Happy birthday, Hope!

Six years ago this beautiful, loving, always talking child came into our family. Things 1, 2 and 3 did a tribute for her from Texas (yes, Avery is always like that). Happy birthday, sweet girl. We're glad you chose our family.

It's beginning to look a lot like...

I'm not quite sure why I bother to update this thing anymore, sporadic though it may be. According to my trusty web stats, I have fewer readers than ever. I've always known my life was dull, but evidently others are starting to figure it out as well.

My holiday plans have been hijacked by the possibility of winter weather. I mean, I'm all about a white Christmas, but can't it just be pretty on the trees and grass and leave the roads alone? I totally wanted tomorrow to just veg and finish last-minute tasks. Tonight I went to four stores in search of canned pumpkin so that I could make a cheesecake for Friday. I just hope it turns out okay after all of that schlepping around and heavy-duty mixing.

So, to the three of you who still read this thing, I am announcing a possible hiatus. Tomorrow afternoon/early evening I'll be headed south (so Memaw, if you're reading this, keep the couch warm for me), then Friday includes spending the morning with the kids and Vickie and then heading back to Memaw's for the traditional Hester Christmas fish fry. Saturday plans are still tentative, but Sunday I'm headed back to Texas, so I'll be out of pocket until the first of the year.

Hmmm... if I'm out of town for 10 days, are 37 outfits enough to pack? I'm sure I'll be throwing stuff in the car at the last minute since I'm headed out earlier than planned.

Just in case: Merry Christmas, everyone! Fleas on your dog. I leave you with a pic of Hope and me, at the Plunkett festivities last night.

This is just mean

But funny, in a twisted way.

'Tis the Season

I'm not quite sure why, but this holiday has been the most stressful one of my life. Planning out of town trips every weekend since Halloween probably wasn't a smart move, especially when you consider that there are only so many shopping days before Christmas, and lack of sleep equals a very cranky Lori. My gift list keeps expanding with people I forgot I needed to buy for. My credit card balance keeps growing. And so does my waistline as workouts fall lower and lower on my priority list.

In my quest to become the consummate Renaissance woman, I decided this week to balance my work budget during the day and bake like Martha Stewart by night. I've slept ten hours during the past 72, spending the rest of the time catching up on work and working on cookies. And trust me, I'd rather stare at spreadsheets all day than cut and ice cookies.

This morning I delivered dozens and dozens of treats to folks at work (after icing them at 3 a.m.), then decided to stop at McDonald's for breakfast, where the lady behind me obviously didn't understand the double drive-thru concept of taking turns, and proceeded to honk her horn repeatedly before rolling down her window to yell at me. Merry Christmas to you too, lady.

It seems that I'm not the only one cranky this month. I've had line cutters at Williams Sonoma, cranky operators at XM, and lots and lots of traffic. It's enough to make you not appreciate the season, and the reason we celebrate.

Not just because of the birth of our Lord and Savior, which is of course the most important, but the time spent with family and friends. So what if I don't have time to pack... I get to spend two whole weeks with people I seldom see, doing things I want to do, and not going any meetings. Sleeping in and eating and making small talk. Getting on each others' nerves.

This morning on TV they were discussing the end of the decade, and it occurred to me for the first time that, in a mere two weeks, we'll be ushering in the '10s.

So I started thinking about all that's happened in my life in the past 10 years and, instead of focusing on the tremendous loss we've had in our family, I started feeling grateful for all of the love.

Every year I make resolutions I don't keep. But on this New Year's Day, I commit to stop living my life in pursuit of the ideal, and start enjoying the interim. Because life is what happens when you're busy making other plans. It's the little things like obsessing over boys with your girlfriends whether you're 13 or 33. Snuggling with the kids in your life. Waiting for Santa. The cool people you meet that you may never see again.

And yeah, we'll all have broken hearts and credit card bills and love and loss, but that's the amazingly wonderful thing about living.

Even when you have jury duty and presents to buy and people to see.

Top 11 Tiger Woods Taglines

Heh. These are unfortunate.

Thou shalt not covet thy friend's pantry

I'm aware that I am commanded not to covet, but it's one of my biggest sins. I often find myself staring at another woman, thinking... I want her shoes. I love her handbag. I wish I had her six pack abs.

My friend Estella has many things I covet, not the least of which is the most amazing pantry you've ever seen. Her house was designed around it. Doesn't it just make you want to cook?

Her whole house looks beautiful. Check out our friend Sunny's pics on her blog from yesterday. (She took the pantry pic, too.)



Sunny and I iced and decorated sugar cookies for about five hours on Friday. Yesterday's Open House was a big success, with 60 people dropping by to taste the fabulous corn and crab bisque and citrus champagne punch, finishing with a masterpiece of a Christmas cookie.

Today we went to the Christmas cantada at church (where Estella rang bells) then had brunch at the club before a three-hour nap. We're headed to the movies in a bit to see "The Blind Side."



Guess I'll go home tomorrow.

Remembering Paige

Somehow, with all of the loss in my life, this was the hardest. I suppose it's because you never expect to lose a healthy child. One who was so vibrant and infectious and full of life. I can't believe it's been nine years. I miss her so much!

But today I'm thinking about all the joy she brought to my life, and I feel lucky for having known her. I guess it's true what they say: it's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. And she was so loved.

Brain fart

I need a vacation.

I know... I know. I've been on vacation a lot of days this past month. But driving for 20 out of the 96 hours of your vacation does not count as rest. I need sleep.

Even though I was sick today and sound like I should be charging $1.99 a minute to talk to me on the phone, I have been productive all day. Crossed a lot off my to-do list at work. Bought some more Christmas gifts (one for Hope, four for me). Addressed and stamped Christmas cards. Baked eight dozen cookies. Oh, and I went to the gym at 6 a.m. and did 30 minutes on the elliptical machine. NO MORE FAT CLOTHES!

But I also sat in an admissions meeting this morning and we were discussing a student (no FERPA violations here) who was born in 1975. " So how old is she?" someone asked. "29" I replied. Um, not even close, stupid Director of Admissions.

Then I had lunch with my friend Paige at PF Chang's, and it was very expensive for her since she not only bought my lunch, but I talked her into ordering a new MacBook Pro when she got home tonight. You're welcome, Bryan.

Tomorrow it's the gym, meeting (yawn), work, then driving to Mountain Home.

When is it time to sleep? Oh yeah, that's what I should be doing now. Oops!

Queen of Denial

In my family, we don't have uncomfortable conversations. Instead, we ignore the elephant in the room, pretend bad stuff isn't happening, and hope whatever makes us nervous simply goes away.

We're also obsessed with food. My grandmother, for example, talks about nothing except what she's eaten, what she's going to eat, or what she wants to eat.

So I suppose it should be no surprise that I've been avoiding the scale lately. Yes, I knew my clothes were tighter than they used to be. That muffin top at the KISS concert was no fluke. Even Brady asked me last weekend why I always wear my clothes too tight. Out of the mouths of babes, I guess.

But today the scale couldn't be avoided when I went to the doctor. I've been fighting a sinus infection for weeks, but I've been on antibiotics for a couple of weeks, so I assumed it would go away. It did not. This morning I woke up under the weather and went to the doctor to make sure it was not strep.

My blood pressure is fine. I had no fever. I did have, however, eight more pounds than I used to have.

The doctor's office called to ask if I could show up 30 minutes earlier, which I did, then they made me wait for 45 minutes. Granted, it's flu season and I'm sure they're busy, but I fumed the whole time. Turns out it was not strep, but rather a persistently annoying sinus infection that 10 days of antibiotics didn't cure. So now I have more.

Other than whining and feeling the need to make my mom's famous lime sherbet freezes when I have a sore throat, being sick somehow makes me feel like I have permission to eat junk I wouldn't normally eat. So I went to Walmart and bought a cart full of oreos, potato chips, and iced sugar cookies.

Hence the trip to the gym tonight for the treadmill and elliptical machine. I will NOT get fat again. Seriously. If I have to go to the gym three times a day in order to keep from going back up a size, that's what I'll do.

Kate Moss recently said that noting tastes as good as being skinny feels. I don't know about that, but I do agree with my pal Sorne, who says that she loves to eat more than she hates working out. So bring on the Christmas food, and schedule my cardio.

Rock and roll all nite

What a fun weekend! Lon, Jen and I had a great time at the KISS concert in Austin. They put on an awesome show. Lonnie was more excited than a kid on Christmas morning.



These were a couple of random guys who walked by and I asked if they'd have their pic taken with us. They obliged.





Rest of the pics are here.

I did shoot some video before the security guard had a discussion with me. The sound is bad (it was sooo loud) and there's a bit of movement (tip: you can't dance while video taping), but you get the gist.

Welcome to my office

I finally finished decorating the office tonight after returning my front legs today (I had two black ones and two cherry wood ones for my new chair). I think it turned out pretty well. I even like my $20 rug!

My house is not trashed for the first time in two weeks, and tomorrow is cleaning lady day. Wahoo!

Social media and the implosion of reality

Evidently some groom recently updated his Facebook status while still at the altar. On the one hand, that makes me feel much better about my social media addiction. On the other, it concerns me for the future of our society and our need to be constantly wired.

Granted, it did make sitting in traffic in Bentonville at 5 p.m. this afternoon a little more tolerable since I was able to tweet about it during my inching forward (yes, I know it's illegal... shut up). I suppose that's what most of this boils down to after all. Social media has become a venue for the narcissist in all of us to make ourselves heard. Let's face it, when 72 people are reading your 140-character updates 27 times a day, they care about your innermost thoughts, right? They want to know what I had for dinner. How I feel about work. What I think about Alex Tejada missing that field goal.

And so it validates us. Some of life's biggest weirdos have a lot of so-called friends on Facebook. Anyone can be cool in cyberspace I suppose.

But at the end of the day, all the tweets and status updates and text messages in the world don't make up for human interaction. Isn't that right, random person reading this whom I don't know?

Christmas countdown

I think I need a vacation to recover from my vacation. Luckily I only have 14 more days of work before 9 days off in a row. I can't wait!

In the meantime, I have KISS in Austin this weekend, a party in Mountain Home the weekend after that, graduation, and multiple holiday gatherings. Let's hope I get through it all without a major crash. Today I had to take a 90 minute nap during my extended lunchtime. But I did manage to finish cleaning and decorating my office and am nearly done decking the halls and organizing the garage.

Today I found this pic of Alisa and me in Branson a couple of weeks ago. We had so much fun!