Ramblings of a Crazy Woman

We rang in the new year in Hawaii!!! And it was awesome! Had an awesome dinner at Duke's with an ocean front table and then we watched fireworks from our hotel balcony when the clock struck midnight. We lucked out that our hotel was situated in front of the island's big fireworks display. Good times!

We spent Christmas in Sanger at the Louie and Berts. Our annual White Elephant exchange was actually exciting this year. A ton of steals took place and believe it or not I actually ended up with a good present! I got a pretty red cashmere scarf and a make-up kit (way better than the breathalizer kit I got a few years back). Penny wore Grandma Linda's pretty pink and black Christmas dress with the beautiful coat that Rhonda got her for her birthday. She looked like a Christmas angel. Penny and her bff aka her cousin, Jaxon had a great time playing with Rocky, the dog, outside, which was warmer than normal this year!

He wanted Roscoe's, a movie (Creed), and dinner at Tam O'Shanter.  Low key is what he got!

So this morning I overslept which never happens. What did I wake up to? A phone call from my daughter's school informing that LA Public Schools had received a credible bomb threat and even though the school was private they were following the city's recommendation to close while LAPD search each school. You better believe I woke up quickly! I am not even sure where to start except to say that I am horrified that someone or some group would threaten the lives of children at school. I know. I know. Children are harmed all over the world each day. What does that say about humanity? When did it ever become okay to threaten children? On the anniversary week of Sandy Hook I am glad our district took this threat seriously. Apparently the same threat was made in NY to their public schools and they deemed the threat a hoax. I would rather the leaders of my city be safe than sorry. I had to stay home from work and all I could think of is what other parents of the 700,000 c...

I love the celebrations they do at The Girl's school. Today was Christmas Hat Day. We discovered that we didn't have any Christmas hats but rather, we had a cute cupcake hat, made by none other than our pal, Rhonda. I figured it was close enough. She is after all, my little sugar plum.

While we were at Disneyland Sunday, we discovered a celebration for Dick Van Dyke celebrating his 90th Birthday!  I just love, love, love Mary Poppins. I first watched it when I was 3 years old. So I feel like I've know him for a long time! Chim Chiminy! 

Everything in life changes whether we like it or not. Even The Happiest Place on Earth isn't immune.  On January 10th, The Big Thunder Barbaque is closing down because of Star Wars Land.  It's sad to see it go. Hubs booked us a reservation during The Girl's birthday celebration and I had my first and last experience with the fun.  It was Daddy and The Girl's second visit.  As with all things Disney, it was charming. Lots of food, entertainment, singing, dancing and lots of desserts. I was full but hubs I think booked the place just to eat desserts and this was the last time ever we'd get to try one so we stuffed ourselves silly with ice cream and cookie.  Good thing we got to walk afterward!

We recently stayed at a Marriott Hotel for my daughter's birthday. After a long day at Disneyland we came back to our room to lounge and watch TV. While we were lounging we hear a knock on our door and low and behold there is a hotel employee with a big bunch of balloons and a small package.  After the delivery person left hubs brings the balloons over to the girl and they progress to open the package. Out falls a ton of candy! What a great and unexpected surprise! A little bit more magic in an already magical day!

As I was planning "The Girl's" birthday weekend at Disneyland, it occurred to me that I have never taken her to the Bibiddi Bobbiddi Boutique a.k.a. a little girl beauty salon within Disneyland. My daughter doesn't like anyone touching her hair, hence the messed up mop she has most of the time full of snarls but she does like princesses. So I took a chance and booked an appointment. I made an appointment for after breakfast so at least I knew her belly would be full for a while. She was eager to try the experience of course. She even picked out her own hair style however, when they started combing her hair her little smile left. There were tugs and pulls and I have to give her credit, she didn't cry until a few tears at the end. She was a real trouper I have to say. Luckily, she loved the end result and she even wanted to take pictures which is something I had to add onto our package. Once I saw the cute Cinderella carriage and photo place I readily agreed ...

I asked my soon to be 4-year-old what she wanted for her birthday and she said "I want to go to a hotel with a pool." How very "Breakfast At Tiffany's" of you I thought. Since I love that movie and I love my daughter, I was motivated to fulfill her wish. So with a few clicks of a mouse I booked a weekend stay at the Marriott in Anaheim so we could have a long weekend at Disneyland. What you need to know about that request is that my daughter loved, loved, loved that we stayed in a hotel room for my 40th birthday. The two of us even stayed a few extra days after daddy left just to lounge and relax at the hotel. There was food and swimming involved. When my girlfriend got married recently, the girl and I once again stayed in a hotel with a pool. We once again enjoyed food and swimming. So what her request really meant to me was that she has a good memory for a 4-year-old but boy, is her request ever my style! For some reason, I just love hotels. I think...