A Tale of Two Parties

Eeks!  How is it I remember blogging about something that happened BEFORE I ever had a blog!  Are blogs like cell phones and Diet coke now?  We can't seem to remember how we did things before they came along?  I can almost swear I blogged about Dandy's birthday party last year because it was a crazy day where I gave his party and attended two others plus an entire parade!!!  That was a day etched in my mind and my camera!  I must have emailed my tales to people before blogging because I put those events together somewhere.  I just know it.  

Well, anyway, I'm going to try to push past this and do a little compare/contrast with my birthday boy's 5th and 6th  parties now that I'm actually blogging outside my mind.  I am right?

OK!  So.  Dandy, our little party planner extraordinaire, likes to plan his birthday celebrations well in advance.  We've known all year, for instance, that his number six party would be a "blue" party with an underlying "Thomas the Tank Engine" theme.  Easy enough, we made it so.  

Here we have things like: blue rice krispy treats, blue chips, gummy bears and m&m's in blue, blue dip for the non blue veggies, blue chocolate dipped pretzels(not pictured because I forgot to get them out), blue filling in the non blue tortillas, white cheese and white cheese dip ( I just didn't have the heart to soil the cheese dip after everything else was doused in food coloring.) 

And then we had the Thomas cupcakes, stickers and gifts to round out that portion of the theme.

Yes, he was one happy party host, walking around handing out spoons and stickers with a most hospitable air.  There was no room for blue moods by the time this party started.

We had trains coming and going for engineers young and old to busy themselves with.

And my sweet sister-from-another-mister, Arlynda and her family even came up from Tulsa!  :D  (We have always been twin-like in our looks and sillies.  HI ARLY!)

What I have failed to mention or picture in this happy go lucky post is that while everyone was blueing it up heartily, slowly the children were dropping like flies.  Two kids left early with stomach aches (NOT caused by my colored food-I promise!), and then one of my nephews fessed up to his tummy woes but couldn't bring himself to leave while the leaving was good.  About an hour later.....we saw the party again....all..over.. the..floor.  Yep, after so carefully keeping the fluorescent punch in restricted areas away from the carpet-- hurl happened.  And it wasn't train colored.  

Did I say up there I was going to compare and contrast two parties?  Do YOU have all day to read this blog entry?  Did you check out after the first picture realizing this is just another had-to-be-there post?  That's what I figured.  And I'm supposed to be washing my dogs for Thanksgiving travels!! That is, no doubt, the reason I'm still here. 

Ok, instead of changing the title of this post (which would be the logical choice),I'll just show you what last years party looked like so I can say I included it.  It was quite the Festivus of Verdis if I do say so myself.  Which would you rather eat (or hurl)?  Green or Blue?   

    

As you can see, our adorable Dandy is a colorful chap at any age!  Happy birthday big D!  I'm hearing talk of Red and Orange for next year so we shall see. We shall see. 

Have a great week and Holiday weekend everyone! I may not see you for a while! 

"Be-GOCK!!!"

Yes, it's official I'm still a huge chicken. My hilarious friend Trish uberkindly described the experience I'm referring to here.  

I thought for sure by this time in life I would be just a touch more brave about getting up in front of a crowd, but apparently I'm still just as insecure as ever.  The strange thing about it is that I like singing, and I like performing on stage as well-but not as myself.  Without some sort of disguise or costume, my body betrays me and tries to go into shut down mode at the mere thought of being seen!  The liquid once kept in my mouth instantly moves to my armpits, forcing my lips to move dramatically around my teeth like a horse with peanut butter. The blood that when in my head helps me remember lyrics and practiced cues, just as suddenly migrates to my extremities, leaving my head vacuously circling while my legs get ready to run or buckle beneath me.

It's the familiar scene of the classic performance anxiety from which I suffer.  But, the real problem is that this anxiety is not restricted to the stage.  I can get performance anxiety just knowing I have a really busy day or week ahead of me.   I don't have that little buck -up gene that huddles together with the others and says "Look gang, I've got just the go juice this project needs!  Sit back and enjoy the gun show while I fire this baby up!"  And then of course, he would make engine revving sounds with his tiny little plasma mouth and kick me into high gear. 

Nope, I don't have one of those.  Or maybe I'm just missing one because genes prefer to work in pairs and my little tough guy gene is missing his Harley counterpart.  

In any case............. CURSE YOU JR. HIGH!! 

(I don't know if this is the real culprit or not but I like to yell that sometimes when I'm feeling particularly scarred about something.  It's nice to have a scapegoat at the ready- after all.) 

I just wish I could figure out how to get past this self induced handicap.  I mean, come on!  Can't I just learn to tap into Big Shan when I need her instead of having her pop up whenever the diva so chooses?  If only.  You can't control a diva's schedule you know.  Don't waste your time trying.  

She's busy accosting young mothers and imposing her baby holding services on them. Or, she might even surface upon meeting a new church member at the store and on each and every aisle, quiz the woman wildly about her family life, while in turn sharing equally about her own.  OY VEY!  At one point in the middle of my chattiness on that particular day, I recall even telling this nice victim lady how shy I was.  Then, because B.Shan is always on her toes, I realized suddenly how absurd that must have seemed to my new friend, so we shared a little laugh over that one. (titter titter titter)

Oh well.  We all have our own hang ups don't we?  Why do mine seem to be more like hang outs?  Some day it would really be nice to board the bus to sanity and actually not get off until I get there.  Until then, I suppose it's back to my Relacore study and being an inappropriate freakazoid when I least expect it. Such is life-cluck, cluck- such is life.  

IT'S THE HUBBY'S BIRTHDAY!!

In case you didn't know it, I have the sweetest, kindest, most clever ninja husband one could possibly ask for!  Please join me in wishing him a veeeery happy birthday while I go off and try to forage for party supplies.  Here he is with young Ratchet in an extremely manly video they made over the weekend:  

Pumpkins + Sword = Fun



p.s. He made the music too. :D

LOVE YOU SWEETHEART!!! XOXOXO

A late because I'm Shan(and Shan can) picture gallery from Halloween

This was supposed to be footage of the army dude getting his game face on for candy collecting but his little brother refuses to share the spotlight so we have this.  It is a rare moment in the day when either of my children aren't speaking.  It's usually all or nothing (nothing being sleep) for them both.  I realize, of course, I'm just getting my due.  My mom didn't call me Chatty Kathy just for fun back in the formative days.  Here's a little sample of how it is at my house: 

The actual trick-or-treating went much the same way for Dandy.  It was like a mosh pit of emotions for the little boy who didn't like not knowing how the whole evening was going to go.  Of course, any night where collecting candy is the main activity; it's usually gonna turn out pretty decent for a chappy with a sweet tooth.  

For Ratchet, it's really all about the costume and embodying the complete character.  He's out to convince the general public on Halloween that whatever he happens to be wearing is actually his full time job in the real world.  

And then there was the less convincing performance....

But seriously, who wouldn't root for this guy on the field? 

Here's one last shot of my little pumpkins begging for candy at their grandparents house.  We figured they were a sure thing when it came to MRE's and Gatorade.

And once the young had their cavity collecting done and the street grime and makeup washed away, we sent them off to dream of ghouls and goblins so that we could snack and laugh it up with friends.  OOH OOH AHH AHH!!!  Ah yeah, who's the goblin now?

 Apparently it was me, because even though I wasn't in costume, I had the Big Shan face out and was parading it around!  At least that's what my photos seem to project.  

Here's me meeting Sarah Palin in my own kitchen as she made her final campaigning rounds.  She really seemed quite smart and up on the issues when I met her. I was just pleased as punch to meet her.

After a while, and one costume change into a more comfy outfit, I realized Sarah P. had been my friend Trish all along!  She went the "trick" angle for sure-GAH!! 

She was ready for the press to leave her alone in this next picture, but I'd have nothing of the sort.  I don't have people over often and you are probably starting to see why.

I made my famous (though hideously fattening and even more hideous sounding) dried beef dip as one of my snickies. And Matt wasn't sure what he ate before discovering this mayonaise and sour cream heart clogging wonder.  Teehee- I KNOW MATT! I KNOW!

And finally here's a creepily lit picture of the master of the house, D.J. Jazzy Jamey.  He made the perfect musical compilation for our tiny Halloween mixer because that's his thang dawg!  Now, don't you cross him!  

Speaking of...the dude is waiting patiently in the other room for me to wrap this picture laden post on up!  And now, I'm all exclamation pointy about it, so I'd better scoot!!!  Take it easy YO!