<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss' xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7618428979795972680</id><updated>2011-10-02T10:40:48.186-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Life is just a bowl of cherries</title><subtitle type='html'></subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default?max-results=100'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13791106701161505420</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/Sr4hqGKiqhI/AAAAAAAAAAM/3RUWLpGjYV0/S220/IMG_6262.JPG'/></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>31</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>100</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7618428979795972680.post-736034260688246884</id><published>2010-07-02T20:18:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2010-07-02T20:20:43.426-05:00</updated><title type='text'>3 miller lites and a shot of whiskey</title><content type='html'>Happy 4th!  Now I don't feel so bad for drinking wine every night.  Here's to my next 70 years! Cheers!  :-)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img style="visibility: hidden; width: 0px; height: 0px;" src="http://counters.gigya.com/wildfire/IMP/CXNID=2000002.0NXC/bHQ9MTI3ODExOTg*MDg1MCZwdD*xMjc4MTE5OTAxNDEzJnA9MTI1ODQxMSZkPUFCQ*5ld3NfU*ZQX*xvY2tlX*VtYmVkJm49Ymxv/Z2dlciZnPTImbz1iMDQzYTE2MjNjZDQ*ZDA1YTA5ZGEwYjk5YjcxMGNjMCZvZj*w.gif" border="0" height="0" width="0" /&gt;&lt;object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,124,0" id="ABCESNWID" height="278" width="344"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://abcnews.go.com/assets/player/walt2.6/flash/SFP_Walt.swf"&gt;&lt;param name="quality" value="high"&gt;&lt;param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"&gt;&lt;param name="allowNetworking" value="all"&gt;&lt;param name="flashvars" value="configUrl=http://abcnews.go.com/video/sfp/embedPlayerConfig&amp;amp;configId=406732&amp;amp;clipId=11068546&amp;amp;showId=11068546&amp;amp;gig_lt=1278119840850&amp;amp;gig_pt=1278119901413&amp;amp;gig_g=2&amp;amp;gig_n=blogger"&gt;&lt;param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"&gt;&lt;embed src="http://abcnews.go.com/assets/player/walt2.6/flash/SFP_Walt.swf" quality="high" allowscriptaccess="always" allownetworking="all" allowfullscreen="true" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" flashvars="configUrl=http://abcnews.go.com/video/sfp/embedPlayerConfig&amp;amp;configId=406732&amp;amp;clipId=11068546&amp;amp;showId=11068546&amp;amp;gig_lt=1278119840850&amp;amp;gig_pt=1278119901413&amp;amp;gig_g=2&amp;amp;gig_n=blogger" name="ABCESNWID" height="278" width="344"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7618428979795972680-736034260688246884?l=twinkletoessam.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/feeds/736034260688246884/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2010/07/is-secret-to-long-life-genetic.html#comment-form' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/736034260688246884'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/736034260688246884'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2010/07/is-secret-to-long-life-genetic.html' title='3 miller lites and a shot of whiskey'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13791106701161505420</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/Sr4hqGKiqhI/AAAAAAAAAAM/3RUWLpGjYV0/S220/IMG_6262.JPG'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7618428979795972680.post-7672314356220280547</id><published>2010-06-22T20:22:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2010-06-22T20:27:16.686-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Official Drink of Summer</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.parkwayreststop.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/firefly-vodka-2.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 218px; height: 311px;" src="http://www.parkwayreststop.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/firefly-vodka-2.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If you haven't tried this, you are missing out!  Thanks Alla and Kelly, LOVE it! :-)  It will be my official drink for the summer....perhaps I should just purchase a case, haha.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Cheers!  Til next time...&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7618428979795972680-7672314356220280547?l=twinkletoessam.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/feeds/7672314356220280547/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2010/06/official-drink-of-summer.html#comment-form' title='7 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/7672314356220280547'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/7672314356220280547'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2010/06/official-drink-of-summer.html' title='Official Drink of Summer'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13791106701161505420</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/Sr4hqGKiqhI/AAAAAAAAAAM/3RUWLpGjYV0/S220/IMG_6262.JPG'/></author><thr:total>7</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7618428979795972680.post-7356099385135067492</id><published>2010-06-14T13:48:00.006-05:00</published><updated>2010-06-14T14:34:20.364-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Hello?? Is this thing still on?!?</title><content type='html'>I guess this blogging stuff is not for me, or perhaps I'm just too busy, or popular ;-o, to keep up with this thing. Whatever it is, here's a post for ya...it will mainly be a picture post because we have been super busy!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But before I get to the pictures, the other day on the way to work, guess what I saw on the side of the freeway??  Guesses anyone? A rooster. And it was ALIVE.  Seriously, as I was going 60+ mph through the EZ tag lane, on the left shoulder was a poor rooster, R.I.P fella, because there is no way in hell he made it through the day. I was on the lookout for feathers the next day, but no sign of life anywhere. Maybe he got rescued, who knows, but that was pretty crazy to see. God, I love Houston. OK, some of my recent fav pics...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;The three muskateers&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/TBZ8D1Q_HPI/AAAAAAAAAG8/235sUMdbXlU/s1600/IMG_8673.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/TBZ8D1Q_HPI/AAAAAAAAAG8/235sUMdbXlU/s320/IMG_8673.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482706001649933554" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/TBZ8EYJwTWI/AAAAAAAAAHE/5y2KVgOA2Dw/s1600/DSC_0072.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/TBZ8EYJwTWI/AAAAAAAAAHE/5y2KVgOA2Dw/s320/DSC_0072.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482706011014843746" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/TBZ8FIax3xI/AAAAAAAAAHU/yqpa1hT9iRs/s1600/DSC_0104.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/TBZ8FIax3xI/AAAAAAAAAHU/yqpa1hT9iRs/s320/DSC_0104.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482706023971151634" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/TBZ8EygyT4I/AAAAAAAAAHM/tlNXsM7UBeU/s1600/DSC_0158.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/TBZ8EygyT4I/AAAAAAAAAHM/tlNXsM7UBeU/s320/DSC_0158.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482706018090766210" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/TBZ8FY5dqXI/AAAAAAAAAHc/pd57M53iZaA/s1600/DSC_0377.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/TBZ8FY5dqXI/AAAAAAAAAHc/pd57M53iZaA/s320/DSC_0377.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482706028394817906" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/TBZ-OLoZZtI/AAAAAAAAAHk/Ww-TXmzqo4A/s1600/DSC_0397.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/TBZ-OLoZZtI/AAAAAAAAAHk/Ww-TXmzqo4A/s320/DSC_0397.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482708378475652818" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/TBZ-OuufCHI/AAAAAAAAAHs/89M6jtuGRps/s1600/DSC_0439.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/TBZ-OuufCHI/AAAAAAAAAHs/89M6jtuGRps/s320/DSC_0439.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482708387896428658" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/TBZ-PUXz83I/AAAAAAAAAH0/lfFXnB2Umrs/s1600/DSC_0509.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/TBZ-PUXz83I/AAAAAAAAAH0/lfFXnB2Umrs/s320/DSC_0509.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482708398001877874" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/TBZ_qgaxSuI/AAAAAAAAAIk/CCm33TapaQc/s1600/DSC_0647.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/TBZ_qgaxSuI/AAAAAAAAAIk/CCm33TapaQc/s320/DSC_0647.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482709964603607778" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/TBZ-Q5B3vlI/AAAAAAAAAIE/L_oh2AJRqKQ/s1600/DSC_0604.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/TBZ-Q5B3vlI/AAAAAAAAAIE/L_oh2AJRqKQ/s320/DSC_0604.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482708425021832786" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/TBZ_qdE-XoI/AAAAAAAAAIc/SG-bjZX6iiU/s1600/DSC_0742.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/TBZ_qdE-XoI/AAAAAAAAAIc/SG-bjZX6iiU/s320/DSC_0742.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482709963706883714" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;And when did this little boy get to be FIVE years old!?!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/TBZ_p7wJP6I/AAAAAAAAAIU/KsjiTkCSiw8/s1600/DSC_0690.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/TBZ_p7wJP6I/AAAAAAAAAIU/KsjiTkCSiw8/s320/DSC_0690.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482709954761146274" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/TBZ_pcufkOI/AAAAAAAAAIM/2Hc-eSpSTAc/s1600/DSC_0608.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/TBZ_pcufkOI/AAAAAAAAAIM/2Hc-eSpSTAc/s320/DSC_0608.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482709946432721122" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/TBZ-PvtM6CI/AAAAAAAAAH8/ezhvCuhYkiA/s1600/DSC_0581.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/TBZ-PvtM6CI/AAAAAAAAAH8/ezhvCuhYkiA/s320/DSC_0581.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482708405339351074" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And this last one...we bought this at a convenience store on Sunday. Sizzurp anyone!?  Curious to know if anyone knows what this stuff is. ;-)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/TBZ_rN8BttI/AAAAAAAAAIs/wl2kD2K9w4g/s1600/DSC_0505.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/TBZ_rN8BttI/AAAAAAAAAIs/wl2kD2K9w4g/s320/DSC_0505.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482709976822691538" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Til next time...&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7618428979795972680-7356099385135067492?l=twinkletoessam.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/feeds/7356099385135067492/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2010/06/hello-is-this-thing-still-on.html#comment-form' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/7356099385135067492'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/7356099385135067492'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2010/06/hello-is-this-thing-still-on.html' title='Hello?? Is this thing still on?!?'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13791106701161505420</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/Sr4hqGKiqhI/AAAAAAAAAAM/3RUWLpGjYV0/S220/IMG_6262.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/TBZ8D1Q_HPI/AAAAAAAAAG8/235sUMdbXlU/s72-c/IMG_8673.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7618428979795972680.post-5282079697324315011</id><published>2010-04-20T21:36:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2010-04-20T21:59:27.066-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Dear Rachel</title><content type='html'>I was reminded the other day that you're not here, and you won't ever again be, at least in this life and on this earth. There is no other way to say it, but that moment sucked (I know you probably like me being blunt). Randy and I were in our bedroom with Samantha; she was dancing with her daddy to tunes on the ipod, she is too cute!  She ventured to an area where I have some random stuff laying around...maybe it's a sign that I need to put some stuff away, but anyway, she started bringing me what she found. She started with pictures. They were of you, with friends, with family, by yourself (in all your glory!), but of you, with us, you know, that way it should still be. I smiled and reminisced, actually being able to remember every moment in those pictures, man we had some good times (and I swear if Samantha does some of the things we did, I will go insane!). She kept going back and forth, bringing pictures, one by one, giving me time to look at each one, and to think of old times, and to place myself in that exact moment. It's like she knew that I needed a few moments between each new picture she brought me, to do just that, reminisce and think back on all the good times we had. That we should still be having. With you. After about picture #10, I lost it. I know, you were probably really mad at me for doing that, but it hit me like a ton of bricks. It's as if you're so close, but so far away. I know in the end that there were times when we didn't see each other as often as we used to (sucks being a grown up!), so when I was looking at the first pictures, I got that exact feeling. Oh Rach is in Nac, I'll see her soon. But then I "woke up" and came back to reality. You're not here. You're not just up the road. You're not just a drive away. You're not coming back. And it absolutely sucks. I miss you Rach. Please continue to watch over all of us. You're our guardian angel and we will forever be amazing chicks....together. Love you. -Sue&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"If you leave, don't leave now..."&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7618428979795972680-5282079697324315011?l=twinkletoessam.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/feeds/5282079697324315011/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2010/04/dear-rachel.html#comment-form' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/5282079697324315011'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/5282079697324315011'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2010/04/dear-rachel.html' title='Dear Rachel'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13791106701161505420</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/Sr4hqGKiqhI/AAAAAAAAAAM/3RUWLpGjYV0/S220/IMG_6262.JPG'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7618428979795972680.post-8242593823577749946</id><published>2010-03-10T20:28:00.003-06:00</published><updated>2010-03-10T20:43:40.418-06:00</updated><title type='text'>Croup</title><content type='html'>WHAT!?!??!?!?!  (Think of Ellen here....)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, yes...my little twinkle toes has &lt;a href="http://kidshealth.org/parent/infections/bacterial_viral/croup.html"&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;croup&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, in addition to a ear infection, gooey eyes and maybe strep throat. But, the strep part doesn't really matter since she's got the ear infection, they treat it the same way.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;GOOD NEWS is that she still a happy girl. I picked her up today, thinking I was crazy for leaving work early, because she was running around outside, playing with her friends, in the dirt, and having a ball.  Her teacher called me today and said she had a "really bad cough".  I thought, OK, not much I can do about it, because we were just in the doctor's office Monday and found out she had a virus (fever, runny nose, congestion, little cough, etc.). Nothing you can do with a virus, but wait it out. Then I thought, this lady listens to kids coughing all day, so maybe this is something I need to worry about, and the cough had gotten a little worse since then. So, decided to go get her and take her in...good thing, mainly due to the ear infection. Ugh. Antibiotics are not my friend, and now add in eye drops and steroids to help with her throat inflammation.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Hopefully we'll be back to normal in the next couple of days!  It is supposed to be a wonderful weather weekend here, so want to take full advantage of that.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;With that said, I will leave you all with this!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/S5hYqtRNI5I/AAAAAAAAAGc/c5zUY-5Uuu4/s1600-h/IMG_8230.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/S5hYqtRNI5I/AAAAAAAAAGc/c5zUY-5Uuu4/s320/IMG_8230.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5447201240034124690" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Til next time...&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7618428979795972680-8242593823577749946?l=twinkletoessam.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/feeds/8242593823577749946/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2010/03/croup.html#comment-form' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/8242593823577749946'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/8242593823577749946'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2010/03/croup.html' title='Croup'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13791106701161505420</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/Sr4hqGKiqhI/AAAAAAAAAAM/3RUWLpGjYV0/S220/IMG_6262.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/S5hYqtRNI5I/AAAAAAAAAGc/c5zUY-5Uuu4/s72-c/IMG_8230.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7618428979795972680.post-3964426291597954186</id><published>2010-02-19T09:39:00.003-06:00</published><updated>2010-02-19T09:53:12.847-06:00</updated><title type='text'>Milestones</title><content type='html'>I am constantly amazed with this little girl....&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/S36xLOhgpWI/AAAAAAAAAGE/oqoHqsD3Kh4/s1600-h/IMG_8020.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/S36xLOhgpWI/AAAAAAAAAGE/oqoHqsD3Kh4/s320/IMG_8020.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439980206345463138" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/S36xj1TmvTI/AAAAAAAAAGM/q1dPrTtyAqo/s1600-h/IMG_8028.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/S36xj1TmvTI/AAAAAAAAAGM/q1dPrTtyAqo/s320/IMG_8028.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439980629072985394" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/S36xxpnUzpI/AAAAAAAAAGU/JwMJzn7LzeQ/s1600-h/IMG_8147.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/S36xxpnUzpI/AAAAAAAAAGU/JwMJzn7LzeQ/s320/IMG_8147.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439980866452639378" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This is what my little girl is up to these days...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;ol&gt;&lt;li&gt;Saying "uh-oh" and "cow" (I think it's cow, maybe it's cat, who knows) -- just adorable&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Pointing to mommy's nose&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Hugging on command, I love it!&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Babbling up a storm, I wish I knew what all she was saying!&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Eating bubbles -- she loves to eat the bubbles in the bathtub!&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Dancing -- precious!&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Nodding yes or no when asked if she's done eating&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ol&gt;Maybe not significant milestones in everyone's mind, but man, she just melts me!  :-)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Til next time...&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7618428979795972680-3964426291597954186?l=twinkletoessam.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/feeds/3964426291597954186/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2010/02/milestones.html#comment-form' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/3964426291597954186'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/3964426291597954186'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2010/02/milestones.html' title='Milestones'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13791106701161505420</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/Sr4hqGKiqhI/AAAAAAAAAAM/3RUWLpGjYV0/S220/IMG_6262.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/S36xLOhgpWI/AAAAAAAAAGE/oqoHqsD3Kh4/s72-c/IMG_8020.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7618428979795972680.post-2626333864537895434</id><published>2010-02-16T17:14:00.003-06:00</published><updated>2010-02-16T17:37:55.117-06:00</updated><title type='text'>You're Chopped!</title><content type='html'>As my 4 1/2 year old nephew was eating dinner one night, he looked at his mommy and said....&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Your -- rice -- is -- soggy -- YOU'RE CHOPPED!"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You think they watch Food Network or something. ;-)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Man, I love that little boy...he is the cutest!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/S3ssOUQmVJI/AAAAAAAAAF8/f68aiaK9tjk/s1600-h/IMG_7347.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/S3ssOUQmVJI/AAAAAAAAAF8/f68aiaK9tjk/s320/IMG_7347.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5438989599448126610" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7618428979795972680-2626333864537895434?l=twinkletoessam.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/feeds/2626333864537895434/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2010/02/youre-chopped.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/2626333864537895434'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/2626333864537895434'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2010/02/youre-chopped.html' title='You&apos;re Chopped!'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13791106701161505420</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/Sr4hqGKiqhI/AAAAAAAAAAM/3RUWLpGjYV0/S220/IMG_6262.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/S3ssOUQmVJI/AAAAAAAAAF8/f68aiaK9tjk/s72-c/IMG_7347.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7618428979795972680.post-195224794506295925</id><published>2010-02-04T22:27:00.002-06:00</published><updated>2010-02-04T22:47:05.508-06:00</updated><title type='text'>Adios</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://images.vrbo.com/vrbo/images/395718"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 212px;" src="http://images.vrbo.com/vrbo/images/395718" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://images.vrbo.com/vrbo/images/196864"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 239px; height: 360px;" src="http://images.vrbo.com/vrbo/images/196864" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;This is where we'll be hanging out the next few days. Going to miss my Samantha, but know she is in great hands and will have so much fun with the grandparents.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Peace out kiddos...here's to many tropical adult beverages, reading lots of trashy magazines, and doing absolutely nothing. Let's hope I come back with somewhat of a tan.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Til next time...&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7618428979795972680-195224794506295925?l=twinkletoessam.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/feeds/195224794506295925/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2010/02/adios.html#comment-form' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/195224794506295925'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/195224794506295925'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2010/02/adios.html' title='Adios'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13791106701161505420</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/Sr4hqGKiqhI/AAAAAAAAAAM/3RUWLpGjYV0/S220/IMG_6262.JPG'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7618428979795972680.post-3530924408142892309</id><published>2010-02-01T13:37:00.002-06:00</published><updated>2010-02-01T13:43:39.757-06:00</updated><title type='text'>The Reader</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.awardsdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/new-reader-poster1.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 242px; height: 356px;" src="http://www.awardsdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/new-reader-poster1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Anyone seen it?  What a whacko of a movie...now, what to choose next on the list, because that was a doozy. How do movies like this earn so many nominations and awards!?! I just don't get it.  And Kate Winslet won Best Actress. She was OK, but not extraordinary in my opinion.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7618428979795972680-3530924408142892309?l=twinkletoessam.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/feeds/3530924408142892309/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2010/02/reader.html#comment-form' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/3530924408142892309'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/3530924408142892309'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2010/02/reader.html' title='The Reader'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13791106701161505420</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/Sr4hqGKiqhI/AAAAAAAAAAM/3RUWLpGjYV0/S220/IMG_6262.JPG'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7618428979795972680.post-4181893212268222992</id><published>2010-01-26T20:29:00.002-06:00</published><updated>2010-01-26T20:42:50.877-06:00</updated><title type='text'>The Maid, Part II</title><content type='html'>So, the maid was back last week for our bi-weekly cleaning. Remember, she was supposed to bring the 30 clothes items back since $75 was too much. Whatever.  Randy and I were both gone, so when I got home (had completely forgotten that she was even there that day), I noticed that indeed she did bring back the clothes. So, what do I do......I count them.  She said she took 30, it was about 50. And, she thought that $75 was too much!??!  I'd like to find out where she shops, because obviously she gets them dirt cheap. And, they were mostly my work clothes, again, much more than the $2 I was going to charge her. She called the next day to talk to me about some things, mentioned she brought the clothes back, etc....and that she agreed I could get so much more if I took them to goodwill for the tax return, because she does that all the time. Mind you, when Randy originally told her that's what we wanted to do, she acted like she had no idea about the tax return. Ahhhhh, oh well.....I'll let it go. Maybe I'll keep them until next year's garage sale and sell them for $1. ;-o&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Work was absolute S-H-I-T last week....so much so, that I can't and don't want to even get into it here. The search for that monogramming machine may be closer than I expected. ;-)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But, to make it all the better, we booked a trip to Mexico to celebrate my birthday!  We leave in just about 2 weeks and will be gone 4 nights. And, we will most likely be watching the Super Bowl in espanol, hot dog! Jealous, I know. This will be our first big trip away from Samantha, but I know we can do it, and I know she will love spending the time with the grandparents. Thank goodness for us all being in the same city. So, with that, I bid you all a good night.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Til next time..... (hopefully sooner rather than later!)&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7618428979795972680-4181893212268222992?l=twinkletoessam.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/feeds/4181893212268222992/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2010/01/maid-part-ii.html#comment-form' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/4181893212268222992'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/4181893212268222992'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2010/01/maid-part-ii.html' title='The Maid, Part II'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13791106701161505420</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/Sr4hqGKiqhI/AAAAAAAAAAM/3RUWLpGjYV0/S220/IMG_6262.JPG'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7618428979795972680.post-6990696669514808705</id><published>2010-01-10T09:32:00.002-06:00</published><updated>2010-01-10T09:59:34.446-06:00</updated><title type='text'>A new year and a run-in with the maid</title><content type='html'>Wow, I can't believe we are in 2010, 10 years since the millennium, absolutely nuts! I hope to get better this year at all this blogging nonsense....I had great intentions, but I failed. Please forgive me.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We had a FANTASTIC Christmas and birthday with Samantha, crazy to believe she is ONE. She is a pro-walker now and keeps us busy. In no time, we'll be having conversations with her. Until then, I will spoil her and enjoy this time when she is still my baby. I haven't accepted the fact yet that I have a toddler. Seriously!?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Need some opinions on this next topic. Back in November we did our neighborhood garage sale, and we sold a TON of clothes! Thank goodness because the amount we had was insane. So with the holidays and being busy, I never got around to taking the rest of the clothes to goodwill. Randy took his, but I wanted to go through mine, as some were work clothes that I wanted to donate to Dressing for Success, or some type of charity like that. Plus, others still had tags, and who knows, maybe I would just keep them for next year's sale, since they were such a huge hit. So, back to the story....the clothes were sitting on a sofa in a back room. Our maid came this past Thursday, she is absolutely wonderful and we have no negative things to say about her. We got a call from her that evening and Randy talked to her. She said she meant to leave us a note (neither of us was at home when she was there), that she had gone through my clothes and taken some, including a leather jacket, which was in tip-top shape. She wanted to know how much she owed us, and if we wanted her to bring the leather jacket back. And she commented that she knew "I'd be taking them to goodwill anyway". Then she mentioned she had taken 30 items! Randy told her we'd call her back because he obviously knew this was something he needed my input on.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;One, we were shocked that she did that in the first place. We would have thought she would have called us and asked if she could go through the clothes, before taking them. It was as if she was asking for forgiveness after the fact, rather than asking for permission. Anywho, not knowing what she took (again, I had many nice, expensive work clothes, clothes with tags, etc.), we decided, OK, let's say it's $2 per item (a steal!) and $15 for the leather jacket, which is in great condition. That came to $75 which I thought was a great deal, much less than we would get for taking them to goodwill and itemizing them on our tax return. But, hey, she's our maid, we like her a lot. $75 is actually what we pay her, so Randy called her back and said that ok, you can keep the clothes, so how about you clean our house for free next time? Her response was, "Oh, that is way too much.....I thought Susan was just going to take them to goodwill..." Then Randy said, well no, if we take them to goodwill, we can itemize and get $$$ on our tax return for next year. Seemed she didn't understand that concept. So, think there were a few comments back and forth, and then Randy just said, ok, well just bring the clothes back if you're not willing to pay that amount.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, are we out of line???? I mean, I know her family obviously needs $$$ and clothes more than we do, but she took 30 items! If it was 5 or 6, ok....have them, they are yours. And the leather jacket, maybe I would have asked for $10 or something. But, 30 items!?! And then telling us that $75 was too much!! I have no idea what she took (work clothes, brand new clothes, etc.), since she took before asking, but we thought $2 per item was very reasonable.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I kind of feel bad for asking her to bring the clothes back, but she didn't even counter-offer and say, ok, how about I give you this amount?? It was as if, she thought we would let her have them for free. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, what would you have done? Anxiously awaiting your comments, haha. ;-)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Til next time....&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7618428979795972680-6990696669514808705?l=twinkletoessam.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/feeds/6990696669514808705/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2010/01/new-year-and-run-in-with-maid.html#comment-form' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/6990696669514808705'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/6990696669514808705'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2010/01/new-year-and-run-in-with-maid.html' title='A new year and a run-in with the maid'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13791106701161505420</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/Sr4hqGKiqhI/AAAAAAAAAAM/3RUWLpGjYV0/S220/IMG_6262.JPG'/></author><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7618428979795972680.post-173834006066054604</id><published>2009-12-26T10:58:00.006-06:00</published><updated>2009-12-26T11:14:33.634-06:00</updated><title type='text'>A special day</title><content type='html'>Happy birthday to my sweet sweet girl. What a year it has been and can't wait to celebrate many many more with you!  I love you more than you could ever imagine!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;A year ago&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/SzZDWtiE-EI/AAAAAAAAAFY/eeFWTuIeFXo/s1600-h/IMG_0235.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/SzZDWtiE-EI/AAAAAAAAAFY/eeFWTuIeFXo/s320/IMG_0235.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419593259045681218" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/SzZDKwEnD0I/AAAAAAAAAFQ/wy6PDMRqIyc/s1600-h/IMG_5267.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/SzZDKwEnD0I/AAAAAAAAAFQ/wy6PDMRqIyc/s320/IMG_5267.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419593053568962370" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/SzZDmEuKL8I/AAAAAAAAAFg/UJ4T3eKMXcc/s1600-h/IMG_5308.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/SzZDmEuKL8I/AAAAAAAAAFg/UJ4T3eKMXcc/s320/IMG_5308.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419593522968408002" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And today&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/SzZEPAhiDlI/AAAAAAAAAFo/SEqK_VzWdx4/s1600-h/IMG_7636.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/SzZEPAhiDlI/AAAAAAAAAFo/SEqK_VzWdx4/s320/IMG_7636.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419594226216341074" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: left;"&gt;What a blessing you truly are! Mommy loves you! Happy birthday sweetie...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7618428979795972680-173834006066054604?l=twinkletoessam.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/feeds/173834006066054604/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2009/12/special-day.html#comment-form' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/173834006066054604'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/173834006066054604'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2009/12/special-day.html' title='A special day'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13791106701161505420</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/Sr4hqGKiqhI/AAAAAAAAAAM/3RUWLpGjYV0/S220/IMG_6262.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/SzZDWtiE-EI/AAAAAAAAAFY/eeFWTuIeFXo/s72-c/IMG_0235.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7618428979795972680.post-4272323908770643750</id><published>2009-12-25T11:41:00.001-06:00</published><updated>2009-12-25T11:43:09.509-06:00</updated><title type='text'>Merry Christmas!</title><content type='html'>Wishing you a blessed day!  For those that are not here with us, I hope this brings comfort.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"&gt;"Christmas in Heaven"&lt;br /&gt;by Wanda Bencke&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I see the countless Christmas trees&lt;br /&gt;Around the world below,&lt;br /&gt;With tiny lights like Heaven's stars&lt;br /&gt;Reflecting in the snow.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The sight is so spectacular&lt;br /&gt;Please wipe away that tear,&lt;br /&gt;For I am spending Christmas&lt;br /&gt;With Jesus Christ this year.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I hear the many Christmas songs&lt;br /&gt;That people hold so dear,&lt;br /&gt;But the sound of music can't compare&lt;br /&gt;with the Christmas Choir up here.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I have no words to tell you&lt;br /&gt;Of the joy their voices bring,&lt;br /&gt;For it is beyond description&lt;br /&gt;To hear the angels sing.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I know how much you miss me,&lt;br /&gt;I see the pain inside your heart,&lt;br /&gt;But through our memories so dear&lt;br /&gt;We are never far apart.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I can't tell you of the splendor&lt;br /&gt;Of the peace here in this place,&lt;br /&gt;Can you just imagine Christmas&lt;br /&gt;With our Savior face to face?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'll ask Him to light your spirit&lt;br /&gt;As I tell Him of your love,&lt;br /&gt;Then I'll pray for one another&lt;br /&gt;As you lift your eyes above.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, please let your heart be joyful&lt;br /&gt;And let your spirit sing,&lt;br /&gt;For I'm spending Christmas in Heaven&lt;br /&gt;And I'm walking with the king.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7618428979795972680-4272323908770643750?l=twinkletoessam.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/feeds/4272323908770643750/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2009/12/merry-christmas.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/4272323908770643750'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/4272323908770643750'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2009/12/merry-christmas.html' title='Merry Christmas!'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13791106701161505420</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/Sr4hqGKiqhI/AAAAAAAAAAM/3RUWLpGjYV0/S220/IMG_6262.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7618428979795972680.post-2501638210524295929</id><published>2009-12-23T21:10:00.004-06:00</published><updated>2009-12-23T21:21:43.495-06:00</updated><title type='text'>Oh my goodness, oh my goodness</title><content type='html'>No, it's not Miss Hannigan, I just cannot believe it is Christmas already!  Where has the time gone, where has the year gone....in just a few days, I will have a one year old, absolutely crazy, but so divine, all at the same time.  I only had to work Monday this week and I am off until January 5th, woohoo!  The time will fly by and I will be back before I know it, but I will be sure to enjoy every minute of it!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I hope to get better at this blogging nonsense after the new year....I haven't been so great these past few months, but the holidays are my excuse and I think it's a good one. :-)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Also uploading pictures on the computer tonight.....so, what do you think?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/SzLdNyIpu8I/AAAAAAAAAE4/7b4zLpKOuKQ/s1600-h/IMG_7689.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/SzLdNyIpu8I/AAAAAAAAAE4/7b4zLpKOuKQ/s320/IMG_7689.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418636530546228162" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/SzLdZlb_loI/AAAAAAAAAFA/0M2VLV2rLr0/s1600-h/IMG_7690.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/SzLdZlb_loI/AAAAAAAAAFA/0M2VLV2rLr0/s320/IMG_7690.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418636733296121474" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Think she gets her mother's hair genes? Poor girl, I'm so sorry!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I probably won't be back to the dub dub dub until after Christmas, so until then, MERRY CHRISTMAS to everyone. I hope you all enjoy your time with family and friends!  Until next time, here's something I'll leave you with. Can you believe this was just a year ago on Christmas day?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/SzLeFyJkT-I/AAAAAAAAAFI/sVcSlp3Vo-0/s1600-h/IMG_5238.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/SzLeFyJkT-I/AAAAAAAAAFI/sVcSlp3Vo-0/s320/IMG_5238.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418637492622741474" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Til next time....&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7618428979795972680-2501638210524295929?l=twinkletoessam.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/feeds/2501638210524295929/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2009/12/oh-my-goodness-oh-my-goodness.html#comment-form' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/2501638210524295929'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/2501638210524295929'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2009/12/oh-my-goodness-oh-my-goodness.html' title='Oh my goodness, oh my goodness'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13791106701161505420</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/Sr4hqGKiqhI/AAAAAAAAAAM/3RUWLpGjYV0/S220/IMG_6262.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/SzLdNyIpu8I/AAAAAAAAAE4/7b4zLpKOuKQ/s72-c/IMG_7689.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7618428979795972680.post-2755348876435041127</id><published>2009-12-08T19:54:00.002-06:00</published><updated>2009-12-08T19:56:50.395-06:00</updated><title type='text'>All I want for Christmas</title><content type='html'>I (heart) Santa.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/Sx8DpyrUEyI/AAAAAAAAAEM/OLQ5CzLZRJ8/s1600-h/SamanthaandSanta.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 212px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/Sx8DpyrUEyI/AAAAAAAAAEM/OLQ5CzLZRJ8/s320/SamanthaandSanta.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413049293635588898" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I was so impressed with her, she did great! :-) I think she is just a doll....&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7618428979795972680-2755348876435041127?l=twinkletoessam.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/feeds/2755348876435041127/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2009/12/all-i-want-for-christmas.html#comment-form' title='3 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/2755348876435041127'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/2755348876435041127'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2009/12/all-i-want-for-christmas.html' title='All I want for Christmas'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13791106701161505420</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/Sr4hqGKiqhI/AAAAAAAAAAM/3RUWLpGjYV0/S220/IMG_6262.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/Sx8DpyrUEyI/AAAAAAAAAEM/OLQ5CzLZRJ8/s72-c/SamanthaandSanta.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>3</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7618428979795972680.post-8706616698980095943</id><published>2009-12-04T09:30:00.002-06:00</published><updated>2009-12-04T09:31:52.453-06:00</updated><title type='text'>Walk this way</title><content type='html'>Look at me!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=Randyag15#p/u/1/UzkzRnizIUA"&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;MY FIRST STEPS&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Tried to embed, but it didn't work...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;(apologies that my only words are "big girl"...guess I need to practice on my mommy language!)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;How did my baby grow up so fast?&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7618428979795972680-8706616698980095943?l=twinkletoessam.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/feeds/8706616698980095943/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2009/12/walk-this-way.html#comment-form' title='3 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/8706616698980095943'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/8706616698980095943'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2009/12/walk-this-way.html' title='Walk this way'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13791106701161505420</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/Sr4hqGKiqhI/AAAAAAAAAAM/3RUWLpGjYV0/S220/IMG_6262.JPG'/></author><thr:total>3</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7618428979795972680.post-7888996587010477868</id><published>2009-11-29T09:48:00.007-06:00</published><updated>2009-11-29T10:02:06.321-06:00</updated><title type='text'>Welcome Baby Evan and Baby Charlotte!</title><content type='html'>Baby Evan arrived in our world on Tuesday, Nov 24! He is an absolute doll and many congratulations to the new parents, Allison and Justin!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/SxKYji7gS0I/AAAAAAAAADc/WmMcB12KwWM/s1600/IMG_7414.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/SxKYji7gS0I/AAAAAAAAADc/WmMcB12KwWM/s320/IMG_7414.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409553838864616258" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/SxKYv9pmtdI/AAAAAAAAADk/z_HSfzOnt7o/s1600/IMG_7416.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/SxKYv9pmtdI/AAAAAAAAADk/z_HSfzOnt7o/s320/IMG_7416.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409554052195726802" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And sweet little Charlotte was also born on Nov 24, but 11 weeks early. She is a fighter for sure and is doing great, so please say some prayers for continued Strength, that she and her parents get stronger and stronger, day by day. I cannot wait to meet that little angel.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! It is hard to believe that the holiday week is winding down and in just a couple of days, I will be back at work. :-(  And, now the hustle and bustle of Christmas begins!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/SxKZyVcyyYI/AAAAAAAAADs/N3I4jiJxZE8/s1600/IMG_7422.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/SxKZyVcyyYI/AAAAAAAAADs/N3I4jiJxZE8/s320/IMG_7422.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409555192455809410" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/SxKaU8iuODI/AAAAAAAAAD0/iQYQ4zcNUp0/s1600/IMG_7436.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/SxKaU8iuODI/AAAAAAAAAD0/iQYQ4zcNUp0/s320/IMG_7436.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409555787065210930" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/SxKahkfZd6I/AAAAAAAAAD8/X5hJ4XJj5Sw/s1600/IMG_7438.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/SxKahkfZd6I/AAAAAAAAAD8/X5hJ4XJj5Sw/s320/IMG_7438.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409556003947116450" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/SxKatebNnbI/AAAAAAAAAEE/oUW_8GgAmw8/s1600/IMG_7444.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/SxKatebNnbI/AAAAAAAAAEE/oUW_8GgAmw8/s320/IMG_7444.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409556208477380018" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;More to come on our Turkey Day festivities, so stay tuned. Til next time...&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7618428979795972680-7888996587010477868?l=twinkletoessam.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/feeds/7888996587010477868/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2009/11/welcome-baby-evan-and-baby-charlotte.html#comment-form' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/7888996587010477868'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/7888996587010477868'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2009/11/welcome-baby-evan-and-baby-charlotte.html' title='Welcome Baby Evan and Baby Charlotte!'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13791106701161505420</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/Sr4hqGKiqhI/AAAAAAAAAAM/3RUWLpGjYV0/S220/IMG_6262.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/SxKYji7gS0I/AAAAAAAAADc/WmMcB12KwWM/s72-c/IMG_7414.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7618428979795972680.post-3864904641019147552</id><published>2009-11-20T12:38:00.002-06:00</published><updated>2009-11-20T12:44:49.133-06:00</updated><title type='text'>The 12 days of Thanksgiving</title><content type='html'>That's right, 12 days until I have to go back to work, woohoo!!! I was beyond excited yesterday as I exited the office, held up my hands and said, "See ya suckers!".  Pure joy I tell ya.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Spent 1.5 hours at the grocery store this morning, getting everything for Thanksgiving.  I wanted to get all my shopping done before the mad rush, and I was quite successful!  Also, saved $25 with coupons, cha-ching!  I look forward to Sundays when I can clip my coupons. I know, I'm a nerd.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Off to chiropractor and then to Target to tackle some Christmas and birthday shopping!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Til next time.....gobble gobble...&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7618428979795972680-3864904641019147552?l=twinkletoessam.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/feeds/3864904641019147552/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2009/11/12-days-of-thanksgiving.html#comment-form' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/3864904641019147552'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/3864904641019147552'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2009/11/12-days-of-thanksgiving.html' title='The 12 days of Thanksgiving'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13791106701161505420</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/Sr4hqGKiqhI/AAAAAAAAAAM/3RUWLpGjYV0/S220/IMG_6262.JPG'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7618428979795972680.post-2313265045851485758</id><published>2009-11-12T19:46:00.003-06:00</published><updated>2009-11-12T20:42:37.444-06:00</updated><title type='text'>Where in the world....</title><content type='html'>....did I go!!?  I know, I know...I haven't posted in almost 2 weeks. And, I am certain the virtual world has missed me, right?  ;-)  I really don't have an excuse, except I guess I just haven't been motivated. I'm in a rut right now....work just sucks. Nothing major is going on, I'm not working THAT hard, and come on, I only work 3 days a week as it is. So, why the complaining? I just don't like working anymore. I wake up DREADING to go to work every day, I mean, REALLY DREADING. It doesn't make it any easier that I work in the consulting world. What was I thinking? A part-time consultant? HA, now that's funny. Don't get me wrong, I'm not working any more than I am getting paid for, but in the world of consulting, that won't cut it. If I'm not giving 200% (i.e. working more hours and producing more work), then it's never good enough. I'm OK being average, mediocre, you know....and in this industry, that's just not how it works. Being average (i.e. having a balance between work, life and family) has consequences.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Am I just in a phase?! Does this happen to everyone?? I hope so, because the option for me not to work, is I think, not an option.  I told Randy that I was going to buy a monogramming machine and see what these crafty (er, non crafty) Martha Stewart hands can do! It can't be that hard, can it? I guess I get my inspiration from etsy.com, addicted to that site! If you haven't visited before, check it out. It's UH-MAZING! So, don't be surprised when I tell you I've bought the machine. :-)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Who's ready for TURKEY?? I absolutely LOVE Thanksgiving! Definitely my favorite holiday. I guess because I love family and food, and it's before the hustle and bustle of Christmas, and it's just a great All-American holiday. And we get 2 days off of work, yoohoo!  All you have to worry about is when you'll have to unbutton the top of your pants to make more room for food. No worrying about if Great Aunt Elda would rather have the red arglye sweater or the blue wool socks for Christmas.  Ours will be a small gathering this year, but looking forward to spending the time with family and friends, that's what it's all about. Oh, and I guess it's about football too. :-)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On to reality TV....was bittersweet to see Tracy leave the Biggest Loser. I know she was nuts (but in my mind she was just playing the game)...she reminds me so much of Rachel. Not so much her personality (maybe a little bit of her quirkiness!), but definitely her physical appearance. I looked forward to watching the show so I could see her.  Made me think of Rach often and realize how much she is missed. *Sigh*&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;OK, got to get back to my wine drinking ;-), til next time....&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7618428979795972680-2313265045851485758?l=twinkletoessam.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/feeds/2313265045851485758/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2009/11/where-in-world.html#comment-form' title='5 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/2313265045851485758'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/2313265045851485758'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2009/11/where-in-world.html' title='Where in the world....'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13791106701161505420</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/Sr4hqGKiqhI/AAAAAAAAAAM/3RUWLpGjYV0/S220/IMG_6262.JPG'/></author><thr:total>5</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7618428979795972680.post-6841344023933463520</id><published>2009-10-31T08:46:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2009-10-31T08:50:59.975-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Happy Halloween!</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/SuxAfbjVnJI/AAAAAAAAADM/L-C5mBRtEx4/s1600-h/IMG_7261.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/SuxAfbjVnJI/AAAAAAAAADM/L-C5mBRtEx4/s320/IMG_7261.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398760962026478738" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/SuxAqvHEcuI/AAAAAAAAADU/tIjcvTXELCs/s1600-h/IMG_7257.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/SuxAqvHEcuI/AAAAAAAAADU/tIjcvTXELCs/s320/IMG_7257.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398761156255183586" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7618428979795972680-6841344023933463520?l=twinkletoessam.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/feeds/6841344023933463520/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2009/10/happy-halloween.html#comment-form' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/6841344023933463520'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/6841344023933463520'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2009/10/happy-halloween.html' title='Happy Halloween!'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13791106701161505420</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/Sr4hqGKiqhI/AAAAAAAAAAM/3RUWLpGjYV0/S220/IMG_6262.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/SuxAfbjVnJI/AAAAAAAAADM/L-C5mBRtEx4/s72-c/IMG_7261.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7618428979795972680.post-5547891823869264511</id><published>2009-10-30T10:03:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2009-10-30T10:14:18.923-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Chim chim cher-ee</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://alchemistpoonam.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/mary-poppins.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 250px; height: 187px;" src="http://alchemistpoonam.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/mary-poppins.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Went to see the musical Mary Poppins on Wednesday night, it was absolutely fabulous! The sets and dancing were phenomenal! My fav was &lt;a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VNGIQ51aiw"&gt;Step in Time&lt;/a&gt;. If you ever get the opportunity to see it, go!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There were quite a few kiddos there, which I can certainly understand, if they're 4 or older. BUT, there was a BABY there, and crying at times! Seriously?!? Why on earth would you bring a baby to the theater? I don't care what show it is, you don't bring a baby, out of respect for fellow theater goers! I would have been furious if we had been sitting by them, but luckily they were on the other side of the theater. Thank heavens! Some people....&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Til next time...&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7618428979795972680-5547891823869264511?l=twinkletoessam.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/feeds/5547891823869264511/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2009/10/chim-chim-cher-ee.html#comment-form' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/5547891823869264511'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/5547891823869264511'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2009/10/chim-chim-cher-ee.html' title='Chim chim cher-ee'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13791106701161505420</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/Sr4hqGKiqhI/AAAAAAAAAAM/3RUWLpGjYV0/S220/IMG_6262.JPG'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7618428979795972680.post-4945692140074428252</id><published>2009-10-27T20:19:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2009-10-27T20:26:46.892-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Forever your girl</title><content type='html'>Oh Paula.....I knew you wouldn't get away from us! The big news is that she's going to be a frequent guest judge on So You Think You Can Dance. Love it! Interesting, since Ellen used to be a guest judge and now she's the new Paula on Idol. Gotta love Hollywood!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I watch both, so guess it's a win win for me! Love Ellen and love Paula, being her drunk, drug induced self. Never a dull moment!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Hope you'll watch with me!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Til next time...&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7618428979795972680-4945692140074428252?l=twinkletoessam.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/feeds/4945692140074428252/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2009/10/forever-your-girl.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/4945692140074428252'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/4945692140074428252'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2009/10/forever-your-girl.html' title='Forever your girl'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13791106701161505420</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/Sr4hqGKiqhI/AAAAAAAAAAM/3RUWLpGjYV0/S220/IMG_6262.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7618428979795972680.post-791400991760752594</id><published>2009-10-21T19:56:00.004-05:00</published><updated>2009-10-21T20:10:18.261-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Frickin' laser beams!</title><content type='html'>My dad started radiation today. This is the first of 40 treatment sessions he goes through. He will go 5 days/week for 2 months.  Please add him to your prayers, that these "frickin' lasers" will kill those damn cancer cells, that he goes through treatment without experiencing major side effects, and that emotionally he can make it through this! I'm sure he can, but the extra prayers are definitely appreciated and I know we have some awesome people prayers out there, so get to work! :-)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;At one of his prep appointments prior to the start of the treatment sessions, he was "tattooed" so that the beams hit him and the cancer cells at the right angle and position. He asked the lady for a butterfly tattoo, but no such luck. Haha! I'm so glad that he's able to keep his sense of humor in all this!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The most likely side effect will be tiredness, so we'll see how that works out for a retiree that must be on-the-go at all times! Each week he will receive progress reports. I'm not sure what that means yet, but my mom will go with him to those appointments each week so she can hear the reports as well. Right now she's not planning to go with him every day, unless he's really tired.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I just THANK GOD that treatment and a cure is available and I continue to pray this will do the trick!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Let's kick this in the rear!!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Til next time...&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7618428979795972680-791400991760752594?l=twinkletoessam.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/feeds/791400991760752594/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2009/10/frickin-laser-beams.html#comment-form' title='3 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/791400991760752594'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/791400991760752594'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2009/10/frickin-laser-beams.html' title='Frickin&apos; laser beams!'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13791106701161505420</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/Sr4hqGKiqhI/AAAAAAAAAAM/3RUWLpGjYV0/S220/IMG_6262.JPG'/></author><thr:total>3</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7618428979795972680.post-8344315012089376434</id><published>2009-10-19T19:57:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2009-10-19T20:16:39.512-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Float like a butterfly</title><content type='html'>So this is what I will be, what do you think???&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.lalaling.com/e-store/media/prod_full/butterfly.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 295px; height: 338px;" src="http://www.lalaling.com/e-store/media/prod_full/butterfly.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Thought it was quite appropriate since her teachers at school call her "butterfly". She is so funny, when she gets excited, (while sitting), she straightens her legs out and flaps her arms up and down. Hence, the butterfly. I ordered it on Friday and got it today, what awesome customer service! I am really happy with the quality too...sometimes costumes can feel so cheap, but this one has good fabric, or so it seems. We shall see. Let's pray for some good weather so we can actually show it off to the hood!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Oh, and by now, you've probably heard (or seen) that the next Bachelor will be &lt;a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2009/10/jake-pavelka-named-new-bachelor.html"&gt;Jake Pavelka&lt;/a&gt;, from the Big D. I thought he was a complete tool and douche on the last show, but of course I will still watch since I'm a total junkie! (And my source was correct on the choice, I just forgot to post it here before the big unveiling!)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Had our big 9 month check-up today. Yes, we're about 3 weeks behind but her pedi was out having a baby of his own! She is 30% on weight (18 lbs), 25% on height (almost 27") and 50% on head. Go Sam! It is amazing to think she will be ONE in just a couple of short months! That reminds me, gotta get the Christmas lists going!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, what are your Christmas wishes this year??&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Gotta get back to DWTS. Til next time....&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7618428979795972680-8344315012089376434?l=twinkletoessam.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/feeds/8344315012089376434/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2009/10/float-like-butterfly.html#comment-form' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/8344315012089376434'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/8344315012089376434'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2009/10/float-like-butterfly.html' title='Float like a butterfly'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13791106701161505420</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/Sr4hqGKiqhI/AAAAAAAAAAM/3RUWLpGjYV0/S220/IMG_6262.JPG'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7618428979795972680.post-8778978925216442549</id><published>2009-10-19T08:50:00.005-05:00</published><updated>2009-10-19T08:56:42.321-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Welcome Mark!</title><content type='html'>On Oct 18, 2009 at 12:22 am, a wonderful blessing entered our world, Mark Wendell. Here he is...he is just precious! Love all the dark hair! I think he's going to be an opposite of his big bro Zach. Congrats to the entire family, love you guys!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/StxvS3Mlh1I/AAAAAAAAACs/GaSZcmGCqRY/s1600-h/IMG_7203.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/StxvS3Mlh1I/AAAAAAAAACs/GaSZcmGCqRY/s320/IMG_7203.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394308823528081234" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/StxvwPskE1I/AAAAAAAAAC8/JBg7monNv9U/s1600-h/IMG_7206.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/StxvwPskE1I/AAAAAAAAAC8/JBg7monNv9U/s320/IMG_7206.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394309328320861010" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/Stxv7SJfDrI/AAAAAAAAADE/FepMSSpK4W0/s1600-h/IMG_7202_2.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/Stxv7SJfDrI/AAAAAAAAADE/FepMSSpK4W0/s320/IMG_7202_2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394309517957598898" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7618428979795972680-8778978925216442549?l=twinkletoessam.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/feeds/8778978925216442549/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2009/10/welcome-mark.html#comment-form' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/8778978925216442549'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/8778978925216442549'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2009/10/welcome-mark.html' title='Welcome Mark!'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13791106701161505420</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/Sr4hqGKiqhI/AAAAAAAAAAM/3RUWLpGjYV0/S220/IMG_6262.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/StxvS3Mlh1I/AAAAAAAAACs/GaSZcmGCqRY/s72-c/IMG_7203.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7618428979795972680.post-5186216342220644321</id><published>2009-10-15T17:49:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2009-10-15T17:54:00.799-05:00</updated><title type='text'>A pick-me-up</title><content type='html'>If anyone needs a pick-me-up, listen to this &lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlL8LayF0uw"&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;song&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;...&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7618428979795972680-5186216342220644321?l=twinkletoessam.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/feeds/5186216342220644321/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2009/10/pick-me-up.html#comment-form' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/5186216342220644321'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/5186216342220644321'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2009/10/pick-me-up.html' title='A pick-me-up'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13791106701161505420</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/Sr4hqGKiqhI/AAAAAAAAAAM/3RUWLpGjYV0/S220/IMG_6262.JPG'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7618428979795972680.post-6428781671662589639</id><published>2009-10-09T08:12:00.010-05:00</published><updated>2009-10-09T08:46:26.439-05:00</updated><title type='text'>I did it</title><content type='html'>I entered Samantha in a Gap Kids casting call contest. Many of you have told me to enter her in a photo contest, so I finally did. It was free, so no loss for us if she doesn't win, right!? Seriously though, I cannot even imagine how many people enter that contest. Oh well, we'll see what happens...maybe we'll have a little star come December. The 20 finalists will be announced December 7. If you want to see her entries, go here...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://family.go.com/gapcastingcall/entries/smb3191/"&gt;http://family.go.com/gapcastingcall/entries/smb3191/&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;How could this cutie not win!??!  :-)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/Ss85Y03oe7I/AAAAAAAAACc/BAOLSos_TeI/s1600-h/IMG_7116.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/Ss85Y03oe7I/AAAAAAAAACc/BAOLSos_TeI/s320/IMG_7116.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390590377657400242" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/Ss850wbDfjI/AAAAAAAAACk/wD6VhnEYm2g/s1600-h/IMG_7121.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/Ss850wbDfjI/AAAAAAAAACk/wD6VhnEYm2g/s320/IMG_7121.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390590857500130866" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Speaking of HALLOWEEN, we need a costume! Any ideas out there? I was thinking of getting one off ebay. If she's only going to wear it once, then I don't want to spend a lot of $$$. What do you think? Could we pull &lt;a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://cgi.ebay.com/Infant-Dorothy-Costume-Rubi-Slippers-Toto-Basket_W0QQitemZ290356189365QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item439a93d8b5"&gt;Dorothy&lt;/a&gt; off!?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, what are your kiddos going to be for Halloween?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Looking forward to our pumpkin patch outing tomorrow! PLEASE let the cool weather arrive by then! I'm about to go insane with this 95+ weather we've been having, ugh!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Oh, and I promise to start blogging about the shows soon, just need to get caught up!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Til next time....&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7618428979795972680-6428781671662589639?l=twinkletoessam.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/feeds/6428781671662589639/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2009/10/i-did-it.html#comment-form' title='3 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/6428781671662589639'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/6428781671662589639'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2009/10/i-did-it.html' title='I did it'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13791106701161505420</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/Sr4hqGKiqhI/AAAAAAAAAAM/3RUWLpGjYV0/S220/IMG_6262.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/Ss85Y03oe7I/AAAAAAAAACc/BAOLSos_TeI/s72-c/IMG_7116.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>3</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7618428979795972680.post-2710002069068988961</id><published>2009-10-05T20:26:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2009-10-05T20:47:24.184-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Beware</title><content type='html'>....this is going to be a boring post, but I haven't talked to the "dub dub dub" world in a while, so thought I owe you guys at least something, even if it's not worth your time.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We had a great weekend! Friday, it started off at the old stomping ground to see the mighty Panthers of Klein Oak play Klein. Randy's mom suggested the idea and I'm glad we decided to go. It was a lot of fun. Man, we are old. Those kids looked so damn young. And to think when we were that age, being seniors, we thought we were so old and cool! So, it was us, both sets of parents and the Tolles clan. I had no idea how Samantha would do since her night night time is around 7:30 (which was game time), but we gave it a go, with carrier in tow (ugh!), just in case she wanted to snooze. Well, she didn't sleep at all and was never fussy! She was mesmerized, I think by all the action, bright lights and music. She didn't close her eyes until we got in the car, and we left with about 5 minutes left in the game. KO did not win (wah!), but by FAR they won the halftime show. Go band and Strutters! I was so impressed and so proud! :-) They did awesome. And, the Strutters didn't have to wear the old moldy, crusty overlays like we did! They had on some cute black and pink outfits, man they are lucky. Guess that's what 15 years does to the drillteam fashion world. Did I just date myself?!  Anywho, Samantha slept until 8:30 the next morning, but of course, we still got up at 7:30, such is life.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Saturday, we did absolutely nothing, although mom got out for a shopping trip! I only bought 1 shirt for me, all the rest was for the babe. She was in desperate need of some clothes. I was sending her to school in highwaters, but I kept telling myself they were capris. ;-) Found some great deals....bought nothing at full price, bargain shopping, gotta love it!  Sunday, we went to the Texans game (Samantha stayed with the grandparents), and thank goodness for the W-I-N.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Not looking forward to my work week starting tomorrow, but hopefully it will be Thursday before I know it!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Although it won't help that I'll be daydreaming about my folks while they're on a cruise....from San Juan, they're going to St Thomas, Dominica, Barbados, St Lucia, Antigua and St Kitts....oh the life. I need a vacation.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Til next time....&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7618428979795972680-2710002069068988961?l=twinkletoessam.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/feeds/2710002069068988961/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2009/10/beware.html#comment-form' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/2710002069068988961'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/2710002069068988961'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2009/10/beware.html' title='Beware'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13791106701161505420</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/Sr4hqGKiqhI/AAAAAAAAAAM/3RUWLpGjYV0/S220/IMG_6262.JPG'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7618428979795972680.post-1347563728450656493</id><published>2009-09-30T17:24:00.004-05:00</published><updated>2009-09-30T17:58:10.247-05:00</updated><title type='text'>You put that where!?!?</title><content type='html'>That's what Randy had to say or at least, something similar.  This past weekend little Samantha was quite constipated. Seriously. No poops on Saturday (when we're used to 3 or 4) and none on Sunday until I went into action. So being the worried, have no clue, new mom that I am, I was reading Baby 411, looking online, anything that I could find to help my sweet babe. At one point, she was in tears and pushing so hard, that I thought she was going to explode. :-(  And, still, nothing came out. So, I headed to the store to stock up on prunes and juice. That should do it, right?!? Stuffed her with those, and the wait began. Surely there would be progress! I thought we had it, major farts and sounds of liquid poo (yes, I did it, go mom!)......there was poo, but it was hard as a rock. A kid would have thought it was years-old play-&lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"&gt;doh&lt;/span&gt; or something (you know when you mixed all the colors together so it made a really nasty poo color). Ugh. More juice. More hard poo. At least it was coming out now, but can we get some loose stools please!?! So, this is when I went to another device. The thermometer. We have one that has the different attachments for rectal, oral, armpit, etc. I lubed it up and up we went! Samantha got a little fussy, but nothing too bad. Tried this a couple of times, and don't even think it helped, but the next morning, we had normal poo, ROCK ON! :-)  That morning, Randy looks at the thermometer (still had it out and ready in case we needed to use it again) and says...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;(see title of this post)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I looked at it, and said, Oh Shit. Excuse my potty mouth. ;-)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I had used the oral attachment instead of the rectal one! My poor baby! What a wonderful mother I am, right?  Well, to my defense, I know I didn't shove it up there all the way. It was definitely more than the rectal one would have gone, but what can I do about it now? I guess the attachment that was extra long looked (in my current mindset) like it was the cure-all more than the short stubby one. ;-)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You live and learn. Anyone want their temperature taken? &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"&gt;Haha&lt;/span&gt;! :-)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Oh, and check out the survey on the right-hand side. Just curious what reality shows you kids watch. Let me know if I need to add one to my fall line-up. ;-)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Til next time...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;P.S. Happy Birthday Amy! Cheers, here's to another year! Love ya!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7618428979795972680-1347563728450656493?l=twinkletoessam.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/feeds/1347563728450656493/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2009/09/you-put-that-where.html#comment-form' title='3 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/1347563728450656493'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/1347563728450656493'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2009/09/you-put-that-where.html' title='You put that where!?!?'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13791106701161505420</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/Sr4hqGKiqhI/AAAAAAAAAAM/3RUWLpGjYV0/S220/IMG_6262.JPG'/></author><thr:total>3</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7618428979795972680.post-5602040957375663393</id><published>2009-09-28T17:05:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2009-09-28T17:42:00.204-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Can 2009 end already please?</title><content type='html'>I'm ready for 2010. Anyone else feel the same? It's been a difficult year for me, my family, my dearest friends and even strangers. Although, we will be blessed with Mark and Evan very soon, and for that I am grateful! I cannot wait to meet them and welcome them into our world! How precious newborns are, *hug*.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Most who are (or not) reading this, know it's been a crappy year for me health-wise. Two episodes of a stomach virus; 3 episodes of mastitis - one of which put me in the hospital for 5 days; tummy issues - just had a stomach scope a few weeks ago and found out I have &lt;a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gastritis"&gt;gastritis&lt;/a&gt;, a.k.a. stomach inflammation. I'm on an acid reducer for 2 months, so hopefully it's just from acid and I won't have to go through additional testing. And today I find out that I have &lt;a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.spectrumortho.com/tabid/7873/mid/12445/ContentPubID/113/ContentClassificationGroupID/-1/Default.aspx"&gt;Triangular Fibrocartilage Complex&lt;/a&gt; (TFCC). I've had pain in my right wrist for a while now and I just figured it was nothing to worry about and would get better on its own. Well, it has slowly gotten worse so I decided to go see an orthopedic surgeon. Basically, I have torn cartilage in my wrist. Treatment options are:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1. Do nothing, until pain gets worse&lt;br /&gt;2. Cast - over the entire arm and elbow -  for 6 weeks (not an option with a 9 month old!)&lt;br /&gt;3. Splint/anti-inflammatory meds, such as Aleve (can't do this because of my tummy issues and splint won't help 100% because I will still be able to twist my arm, from palm down to palm up)&lt;br /&gt;4. Surgery - arthoscopy (like they do with the knees, elbows, etc)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'm leaning towards option 1 or 4. I'm not in severe pain, so why do anything? But, then again, before it gets to that point, should I take care of it now, while I'm working part-time and have a semi-immobile child? So, we'll see. It's an outpatient procedure and I would only have a splint on for 1-2 weeks, and then I should be good to go, with a few weeks to full recovery.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Thank God for insurance. I cannot even begin to think about paying for all of these docs and medical care from my own pocket. Scary.  I have heard that the year after giving birth/having a c-section can be pure HELL on your body. Well, I am full proof of that.  So, what else can come my way? I pray, nothing, but will continue to get through the rest of this year every way possible! I've got a darling angel to inspire me!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Let the countdown begin, only &lt;a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.timeanddate.com/counters/newyear.html"&gt;94 days&lt;/a&gt; until 2010!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Til next time....&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7618428979795972680-5602040957375663393?l=twinkletoessam.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/feeds/5602040957375663393/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2009/09/can-2009-end-already-please.html#comment-form' title='5 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/5602040957375663393'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/5602040957375663393'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2009/09/can-2009-end-already-please.html' title='Can 2009 end already please?'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13791106701161505420</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/Sr4hqGKiqhI/AAAAAAAAAAM/3RUWLpGjYV0/S220/IMG_6262.JPG'/></author><thr:total>5</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7618428979795972680.post-62557507194743960</id><published>2009-09-27T10:02:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2009-09-27T16:00:13.668-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Life is just a bowl of cherries</title><content type='html'>That pretty much sums it up, doesn't it? I absolutely love cherries and I love life! And everything is better with a cherry on top, right?  I decided to start a blog because I think I drive my hubs crazy sometimes with my random conversations, rants, vents, etc. This gives me a place to write and share my thoughts on being a mom, raising the most precious daughter on this earth and life in general, whatever may come my way! Do I plan to post every day? No, I don't think so unless I have some really good gossip to share or venting to do. I am addicted to reality TV so expect regular postings on my shows. I hear that the next Bachelor will be announced during the Oct 13th episode of Dancing With The Stars. Can't wait! That show is a train wreck, especially in the last couple of seasons, but I'm still a follower. I've got an "in" to someone who might be able to share the new beau before the official announcement, so check here and I'll share the scoop if/when I know more! ;-)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Speaking of reality TV, this happened a couple of weeks ago, but how on earth did Chicken Farmer win America's Got Talent? I had never watched the show before but did this season because a co-worker (of sorts) is the husband of &lt;a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.barbarapadilla.com/index.html"&gt;Barbara Padilla&lt;/a&gt;, who has AMAZING talent by the way. I was 100% she would win or The Texas Tenors, purely based on their cheese factor, and that somehow, I think they would survive in Vegas. But Chicken Farmer? The only time I saw him perform was during the Finals, and I thought he was absolutely terrible! There was no way he'd be the winner, but he won! How did he win Americans' hearts over &lt;a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXO-q3dPzIA"&gt;Barbara&lt;/a&gt;? I think it was a conspiracy and rigged from the beginning, so consider me a HATER from here on out. I refuse to watch that show ever again. But, I did think Hoff was Hofftastic. He made me laugh. Oh well, just another show I won't have to clog up the DVR with. So, good riddance. By the way, I think a tour with Barbara and Susan Boyle would be awesome!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I expect a good week for DWTS. Didn't you just LOVE the Patrick Swayze dedication last week? I almost felt myself getting up and dancing along. That movie is such a classic and can't wait to watch it with Samantha one day. That will teach her that "nobody puts Baby in a corner!" Damn straight Patrick and may you RIP. Thanks for everything you gave us, you are a legend and will never be forgotten.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Speaking of people who will never be forgotten. Please keep the &lt;a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://bandssullivan.blogspot.com/"&gt;Sullivans&lt;/a&gt; in your thoughts and prayers. I don't know them, but if you read their blog, you will understand why I mention them here. Being a new mom, my heart goes out to that family, especially baby Chloe.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;OK, I think that's all I have for Post #1. Enjoy and I'll be back soon.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Til next time....&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7618428979795972680-62557507194743960?l=twinkletoessam.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/feeds/62557507194743960/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2009/09/life-is-just-bowl-of-cherries.html#comment-form' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/62557507194743960'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7618428979795972680/posts/default/62557507194743960'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://twinkletoessam.blogspot.com/2009/09/life-is-just-bowl-of-cherries.html' title='Life is just a bowl of cherries'/><author><name>Susan</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13791106701161505420</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L7mvRxHrOXg/Sr4hqGKiqhI/AAAAAAAAAAM/3RUWLpGjYV0/S220/IMG_6262.JPG'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry></feed>
