EverAfterLand

A Very Special Thanksgiving Parade

Look at those rodeo clowns smiling and waving their little hands off during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade just a few days ago (admit it, it already feels like it was a month ago, doesn't it!)

Why do I care about a photograph I took of our television of rodeo clowns during a parade?

Because one of those clowns is waving AT ME!!!

That's right!  When a tweety friend of mine by the name of Andy the Tourist recently twittered that he was IN the Macy's Parade, I was twitterpaited!

"Will you wave at me?" I tweeted back.

"I PROMISE! I'm captain of the cowboy (western) clowns. Will find out now where in the parade the 48 of us will be walkin'," was the twit-a-ply!

Later, Andy tweetered his parade location:
"off to Macy's for a day-before costume check of our Cowpoke clown costumes - we follow Gibson Guitars float w/ DARIUS RUCKER"

Yeah, I didn't know who Darius Rucker was either, until hubby reminded me that he used to be the lead singer for Hootie and the Blowfish!  Did you know that he's gone country now???  But I'm getting away from the story...

The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is MY T-day tradition.  I'm not a huge fan of the T-Day feast (other than pumpkin pie and mashed potatoes - sorry, I know, I'm a freak!) so all of my T-Day fun revolves around the Parade. 

And this year it turned me into a blubbery mess!  This was the first year that Priss was able to ENJOY the parade with me.  We danced to all the musical numbers in the beginning, and she shook her pom-poms along with the cheerleaders.  And every moment made me think how this would be OUR tradition, how I'm handing over my Parade Love to her.  That when I made her sit down to watch the Rockettes (No dancing, Priss.  This is The Rockettes!!!), it reminded me that MY fascination of The Rockettes came from MY MOM'S fascination with The Rockettes.  And when Priss sat in my lap, trying to kick her little chubster legs (hey, it's muscle!) just like those pretty, sparkly girls on television, I almost lost it!  (Shoot, I'm about to lose it just THINKING about it!)

But again, I have gotten off-track...

Priss had to go down for her nap half-way through the parade, so it was Hubster and I watching the little TV in the kitchen, baking pies, waiting to see a Gibson Guitar with a Hootie perched on top. 

I was SO excited!  I'd never known anyone that's been in that grand parade.  And I've certainly never had the chance to see it in person.

And then there it was!  The guitar!!!  And just before the commercial break, a whole FLOCK of rodeo clowns waving frantically at the camera!

Nevermind that Parade Clowns wave to EVERYBODY.

Nevermind that Andy the Tourist only displays this    image of himself and I had NO IDEA what he looked like.

I KNEW there was one dude under one of those massive foam cowboy hats who KNEW he was waving at ME!  (among other people, I'm sure!)

And I feverishly waved back! 

This has seriously gone down in (my) history as THE best parade EVER!!

<sigh> I love parades.

PhotoStory Friday - Dead Pumpkin Talking

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

I think most of you have caught on by now that cooking is not exactly my forte.  I know HOW to cook - I can follow a recipe with the best of 'em, and rarely burn what I am making (although DRY is another story!).  I just don't LIKE cooking. 

Baking, on the other hand, is more my thing! 

But here's a little something you may NOT know about me - I am OBSESSED with pumpkin.

It's like a drug to me.  If I could dress it up and marry it, I would.  (Sorry, Honey!)

It's the only dessert item NOT involving chocolate that I eat with the passion and bravado of chocolate.

Pumpkin lattes, pumpkin tea, pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin shakes, pumpkin bread, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin creamer, pumpkin, pumpkin, PUMPKIN!!!

With the ultimate pumpkin delicacy being.....The Pumpkin Pie.

This year I took my Pumpkin Obsession one step further and decided to eschew the canned pumpkin glop you find in the grocery store.  The moment I saw adorable baby Pie Pumpkins sitting in the produce department, I KNEW they were calling to me!

But I don't know how to turn a REAL pumpkin into a pie.  So off to the internet I flew!  And located a site called Pumpkin Patches and More which gave me step-by-step instructions of EXACTLY how to convert my punkin' into a tasty delicious pie!

My first attempt with the pie pumpkins occurred before Halloween, and turned out amazing!  But once they were devoured, I had to have MORE!!!  And what better affair for pumpkin pie then Thanksgiving Dinner!

Following is a step-by-step guide depicting how you, too, can make REAL Pumpkin Pie!  It's just this easy!!!

Below are the pumpkins, awaiting their fate.  It was a little weird that they had faces painted on them, but unsold Halloween pumpkins were the only ones that I could find...

 

First, they get a little washing with some cold water...

 

Then, slice them in half and remove the seeds and guts...

 

Once de-seeded, slice them up and steam them for about 30 minutes...

 

The steaming softens up the pumpkin "meat," which you can simply spoon out of the skin...

 

Then puree the pumpkin "meat"...

 

Until you have smooth pumpkin glop (yes, that's a technical term!)...

 

I will not recount the entire recipe, but you are welcome to go here to see it!  Those four little pumpkins managed to produce 2 pies, 6 mini-pies, 1 rectangular crustless pie, and enough left over in the freezer to make pumpkin bread or cookies, and another pie!

 

Special thanks to my Uncle Stretch for sharing his Super Secret Pie Crust recipe.  (I swear, I'll NEVER tell!)

Hope everyone had a spectacular, pie-filled Thanksgiving!

And MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Now I gotta go.  This post has made me very hungry to get my fix raid the fridge!

(All pumpkins were harmed in the making of this PhotoStory Friday.  And yes, Jenni Jiggety, I totally ripped off this disclaimer from you!)

A Christmas Affair

Thanksgiving Day:  Hey, Jen, uh, I haven't heard from you in a while.

Me:  Oh, T-Dog, sorry!  I've just been really busy!

T-Day:  Oh, really?  Busy with WHAT, exactly?

Me:  Umm, well, you know, blogging and the kid and ummm...

T-Day:  And THIS???  

Me:  What?  Those are just the new jammies I got for Priss!

T-Day:  Really??  JUST jammies, huh??  You think I don't notice the REINDEER and CHRISTMAS motif???  What'd you think I am, STUPID???

Me:  No, no, I'd never think that!  Ok, you're right.  They're the Christmas Eve jammies I got for Priss.  There.  Are you happy now?  I didn't want you to find out this way!!!

T-Day:  Well, you know, it was a little hard NOT to notice the Christmas music you've had on the radio since November 1^st...

Me:  I know!  How awesome is THAT!?!??  Can you believe there's a radio station that starts playing Christmas music on November 1^st???  It's been the one redeeming quality of living here!

T-Day:  November is MY month!  It has ALWAYS been MY month!!  Why, Jen, why???

Me:  T-Dog, I'm so sorry.  But you know we had a wicked awesome Thanksgiving celebration last year.  But I had almost no Christmas of my own.  We were on a trip, and, sure, I got a $10 mini-tree at Wal-mart so we'd have SOMETHING, but it just wasn't the same....

T-Day:  CHRISTMAS!!!  All you THINK about is that damned holiday!!!  What does HE have that I DON'T???  I have decorations too, you know!!!  But no, last week you bought ORNAMENTS for a TREE!!!

Me:  I swear, T-Dog!  It's not you.... it's me!  You know I have a fetish for shiny objects and cheesy music and green foliage!  You're too good for me, T-Dog!

T-Day:  So... if I just get a song?  If I can get Bing Crosby to sing a Thanksgiving tune, you'd learn to love me, too?

Me:  Well, Bing's been gone for a long, long time, so I don't think that would work.  If we had it to do all over again, I would have done so many things differently.  But we've grown apart, T-Dog.  And, truthfully, you DESERVE to be with someone who can truly APPRECIATE you for who you are!

T-Day:  Can we...still be friends?  Will you still come visit me once a year??

Me:  We will ALWAYS have the Macy's Parade!  Christmas will NEVER have that!

Mommy of the Year

I haven't done "Mommy of the Year" in quite a while.  Although there were MANY times I thought about it!  So today I am reinstating "Mommy of the Year Mondays."

Because, let's face it, I totally don't know what I'm doing!

Case in point, I'm about to humiliate poor lil Miss Priss (again!) for my own selfish reasons.

But I just had to get it out.  There's an award going around called the Wundah Woman and neither The *Wise* Young Mommy nor Parenting Pink deemed me worthy of it.

Oh, suuuuure, they wanted to give it to people who actually WORK at things that MAKE MONEY and have the ability to START COMPANIES and BE CONSISTENT and DEPENDABLE.  Whatever. 

I don't care about that stupid award because I am the TRUE Wonder Woman. 

See, I actually BIRTH little Wonder Womettes...

Uh huh.  Beat THAT all you PRODUCTIVE WAHMs out there!!!!

And you thought I was kidding when I said I own Star-Spangled Wonder Woman Undies!

And just to show you I am NOT the only Mommy of the Year out there, let me direct you to Cheaper Than Therapy Jen.  She is equally determined to ridicule her kiddos for her own selfish reasons! 

(Well, actually, $500 worth of food.  So maybe that's a LITTLE more noble than me.  Whatever.)

In this case, her adorable Lil Miss is a finalist in the Prego Fun with Food Photo Contest.

BUT, they are in SECOND PLACE.

So, if you're a true Mommy of the Year, click on the picture and send in your vote!  You don't even have to register for anything - it's just that easy!!!

This is where we SHOULD be living...

And it'd be nice to be as skinny as that chic up there, too!

But that's beside the point.  In all the whirlwind of this move, I had neglected to relate to you, my fabulous studio audience, the odyssey that led your favorite Happily-Ever-Afterers to the land now known as Cacaville.

Well, as with everything in Navy life, it started with Grand Plans.  Plans that would have taken us to Atlanta, actually.  You know, the one in Georgia. 

Now, let me tell you that I KNEW we were NOT going to get to Georgia.  Hubsters had the job all set up.  He wanted it and they wanted him.  All we were waiting for was orders to officially declare it so.

It meant no more cruises.

It meant fewer trips away from home.

It meant work trips to South America.

Which meant vacations for us in South America!

But I KNEW.  And, unfortunately, I was right!

Let me clue you in a little on how the Navy works.  They let you make your Grand Plans.  "I'd like to live here, here, or here," you express to your Detailer (essentially a human resources person).  Then somewhere, somebody in Washington gets your wish list and they all sit around laughing uproariously, "That's adorable!  This guy thinks he's going to go here and do this!"  Then they make a game out of who can find the worst place to send you.  Each person combs through all the available jobs and chooses the one they think you would like the least.  Then they come together and vote on each one, based on uniqueness of location, time away from home, and perceived level of misery.  The person with the most points by the end of the year wins a trip to Mexico.  (Of course, sometimes they get too busy and you slip through the cracks.  That's how we wound up in San Diego for a while!)

So it was less of a surprise to me, as we waited for those orders to come through, when Hubby got the call that told him no, he would not be traveling to the Deep South anytime soon.  A staff in California had a job to fill and he was the ONLY person in ALL THE NAVY with the credentials and timing to fill it.

Shit.

And the new station meant leaving for cruise right away.

F&ck.

Our new orders were for Cacaville, California, a location we already knew we'd rather not be around.  But other guys doing the equivalent of his job for other ships were able to live in Oxnard, CA.  Ventura County.  Only an hour north of Los Angeles.

Whoopee!

That's only an hour from my best friend!

That's only 60 minutes from my cool cousin and her family!

That's an AMAZING location with beautiful beaches and malls and small-town life next to big-time shopping!

It would be HEAVEN to live there!

And hubby tried.  Bless his little heart, he tried so hard.

And I KNEW.  Yes, as much as I wanted to deny it, at some point I just KNEW we were not going to be that lucky.

So here we sit in Cacaville.  Amongst the cows and goats and horses.  Hoping the smell doesn't stick to everything we own, the way my grandma's cigarette smoke did when Sissy and I stayed at her house over the summers.

But hubs still has to travel once in a while to Oxnard.  Land of beauty and clean air and safe drinking water.  Which is where we were last week. 

And, unfortunately, I found out that friends of ours from Hubby's squadron days are living very happily on the base at Pt. Mugu.  He does the equivalent of Hubsters job on a different carrier.  HE was originally based in Cacaville, too.  HE managed to get it switched to Oxnard before they moved.

But I'm not jealous.  No, not me.  I LOVE living in our NEWER, more spacious base housing, with my WAY more adorable kid and my WAY hotter husband! 

(P.S.- We're WAY COOLER then them, too!)

PhotoStory Friday - A Birthday Bonanza!

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Once upon a time, in the land of Happily-Ever-After, there was a beautiful Princess.  The King and Queen were so in love with their beautiful little Princess, that when it came time to celebrate her second birthday, they threw for her a Grand Ball.  Invitations were sent out far and wide across the Land so that when the day of the Grand Ball finally arrived, the palace was full of well-wishers and revelers.

The Princess donned her finest Birthday attire, then began the festivities with a lovely feast of Mexican rice, accompanied by a Minnie Mouse balloon, Minnie Mouse sippy cup and Minnie Mouse ears.

The Princess then greeted her subjects, including her Special Guests of Honor, Mickey, Goofy, and Donald Duck.

In lieu of dancing, a raucous game of chase ensued. 

 

There was then a Royal Proclamation that we shall "let them all eat cake!"

 

And, of course, the party had to be paused to allow for the Royal Family Portrait to be photographed....

The Princess was bestowed with, oh, maybe one or two gifts, lovingly presented by her Royal Subjects.

The guests then partook in the time-honored tradition known as The Pinata.

The Royals wondered if there wasn't going to be an "America's Funniest Home Videos" Moment. 

Upon the breaking of the Pinata (and, much to the King's relief, everything else spared), the Princess paused to inspect her treasures.

As the Grand Ball began to wind down, and the revelers made their departures, the Princess chose to relax in a manner truly befitting of a Royal....

Goodnight, sweet Princess.  May your second year be the best one yet!

A Fuzzy Feeling

Not the good kind of fuzzy feeling, either.

It's my teeth, folks.  My fuzzy, furry TEETH.

But I am getting ahead of myself.  Let me start off with the fact that we are not at home.  I am typing this post from a base known as Pt. Mugu located in Ventura County just North of Los Angeles. 

This is very happy news!  For the next two days we have returned to CIVILIZATION!!!!

I'm not sure I can handle it.  I think I'm out of practice.

But there's a bigger problem here.  A problem that is quietly resting on our bed back home.  A heaping pile of face wash, body soap, moisturizers, brushes and make-up hidden inside a traveling case.

Yes, folks, my dear husband has left my toiletry bag - the very essence of being civilized - back at the house.

Normally I would be mad.  "How could you!," I would have exclaimed. 

But let's keep things in perspective.  It is only TWO DAYS.

And I can certainly pick up a toothbrush and toothpaste at the store.

What's that?  We're taking our family photo for the Christmas card while we're here and you're wondering if I will be doing it au naturale?

Oh!  Haha!  Good thing there's a Sephora RIGHT UP THE STREET!!!!!

That's right, ladies (and my horrified husband - Hi Honey!), Momma's headin' over to her dealer to get herself a FIX!  And it's gonna be SOOOOO GOOD!!!! 

Oh, hubby, I love you MORE THEN EVER!!!

P.S. - Don't forget to head over to The Posh Parent and check out my post, The Meltdown, for this week.  You can see what (or who!) I wanted to be when I grew up!

Dear Stomach Bug,

Dear Stomach Bug,
Thank you so much for infecting the intestinal insides of both my husband and myself.  We've had so much fun during your stay.  I'm sure you found that watching hubby vomit outside the car door on the side of the highway was a barrel of laughs.  And rendering me a useless lump on the couch the very week I had intended to recommit to my bloggy ventures was surely was no coincidence.  You're right, catching up on my Tivo is SO much more important then trying to do something productive with my life!

Yes, dear Stomach Bug, that was a great week.  But I'm afraid it is time for you to go.  Please pack up your things and depart.  And, sorry, but you'll have to find somewhere else to go for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's -- we've already got plans.

Have a great holiday!
The Happily-Ever-Afters

PS - Oh, and thanks so much for keeping your nasty mitts off my daughter.  If you hadn't I would have had to *bleep* *bleep* the *bleepity* *bleep* *bleep* out of you.  Thanks!

PPS - In case any of you (and I'm talking to a couple of grandmas out there in particular) are suspicious that Stomach Bug may be a different sort of bug that will be residing for the next nine months, let me just reassure you this is NOT the case.  The week also had another visitor.  A certain Aunt Flo that assured me the nine month kind of stomach bug has not come to visit (yet!).  Toodles!

PhotoStory Friday - The Disniac

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

So, by any chance, do you recognize anyone in this photo?

You've heard of PhishHeads and DeadHeads.  Well, Miss Priss is a Disniac.  She wants Disney all day, every day.  And the ultimate high in the Disney drug selection would be Mickey & Minnie Mouse, our favorite big-eared characters.

We took Priss to see Playhouse Disney Live! so she could get her fix of all things Disney.  We managed to get away without buying the $20 Little Einstein Wand or the $12 Rocket cup.  Fortunately, we are still in that blissful stage with Priss where she doesn't realize we are suckers and would buy her whatever she wanted if she told us she couldn't live without it. 

But don't worry.  Our little Disniac was perfectly outfitted for the occasion.  And as we sat in the car, realizing it might be a couple of days before the parking lot clears, I snapped this pic of Priss in all her glory. 

Seriously, could YOU say no to that face?

Movers & Shakers

Let me tell you, we have been Imagination Movers fans since they were doing videos in between the Disney cartoons! 

So when Claire over at Single Mom Meltdown said that she and Her Poshness Jen were doing an interview with the Movers themselves, I was, like, "AWESOME!" 

But when she said they were having a contest to see who can dance better to the Movers' Tunes, I said, "Priss - fire up them dancin' shoes, cause we've got some showin' off to do!"

And now, the World Premiere of the All New Music Video for Imagination Movers "Movers Music," featuring the dance stylings of Hip Jivin' Jen and Poppin' Priss.....

So what do you think? That was also the Directorial Debut of Jammin' Jimmeister (aka: Hip Hubby and Dorkin' Dad).  I've reviewed the competition, and I have to say, it's tough!  Good thing I put on mascara for this shoot!

The winner will be chosen by the Movers themselves.  I'll keep you posted on who will take the title! 

(Wait, title?  What TITLE???  Sorry, I just couldn't think of a better word!  I know, we'll make one up -- Best Imagination Movers [and Shakers].  How's that for a title!)

If you, too, would like to compete for the title of "Best Imagination Movers [and Shakers]" (but really, who would want to after see OUR amazing video!) then head on over to Single Mom Meltdown and sign up!  You have until Thursday, Nov. 20th to get your dancing moves posted!

In the meantime, check out The Posh Parent's interview with The Imagination Movers.  I believe they will be discussing their imaginings and what keeps them moving.  But that's just a guess!

Wish us luck!!!!