It's like Christmas all over again

I got a wild hair after work today and went and got my nails done. I keep them short because I type all day and I have to admit that I haven't been doing a good job of making sure they're prettyfied. It had been several months and they were in BAD shape. I had all kinds of hang-nails and my cuticles were out of control. I was super excited when I got there because I was the only customer and I didn't have to wait. Oddly enough, I was the only customer the entire time I was there. Hmmm...

I think I zoned out for a while as the Chinese chatter almost lulled me to sleep. Just about the time she started putting on the polish, the door opened and a young lady (and I use that term loosely) came in and started telling them that she had been in there last night and left her money by the nail dryer. The girl that wasn't doing my nails started looking around the dryer and said she didn't see any money. The "lady" just kept saying over and over that she left her money there last night. FINALLY, she left.

About 2 minutes later, the door flew open again and she came back in behind another girl who can only be described as a tornado in a woman's body. Let me try to paint you a picture.

1. Her acrylics looked about 2 inches long
2. They were alternating colors of red, green, and orange.) I don't even have the words to describe the craziness that went on from there.
3. She had on fleece pajama pants that had pictures of the Grinch on them
4. Her hair matched her shoes and they were gold.

Basically, there was a HUGE fight and half of it was in Chinese and half of it was in Jive. I pretty much had no clue what they were saying but I was loving every.second.of.it!!! And then, it seemed my mouth had a life of its own and I yelled as loud as I could, "How much money was it?" Tornado whipped her head around and screamed, "NINE DOLLARS!" What! Are you kidding me? All of this for nine dollars! (Don't get me wrong - I don't take nine dollars for granted, but for the love! There's no telling how much she forks out every month on her nails and hair alone.)

Anyway, after the Chinese girl heard it was only nine dollars she walked over to the register, took out the money and handed it to Tornado. There were a lot of "Umm, hmm - that's what I thought" and they were out the door. I personally feel like I should be given some kind of peace-keeping award.

For those of you who know me well, this was the equivalent of being a kid on Christmas morning and getting everything you asked for. I wish this for all of you the next time you get your nails done.

I fought the clay, and the clay won

I did something Saturday that I've never done before. I made pottery in a real studio! I know!!!

The lovely, Rachel invited a few local bloggers to Earthborn Pottery in Leeds for a few hours. This place is awesome! It's a huge warehouse where artist's can rent studio space and where regular people like me can go and feed their creative beast. Check out these beautiful pieces. These are the kind of things they sell.

It was so great! Tena Payne owns the studio and she was so sweet to teach us how to use the wheel and hand-form. Yes, you read that right. I used a pottery wheel. Not only did I use it, but I took a piece of clay and created a masterpiece. OK, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but it was a masterpiece to me. IT IS SO MUCH HARDER THAN IT LOOKS!

Tena gave us a demonstration on the wheel and made it look like a breeze.

And then.... I tried it. For some reason, mine didn't work exactly like Tena's. I don't think the clay was supposed to jump right off the wheel.

This was me after Tena told me my piece of clay was beyond repair and went to get me another one.

Never fear, I eventually wound up with my masterpiece and I was MUCH better at hand-forming. This is Mama Hen and me getting started.

I can't even begin to tell you how much fun I had at my very first blogger's event. I met some great girls and did something I've always wanted to do. We won't be able to pick up the pieces we made for 4 to 5 weeks because they have to be fired and glazed. I can't wait to see how they turn out. Oh, and don't worry, you all will see them too. And when you see them, you'll get to see the great piece Tena gave me for a GIVEAWAY!!! You'll love it, and you'll want to win it!

And, just in case you're wondering, it was NOTHING like Ghost.

Who says romance is dead?

Hello everyone! I'm so excited to be back. My project deadline has come and gone and I'm so thankful to get back to normal life - whatever that is! I can't believe how fast February has flown by. I know I haven't been posting but I've been reading your blogs to keep up with what's going on with all of you.

I really wanted my first post back to be better that my usual lame post awesome and meaningful so you'd hopefully not consider leaving me forever think about how glad you are that I'm back and how much you missed me. I tried, I really tried, but I feel compelled to tell you about something I saw yesterday.

I stopped at a gas station and while I was pumping my gas, I was discreetly watching this young guy and gal. They looked like they were in high school and since I'm fascinated with people's lives and I had on my big sunglasses which allow me to stalk stare to my heart's content, I was able to witness young love in action. They were so cute talking and laughing and I just smiled thinking about young love.

And then something happened that was totally beyond my comprehension.

This guy pulled a tin of dip out of his pocket, got some out and ya'll, if I'm lyin', I'm dyin' - this young, cute girl opened her mouth and let that boy put it in her mouth. I didn't know what to do. I wanted to yank her up by the arm and ask her why??? What are you thinking?? Don't you know how cute you are? You don't have to DIP for a guy! Oh.my.word.

It gets better. As they smile and hug on each other (with a lump sticking from below each of their bottom lips), he took that tin of dip and put it in her back pocket. A gift - no card needed.

Confession

I have a confession to make. This is really hard for me to say because I know there are many of you out there who will think I'm crazy or even unAmerican. But I have to say this - I hate the Olympics!!!

I just think they're boring and it makes me so mad that all my regular shows aren't coming on. Do you know what's not on right now and won't be on again next Tuesday because of the stinkin' Olympics?

So theres you have it. You now know my heart about the Olympics. I hope you still love me anyway.

Valentine's Day Already?

I got a call a few minutes ago from a friend who told me she wanted to verbalize a complaint. I thought I was in for some good gossip, but really she wanted to complain about me. What! A complaint about Moi??? She told me I better get a post up tonight and she would be checking before she went to bed.

Hmm, how could it possibly be over a week since I posted? This had to be the fastest week in the history of the world! It's like it was over before I even felt I really got started. Remember back in the day when summer seemed to last forever? Sigh...

It's been the craziest weekend here in Alabama. Friday we left work around 12 because it was SNOWING like nobody's business! It was so cold (I know, some of you northerners are just shaking your head right now) and beautiful!d As you can see, I was perfectly happy watching it from inside.

I have missed ya'll. My posts will be scarce for the next couple of weeks. I have a big project for work due by the end of the month so I'll be working like a maniac for the next couple of weeks.

I hope you all have had a great Valentine's Day. I loved waking up with my man and exchanging our love letters. My love wrote me a really good one. I'd share it with you but it's for my eyes only. (Silly grin on my face right now!) We went to Church and had lunch at our favorite Chinese place. Then we were super romantic and stopped by Target to pick up a few things. We've been relaxing all afternoon and all kinds of excited to watch The Amazing Race tonight. I know, I know... we are full of romance!

TGIF and a Giveaway Winner

I don't think there's ever been a Friday where I felt it was more appropriate to say T.G.I.F. I think work mentally drained my brain so much that all that's left is a mountain of noodles. And if that wasn't enough, I had to go buy groceries after work tonight - in the cold - in the rain.

I'm not sure if I've ever told you, but I HATE buying groceries. Before Publix blessedly came into my life, I was almost to the point that we were going to have to eat every meal out or go on Jenni Craig so they would deliver to the front door.

Normally, I would have left work, considered the cold and the rain and driven my rumpus right home. But alas, I had already spent a considerable amount of time on my list and my coupons and some of them were expiring today. (By the way, I saved $20 with my coupons!) By the time I was all done, I was exhausted and a little shaky from some serious hunger. Thankfully, this sweet little angel of a boy took my groceries to my car and unloaded them for me.

Unfortunately, there was no sweet angel of a hubby at home to unload them for me because I'm flying solo tonight. Jay went to some type of Mixed Martial Arts thing with some buddies. After I unloaded everything and put it away, I popped a Kashi pizza in the oven and put my jammies in the dryer for about 5 minutes so they would be nice and toasty when I put them on.

Now my belly's full, I'm warm and comfy in my jammies and ready to announce the winner of my Valentine's Giveaway! The winner of these beautiful bracelets from Bella Regali is....

Stacy from Random Musings from a Single Gal!!!!

Congratulations Stacy! Shoot me an email with your address and I'll get these out to you pronto!

A Valentine's MEME

All right ya'll. Mama Hen is having a super-dooper McLinky Valentine's meme. Ya'll scoot over there and sign-up too. I would love to read your answers!

Mama Hen's Valentine's Meme

1. Describe your Valentine in five words or less.
strong,good-looking,caring,HILARIOUS

2. Best Valentine present you ever received?
Love notes from Jay-Baby!

3. Worst Valentine present you ever received?
Jay gave me a book on how to be nicer to him. I think I may have mentioned that a time or two or a hundred.

4. Your favorite Valentine candy?
chocolate, oh baby, gobs of chocolate

5. Would you rather receive chocolate or flowers?
chocolate, every time

6. A dress-up candlelight dinner out or a movie snuggling at home?
definitely a movie and snuggling at home

7. Your favorite romantic movie(s)?
Gone With the Wind

8. Your favorite romantic song(s)?
Leather & Lace by Stevie Nicks and Don Henley