Living Outside the Corridor

Two days ago, I got tagged by Fiddley Gomme to write about "Living Outside the Corridor." I had a huge deadline at work on Friday, so this assignment was postponed (by me). This is one of those assignments that requires thought, considering that I haven't even visited the Mormon Corridor since my cousin's wedding in 1998. Unfortunately, I can't give it the attention it requires only some quick thoughts.

This week, living outside of the corridor meant that Christmas shopping for my co-workers was easy mostly because they all wanted alcohol. In fact, I walked 2 blocks to Walgreen's Liquor store and got everyone in the office exactly what they wanted. The men got Johnny Walker and the women got Belvedere Vodka with chocolate martini mixes. How much easier could it be? This kind of shopping is something that definitely wouldn't happen in the corridor. Besides the fact that most co-workers don't drink, liquor stores (alcohol in general) are not that easy to come by. I am not a drinker, so it wouldn't affect me other than buying it for gifts, which I enjoy doing. I think I must love cool bottles and the whole idea of mixing drinks (forbidden fruit from my youth).

Life way outside the corridor means that I don't know or interact with Mormons. They make up a VERY small portion of the population in Miami. I don't even know any active Mormons here. I am sure that I would if I actually went to church.  I have one FOMO (former Mormon) friend that moved here last year. My husband also works with a FOMO. Of course, I read Sofi's blog, who lives in my neighborhood. That is as close as I get to Mormon culture here.

I realize that I don't have time today to give this topic justice. Besides living outside the corridor, living in Miami is a topic all its own. Perhaps another day...I am off to catch a plane to spend Christmas with my family of TBMs (true believing Mormons). The more I think about this the more possible spin off topics there are. Like, what life was like living in the Corridor....hmm much to ponder for later.

Feliz Navidad

Annual Christmas Speech

Like clockwork in November, my mother would start her annual Christmas Speech. Most kids get the "Santa's Watching You, So You Better Behave" speech. Ours was quite different. She would start off with Santa has had a tough year. Then, she would go on to explain that Santa has a lot of kids to buy presents for, so we shouldn't expect much. We quickly learned that the number of presents had nothing to do with what kind of year "Santa" had. It was solely based on the amount of shopping my mom was in the mood for. Usually, she ended up buying way more than she had anticipated. Without doing inventory, she would continually feel like she hadn't bought enough. I am not saying that we were lavished in gifts, just that the "tough year" we had been hearing about never manifest itself on Christmas day. I have been thinking about this tradition and laughing about the idea of her giving us the speech this year when arrive in California. I think this may be one of those traditions that has fallen by the wayside.

Giving Your Man What He Wants

On the radio yesterday morning, the DJs left a little teaser before going to commercials. They said, "Up next, we'll tell you what men secretly want for Christmas." Naturally, my mind started mulling that over. I started thinking about a magazine article that had tips on this issue. It said women should dress up in sexy little Miss Santa outfits to really please their lovers. Another one said that single men prefer kisses that taste like alcohol, while married men prefer peppermint. I always find these tid bits of information amusing, so I wondered what the DJs had come up with. Finally, they announced that 70% of men are secretly hoping their significant other will get them tickets to a sporting event. I couldn't help but chuckle, because that is so true.

I toyed with the idea of getting Steve tickets to a game for a second, but my Christmas shopping is finished and he is well taken care of. I went about my normal day, until my boss offered me his tickets to the Heat game. Lucky Steve got his secret Christmas desire last night. I even invited one of my friends, so he was with 3 chics. Now, that is the perfect Christmas gift.

Tags: Heat Game, Perfect Guy Gift

Company Christmas Parties

This weekend was all about company Christmas (ok "Holiday") parties. Friday night, Steve & I went to his party, which was at Seminole Hardrock Casino. While the party was fun, I really just wanted to hang out in their amazing pool. It has caves, water falls, a bar in the middle, tiki huts with flat screen tvs, and everything. I also spent the night missing Lexi. After a whole day of work, Steve picked her up from daycare & took her right to my friend's house. I didn't get to see her until 11pm. This was only our 2nd time out without her. Fortunately, my company's holiday party was a family lunch at Buca di Beppo. I know a lot of people enjoy a night out without all the kids, but I prefer having kids around.

Tags: company christmas parties, seminole hardrock casino, buca de beppo

Explaining Santa to Parents

On Monday, while Lexi and I were sitting in the waiting room at the doctor's office, I heard a little girl (7 years old) explaining how she was basically going to manipulate Santa. She told her mom that she is going to ask Santa for a lot of REALLY expensive things because it is free for him. Apparently, (she explained) he gets everything for free. Her cocky attitude about how she was kind enough to spare her mom the expense made it hard for me not to snicker. When I saw the worried look in her mom's eyes, I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes. I wanted to say, "Just tell your brat the truth about Santa" or "Naughty kids only get a lump of coal." Good thing Lexi is too little to pick up on to this girl's philosophies.

Tags: Santa Clause, Brats, Manipulating Parents

Alphabet Tag

I've been tagged by the very clever Ms. ReformattingMyBrain. She saved me since I have been running on empty as far as posts are concerned.

A- Available or single? Nope
B- Best Friend? Hubby
C- Cake or Pie? pies, lots of kinds
D- Drink of Choice? Hot Chocolate
E- Essential Item? mascara
F- Favorite Color? For clothes, lately brown
G- Gummi Bears or Worms? Cinnamon bears
H- Hometown? I consider Katy, Texas
I- Indulgence? Where do I start? - practically all carbs
J- January or February? January
K- Kids and names? Lexi
L- Life is incomplete without? See K
M- Marriage Date? May 17
N- Number of Siblings? 4 - 3 brothers & 1 sister
O- Oranges or apples? Oranges
P- Phobias/Fears? Being stuck in Miami for the rest of my life
Q- Favorite Quote? If you want to be heard, speak up. If you want to be seen, stand up. If you want to be appreciated, shut up. (my grandma had this in her kitchen)
R- Reason to Smile? Vacation time
S- Season? Depends where I live. While in Miami Bch, I'll go with non-hurricane season
T- Tag three people! WizeUp, The Princess, & Anna
U- Unknown Fact about Me! Can't think of anything
V- Vegetable you hate? Lima Beans
W- Worst habit? Talking on the cell phone while driving
X- X-Rays you've had? Can't remember
Y- Your favorite food? Mom's homemade rolls
Z- Zodiac? Aquarius

Tags: Alphabet tag

Blogger Comments

The blogger comments hates me today. It will not let me sign into anyone's blog (ok, only 1). Maybe it is a good day for everyone to switch to haloscan, except for Pegs. First, I must tell you that there are a few advantages to blogger comments.

**By the way Pegs, I'll work with your code if you copy & paste it into an e-mail to me.

Don't Know What I Want

My husband asked me for ideas of what I want for Christmas. Some years, that is an easy task. This year, it isn't. I can think of a pretty good list of things I want out of life or even a few big items that I want in the next few years, but nothing comes to mind for Christmas. It is hard enough to come up with ideas for other people. I am open to suggestions... Does anyone know of anything amazing that is a must have or even an interesting thing to consider? Or, tell me what you want and that might spark some ideas.

Funny Photo Friday

Today, I realized that it has been a long time since I posted a photo for funny photo Friday. I decided to post this one because Lexi looks like a little devil. Hmm...I hope this isn't a sign of things to come (except during the inevitable terrible twos and the teenage years).

By the way, I got that cute little bow from Lizzie. She makes them to sell and now Lexi has quite a few in many different colors. Besides adding an element of cuteness to her outfits, the bows have helped in a way I hadn't considered. Finally, the people of Miami can tell that Lexi is a girl (the girly clothes weren't enough since she doesn't have her ears pierced).

Tag Team

Before a couple has a baby, the wife automatically thinks that her husband and her will have a parenting partnership. While that is true, nobody bothers to warn her that her husband will form a tag team with the baby that will be stronger than their partnership.

The other night, I was talking on the phone with a good friend who has a 5 month old baby. As she was finishing up feeding the baby, her husband walked in and asked what was for dinner. I laughed and said, "If it is not one, it is the other."

It is amazing how true that is. When one is done with you, they tag off so the other one can take a turn. Since Lexi has been ill, a good night's sleep has been non-existent for me. She showed great improvement yesterday, so I was looking forward to an uninterrupted night of snoozing. Alas, it was not meant to be. Although she slept peacefully, Steve woke up at 3:00 am with a horrible hacking cough attack. See... if it is not one, it is the other. I just know that they are out to get me.

Tags: tag team, dads and babies

San Diego-ite vs San Dieg-ON

Last week, I complained (prematurely) about everyone in my family gathering at my mom's house in San Diego for Christmas. I pouted about my husband and I having no time off to go. The more I thought about the trip, the more I wanted to go. When I really set my mind on something, I start to go INSANE if I don't get what I want. I decided to ask if I had any time off.

That was when the first Christmas Miracle happened... I have 4 vacation days & 2.5 personal days. I was completely shocked. They were carried over from the year before. Then, I started NAGGING my husband to ask if he could get one day. He was very resistant because he thought there was no way. Then, the second (and more amazing) Christmas Miracle happened. He actually has 5.5 days of vacation time. Now, let me tell you that it is simply impossible. He has only been there 7 months and had to take off LOTS of time. Apparently, they have many grieving days and didn't count some days when they told him to go home early.

We have plane tickets and a plan to go to San Diego for over a week. Yippee!

Unfortunately, I need one more Christmas miracle. Miss Lexi has not been doing well. As soon as her antibiotics were finished on Friday, she started running a fever. By Sunday, we had to take her to Urgent Care. Her fever was 104 degrees and she had double ear infections. They prescribed a different antibiotic. Yesterday, she had an allergic reaction to it and I had to take her to the hospital. She is doing much better now, but I am taking her to an ENT in hopes that she'll be feeling wonderful for the holidays.

Tags: Christmas miracles, San Diego, family time, ear infections

One Year Ago

One year ago today, I got a call from my sister letting me know that my father had just passed away from terminal brain cancer at the age of 56. As I thought about things I could write today, I considered describing him. Unfortunately, that isn't an easy task in a post considering the fact that he was a complex individual. Sure I could say he was borderline fanatic about religion, he had a genius IQ and fantastic memory, he had no mechanical skills, he had a horrible temper that later mellowed, he had an extremely dry sense of humor, he loved to run and play basketball, he always ate like he had been starving for years, he was too thin, and I could go on and on, but does that really paint a picture of who he was? No.

I also thought about ways that death has probably changed him. I would like to believe that death enables individuals to have an open mind beyond what they are capable of in life. Perhaps, he has been able to chill out a bit. I hope he is no longer overly obsessed with his kind of self improvement and constant internal evaluations. I also want to believe that he finally understands our relationship in a way he never could. I had worked through my issues with him several years ago. While I will never experience those warm fuzzy daddy feelings, I know that I understand him in a way that nobody else does.

Tags: death of a parent