Big families mean more posts about them, right?

So, here at Oddity of Oddities (like it's some kind of important something or other, right?) Christmas posting is still going.

Yes, I realize it's 2010. Hello, New Year. I will blog about you, soon, I swear.

Yes, I realize that Christmas was a week ago.

Yes, I understand that you may or may not be interested in my in law's playing pool and being male.

No, I don't care about any of the above realizations/understandings.

Avast, me hearties! Brothers in law on the horizon!








More later, when I don't have to work... which is very limited this week, so yay!

Christmas Pictures, again!

I have literally been sitting at the computer all day long, with this tab open, telling myself I am definitely going to post, I am, I am, I am...

And now it's 6 pm. I'm finally posting.

There's not much to tell you, really, besides how much I hate flying, and how much I wish going home meant walking across the road from Meg's to our apartment.

OH and go look at that link over there! The Lantana Ranch link! That's Leslie's new business venture: organic soaps, oils, candles and more! 

Here's more pics:

Ben was Santa this year.

He handed out the presents and we open them one at a time.

 

We're all supposed to wait and watch the next person unwrap... but Mattie's not there yet, lol.

 

 

Not my best pic... but it has my roasting pan in it!!

Steve is EVIL with tape. In this picture, he torments Phil as Phil tries to unwrap one of his monstrosities.

(Shortly after this pic was taken, Phil used his teeth)

 Heya, hot stuff <3

and Megum =D

Christmas, goober style.

There is so very, very much to tell you about from Christmas. More than I can put here without killing you with words. So the next few posts might be nothing but pics, although this one is gonna be wordy;

First of all, I hope everyone reading this has had a very merry, lovely Christmas. Mine has been one of the best so far. This year, everyone scrimped and scrapped to afford stuff for people, to make sure everyone got a little something, even if it was microscopic...and we all asked for very little, too, to balance things out.

This year, amidst the recession, the trials, the tribulations and heartaches, and everything else.... we got everything we wanted.

I got pajama pants, socks, undies, and some awesome "coupons" from Andrew; gift cards, candles, knick knacks, and soaps from the guys; mugs, an awesome roasting pan, more socks and more gift cards from parents and girls....

and lots of love from every single one of them.

Did I mention sunshine? I've gotten lots of that too. I think I needed that the most.


And so... some pics:

That's Benny.

Joy is the light brown one, but she's actually white. Zoe is the one to the right and Doc is the one with the blue cover.

Leslie and Chip's front porch.

One of these things is not like the other?

I actually got them to pose for a picture! Andrew, Ben, and Phil, serious:

Andrew, Ben, and Phil, not serious (and a random orange cat):

And last but not least!

Merry Christmas!

I'm dreaming of a brown Christmas, just like the ones we used to plan....

 I honestly don't know why I'm here right now.

I have a QUADRILLION other things to be doing, not the least of which is packing, and there's dishes, and some wrapping, and I should be looking for that missing paycheck in the drawers...

But here I am. I am... here. And I am going to tell you about two things on this morning. My mother would call it, pardon my language, "colder than a well-digger's ass in Alaska".

Yes, it probably is, Mom, aren't you glad you work at Minit Market now?

First thing:
 I have a wonderful husband. These are the exact words of the card he gave me in my stocking (we opened on Saturday, my only day off til we leave):

My wife, my partner in love, my companion in pleasure, my soul's truest mate through this journey of life.

(That was the front)

You are my refuge when the day is long, my shelter when times are hard. You are the sharer of my dreams, my support when I am challenged, and my very best friend on this earth.

Yours is the face I want to grow old with, and yours are the arms I want wrapped around me at the end of each day for the rest of my life. 

Merry Christmas.

"I Love You. If I was better with words I would tell you this. Andrew"

Yeah. That was my Christmas card.

I love you, too, Andrew.

Mine to him was not quite as sweet this year. It was cute, but not as sweet.

Second!

WE'RE LEAVING TOMORROW FOR ARIZONA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please excuse me for a moment. It seems I have peed my pants.

And I have yet to pack anything but a couple shirts and a pair of jeans. Now, this IS Arizona, and from the wonderful forecast I've seen... that's about all I'm gonna need. At least, according to most people here. I myself am going to need a couple hoodies and probably my fuzzy warm jacket, too, because I hate to break it to you people

FIFTY DEGREES IS STILL TOO COLD FOR MY LIZARDY SELF!!!!

Camp and Teresa are coming over tonight for the key to the apt. and their Christmas present that I bought last night because I'm a dweeb and thought I'd already gotten it and hadn't... Tonight is also the IMVU Christmas party that I'm hosting for my group. Everyone got presents, it should be lots of fun, as long as no noobs come in and spoil it. But I'm booting anyone that's not a packmate on sight... so we'll see.

And laundry. Today, I have to do laundry, so that everything I want to wear in AZ is clean, lol, because it's not right now... and shower, and shave, and wear that sexy little Santa outfit Andrew found in his stocking... O.O Did I say that out loud? Whoops.

AND I NEED TO PACK!!! I might actually go take a look-see about what I can stick in there right now.

OH OH OH OH.

 Pictures! I have to take pictures! Of the ride to and from work, and the area around here, and work itself, so I can show everyone there in Tucson and Hallmark, and San Manuel.

The next time you talk to me, I'll be in Tucson. Or maybe in an airport, lol, it depends.

I'm dreaming of a brown Christmas, just like the ones we used to plan, where the cacti glisten and children listen to hear the coyotes on the sand....

I'm dreaming of a brown Christmas, with every Christmas card I write. May your days be merry and bright... and may none of your Christmases be white...

I know his name and his jacket size.

This year, I talked Andrew into doing a Salvation Army Angel from the tree here in the mall. I wanted to get a baby, because they're easier... and because I wanted to buy baby clothes.

I found Jarrad.

He's age 0, as they put it, and wants a musical toy. His shoe size is 4, and he wears 18 month clothes.

I've spent the last month trying to figure out whether he's actually a little over a year... or just a huge baby.

But I know his name and I know his jacket size... and I hope that's enough to give him a good Christmas this year.

I'll be buying him two pairs of shoes, 3 shirts, 3 pants, a sweatshirt and sweatpants, and a jacket. Some socks, too, and maybe a little beanie to keep his ears warm.

And that musical toy :)

Merry Christmas, Jarrad!

Christmas Presents of the Squished Variety

So this morning as I was wrapping a couple presents in my lovely penguin giftwrap, making the bows all pretty out of ribbon, trying to make sure there were no blunt edges like the good little Hallmarkian I am... I realized something.

These presents are going into luggage. With clothes. And shoes... and God only knows what else.

Why am I making them pretty???


By the way, out of the blue and utterly random as this is, my fortune cookie last night was:

"Your lost possession will be found within the month." In bed. (You ALWAYS add in bed.)


However, in or out of bed.... My bracelet can pop up any time now. Okay. Go.

No, really. Helloooooo, bracelet?

Or perhaps... perhaps something that needs to be "found" as in a second line or one less word... will pop up within the month.

Or I will have "found" out something awesome, miraculous, and very, very small...


Then again, maybe I'll just figure out where we lost Guardy's brain between here and Tucson.

The Pioneer Woman: Part One of God Only Knows How Many

I am leaving for Nashville.

And I'm about to wet my pants. Yes, I realize that her signing isn't until like... 7 pm. But I'm unfamiliar with the entire area, more unfamiliar even than I was when we first moved to Tucson. Tucson... was like the attic no one ever goes in. It's there, you know it, you've been there a few times, but you never really explore it until you turn it into a bedroom! Nashville... is more like that creepy scary house down the street. You've passed by it, maybe seen the outside...but it's completely foreign on the inside, and the ghosts think your nuts for getting lost.

Now add freezing temperatures and a ridiculous amount of water falling from the sky, and you've got my present adventure.

Plus, I want to check out a mall that isn't a bunch of crap. You know, with two stories. And a Macy's. And probably a Subway, or a Panda Express. Holy Jesus....I didn't even consider.... THEY MIGHT HAVE A PANDA EXPRESS!!!!! Hello, you beautiful spring rolls, hello hello hello!! And I know for that fact that they have a Carrabas :D Paaaaaaassssttttaaaaaaaaaa.......

So, I need Matt's gift, Phil's gift, and another portion for Steve.

Dad's hat is at the PX, so that's easy.

Wish me luck, and dryness, and...well, yeah, more dryness.

Dear Santa... Writer's Prompt from Mama Kat

Ah, Thursday. Day of Writers' Workshops. I was born on a Thursday...they say, "Thursday's child has far to go." Seriously, isn't Tennessee and all of it's odd weather far enough?? The only thing further for me would probably be India...but at least it gets hot there.

But I digress. Brace yourself, this is gonna be a whopper.

Alexes did it.. I bet that if she wasn't having red and green food for Advent dinner, Michelle would do it. Therefore, I am gonna be a follower today and use one of Mama Kat's Famous Writers' Workshop Prompts :D

(Boy, I am just full of linky goodness today, aren't I?)

Dear Santa Claus,

This is not my best year. In fact, this might be the craziest year of my life so far, and given that you see me when I'm sleeping, when I'm awake, when I'm actually supposed to be sleeping but am instead awake doing ungodly things in the middle of the night....*ahem* Sorry, let's continue....you know that life so far for me hasn't exactly been --how shall I put this?-- SANE?

Ere-go, I've got quite the list for you. I don't doubt you can do it, but whether or not I merit it is still in question. I'm not really all that nice. Hence the snarky letter you're receiving atm. (That's chatspeak, means "at the moment". I'm sure you knew that. Mrs. Claus probably texts you like a madwoman when you're out with the reindeer doing whatever it is you do with them on the off season...)

First, though, I want to say thank you. It's been rather a while since I wrote. In fact, I was about 13-ish, and madly in love with Justin. I thought, heck why not? and asked you for a boyfriend that would love me "at least as much as he loves himself". Got that line from a book by Lynn Kurland. She's awesome, btw, I recommend her to the Mrs. wholeheartedly. Well, Santa dear, you delivered. In fact, you old over-achiever you, I didn't just get a boyfriend from the deal. I got an entire lifetime goober! =D Said goober is at work right now, but I'm sure he sends his love. He wants CODMW2 for the 360. (Again, I'm sure you're familiar with all of these acronyms by now. My life seems to be filled with them these days. That one there is Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Like we need another bang bang you're dead game around these parts, right? Because I don't already hear REAL gunfire when I go get a gallon of milk at the commissary, right?? *facepalm*)

So yes. Thank you. I loved him. He came at a weird time though. October? I mean... really? But it's made up for by his original plan to propose on Christmas....too bad that didn't go through. Friggin Army. But thank you =D I'll keep him for a good long while, feed him, all that good stuff. Unlike the Nano Baby that was in my stocking one year. I... *sniffle* I don't talk about Onan often. It hurts too much...*wipes nose on shirt*

This year, Santa Baby, I want a yacht. No, I'm joking. I can't swim. Why would I want a boat??

No, I want to win the lottery. Here is my plan. I want to win the Tennessee Lottery and move back to Arizona. Then, I want to with the Arizona Lottery. With both winnings, I plan to buy a little ranch somewhere around Oracle. Maybe... hmm, maybe somewhere off behind Great Grampa's old house. I wanna get a pair of good, sturdy saddle horses, a mare and a stallion preferably, one white and brown paint and the other a nice deep brown... oh, or one of the tan ones, with the black manes and feet. I'll plant watermelons and daisies and lavender and strawberries in my garden, as well as beautiful tall Ponderosa pines, like G. Grampa did for the Forest Service. We'll get a white Jeep Wrangler, and a nice sports car for Andrew. 350Z should do, dark metallic blue, and makes sure our road is mostly paved so that it doesn't hurt the suspension on it.

And the house we can have specially built. Two stories, with lots of open space and big windows... and a wide, open staircase so I don't have crazy vertigo like at Camp and Teresa's. Wood floors with big, soft rugs (the kind that don't slip, lol, you know me, Santa...) and a big kitchen, with an island in the middle that has a sink. Stainless steel fridge, one of those cool ovens that are stacked on top of each other, like the one in Mr. and Mrs. Smith. But I won't keep guns in mine. Oh, no, they will be fully functional, and fully used. The house will have to have at least 4 bedrooms, but we should probably mark that up to 6 bedrooms. We have a lot of family, and I know that eventually, someone will want to come stay with us. Six bedrooms, a kitchen, a dining room, a living room, a family room, and probably 3 bathrooms. Or maybe 2.5....definitely want one in the master bedroom, with a big clawfoot tub that I could (hypothetically) drown in. I don't really want to drown. I wouldn't be able to enjoy all of this as a ghost.

We could then have our three beautiful children that will have my coloring and Andrew's eyes...but probably need glasses and classes on how to move gracefully. I'll take them with the kids, for that matter, I could use a little extra grace... Oh, and a husky we'll call Hank Jr. and a Great Dane I want to call Clyde. Or Clementine. Cats, too, we need two, not including our lovely Kahlan, and maybe Diddles. But two cats usually turns into 12 cats eventually, so two breedable kitties will do fine.

Yes, Santa. I want all that for Christmas. It doesn't have to be this Christmas. I understand that some things take time, and I can imagine that the lottery, in two states nonetheless, could be tricky. But I'm confident that if we had both lotteries, we'd be able to pull all that off just fine. Oh, one more simple wish, though....could you pay for our schooling? I mean, if the lotteries don't cover it. I want to be a Midwife. Andrew is looking for something, but he would love to be a wolf rehabilitation expert.Then we would be able to afford all of this once the lottery dough runs out.

But... if you can't get me any of that, can you just make Andrew realize we need to move to better apartments? I'll take my life as it comes, Santa, but maybe living somewhere NOT filled with bugs (the crawling ones and the ones that you can fix) would make me very happy.

Merry Christmas.

PS. I know we moved, but if you could please bring our gifts in whatever form to Leslie and Chip's house in Arizona on Christmas Eve, we'd sorely appreciate it. For some reason, Grandpa Cavanagh doesn't want us at his house on Christmas Eve, so we're headed for the ranch instead. Be careful on the road. Grand Pappy Wash is a doozy in the winter time, even if you are flying over it. And remember, it's just after the Chapparel steakhouse on the Florence Highway. See you around when we have kids of our own :D

Not So Wordless Wednesday.

Today is Wednesday. It is meant to be wordless. I am rarely, if ever, wordless. Therefore, I am going to tell you in vague detail about today.

Today, there is a potluck. I am going. I am eating pizza before I go. Why? Because I want pizza, not potluck food, which with soldiers, is usually a bag of chips and omg, some pizza. But I want my pizza.

I had to make something for this potluck. I was feeling creative (read: stupid) and decided to make something special out of cheesecake. Cheesecake is already special. It should not be tampered with.

I tampered.

Results:

 

Yes, the cheesecake is green. Yes, that's a bulb in the middle of the green cheesecake. Yes, the bulb, the little thingy on top of the bulb, and the cheesecake itself are ALL cheesecake.

It's really very simple. You make the cheesecake like the package says, then you scoop some out to a little bowl. Big bowl: add food coloring. Little bowl: add other food coloring.

Then use a ziplock sandwich baggy as a pastry decorating thing by cutting an eensy weensy hole in one corner and put the contents of the little bowl in the baggy and squeeze.

Ta. Da.

*grinds teeth*

I hate potlucks.

A new name and some other stuff before work.

Good morning! It's too early for me to be this cheerful, especially since I had such a trial last night. I couldn't sleep, not even a little. Andrew and I went to bed at 9:30 and I layed there a while, trying to sleep, but I had so much on my mind, I just...couldn't. So I got up to see how my video was uploading to my blog.

It wasn't.

**insert eye roll and facepalm here**

So I gave up, and I am very sorry. It was a cute video, but oh well. You'll just have to see my husband topless, fluffing a fake Christmas tree some other time.

I can, however, offer you a few photos of said tree.

And of our new and beautiful Kahlan Sedona, the cat who has yet to climb the Christmas tree.

I believe she's put off by the bird, who apparently gets the idea and starts freaking out, very loudly, when she gets too close to it.

Not to mention, our tree is only 4 1/2' tall. Not exactly a towering achievement if she did climb it, lol!

Also, if you're wondering what happened, I decided that I needed something.... spiffier than "The Adamis" for my blog name if I'm going to be seeing The Pioneer Woman, in person, in only a week!

Yes. THAT Pioneer Woman. The one with the amazing cookbook. The hunky hubby. The cute kids. The amazing cookbook....oh, wait, I said that. I'm gonna get her autograph! *dances around like a nasty little two year old*

And I'm going to buy Chels one, too, because out of nowhere, we discovered that we'd been reading the same awesome blog. How weird is that? Two sisters in law, on opposites sides of the country, both with very little interest in the food blog world in general...come across the same website on their own, put it on their own iGoogle pages for quick updates, and learn of this coinkidink two days before Thanksgiving when one of them casually mentions a corn and rice dish that the other had been drooling over a few hours before.

Oddity of oddities.

:D