Dear So and So

Dear Mother Nature,
If you really wanted to play an April Fool's Day joke on Al Gore, why not just make it snow over his town and leave the rest of us alone?  I actually LIKE the fact that it's Spring!


Not amused by any means,
Joanie

Dear Friends,
If you like Dear So and So, and want to give it a try, just pop over to Kat's Place at Three Bedroom Bungalow, hook up with her Linky and add your own!  It's a great way to blow off steam, and you can read lots of other letters!

Love,

Joanie

Dress shopping (and dinner) with my daughter

Yesterday I met my daughter, Gina, aka The Bride at King of Prussia Mall in well... King of Prussia, PA.  We were shopping for a  dress for me, aka Mother Of The Bride.  I had $350 in my wallet and was praying it was enough.


We wanted to go to KOP Mall because KOP had 2 malls in one.  One is The Court. They have stores like Bloomingdale's and Macy's.  Pricey stores that have evening wear departments.  There is also The Plaza, which has stores like Sears, JC Penneys, but they also have Nordstrom and Lord and Taylor and Neiman Marcus .


We checked out Nortstroms and Macy's.  I really didn't see much that I liked.  We were on our way to the other stores and passed by JC Penney.  I said, "let's go in.  Wouldn't it be funny if I found my dress at Penney's?"


We started looking and low and behold, we pick out 5 dresses for me to try on!  And they were on the sale rack!


I have to be careful what I get because I'm built kind of lumpy.  Saddlebags at the hips from carrying 3  8+ lb babies and delivered via C-section, round in the torso (I'm an apple).  I inherited my mother's wings, so I can't wear sleeveless.  On the other hand, long sleeves in July?  OMG!  I'd be dying!!  Turn up the AC!!!!


So we find this dress.  It's green and white, with a green sweater over top.  And it's on sale.  For $53.99. And it looks okay on me... IF I wear something over it to hide the wings.  Not crazy about the sweater it comes with.  And it needs a little altering, which my favorite future-son-in-law's mother can and will do for me (Jane is the best!!!  I love her!)  We decide this is the dress, but we'll be getting a little jacket to wear with it rather than the sweater.  This dress is not your typical MOTB dress.  No sparkles, no glitter.  But it's cute!  And we send a photo to Dani, who is in Pittsburgh to see and she approves! Sorry, no pics of my wearing it.

Then it was off to the Intimacy store to get fitted properly for a decent bra.  OMG!!!  I'm so wearing the wrong size!  I get fitted and try on several bras.  The one I WANT is $165 (yeah, no shit!!!  I don't even own a dress for that much!).  The one I bought was $100.  But now I know what size I need and can get bras elsewhere, but this one is for the wedding.  Apparently I have to wear it a few times and wash it a few times to "break it in".  No pics of me modeling the bras either.

Then I had a complete brain fart.  I bought a pair of Spanx.  Modern day torture chamber.  But it smooths all my lumpy parts out.  I just hope I don't have to pee too much that day because I'm going to have a problem if I do!  At least, the Spanx isn't like the contraption I had to wear for my brother's wedding, back in 1995.  I told that story here.  Gina will never be the same after that day!

We did continue to look, but didn't really find anything.  So we went to Rock Bottom Brewery for dinner.  Then we checked out Nortstrom Rack (discount Nordstroms) but didn't really find anything there.


After a little Cold Stone Creamery, we headed our separate ways.


I told Gina I was going to look online to see if I could find something there and this morning I found a dress at JC Penney's online that's more of an evening wear dress.  I ordered it.   It was also on sale and I found a promo code for free shipping!  Thanks to Garret at Rving Living With Jim and Garret for copying the photo for me and sending it to me!

I've decided if I like the blue dress, I'll wear that one to the wedding (it is more what I was originally wanting to get), I'll keep the green dress for the dress rehearsal.

Random Tuesday Thoughts

I haven't been here for some weeks now.  The desire to write about anything just hasn't been there.  Ah well.

Today is a big day for me!  It's shopping for my Mother Of The Bride dress with my daughter!  I hope we find something today.  I'm hoping to find a nice green dress.  Green is my favorite color.  So is red, but I think that would not be a good choice for a wedding.

The bridemaids' dresses are purple, the groomsmen are wearing grey suits.  Guess what color Maleficent chose? Yup.  Plum and grey.  That's OK.  She'll blend in.  **I** will stand out!  But I certainly will not outshine the bride!  She will look magnificent!

John and I went to Cabela's on Sunday.  It was like going to the zoo, only all the animals were very cooperative and posed very nicely for us!  Every shot was perfect!  

Polar bears and caribou!  

John bought socks with batteries in them to keep his poor always cold feet warm.  I bought fudge.  Probably should have skipped that since we have a wedding coming up in less than 4 months.

I kept losing John in the store.  There was so much camouflage in that store and he was wearing his BDU aka field jacket from his time in the army.  He blended right in!

This one is short and sweet because I'm short on time today!


Why not visit Keey at The Un-mom for more fun randomness?

In A Word: Cheap

I'm a member of NaBloPoMo  (National Blog Posting Month)  The goal is to write a blog post every day, and each month, there is a theme.  The theme for March is In A Word.  I went to a site called One Word to get my word for the day.  Today, the word is Cheap.


This isn't as easy as it looks!!!  It's making me wonder.... am I a cheapskate?  In some ways, yes.  That's because my job makes it so.  My lifestyle is much more modest than it was when I was married.  I can no longer afford to get a new car every few years.  My car is 8 years old, runs well, but I keep full insurance coverage on it because, if I get in an accident, I'd need to be able to replace it.   I can't shop at Macy's and stores like that any more, but that's okay.    JC Penney works for me.  


I have one major credit card.  I've learned to only buy things when I can afford them.  


I manage to be able to go to the beach for a week each year.  John and I save all year and my friend rents her little place in Ocean City, MD to us in the fall for about $250 for the week.  I can't afford to go in summer when my friend has to charge full price, but tSeptember is lovely and warm!  I don't really swim in the ocean any more, but I love going to the beach and taking a nap do some reading and people watching.  


In other ways, I agree with the term "You get what you pay for".  I rarely buy store brand foods.  I can tell the difference between name brand frozen veggies (and other products) and the store brand equivalent.  I discovered years ago that even if you shop in a quality department store, like Macy's, if you buy something that says "Special purchase", it's usually cheap items to get you into the store.   Clothing loses it's shape or will shrink or fall apart or fade easily.  Better to spend the money and get a product that will last a few years.  


What I really hate are people who come into the restaurant and have no problem spending money on themselves, but are real cheapskates when it comes to tipping. We've been overrun with folks who got their taxes done and use their refund card to treat themselves to a nice meal but then leave a really lousy tip.  Soon tax season will be over and they can all go back to eating at McDonald's.  


I had 2 women who came in yesterday.  They both ordered Baby Back Ribs.... NOT the half rack.  Just the ribs.  When you say ribs, I think full rack.  When the bill came, they had an issue with paying $38 for their 2 orders of ribs (which they took home with them when they couldn't eat all of it).  They assumed I'd order the half racks for them. (I'm not psychic.  If you want a half rack of ribs, you need to tell me)  They talked my boss into crediting them for the half racks.  They tipped me fairly, but these women own a restaurant of their own!  And their place is NOT inexpensive!!  I think they knew exactly what they were doing.  They paid for 2 half racks of ribs and went home with a full rack FOR FREE!!!  Cheap bitches.  You can be damned sure I will not be going to their restaurant.


So there you have it.  My take on the word CHEAP.

Rest In Peace, Uncle Mickey

We got word yesterday that my Uncle Mickey passed away.  He was 83 years old.  He was my dad's younger brother.  And he was the last of his generation on both sides of my family.  It's odd to know that I no longer have any living aunts or uncles.

Uncle Mickey had 12 children.  Every time I try to name everyone, I miss someone and I miss a different one every time.  I know the first 4 or 5, then I get lost.  I remember the last 2 because they were 2 of the 3 boys in the family.

Let's see.... Michelle, Veronica, Vincent, June, Dorothy, Victoria, Dawn, Nora, Joseph, Brian, Bernadette,  and.... see?  One is missing from my brain.  And I even cheated and went on Facebook to see who I missed.  She's not on Facebook.  It'll come to me, eventually.

It just occurred to me that me, my siblings and my cousins are all now the "older" generation of the family!  We are the aunts who attend the wedding and baby showers of our nieces.  I am not sure how that happened!  It sort of snuck up on me.

CHRISTINE!  Christine is the 12th child!  Actually she's more like 5th or 6th.  I could see her face, but I just could not get a name to the face.

There was another child in the mix, who I always thought was my cousin.  Her name is Angel.  She was a cousin of  my cousins, but not mine.  Angel's mom and my cousin's mom were sisters.  We always thought she was because I think she lived with all the others.  I guess what's one more kid in the mix when you already have 9 or 10 or 12?  As an adult now, I can see the difference in Angel from the others.  Angel is part Hispanic and everyone else is full Irish.

I was hoping to find a photo of Uncle Mickey in my cousins' profiles, but I don't see any.

Rest in peace, Uncle Mickey.  Say hi to my Mom and Dad for me.

World's Shortest Books

World's Shortest Books  _________________________________  THINGS I DID TO DESERVE  THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE    By Barack Obama  ____________________________________________  MY BLACK GIRLFRIENDS  By  Tiger Woods  ____________________________________________  THINGS I LOVE ABOUT MY COUNTRY  By Jane Fonda & Cindy Sheehan Illustrated by Michael Moore ________________________________________  MY HUMANITARIAN ACCOMPLISHMENTS  & HOW I HELPED AFTER  KATRINA By  Rev Jesse Jackson, Rev Al Sharpton, Congressional Black Caucus, 99.9% of The National Basketball Association ______________________________________

THINGS I  LOVE ABOUT BILL 

By  Hillary Clinton
_________________ 

Sequel: THINGS I LOVE ABOUT HILLARY

By Bill  Clinton
_________________ 

THINGS I  CANNOT AFFORD

By Bill Gates
____________________________________ 

THINGS I  WOULD NOT DO FOR MONEY

By Dennis Rodman
_________________________________ 

THINGS WE KNOW TO BE TRUE

By Al Gore & John Kerry
_____________________________________
  GUIDE TO THE PACIFIC 

By Amelia Earhart 

__________________________________ 

HOW TO LIVE LIFE TO THE FULLEST

By Dr. Jack Kevorkian
__________________________________ 

TO ALL THE MEN WE HAVE LOVED BEFORE 

By Ellen de Generes & Rosie O'Donnell 

____________________________________________ 

GUIDE TO DATING ETIQUETTE

By Mike Tyson

__________________________________

  

THE AMISH  PHONE DIRECTORY
_______________________________________
  

MY PLAN TO FIND THE REAL KILLERS

By O. J. Simpson
_________________________________________ 

HOW TO DRINK & DRIVE SAFELY

By Ted Kennedy 

_________________________________________________ 

MY BOOK OF MORALS 

By Bill Clinton

With introduction by 

The Rev. Jesse Jackson 

******************************************************* 

AND, JUST ADDED: 

My Complete Knowledge of  Military Strategy
  By Nancy Pelosi

Dear So and So

Dear Kat,
Happy 30th Birthday, my friend!  I hope it was wonderful!


Joanie

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Chachi (my car),

I'm sorry I haven't taken really good care of you this year.  I promise to do better, especially since the 2 new tires, replacing the bent wheel (damned potholes) and the long overdue oil change cost me $375 the other day.  Getting the other bent wheel replaced and the rear brakes today (ka-ching! another $260) should make you happier, even though my wallet is crying.  Can you please be kind in July when I need to get you  inspected and pass the emissions and inspection tests??  I know you're not as young as you used to be (Chachi was 8 on New Year's Eve) and you have 131,000+ miles on you, but I know we can have many more happy years together.  I really do love you a lot, even though I don't always show it.

Promising to show you more love in the future,

Joanie

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Mother Nature,

Flood warnings and high wind alerts for this weekend?  Really?   Haven't you punished us enough this year?

I just have one small request.  If you must knock down one of my trees, can you make sure that it hits the roof?  I need a new one and the insurance will cover it if you do this.  A $500 roof  I can afford... a $6,000 one?  Not so much.

Tired of all this "weather",

Joanie

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Greg from work,

Thank you SO MUCH for giving me your "old" Droid!  I really do love it!  I still can't believe you just gave it to me!  I know you love your newer Droid X.  It is so much faster than the Blackberry!  

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Joanie

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Friends,
If you like Dear So and So, and want to give it a try, just pop over to Kat's Place at Three Bedroom Bungalow, hook up with her Linky and add your own!  It's a great way to blow off steam, and you can read lots of other letters!

Love,

Joanie

Random Tuesday Thoughts

Keely  is the host for Random Tuesday Thoughts.  Go check her out at  The Un Mom for lots more fun Randomness!! 


We had Spring.... for 2 whole days.  Then, cold and snow and wind came back.  Yay us.


A friend from work gave me, GAVE ME, no charge, his old Droid!  He bought the Droid last year when it first came out (and I bought his 3 month old Blackberry from him).  He lost his Droid, so Verizon sent him another.  He used that one for a couple of months, then his boyfriend gave him the Droid X because Verizon had a BOGO sale.  When I mentioned that I really wanted to get a Droid, but I needed to wait until after my daughter's wedding to get it, he told me I could have his!!!  How cool is that!!!


I discovered that the Droid is soooo much faster and cooler than the Blackberry!  I'm having fun, learning my way around it and downloading free apps.  


I'm keeping my Blackberry for my audio books.  I listen to a lot of books in my car.


Maleficent has Facebook.  Great.


I do a check every now and then to see if she or the ex has Facebook.   She now does, he does not.  


I also (for fun) check on John's ex-wives.  Yes, I said Wives (plural).  He has 4 of them.  And you all wonder why I'm not chomping at the bit to marry him!  


Anyway, 3 of the 4 of them have Facebook.  We are NOT friends on Facebook.  I do, however, post really glowing things on his family members' pages.  I'm fun like that!


I've decided that my son shows up here every week or so for a few days, not to see me, but to catch up on all the shows he watches on Showtime.  They don't have that channel where he lives the rest of the time.  I'll take it though!  He also gets to do his laundry for free.  And I might even cook him a meal once in a while.


I think I'm randomed out.  Cya!

Apple does it again!

I thought this was too important not to share.

Apple does it again! 

 

Apple announced today that it has  developed a breast implant that can store and play music.The iTit will cost from $499 to $699, depending on cup and speaker size. This is considered a major social breakthrough, because women are always  complaining about men staring at their breasts and not listening to them.

Blah

I have a bad case of the blahs.  

Don't feel like writing.

Don't feel like reading.  

Don't feel like trying to be humorous.  

Just don't feel like it.

I'll be back though (fair warning)