both Arkansas and the United States.

Click here to get started. Please have your ID out. I will have the results back in 24 hours. No recounts. I will post the results SOON, but please hurry and get your votes in b/c survey monkey only allows me 100 free responses. All responses are 100% anonymous.

OH OH AND go to ESPN POLL to vote for Darren McFadden in the ESPN Heisman Poll. Sigh. Voting makes me happy.

oh rodney!

So most of you know I come from a rather large (ish) family. This weekend some of the cousins on my mom’s side decided to take a little road trip. Bridget, Sara, Jenny, Melissa, and myself all decided to meet in Memphis (somewhat ½ way – more of a drive for them coming from STL) to hang out. Melissa just turned 21 and Bridget is in the middle of moving and who doesn’t want to go on a road trip? We were just sad Anna and Jennifer (mi hermana) were not with us for the girlie weekend. Memphis was a riot. Lot of hilarious cousinly bickerings going on. (Air conditioning On, Air Conditioning Off, TV on, TV off, Bathroom Light On, Bathroom Light Off, I’m hungry, This is taking forever, etc. Too fun).

Saturday we had lunch at the famous Rendezvous Rest. right off Beale Street. http://www.hogsfly.com/ I highly recommend their BBQ if you are ever in Memphis. The whole scary alley (not that scary really) you have to walk down to get there smells like smoked, mouthwatering RED MEAT. Yum. We also saw the ghost of Elvis down on Union Ave.

We headed to Tunica for an evening of buffet food (yum. Stuffed ourselves) and gambling (sara was the only one of us who won any money. I put my customary $10 in the slots and lost it all in about five minutes and spent the rest of the night watching and laughing!) We stayed at the Fitzgerald Casino which I don’t recommend UNLESS they have a Rod Stewart tribute band playing. We definitely made friends with the BAND and hung out with them after their show! John Anthony (Rod Stewart – http://www.rodstewarttribute.com/) was rocking out and despite the fact that he accused us of not being born before most of the songs they played were written, we still liked him. Besides, we proved him wrong by screaming all the words with our new casino friends! (three of us also fit in one double bed - tell me how that is possible!)

Memphis and Tunica dot com

Create Your Own!

look maw... all growed up!

Matt Price is FAMOUS!

Click HERE to see him Live and On Camera! Congrats to him.

Have a good weekend!

having some issues

having some issues with blogger beta interacting with hello and picassa and not enjoying the outcome of my pictures on my blog. boo. hmmm. beta. scary word. might have to use slideshows just to avoid the temporary annoyance.

halloween was good! this is my pumpkin pete that karl and i carved. (read: i carved b/c my husband thought it was disgusting. pete was a slimey little fellow - guess that is what you get when you wait till last minute and buy your pumpkin from the slim pickins at kroger) we made some yummy pumpkin seeds - extra salty and extra crispy. i had 26 trick or treaters (i counted them b/c jennifer lenore barrow and i were having a competition to see who could get the most... results: A TIE! many phone calls were exchanged of the "I-just-got-four!" variety) The cutest one was kristen and jr's little andrew BY FAR. I emailed her a couple pics so I am sure they will be posted soon for your viewing pleasure on their blog.

nothing too exciting to report. busy week at work for both of us. heading to memphis on Saturday to spend some much needed time with some cousins! Karl will most likely be at the deer camp - yikes - prepping it for OPENING WEEKEND (gun). Get excited. Get there.

World Series CHAMPS celebrate at the brew house!

isabel in her shades!

 

scarrrrry

remain on south outer 40.

we are alive. the weekend was amazing! mike and his bride rachel both looked great! congratulations to mr. and mrs. whaley! (hint: for better pics see John and Leslie's blog - leslie always gets much better pics than me!)

we were, in FACT, in the car on Friday evening (somewhere around Crystal City, MO) when the Cardinals did, in FACT, win the world series. all FACTS. we didn't get in to STL till super late so no celebrating/partying for us on Friday night though we did watch a taped version of the game since we had only heard it on the radio. my mom got to sell special edition papers that night - extra extra read all about it! Second world series title in my life time and i believe 10 total for the Cardinals (that is second to the Yankees for all-time series titles! but i won't say how many titles the yanks hold)

after the wedding saturday we took the brewery tour and then headed to the reception! the room set up was gorgeous and the food was fancy and delish-ee-ous. it was too much fun - vampire teeth and all - lots of laughing. we slept in a bit sunday, hit steak-n-shake (mandatory!), and went to Grant's Farm w/ my cousin bridget and her husband and joe and isabel. a perfectly gorgeous day. then we drove home. for. ever. (insert sandlot voice) we are ALIVE and ready for another oh-so-funderful work week!

Game 5. Game 5. Game 5.

5 is one of my favorite numbers for secret sorority (gay) reasons (normally i hate odd numbers but 5 is an okay kind of number). It is also the # of tonight's World Series Game. Game 5. Of. THE. 2006 World Series. The game the Cardinals are destined to win and end the series as World Champs. We like 5 today. Today is sponsored by the number five. Five five five alive. Detroit is going back to their lovely cold city without any Cardinals.

The part that makes me nervous about this whole thing is that I will be driving (karl will be driving actually because 1) i suck at driving and 2) i will be way too excited to drive if the game is on and i might run us off the road. ANYWAY, I will be on my way to St. Louis (where the aforementioned game is being played) and that just seems unfair. I mean, I could be like an hour away from the city in like Festus, Missouri and the whole city of STL could errupt in joyful celebration and I just wouldn't be there. So close yet so far away. Can't you just feel the injustice of that? I know I can listen to it on the radio but I would rather watch it on the TV or better yet in person or at least in a Sports bar where there are other Cardinal fans. Boo.

david eckstein is my hero. he just looked so calm last night when you know he was FREAKING out on the inside. Also I would just like to say ONE thing about the American League and their WONDERFUL pitchers (specifically the detroit pitchers) and how much BETTER they are than the NL. Errors. Errors all OVER the place. One for every game from a pitcher. Errors. That is all. I hope I am not jinxing anything by writing this - i am a bit nervous that i just might.

6 hours till game time. oh. my. god! somebody get me so magic transportation powder so i can go RIGHT NOW.

this rain is making me nasty!

My friend Megan emailed me this AWESOME t-shirt they are selling in STL in honor of the Series and my parents scored me one when they went to game 3! I can't wait to get there and wear it! Isn't it awesome? Awesome. My favorite word to describe the Cardinals and all paraphenallia associated with them. Not Awesome? Game 4 getting rained OUT last night. Silly storms.

Game 4 folks. We have made it to Thursday. On a work note, our last convention of "convention season" is TODAY!! Our company has done 14 major events since August 1. I never want to look at another Catering Contract AGAIN! Interesting fact of the day: 1 gallon of Orange Juice at the Peabody is $55 dollars. With tax and gratuity it comes to $74.64. Think about THAT next time you drink some innocent orange juice at a convention/meeting!

Fredbird says: "beat those tigers! (kittys)"

up and down all the way and all around.

puppy love up and down all the way and all around. cute, eh?

green envy.

green green i love green. I will share updated pics when this green room is completed. I must say I am a big fan thus far. Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend! We didn't have much going on and it was kind of fabulous. The Cardinals won game ONE of the World Series and are currently down by 3 in the bottom of the 6th this evening. boo. Not looking good - It is too cold in Detroit for the St. Louisians. Getting excited for this upcoming weekend already - Going to STL for the Whaley Wedding! Going to make the week seem long! Can't wait to see my parents new house with furniture in it and painted walls.

Things that make me happy.

The STL Cardinals. 3-2. One more game! One more game! Here is the FUN espn article from this AM. World Series HERE WE COME.

Movie night on Friday night (despite the fact that is only Wednesday!) Any recommendations for renters/theater must-sees?

Audra and I went RUNNING yesterday! (training in full effect for 11/19. See you at the TULSA ROUTE 66 Marathon!)

Things that make me sad

Not being able to WAKE UP today despite the fact that it is noon and I got eight plus hours of sleep last night.

Not being BUSY enough. I need a new project to motivate me. Oh wait I already have like 80 lists/projects going and no desire to finish them.

Not taking a full lunch and staying at my office. Makes my day/week seem even longer. When will convention season be OVER?!!

My sickly husband. Send him some GET BETTER thoughts!

Really BORING blogs (like this one!) HapPY boring Wednesday.

franks and fires.

we had a blazing fire all night long and some hot dogs PLUMP and JUICY. we even had some christmas lights. must do girl camping again soon.

selves portrait.

camping = success! we had a fabulous time at maumelle park - so far from home. (like maybe 10 minutes) the weather was puuuurfect (cept for the rain the next morning!) but we set up our tents and made food and fire like pros. just reinforces my desire to be on SURVIVOR! (if only survivor had beer available at all times. beer and sonic breakfast. do you hear that CBS?!)