I haven’t participated in a Plinky prompt in a long time.  I read them everyday as they pass through my email on the way to the trash can but today’s question stopped me.  ”Share 3 things that are good about your life right now.” Wow! Now thats a little challenging isn’t it?  With the world the way it is today, naming anything good is like finding a needle in your rug.  Impossible until you step on it.  But those good things are there, hiding.  You just have to learn how to see them.  What if you took a moment to look around and see what’s on the other side of your office door? Perhaps a co-worker who is newly pregnant and glowing?  It’s hard not to smile at that. Or what if you shoved the pile of bills or that dust bunny to the left? You might see your kiddos big innocent smile hiding behind it.  I really do feel its healthier look on the brighter side of things.  It’s too easy to focus on the struggles of everyday life and to turn a blind eye to the little things that are there hiding in the back ground making it possible for us to survive each day. The little things are really the engines that run the world because without them we would all slit our wrists or die early deaths from the lack of happy. Without those little things in life that make you crack a small snicker or chuckle and make you want to go on to the next hour of your day can you imagine how terrible it would be? Scary stuff.

This website, and my sense of humor that you’ve gotten to know in it, is an extension of me.  It’s how I look at daily life. I have live a life like everyone else. Full of stress and unhappy moments that I could dwell on and, if I let them, could suck me down into a pit of despair.  But I try to find the humor in things.  Even the smallest things I can find some sort of snort-able character in.  My dad taught me this and I’ll never be more grateful for adopting another personality trait from a parent. And while this ability to find humor in all circumstances can get me in trouble at times, like laughing at funerals, I’ll stick to my guns that it’s the best way to view the world!  Sometimes I’ve been criticized for wearing rose colored glasses.  Well, to that I’ve always said its better to own a pair of rose colored sun glasses, and to know when to wear them, then to own a black umbrella to hide from that rain cloud that follows others around all day. I recommend that everyone should get a pair.

So, with out further blah, blah, blah… I had to pick three things off the top of my head… And that’s a hard thing to do with my sunny outlook… To ONLY pick three…

Obviously my darling daughter!
Everyday she makes me laugh. Even on the hardest of days she can do something silly or sweet that will make that hard outer crust I’ve worn all day crack. Some days she is the only reason I would get out bed. I lay there wondering what it would be like to just stay all warm and tucked in and not face the day and then she starts chattering and playing in her crib. I can hear her talking to herself in her nonsense vocabulary only understanding a word now and then. She will say Mommy or Dada and then “talk” to us for a while. In pretend conversations I imagine. Then during the day, usually when I’m upset she will come running up to me and wrap her little twig arms around my legs and squeeze. She’s so little but can squeeze so tight that she just squeezes the bad feelings right out. While I’d love to say that everyone needs one of these little creatures I would be lying, because I still feel that parents should be screened before being allowed to procreate, but maybe those who are having bad days could just borrow one of these wonder squeezers once in a while.

Thank Goddess for tennis balls!
If it wasn’t for these little fuzzy yellow balls I think I would be a homicidal maniac by now. With all the stresses of daily life, from the economy to finding time to go by bread, it’s nice to be able to go out and smack the crap out of a cute little fuzzy yellow tennis ball. (Ha! Aggressive much?) I love to be able to knock the cute right off that stinkin’ ball. Whacking it so hard the fuzz on the ball shears off and flies through the air. I love to smack it so hard it hits the fence on the other side of the court, sometimes sticking in between the chain links. And I love the feeling of release when I do that. Unfortunately this release of tension isn’t so great for playing actual tennis games because most of the time these fuzzy yellow balls, when hit with such force, won’t behave and land inside the lines, but sometimes we just need to hit outside the lines to feel better. I recommend it to all!

My cat.
She purrs. She snuggles. She demands attention. She gets annoyed when that attention is ignored. She ignores. She gets irritated. She finds happiness in puddles of sunshine on the floor. She makes me smile because she’s the furry four legged version of me.

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Love and Kisses!

B.C.

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Hay! I AM that neighbor! Back off the flamingo man!

Speed Bump

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I can’t help it! I love the look on the little boys face!

Speed Bump

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Confusious says, “Don’t run from the pink elephants or they will always catch you with your head in the toilet”

Dog eat Doug

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I KNOW THAT LOOK! Its the one that is slowly draining me of my will power. “Must resist baby! Must resist! She does not really NEED that adorable little bear that I know she will just LUV!” Damn it!

B.C.

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Anyone else going to miss the Olympics? I think I’m an Olympicaholic.

HaPPy WeeKEnD EvERyONe!

*Thanks to Comics.com for making all these great comic strips available to the public for the world to love!

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One more Shameless Plug:

Please take moment to vote for me and tell me you think I’m a top mommy blogger! Now THAT would really be the icing on the cake!All you need to do is click the <–-sparkly buttonand then click the option to enter that says I did not trick you into visiting that site. Because I would never do that! And then BAM, your vote will be counted! Thank you!

Love and Kisses!

Yesterday I got to experience something very odd. Something very satisfying in a gut wrenching way.  Something heartbreaking while uplifting.  As you can tell this something was filled with so many crossed emotions its difficult to nail down the one that was the full on icing on the cake.  But I did manage after some careful reflection and soul searching to make sure that this feeling wasn’t going to send me into a downward spiral of guilt. Because that would be bad.  No. I wanted to ice my cake with a feeling that I could savor for a long time to come.  And I did.  I’m talking about sweet revenge.

Now I know what they say about sweet revenge and that it will eat you up if you let it get out of hand, but in this case I wasn’t the one performing the revenge. I was just watching it happen and was given the opportunity to smile about it. That was enough to spread that warm gooey feeling all over that I’ve needed regarding this subject.

Is it killing you yet that I haven’t spilled the beans about whats so great?

I finally was able to see my new tennis team kick the butts of my old tennis team that screwed me over!  Now ain’t that grand?  Three cheers for me!

I know your thinking that being so happy over a WIN like this is almost insane and I’d have to agree. It also goes against every ounce of sportsmanship I have in my body to be that happy over their demise. However, on this particular occasion I think I’m entitled.  Simply put, this team put me through the ringer about a year ago.  They made me lose my temper.  They made me lose my determination to advance.  They made me lose a good friend.  They made me have to decide between bettering myself as a player at the risk of having to continue on in their unsportsmanlike ways or settling for being second best just so I could keep my dignity. I chose the higher road and settled for being second best so I could maintain the pride in myself that I worked hard to gain.  I decided at the time that no one, and no sport, is worth losing that. And thats where I drew the line.

At that point I did start looking at different avenues to achieve that upward climb and found that there were road blocks a mile high.  And in the world of woman’s tennis sometimes those walls are simply too high to climb without falling off and hurting yourself more. So my outlook was bleak. Then about a month ago an opportunity came up out of the blue.  A team that I thought was so far out of reach for me. A team that was on the top of the A list. A team that I’ve always admired and desired to be a part of but never dreamed possible. A team that to join it someone would practically have to die to create room. A team of winners! They came to me, little ole’ me, and asked if I would join them.  Just like that!

And just like that my first impression of the higher level tennis changed with renewed hope. It gave me hope that I could really be part of this. It gave me hope that I could finally draw on those dormant skills I’ve held back because they weren’t necessary and were rotting away at the lower level I was seemingly going to be swimming in forever. I would now get the opportunity to grow! To bloom! To prove that I’ve got what it takes to be at that higher level and to take my place next to those who have always felt better than me because of a number after their name.

I am now part of a team of woman that after which I’ve tried to model the other teams I’ve lead. They have been the trend setters in my mind when it came to sportsmanship, hard work, and determination to succeed.  And now I get to be a part of that. And with that comes the heavy duty to not let the feelings of sweet revenge take over my perception of things but to use that feeling as a jumping off point to give me strength and the desire to continue to grow.  And with hard work and determination I know I will.  Yes, I still did allow myself a few small giggles of glee when I saw my new team running over my past team like they were old tires!  It was, simply put, the icing on the cake!  And it made my year!

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and then click the option to enter that says I did not trick you into visiting that site.  Because I would never do that! And then BAM, your vote will be counted! Thank you!

Love and Kisses!

Here’s one I haven’t done in a while!  I’ve kinda missed Wordless Wednesdays!  Please be sure to join the Linky below so others can see you!!!!

As seen at a large chain fast food indoor playground. Because thats what we do in Texas when the temperture drops to below 50F and you need to run your kids out of energy.

Check out rules #1 and #6!

WAIT! WHAT? Happy adult? See anything weird?

Isn’t a happy adult trapped inside a small indoor play area with too many screaming children considered weird? Someone quick! Tell the manager because I think that Mama needs a drink!

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For more of MY Wordless/ful Wednesday go HERE!

Because you know you can’t get enough!!

For a more Wordless Wednesday go to 5 Minutes For Mom or Wordless Wednesday.com

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I challenged myself last week to see just how good of a baker I could be.  First off let me say… yes I used a box mix!  Get over it!  With this cake the only way to survive it was to box it!   However I can proudly say that I’m fully aware of and can make a great cake from scratch, thank you very much.  So I’m allowed to cheat especially when its this I’m working on.

Imagine… 6 layers… 6 boxes of cream cheese for the frosting… 6 different colors.  Have I grabbed your attention yet?

About 6 months ago I was reading another woman’s website whom many of you probably already read or have at least checked out, My Charming Kids, and she was describing this cake that her friend brought to their lady bloggers gathering.   When I saw the pictures she had of this cake I book marked the page and told myself that one day I would have the chance.

And then bam! My friend is pregnant! (Just like that!) (BAM!) And now I have the excuse to make it! Yay!

Wait….

What?

That will mean a baby shower…..

Oh CRAP! Did I just offer to host a baby shower just so I could make a stupid cake? I think I did!

(note* I love my friend and would go to the ends of the earth for her but I DON’T DO baby showers! Unless no one else was throwing one and then of course I would do it because she’s my friend and every momma needs a showering of love and diapers. But I wasn’t the only one hosting so WHY? WHY? Why did I do this to myself… ARG!)

And many times that entire day and a half it took to make this thing did I say I’d make this cake?

Oh ya!

BECAUSE IT’S AWESOME!!

Check it out…

And just so you can get the true idea of how tall this thing was…

LOOK! One slice is bigger than my hand. (note* purple bottom layer is not on the knife because they don’t make cake knifes big enough for this monster!)

This is what I used to make it…. Except for the vanilla…. I forgot to add the vanilla!… To the picture that is.

And then all those ingredients turned into these yummy looking bowls of sweet sugary cake goo.

Which then turned into 6 lovely rainbow colored layers that are almost impossible to resist for a toddler with a stool to stand on.

“Look behind you Mom! It’s a young Kurt Russell naked!!”

She didn’t fool me just in case you were wondering.  Even when she tried to distract me with a momentary shirt stuck on head problem.

All in all I had a blast making this cake and I would do it again.  However I will also find out where the location is BEFORE I try to travel with this cake.  One of the other hostess’s of the party offered up her house and little did I know that she lived on the curviest road in the state.  I had the plate locked down so it wouldn’t move but the mass of cake on top was shimmering like jello all the way there.

If you would like the recipe please go here for that. And if you would like some advice on how to make it please feel free to ask away!

OH! I forgot to add that EVERY LAST BITE WAS EATEN OR TAKEN HOME!!  That’s not bad for a cake that size!  I think I did good!

AND EJ finally did get a slice of heaven too.

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