Randomest of Randomy

The other day my friend Shauna gave me some chocolate covered cinnamon bears, because I love them.  I offered some to Tailgunner (he has sampled them before) and he said, "No Tanks.  I hate dose bears!" 
He also has my upper lip issue, in which the skin in the middle of the lip gets dry and peels off.  A couple days ago he peeled off the skin and as I looked over at him he said, "You know what this is?"  I said, "Skin."  He said, "Nope. It's a lip boogar."   That kid makes me smile.

Today is my dad's birthday.  I called him to wish him a Happy Birthday and we chatted for a while.  Talking to him made me more aware of some wonderful things I inherited from my parents (or hope to).  I got my mom's love of helping and serving people.  She loves to do this and I know if I ever need something if I call her, she will do everything she can to help me.  She loves taking care of people and so do I.  She also has a strong will.  She lives in pain constantly, and yet puts on a happy face for her grandkids and loves to spend time with them.  I hope I live as well with my healthy (so far) body.
I got my dad's optimism and zest for life.  I am also hoping for his longevity...  :) He loves flying and boating and horses and living off the land.  I love all those things too, minus the flying in small planes.  I like flying in big planes.  I figure if he has smoked SO MUCH over his lifetime, had more than his share of drinking, has had skin cancers removed, had his colon removed for goodness sake and he still has such a good quality of life, I want a piece of that.  I also found out that he had diabetes (adult onset) and he cured himself of it with diet and exercise.  That is pretty awesome!
I am not saying my parents are perfect (hey, I inherited that too!  hehe).  But I do believe they did the best they could (and still are).  Thanks for the genes, mom and dad!  (the good ones :)

 

Our tree is up and I LOVE it!  I am dying to put one upstairs (a smaller one) that I get to decorate how I want to.  The kids did the whole tree this year-as they did last year.  Well, Geneal and I did the lights together, and i put on DH and I's special ornaments (he was at the hospital with his dad), but other than that the kids enjoyed doing it.  We have a real tree again this year.  Reason #1 I love real Christmas trees~the SMELL.  I keep looking for excuses to vacuum up the needles!  OK not really, but I do enjoy it when I vacuum. 

I really wish it were colder here.  The weather is gorgeous, don't get me wrong, but I am not in the mood for perfect I am in the mood for COLD. 

I discovered hot chocolate makes me sick!  Sad, but true.  And the funny thing is that every single person I mentioned this to has the same problem!  And yet we still drink it.  hmmmmmm   It tastes so good and then before I even finish the cup my tummy isn't feeling so good.  I thought maybe it was the sugar.  But even when I make it with natural sweeteners I feel yucky.  I know it's not the cocoa because I can eat a pan of brownies and feel fine.  So I tried using almond milk with my usual recipe and whaddyaknow???  NO YUCKY TUMMY!  And the whole family agreed!  Even DH who didn't know I used almond milk said he didn't feel gross after drinking it.  It was delicious, so no more regular hot chocolate for us. 

I am anxious for DH's Christmas bonus because I can't do any shopping until we get it.  Am I biting my nails having to wait this long?  Heck YES.  But I am so grateful he gets one so I won't complain.

Until more randomness spouts forth, signing off for now.  :)