Potluck Friday

Happy Potluck Friday and Christmas Eve Eve!

1. This is an exciting day! I will have 6 extra feet running around my kitchen today. My 3 nieces are coming to spend the night and we are going to be baking up a storm. Part of me thinks i'm crazy, but the other part is so freaking excited (ask me at 10 p.m. which part i should have listened too!) Riv is so excited. Right now he's showing his excitement by screaming on the kitchen floor. Oh wait, that's not excitement. He's ticked because i wouldn't let him play with steak knife he spotted on the cabinet. Mean mommy.
   
2. Christmas has br0ught on some hilarious conversations with my hubby. While watching "Mike and Molly" this week (love that show! Big girls represent!) We were laughing at Mike rushing around trying to find a gift for Molly, who was dropping tons of hints...that he didn't pick up on. This is soooo James. After 8 years, he still has no clue what to get me for birthdays or Christmas, whereas i listen to him gab all year and have plenty of ideas when occasions come upon us. This year we decided to do a couple's gift -- a new laptop. So that saved James hunting for a gift for me:
   ReRe: Are you glad we did a couple's gift so you don't have to be like Mike
   James: Oh yeah.
   ReRe: Why does picking a gift for me make you so stressed.
   James: Because it's a lot of pressure. I want you to know that i've been listening to you all year and know exactly what you want or need......but i don't listen to you.
   
   At least he's honest!
   
3. Another Christmas gem of a conversation happened last night when i was guilting him about not getting around to putting lights on our house 2 years in a row (last year we had a 2 month old so i gave him an out, but there's no excuse for this year!). So as we pull out of our driveway, i point to the neighbors house across the street and start the guilting:
   ReRe: See, they have lights on their house. Sure is pretty. I wish someone would put lights on my house.
   James: Yeah, they have lights on their house. But that's not what Christmas is about. It's not about giant blow up reindeer with lights. Nope. They may have lights on their house...but we have lights in our heart! That's what it's about.
   ReRe: Did you seriously just say "lights in our hearts"?!
   James: Yep. Lights in our hearts.
   
   So we spent the rest of the evening driving by houses that had huge light displays and saying "Their hearts are dim inside. No lights in their hearts!" hahahhaa
   
4. Epic fail of the week goes to the "great" governor of Oklahoma, Mary Fallin. Clearly Mary has never had a sick newborn, or uncomplicated birth. That's the only reason i can think of that would explain why she thinks signing a bill that allows an insurance company to deny coverage to a newborn. Thank goodness this wasn't in effect when I had River, who spent a week in NICU. I've never been more grateful for insurance or realized the importance of it. We are still paying off our portion of the NICU bill (counting down the days until May 15th ...my last payment), i can't imagine if we would have been responsible for the whole enchilada. Fail Mary Fallin. this is reason #4,839 why Jari Askins should have won. Boo!
   
5. What's ReRe jamming this week? "Good Feeling" by Flo Rida
   
   

Potluck Friday

Happy Friday!!!

1. Yowza, it's been a LOOONGGG time since i've done a Potluck Friday. I'd like to blame River, but i can't. Truth is, it's me! I'm just so dang lazy/tired these days. But i feel refreshed this morning -- even after a 12 hour work day yesterday! So here ya go!
   
   
2. Is it just me, or am i the only who thinks Amy Winehouse died a long time ago and came back as Lady GaGa? I don't know much about either one of "them" so i could be wrong. But did anyone ever see them in the same room at the same time? I'm just saying this is a possibility. If the folks who work at the Daily Planet never figured out that Clark Kent was never around when Superman was, then it's possible that this has also gone unnoticed. Maybe Amy GaGa got tired of playing both roles. Something to think about!
   
   
3. It's Tax Free Weekend here in the great Sooner State. In theory this weekend is supposed to help folks save money while getting ready for Back to School (and stop them from all going to Texas and spending their money there), but in reality it makes absolutely no sense. School Supplies aren't even tax free...yet you can get a wedding dress tax free?! I mean, that's a good deal if you are a bride-to-be, but that does nothing for 1st Grade Billy who has to buy 4 boxes of markers, 3 notebooks, pens, pencil, and 19 boxes of kleenex. Well, i guess it's good for Billy if he's into drag and wants to be a show stopper in an Alfred Angelo wedding dress. You go boy!
   
   
4. New in the world of River: crawling (he prefers to do the Mowgli crawl from the Jungle Book), eating out of the dog bowls, getting on his belly so he can look under the fridge (i'm tempted to give him a broom or something), biting -- just mama, and....his man parts. He discovered them recently and they are clearly cooler than anything Fisher Price can make.
   
   
5. What's ReRe jamming this week? A LOT! There are some great songs out there. One of my faves is "Sure Thing" by Miguel. It's another one of those that just makes you wanna grab the one you love and cuddle up!
   
   

What makes a Big League City?

You know what makes a city a Big League City? No, it's not an NBA team, it's not a river renamed after your state, it's not even tons of international travel.

It's a Grandy's. And you know whose a Big League City? Bethany, Oklahoma. I recently took a trip to Bethany and delighted myself in some Grandy's for lunch. Nothing better than greasy fried chicken, okra, mashed potatoes and a soft roll with butter and honey. Oh wait, i know what's better than that...a sweet little lady bringing me more rolls! And that's just what i got!

Oh how i miss Grandy's. Norman USED to have one, right next to Norman High School. I ate there almost every.freaking.day. Children's chicken nugget place with fries for $2.99 baby! Sadly it closed, i blame it on two things 1) Hard to make money when you are swarmed at lunch time with teens who either only order the $2.99 kids plate or nothing at all and 2) Hard to make money when that swarm of teens scares away your target audience: 90 year-olds.

What is it with Grandy's and old folks?! Every car in the Grandy's parking lot the other day was a Cadillac -- except mine of course. And i was the youngest by at least 50 years! (i almost got run over in the parking lot by a lady wearing cataract shades!)