Tyler

Tyler is my 5 year old nephew that I love and adore (as I do my other nephews and niece). I was in the delivery room when he was born but since I lived in NJ, I missed the first 4 years or so of his life. When I did come to Colorado to visit, he recognized me and would chat with me (when he got to talking age of course!) Ty has some speech issues and the poor little guy has some social anxiety. He is the cutest thing, and I love him to pieces. It breaks my heart that he will not speak to me. He will hug me when I ask him to, he laughs when I tickle him, nod yes or no but he will not speak to me. If he sees me listening to him talking to another person, he will stop and hide his face. I am not sure why this is, but it is a really hard thing for me to accept. I just want him to feel comfortable around me and like being around me.

Today I went over to borrow a suitcase from Noelle and she told me Ty was in his room. He was bummed because there was no one to play with. I knocked on his door and he asked, "What?" Of course he did not know it was me. I walked in and say hi to him, and much to my surprise he said hello back. I asked him what he was doing, and again, he spoke and said, "Legos." I told him that I heard he wanted to play with someone, and since I had some time, would he like me to build something with him. He said yes, and then he put his arms around my neck and put his cheek to my cheek. I melted! I was so excited that he said something to me and I was really looking forward to playing with him. Then we learned the neighbor was home and wanted to play with Ty. So he packed up his Legos and off he went down the street. So much for playing with Tanta.

I love this kid so much. Although he may only say a few words to me now and then, I know he is smart, I know his personality. I especially love that he loves the camera and on school picture day, he wanted to wear a suit to school. Today I was somewhere where they needed to see my license (no, not a bar) so I opened my wallet. The lady behind the counter asked if the picture of my niece was my daughter. I said no and we got to chatting about my 4 nephews and niece. She was oohing and aahing about them so I showed her some pictures (Yes, I talk to everyone). I showed her the pics of Ty and said my brother thinks he looks like he wants to sell us some real estate. I agree with him, and the lady said she would buy anything from Ty. I would have to agree. I love you Tyler Joe!

Santa Update

Last night Bryan went up to bed before me because I was on the couch writing on this blog. When I came upstairs he asked me what I blogged about and I told him it was my thoughts on the whole Santa sham. I basically retold him the questions I had as a kid and the first one I asked was, "How would he get all the presents in ONE bag?" Bryan looked at me, and in a serious voice not missing a beat he said, "It is magical." I had to laugh. He said it so matter of fact that as a child I would have easily believed him. He told me there is a portal in the bag, and when he goes to a child's house, he reaches in the bag, and pulls that kid's toy off the shelf. Good explanation. Then I asked him how Santa can be at all the malls at the same time. Once again, he had an answer. He told me those are Santa's helpers, Santa's body doubles. They help Santa out and at the end of the day, they call the real Santa and tell them what all the kids told them. He said he will tell Camden that they do a conference call now since technology is far more advanced than it was when we were kids. I like his ideas. Below is a photo of some pictures of me with what I now know are Santa's helpers. Please don't be envious of my awesome shoes, my Winnie the Pooh belt or my fabulous "bowl/Dorothy Hamil" hairdo that I drew your attention to with arrows. The thing I find most interesting about these pictures is I am pretty certain we took both of them in Philadelphia, yet one year the miles to the North Pole is 764,192 and a few years later it is a mere 34,396. I guess I will cut them some slack because there was no Mapquest back then.

On a completely different topic, I love Scooby Doo. I have no idea why, but for as long as I can remember, I have loved this show. (Ignore that Fred looks like he is doing a really bad Disco move and the gang is mortified to be seen with him...)

Tonight Camden asked to watch the Madagascar Christmas show that was on the DVR. Megan (Bryan's sister) told me that she accidentally deleted it. Since it was on NBC, we looked for it on demand. No luck. Numerous times in the past, I have looked for Scooby Doo on demand since Camden, Torrin and I all love it, but I always looked in the Cartoon Network category since that is what it is always on, but again, no luck. Tonight I was checking out the WGN section and low and behold, 6 episodes of Scooby. Wahoo! Camden and I were so excited. As I watched it, I remembered how until college I always thought Velma's name was Thelma. When they sing "I know you'll catch that villain" I thought it was catch that fillin'. Not sure why, but I was certain of this. Now as I watch it, I notice something else I never figured out before. Besides the gang, there are only one or two other characters in the episodes. Why is it that I was always surprised at the end when they revealed the villain? It was always one of the other characters we had already seen. The only other character that was on the show, yet I was shocked. Kind of like how I never noticed that the Hulk was a completely different person when he got angry. Did I not notice that the entire physique was different and they looked NOTHING alike?

 

Oh the things I am learning the older I get. The completely useless things that I think about. Although I have learned the truth about many things I loved as a child, I am so thankful I did not realize these truths when I was young. I loved Scooby (still do, but don't even get me started on Scrappy Doo. I HATE that dog), I loved the Hulk, and the idea of Santa (although far fetched and completely unrealistic) was simply magical to me. So thank you to my family who never revealed the truth. I appreciate it. One final note: I am fully aware that Spongebob is not real, but that does not sway my love of the sponge that lives in a pineapple under the sea. He makes me laugh and that is all I need to know.

Decorating the Tree

Today we all decorated the tree and put out the Dicken's Village as Christmas music played on the radio. The boys (and us of course) were excited and we had a lot of fun. I took a lot of pictures but I have to say, this is my favorite. Torrin's face shows just how excited he was all because of a train (even if it was a train that he purposely had hit him in his head). So very Torrin. So very happy.

It's Beginning to Look Just a Little Tiny Bit Like Christmas....

Christmas decorations seems to come out earlier and earlier every year. This year is no exception. With the economy being the way it has been, it is no surprise to me that the stores decorated early to try and increase sales. I think this has worked for me, as I am almost 100% done with my shopping. No, I did not go to the stores, but I would like to thank Amazon.com for their free shipping. Blissful I tell you.

Bryan and I put up their tree today and have been decorating the house. As I sit here typing, I can see the garland on the banister (I just love lights going up the stairs) and the very large and jazzy Christmas tree is to my right. His tree has both white and colored lights and it about 9" tall. Awesome I tell you! Christmas music is already being played 24 hours a day on KOSI 101.

On our way home we drove around the neighborhood and were surprised at how many people have their tree up already. Granted, I love Christmas and I would like to keep a "holiday" tree up all year, but I am just not feeling it yet. The music is on, the presents are almost all wrapped, but I am lacking the motivation to make my Christmas cards. People throw them out anyway so why do I make them? (I know a few of you keep them, so thank you!) Tomorrow we are decorating the tree with Camden and Torrin, and tonight Bryan and I went and bought Elf on Blu Ray so we will be watching that in a few. Maybe that will spark the Christmas magic for me.

I think part of my issue is I love Christmas so much that I don't want this time of year to end. I love the decorations, the music, getting cards in the mail, seeing the stores decked out, etc. so I want to prolong this time of year for as long as possible. I love the snow and pray for it to fall every year on Christmas. So far the big man has only listened a few times. Sadness. Santa needs snow to have his sleigh run better (which is does as it glides on the snow), so why can't it just snow every year on Christmas Eve and day?

Speaking of Santa (I know, I am random but I write like I think).....the more I think about it, the whole Santa thing is kind of mean. You grow up believing that this jolly chubby man is able to grant you wishes, make all the toys (or purchase them), wrap all of them and travel the entire world making it down the chimney with a huge bag of toys and making it to every child's house in one night. Seriously?  How would you even organize the bag of toys? A bag certainly would not fit all the toys for the entire world, nor would the sleigh fly unless everyone was getting gift cards. In reality, he would need a few semi trucks and several weeks for delivery and transit times.

I had a lot of questions when I was a kid, but why did the logistics of this Santa person never cross my mind? Why is that when we went to several malls in one day, I did not pick up on the fact there was no way possible that the Santa at one mall could get through the entire line of kids, hop in his sleigh and make it to the next mall before we did? Where did he park his sleigh? Parking is TOUGH at the mall during the holidays. How did he manage to park a sleigh WITH reindeer in a crowded mall parking lot? Why was I terrified of a burgular breaking into our house, but a strange man in a red suit was allowed to break into our house after everyone was asleep and I thought nothing of it?  I remember sleeping in my sister's bedroom on Christmas Eve. They told me that if I slept in my room I would hear the reindeer and Santa does not come unless I was asleep. Denise and Johnny are older than me, so when they would tell me this they knew they were lying, but hey, thanks to my siblings for keeping the magic alive for their little sis.

As many of you know, I am an emotional person. Commercials can make me cry, something sweet makes me teary and I do not hide my emotions at all. I have very vivid memories of good and bad times in my life, but I am not sure why I do not remember how I found out there was no Santa. (My sincere apologies if you are learning the truth about that from my blog. I am here if you need me....) Was it so painful that I blocked it out?  I know it was around the 3rd grade because in 5th grade my friend was telling people about Santa and the other students said he was not real. He got VERY upset and went to the encyclopedia (we had no internet back then people) and he showed us a picture of Santa in the book. To him, this was proof. But I honestly have NO memory of learning the truth about Santa. None. Nada. Zip.

Now that I am older, I think the concept of Santa is a beautiful idea. A man who takes care of everything AND delivers wrapped presents to millions in one night? If I were a kid now, I would probably think Santa is real. After all, there IS Amazon.com with free shipping, so he would not have to fly all over the place to get his job done. Fed Ex would do it for him. Or maybe UPS.... "Brown" could do a lot for Santa.  Plus, I would think hey, everyone is all about being "green" these days and animal rights, so why on earth would he fly around the world, polluting the air, and yanking on chains that are connected to animals? See, much more feasible these days.

I feel bad as an Aunt lying to my nephews and niece. Sure, it is a wonderful, magical part of being a child, but it really is a big fat lie. I am thinking that if I have children, the presents they get from Santa will be things like socks, really bad candy, ugly clothes and toys they want nothing to do with. This way when they find out there is no Santa they might be sad, but they will think, "Well, he gave really crappy gifts anyway." See, years of therapy avoided.

Off to watch Elf!

Sick....again.

I have been wishing I could live in a bubble this cold season. They say that the Z-Pak stays in your system for 10 days. For the past 2 times I have been on it, Day 11 is when I get sick. Seriously? I am over being congested and waking up feeling like crud. I am convinced between Bryan's kids and my nephews and niece, we are just going to keep passing it around all season. I just want to feel better. We leave on Tuesday for California and I am praying the congestion is gone that day. Being on a plane with congestion is not my idea of a good time.

Yes, I am whining.

How did this happen?

On my way home tonight, I stopped by my brother and sister in laws house to drop off a pan we borrowed. My 7 year old nephew Justin was upstairs reading to Noelle when I arrived because he is required to read to someone 20 minutes each night. Noelle had to go take care of my other nephew Tyler so Justin read to me. As he sat there reading, my ears got teary. Thankfully he did not see this. Why was I misty eyed? Because I wondered how this all happened. How is it that 7 years have gone by so quickly? I remember getting the call that he was about to be born. It seems like only yesterday I left recess duty and rushed to the hospital just in time for his arrival. He had the most hair on a baby I had ever seen and it was all over the place. He looked nothing like a Diak until months later! I already had two nephews that I adored but since I was no longer in college and living in Ft. Collins, I did not get to see them as much as I would have liked. My brother and Noelle lived in Parker so I was excited to be part of this little guys life as much as possible. I remember the first time I fed him, the first time he rolled over, the first time he called me Tanta. The time we took him to see Santa and I taught him to say "Santa says Ho Ho Ho." As we waited in line to see Santa, all he kept saying was HO! I called him Monkey from the very beginning and I still do.

When I moved away I missed my nephews so much (there were 4 at the time). Justin would call me and talk to me on the phone and when I would come to visit (from "New Jesus" as he called it) he would run into my arms the second he saw me. He was my buddy.  Now that I am back in Colorado, seeing me no longer excites him. I don't get hugs without asking and certainly no kisses. Sometimes on a VERY rare occasion he will sit next to me and snuggle but I can't tell you the last time this happened. He is growing up and I am not a big fan of that. I realize this more and more every day, but tonight really shook me. Here he was, this second grader reading me big words (well, for a second grader). Of course I am thinking he is a genius because I remember when he would just scribble. Now he is reading, writing, making amazing pandas out of clay, and is a whiz at the Wii and on the computer. In a blink of an eye time flew by, and I am certainly not happy about it. What happened to the sweet little boy who got sad when I left him, who had no say when we dressed him up in the duck jammies, or the skunk Halloween costume? Yes, he is still so sweet and SUCH a good big brother, but I just don't want to accept he is a second grader. I love seeing the person he is becoming but it does make me miss the past.

I love all my nephews (and niece of course) and I feel this sadness with all of them. Time has gone by way too fast. I remember getting the call that my nephew Quinn was about to be born. That was 14 years ago. Now he is in high school, going to Homecoming with 3 girls (Go Quinn!) and is an all around awesome, talented kid. His brother Ethan is 12 and he also grew up way too fast. I love their personalities and they are so much fun now. I love spending time with them. They make me laugh, they are just awesome. Going on a road trip was a blast with them. They bring so much laughter in my life, but they will always be the kids who were my first two nephews. The ones who started the Tanta name for me (which has evolved into Tantalicious) and gave me the opportunity to be an Aunt. When I moved to Florida in 99, I received an email from Quinn on January 19th that I still have in my Inbox. He hit some keys on the computer (At age 4) and then my sister translated them for me. Here it is (and yes, I really did keep this!)

ILT

QUINTON

C

M

D

D

PAPA

NANA

1234567890

F

G

O

N

V

QJ

Quinton did this all by himself.  I thought I would translate for you...

ILT= I love Tanta

C=Cody   M=Maggie

D=Denise    D="Is for Tanta"

He is very proud that he can type papa and nana all by himself.

F=frog        G=gorilla        O=owl

N=nose        V=violin

I asked him what the QJ is for and he said, and I quote, "Cause I just fought it would be fun."

Then in April he sent me another email:

mommy is going to type for me...
i'm not gonna be 5 til next year. 
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
i love you tanta

quinton's turn...
gcgvdfufgfdhfgsfh
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
no

In my mind I still think that is how they should type because they will always be little boys in my mind. Now when I see them on Facebook (which was hard enough to accept as it is) I think WOW! They are geniuses! They can use a computer and type! Well, they are in junior high and high school and if they were not doing these things, we would be a little concerned.

I know I have rambled on and on, but tonight was a trip down memory lane for me. I love all these kids so much. At least I have my two year old niece Mikaya who runs to me when she sees me,who always kisses me and cries when I leave. But I know this will change eventually so I cherish these sweet moments.
I love these kids with all my heart and I am so lucky to be their Tanta. Just stop growing up so quick. Please.

The Snuggie....

Ever since I heard about the Snuggie, I thought it was a silly idea. A blanket with sleeves? Who wants THAT? My friend Nicole and I kept getting numerous emails trying to sell us a Snuggie. This turned into a joke among some of us, and we even purchased one for our friend Elizabeth. I am not sure E has ever taken it out of the box, but she does have one.

Snuggies are now everywhere. They have them for kids, in animal prints (anything in animal prints should be burned) and today I saw the ones for dogs. Now that the colder weather is here, I am often under a blanket on my couch or at Bryan's house. While on the couch, I like to use my laptop, as I am doing now. My lap is warm, but my arms are still quite chilly. This happens almost every night. I am tired of putting layers and layers on. This has made me seriously consider getting a Snuggie. *Note to family, friends and of course Santa: I am NOT committing to wanting one of these so please do not get me one for Christmas.*

While Bryan was at his computer and I was freezing on the couch, I mentioned that I was thinking about getting a Snuggie. He told me if I were to get one, I was not allowed to wear it in his presence. Turns out Camden "wants to stay warm" and would like one too. I think Camden and I are on to something. Bryan thinks Camden and I watch far too much TV.

Wouldn't I look good in a Snuggie?

Snow!

The snow makes me giddy. To other members of my family, it seems to cause stress and anxiety. Not me, I love it! I especially love when it snows for days on end and I have nowhere to be.

It started snowing yesterday and when I woke up this morning it was still going. Here are some pictures! The first one is from my front door, the second one shows how much snow was on my deck at 8 a.m. and the last one barely shows the sun coming out. That makes me sad. I want the sun to go away. It is still snowing though, and Mr. Sun has seemed to listen to me. The shocker of the day is we are all still getting together for family pics and the Diak/Holder Thanksgiving!  I am going to see if people will be willing to take the pic outside since it is so pretty. I know I will be told NO. More pics to follow....

The Day Finally Arrived!

What seems like a year ago, a group of my friends and I decided to go see Wicked in Denver. November 14th seemed SO far away but today was the day. Amazing how time flies!  I felt frazzled as I headed to the theater. I realized I forgot mascara (oh the horror!) which turned out to be a good thing because after the show it was snowing and it would have been all over my face. When I got downtown there was a line for miles to get into the Denver Center for the Performing Arts parking structure. I don't think so. I was afraid I was not going to make it in time so I turned down another street and parked in some random lot. I get to the theater, take my seat and go to read my program as I wait for my friends. I realize I have no glasses. I hope they are on my counter or in my car as I have a tendency to lose them. A lot.

We had the first row of the balcony. There was a man down the row from us who kept getting up before the show and as the show started. There is NOT a lot of room for other attendees to pass in front of you. This made me nervous because we were the front row in that section, high above the orchestra, with nothing in front of us. I was worried I was going to fall. That would not be good. Plus, it isn't like there is a huge protective railing in front of you. They want you to see the show, so it is low. So low, you could easily fall over. Well, at least me, the tall girl could. Which brings me to something else. Theater venues are not meant for tall people with long legs....especially the tall people with long legs who chose to wear high heels. I could not cross my legs without doing an uncomfortable and totally unflattering series of movements. Eventually I gave up and sat there, legs uncrossed. It felt weird. The man down the row walked by again. The angry man behind us told us to sit down. Um, we are trying to let someone by. The angry man later turned out to be talkative man who had a girlfriend who chose to sing along to select songs. Good times.

One of the first songs is "The Wizard and I." The teacher in me decided to listen to this song, and then began to obsess about whether or not this was the correct use of grammar. I thought, hmmm, should it be the Wizard and me? The Wizard and I? This took up a good time until I realized I was no longer paying attention to the show.

In case you have not noticed, my mind tends to wander. I have seen Wicked before so I think it wandered a tad bit more than usual. I thought about when I saw the show last, the other shows I had seen on Broadway when I lived in New Jersey, then I began to really miss being able to hop on a train and be in the city 30 minutes later to see a show at any time. I thought about the TKTS booths and the half price tickets. About how we got cheap seats to Grease and although we were in row 5 we were WAY off to the side. I thought about how the guy from American Idol was the Teen Angel when I saw it, which then lead my mind to think about how excited I was for the new season of American Idol to start in January. Seriously, it must be exhausting to be my brain.

At intermission I wanted to get some pictures with my friends. I got a picture with Tracy, and then I moved over to Christy. As Crystal took a picture of us, a mean, angry lady came down to me and scolded me for taking pictures. She said everything was copywrited so you can't take pictures. Um, I am taking pictures of my friends, NOT the actors or stage. We were by our seats during intermission. Really?  This put me in a bad mood since I let the little things get to me. Plus I am a total rule follower and felt guilty.

After the show was over we headed to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. We took the 16th Street Mall shuttle and let's just say, there are some interesting people on there. Not as interesting as the subways in New York, but interesting people. There were two guys behind Amy and I that were obviously in a slightly altered state. One of the guys said to the other guys, "Dude, I am so glad you are more intoxicated than me. Or high. Whatever." We were glad to make it to the restaurant. The wait was 45 minutes so we hung out in the bar area. Eventually we decided to just eat in the bar area to save some time. Crystal and I both ordered the APPETIZER Caesar salad. I wanted the side salad but you could not get it unless you ordered a sandwich. Well, let's just say, I think the entire table and some other guests could have eaten this one salad. It was huge! I felt like I ate and ate but I never saw the bottom of the bowl. When I finally gave it back to the waitress it was as if I did not eat any of it. *Note to self: You do not like the Caesar salad at the Cheesecake Factory.

At dinner, I learned that the reason the man at the show kept getting up was because he was afraid of heights and was feeling panic. I too am afraid of heights and did not enjoy standing up in that row. I felt bad for him, but was impressed he made it through the show. I would have asked to be moved to another seat (if I was feeling particularly bold that day). Here are some pictures from today. As I get older I have realized I look MUCH better in black in white. I am noticing how I am aging and this makes me incredibly grateful for photo editing software.

After dinner the snow had started (YAY!) and Amy and I were parked by the theater. Her husband Travis is a police officer in Denver, so one of his fellow officers came to pick us up to take us to our cars. You know what that means? Yes, I got to ride in the back of a police car! Being the rule follower I am, I highly doubt I will ever be in the back of a police car again, so this was pretty exciting for me. Here was our ride:

He even held the door open for me. I doubt criminals (alleged criminals) get that kind of treatment! He warned me that there was not a lot of room in the back and he was not kidding. Being in the back of that car made the leg room at the Buell Theater look like first class. There was NO room for my legs. It was so tight and uncomfortable. While back there I checked it out. There are bars on the windows. I could barely hear the conversation going on up front because of the glass in between us, even though it was 50% open. I did think it was pretty cool that he drove down the 16th Street Mall because regular cars can't do that. I thought about asking him to turn on the sirens, but then realized that might be a bit much. I was just grateful for the ride on this slushy night.

I made my way home bummed it was not snowing harder. I love, love, love the snow. As I made it further south on I-25 it became more snowy. Wahoo!  When I got home I took this picture of the tree outside my bedroom:

It has just started and it makes me happy. The only negative thing about it is tomorrow is the Diak/Holder Family Thanksgiving. Bryan and I will be in California for the actual holiday so we wanted to do something with all my family beforehand. I have been looking forward to this for weeks now. We were supposed to have it next weekend but my brother in law got tickets to the Broncos game so we rescheduled (understandably so! If I had to chose between turkey or a football game, I would so be at the game). Tomorrow was also supposed to be the THIRD attempt at the family Christmas photo. The first time there was a prediction of snow so my parents canceled it so my sister would not have to drive down from Ft. Collins. Turned out that there really was not a lot of snow and we could have done it that day. My sister agreed not to come down but said if there is a blizzard the next time we tried, she would come down no matter what. Well, the second time we scheduled it, Tyler got the stomach flu so it was a no go. Now it is snowing again, and I am thinking tomorrow will not happen. Plus Bryan's son Camden has a fever. Ugh. That 15lb turkey might just have to hang out in my parent's fridge another week or so. We can get together next

weekend for dinner but my brother in law will not be there because of the game, so no picture. My mom said we could just pick a picture of each family from this year and put it together. Great idea if I had a family. What would I do? Give them a picture of just me? That would be a little weird. Perhaps I could pose next to a tree, like in my senior pictures, minus the bad perm. I hope the event takes place tomorrow but I don't think it will. I love when my family gets together. I love seeing my sister and her family, as well as all my nephews and niece. I love seeing them play together and I love seeing Bryan's boys bonding with members of my family. They loved Quinn and Ethan last time we got together. Bryan's other son Torrin also bonded with his fellow 2 year old (and my niece) Mikaya. They start so young these days, don't they?

Fingers crossed that it will happen tomorrow! If so, I will post some of the pictures (after some editing of course!)

Enjoy your weekend!

Thank You!

Just a quick post to say thank you to those of you who have been sending me positive, sweet and kind feedback regarding this blog. It just started and I love that you find it funny and entertaining. It means a lot to me when people tell me I am a good writer and storyteller. You all are the best, so thank you again!

Random Thoughts

As many of you know, I am extremely random. I say what I think and assume people traveled along the thought process that took place in my brain. Sadly, 99% of the time, this is not the case. This blog will be random. Very rarely will there be themes. Bear with me. It is how I roll :)

A few things that are on my mind right now:

• I went out to dinner tonight and when I came home all I could think about was having a pudding cup. I get on certain food kicks and lately it is JelloVanilla Pudding, also known as deliciousness in a tiny cup. I get home and go to the fridge eagerly anticipating the deliciousness that awaits. Then....it happened. I open the door and I do not see any pudding. I move the milk actually thinking it is hiding from me. I wonder if I put it on the door. Nope. No pudding. Sadness ensues and my stomach and taste buds are highly disappointed.
  

• While I was walking on the Cherry Creek Trail today, I walk past a man who is speed walking while smoking a cigar. Interesting.

• My friend Ethan and I had a waitress tonight whose name was Jessie. She wore the shortest jean shorts I ever saw, and a tube top with BIG neon pink earrings. Her belly button was pierced and she had on black and white knee highs like these:

Granted, she did not have the spaces for toes, although I don't know for sure as she was wearing shoes. The thought of actually wearing the pair shown makes me cringe as I HATE things between my toes. Having to wear those would be torture (and a major fashion don't in my book!)

Back to the point: Jessie had the voice of a "Valley Girl" and although I am not one to judge, she was incredibly ditzy.  Not sure why I had to share that info with you, but I did.

• I have the best boyfriend ever. I really do. I am super lucky. 

• I am not a fan of Tuesday night TV. Nothing is on. I did come across the show Hoarders on A&E last night and thought oh no, this is another one to put on the already filled DVR (Hello, my name is Dani and I am a TVaholic. There, I said it.) Hoarders makes me feel SO much better about my small piles of mail and scrapbook stuff. If you don't know what it is, here is the link: http://www.aetv.com/hoarders/ I was mesmerized by the people on this show. I felt anxiety watching them. I wanted to go into their houses and tell them they REALLY did not need that piece of broken tile or the green tutu. Then again, it is hard to give up things of your own that have meaning to you. It is far easier to throw away other people's things. When I need to purge I call my sister. I am thinking she needs to come down again sometime soon ;o)

• I would like to say a big Hello to my friend Suzy's boyfriend Joe. I am truly sorry that I took the other blog down, but now you have this one to read so you get a sense of who I am. You should do this, because I already know everything about you (don't get mad). Go Eagles! ;o)

• Before you share your blog link with the world, make sure you delete the other blogs attached to your email address. Once upon a time I had a dating blog and I really did not remember what I had wrote on that site. Then people started telling me they found the dating blog. This sent me into a panic. What had I written? When I got home I went to the old blog and had to laugh. Some of the stories I had completely forgotten. I absolutely cringe over the post of how I was sad because I thought my previous ex was "the One." Um, he cheated on me, lied to me, cheated on his ex wife, had a father who had many affairs one of which produced a child, said mean things to me and we broke up several times. PLUS he played the piano endlessly which drove my sister and brother a tad bit batty (at least that is the impression I got). The color guard was doing a full blown routine with their red flags but I had been on SO many bad dates that the first somewhat nice and fun guy that came along looked like Prince Charming when in reality he was a big old toad. Sure, I was sad for about a week but I look back and think WHY did I waste tears on that guy? He was wrong for me in so many ways, and now that I am with someone amazing who I love and adore (as well as his kiddos), I realize just how foolish I was. On the positive side, I am glad for every horrible date I went on and for meeting all the wrong people. It made it a whole lot easier to realize when the right one came along. 

• As I was driving through my neighborhood tonight, I saw a house totally decked out for Christmas already. Then I drove through town and some of the strip malls have their Christmas lights on. It seems to me that it gets earlier and earlier every year. Granted, I LOVE this time of year and I LOVE the holidays but it does not feel like November to me at all.
  

• Speaking of lights-I know Christmas is to celebrate the birth of Christ and I hope I do not offend anyone by saying this, but I think it would be kind of cool to have people put up lights a month and a half before my birthday. There really is nothing to celebrate between August and September so why not? Instead of pictures of Santa there could be pictures of me in the stores. Signs and calendars alerting you to how many shopping days are left until Dani's birthday. Somehow I do not think this will catch on but I can dream can't I? 

I have a million other things I could write, but House Hunters in on, and well, my couch is calling.

Goodnight!

15 Years and Counting

Once upon a time in a land called Ft. Collins, Colorado, I attended Colorado State University. As a freshman 15 years ago, I signed up for one of my PE credits: Bowling. Yes people. Bowling. I love bowling. LOVE it! I hate running and other possible PE credits so taking bowling was the best choice for me. Some people may see that as a cop out. I saw it as fabulous. If I remember correctly, being a freshman I had the mindset that since I started high school at 7:35 I would easily be able to make an 8 o'clock class that I just had to walk to. Bad idea. College is a whole new ballgame. An 8 o'clock class is never a good idea.  I believe I was in the 8 a.m. class. I knew no one, and felt somewhat uncomfortable. Although I am overly outgoing, something about getting up in front of strangers, bending over and throwing a ball for all to see was not comfortable for me. I have always been insecure about my body, and bowling really does not do wonders for the body image. Looking back, I was about 100 lbs then and self conscious about my bottom? Really? I should have been more worried about the flannel shirts I was wearing (give me credit: everyone else wore them too. Not sure what we were thinking, or how I got dates wearing them.)

In my bowling class I met Kathy. I think we were put on the same team and we instantly became friends. We laughed a ton, shared everything and formed a great friendship. 15 years later we are still friends. We are the kind of friends that can go months or even years without seeing each other or talking, yet we can always pick up where we left off. It is a great thing to have a friend like that.

We have a tendency to go to movies that are either completely empty or where it is empty until someone comes in and sits right in front of us despite the fact that there are tons of rows and seats available NOT in front of us. We also tend to see horrible movies together (not intentionally). We find laughter in the smallest things. I remember seeing Shrek with her and laughing so hard I cried.

In 1999, I moved to Florida to work at Disney World. Kathy was kind enough to drive with me to Florida. So many adventures and stories from that trip. Maybe someday they will come out. So much laughter my stomach hurt. I love those moments.

We played in the parks and I am not sure where these were taken but they still make me laugh to this day. I remember we went to Target in Orlando and had them developed (back in the stone age of film cameras). We opened them at the snack bar and laughed so hard at these pictures.

Serious astronauts. Love it!

Kathy got married 3.5 years ago to Jason. When I hear about someone but never meet them I refer to them as Snuffaluffagus because on Sesame Street people claimed Snuffy existed but no one saw him in person. I have called Jason Snuffaluffagus and really wanted to meet him. That day finally came last night when Bryan, Kathy, Snuffy and I met for dinner at Houston's. *Sidenote: I love Houston's and I am ridiculously happy one has come to Colorado and is not somewhere like Grand Junction.*

When Kathy walked in, I spotted her and Snuffy. He exists! So now, he is Jason. We had a great dinner, good talks and then off we went to the Bonnie Brae Ice Cream place. While there, I noticed the somewhat creepy looking bear. Being me, we had to get pictures.

I love how the bear is "looking" forward in the first picture, but soon things change...In the second picture, it looks as if he is totally checking out Kathy and I am clinching my teeth as if to say "This creepy bear is checking out my married friend." Please note, this bear does not move. That is why I think the difference between these two pictures is quite funny. 

Despite the creepy bear, it was a good night. It is fun to have other couple friends who share similar interests. It is also great to have a friendship of 15+ years. Love you Kath!

QX56, I love you!

Bryan and I went to a car dealership last week to look at possibly getting a car for me. Two car seats and the possibility of one in the future would not fit in my car so we have been looking around and dreaming. If it were in my name, I am SURE they would let me get it because who doesn't want to give a loan to the unemployed gal? I think they do ;o) Anyway, we had been thinking about the QX56 because, well, it is awesome. Besides being obviously awesome, it is a little piece of heaven on wheels. There are captain's chairs and a third row that people can actually sit it. It has a DVD player, a Bose stereo, and oh so many things I loved. Main reason being it is not a mini van. Granted, there are some sweet mini vans out there, but they are just not something we want to drive. Ever. I was so excited to drive the QX, only to realize the battery was dead. They tried to jump it. No go. So the little piece of heaven on wheels went into the shop, and I sat there, heartbroken. Alright, that is a tad bit dramatic and being that I did not get to drive it, I can't say I am in love. Infatuated, maybe. Look at it. So beautiful. So wanting to be loved by me.....

Speaking of cars, Bryan's "baby" is his 2010 Camaro. One day he popped the trunk so we could get the groceries out and that is when I saw what you see on the left hand side. The running man. I am not sure why, but this little mechanism makes me giggle every time I see it. I love how he is running out of what looks nothing like the Camaro. I love that the car makers actually thought, "You know, if someone is locked in this trunk, they are going to need to know what to do and where to go. Therefore, we need to put an arrow to show them direction." I really hopes this comes in handy someday for someone who happens to be locked in a trunk, and has no idea what to do once they get that trunk open. Best of luck to you little man who has really small feet, and looks to be carrying a can of something in your hand.

Hello and Welcome!

Hi all- Everyone has always told me I should write a book so since no publisher is knocking down my door, I thought I would start here. When I was fully emerged in the world of online dating, so many crazy events happened to me on my dates that I had to share them. I created a dating blog and received positive feedback. Some of the feedback also included a request for a blog about my life outside of the dating world. Now that I am in a relationship with Bryan and I am no longer going on a date with someone new each night, it is time for the Danielle's life blog.

Before this began, I would lay awake at night trying to think of something crafty to call this but nothing seemed to fit me and my personality. If I did think of something clever, it was already taken. As many of you know, I am a fan of the show, The Office. The main character Michael often says "That's what she said" after something that sounds dirty but it not meant to be. Bryan, my family and I have picked up on this and have started putting that same quote after people say certain things. Realizing we do this, my blog name came to me. That's What D Said. The people closest to me call me D, so I thought hey, I am going to essentially be saying things on my blog, and I am D, so voila! The name was created.

I hope you enjoy following the events of my life, the pictures I will share, and of course the random thoughts and stories that are always a constant in my life :o)