Birthday Detox

My birthday is over. That is what I have to keep telling myself when I feel like being a lazy lump of space and don't want to cook my family dinner. This was the best brithday I've ever had. The whole week felt like a great big bear hug.

I've never had this many birthday cards before. And every card was so perfet from the person who picked it out, both sentimental and funny.

27th Birthday Highlights:
Cub/Cards game with Betsy
Ice cream cake from Joan
Lunch with work friends Brad Paisley concert with MIL and SIL
Target shopping spree
Surprise visit from my step sisters
Dinner with my grandparents, aunt, and cousin's family
A night on the town with my of my best friends and another couple
BLT dip and pizza for breakfast
Mall trip with Jen
Olive Garden carry-out for dinner to put me in a food coma until Monday

And here it is Wednesday... and I still need to get my rear in gear. Our Disney vacation is next week.... so excuse me, I won't be making dinner until June. :)

Birthday Week

Happy Birthday, to me {tomorrow}! If any of you work in an office, you know that when it's your birthday or someone else's birthday, it's food week. Every day of that week, the birthday is celebrated. Here is me on my birthday twenty years ago. I still feel that obnoxious. :)

Here is some of my birthday loot. My friend Betsy gifted me with the necklace and paper weight. My friend Ruth gifted me with the bracelet. My at-work BFF, Joan, got me a spa gift card, BFF bracelet, and made me an ice cream cake. :) *SLURRRRP*

Here is my near and dear, Betsy. She was in town from South Carolina {put your hands up!}, and took me to a baseball game. Since she doesn't know a stranger, we were able to do a front office tour of Busch Stadium. Did you know that when they won the World Series that everyone in the office got a ring too?

A few months ago, I was flipping through a food magazine and found a recipe for a Brownie Oreo Mint Ice Cream Cake. I ripped it out and put it on Joan's desk. Being the brat that I am, I said, "Make this for my birthday." And waa-laa. If I was a real 'blog mom' then I would have taken a picture of it cut on a white plate with a heavy fork. But Fat-Holly took over and devoured it too quickly to appreciate the beauty.

Tonight, my MIL and SIL are taking me to see Brad Paisley. I had to find the set list so that I can memorize all of the songs. It won't be fun unless I can have a few margaritas and embarrass my in-laws with my dancing.

Then tomorrow, my grandparent's will be in town and we're all going to dinner with my Aunt Denise and her family. My aunt is making me her famous carrot cake. By Sunday, I'm bound to have diabetes.

Happy Friday!

Houston, We Have a Problem

We headed to Houston on Friday to visit my sister and my new little niece, Eliana. Taking a toddler and a baby through the airport, along with a stroller, two car seats, and two carry-ons is not for a Glover.

Haven on the other hand, thought he was King of the World. He kept telling us that he was riding a "rocket ship." After our plane went to take off, he started screaming that he wanted off the rocket ship. :)




His little fit about wanting off the plane wouldn't have been a big deal, except that when the pilot went to take off the first time, he decided to go back to the gate because of a maintenance issue. Oh wonderful. Is 6am too early to order Jack n Coke from the service cart?

The plane was small and it didn't have overhead bins on one side, so they had all of us check our luggage at the gate. We had a Buzz Lightyear carry-on for Haven and a red carry-on for us. A few years ago when a family member gave us this red luggage set, I thought I would never have to find my luggage at baggage claim again. Wrong. :)

The airline put all of our carry-on luggage in this small warehouse connected to the airport {no gate for us since we were late coming into the airport}. After getting Olive in her car seat, keeping an eye on Haven who wanted to run free through George Bush International, and gathering the carry-ons and diaper bag, we were the last ones to get out of this warehouse and make our way through the airport.

As we were strolling up a ramp, I noticed Chris pulling a red piece of luggage with a thick blue stripe down the front. Immediately, I wanted to curl into fetal position and scream like a baby.

Our luggage got mixed up.

Big Mama Holly has never ran so fast in her life. If you all could only visualize me running, while pushing a stroller, and dragging a 60lb toddler seat by the seatbelt on the ground behind me, you would have died. I was a sight to be seen.

Needless to say... We found the people who had our luggage, had a quick swap and laugh, and kept trucking through the airport.

Girlfriend here loved Texas. Miss Sassy Pants Stanfield.

She also loved her cousin, Eliana. In this photo, I imagine Eliana saying in her Spanish accent, "This pork chop thinks I'm a tamale!"

They were ready for their Enfamil martini's at this point. :)

Not too bad of a Mother's Day vacation. :)

The Jack n' Coke was ordered on the flight home. :)

Mother's Day Linkup: The Time My Mom Got Even with a 7th Grader

I know I posted this story last year, but when my favorite 'Diana' stories come to mind, this is always the one I like to share.

Link up with Amy and I to share your favorite 'Mom' stories. :)

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So, let me give you some background.... It was 7th grade, towards the end of a long, rough year. I had moved out of my dad's and in with my older sister, but would spend time with my mom every morning. She would pick me up, make me breakfast, and then take me to my bus stop. My bus stop was on the way to my sibilings intermediate school, so it was just convenient.

The only thing not convenient? A girl named Amy Fisher, no joke, who would bully the hell out of me as soon as my mom dropped me off. She would talk about my weight (I'm the same weight now that I was when I was 12 years old), my arms, my teeth (think: British villager), the car my mom dropped me off in (trap shooting van)... and that was just getting her warmed up. Then, she would just start tearing my mom apart by telling the other kids that my mom was a "hooker" and that she always sees her standing on corners.

I never had the guts to say anything back. After all, her friend, Toni Clark, pushed me one time and when I went to kick her, I missed. Freaking. Missed.

So back to my story... It was my birthday and I was in the car with my brother, sister, and mom. We had just dropped Butkus and Noel off at Wilson... and my mom was making her way back to Derby Street to take me to my bus stop. On the way, I was begging my mom to just drive me to junior high that day, since it was my birthday, and I didn't want Amy Fisher being mean to me in front of everyone. I had never told my mom about her, so she started asking more and more questions. I told her how she makes fun of me, my arms, teeth, and how she thinks that my mom is a hooker. My mom goes, "a what??" I said, "she calls you a hooker and says she always sees you standing on corners."

So what does my mom do??

She goes to the bus stop, rolls down the window, and says, "Hey you." And Amy Fisher says, "Me?" And my mom goes, "Yes, you. Get off my corner." And then she drove away.

And I died.

The end.

By the way... How many mailmen worked our block?! ;)

Link up below and share your own 'mom' story. :)

Crackcorn: Teacher Appreciation Treat

 
I found this idea on pinterest HERE... But I could never find the recipe, so I improvised.

What you'll need for 10 goodie bags:

3 bags of microwave popcorn
1 bag of candy melts ($2.97 in the wedding aisle at Walmart)
Some sprinkles
Large bag of m&m's
Plastic treat bags (.97 in the birthday party aisle at Walmart)

I popped three bags of popcorn and scattered the corn across baking sheets lined with wax paper.

Then, I microwaved the candy melts in a glass bowl in two separate batches. It took about 2 minutes for each batch, while stopping the microwave to stir the melts halfway.

To make things easier, I scooped the melted candy into a disposable frosting bag. I snipped the bottom of the bag and then just drizzled the popcorn from side to side.

While the candy is still warm on the popcorn, I added the sprinkles and m&m's. Then I went back over the popcorn with the leftover candy melt to make zig-zags over the popcorn layer.

It took about 20 minutes for the coating to harden. Finally, I put a scoop of each mixture into a clear treat bag, tied with ribbon to a note. Since I started the popcorn theme, I put a movie gift card on the back of the note. 

These were super easy to make... and the popcorn is so yummy!

Also... Amy and I are having a Mother's Day Show & Tell tomorrow. You can link up and share a picture of your mom and your favotite story/memory. Mine will be a comedy routine. :)

Thursday Linkup

Amy {Story of Us} and I are doing a Mother's Day Show & Tell together. Haven has to do a Show & Tell about me tomorrow and bring one item to school that describes me {food!}, so I thought this would be fun.

On Thursday you can link up with Amy and I by sharing a photo of your mom and your favorite story, memory, or her celebrity look-alike, or the weird things she does that you swore you would never do, or whatever you want!

It can be crazy, funny, inspirational, feel-good, etc.

Since I'll be talking about my mother... This will give me two days to think of something nice to say. :)

She always tell me, "It's not funny if no one is laughing." So please laugh.

Hey Girl, Hey!

 
I'm back!!

I had to travel for work, for the first time ever.

Five planes in five days.

By Thursday night, I was crabbyyy. I wanted to go home to my babies, change diapers, watch Toy Story, and sleep in my own bed.

FYI.... When you're in an interview and the manager asks if you enjoy public speaking... Don't lie. God will humble you. :)

Anyway, here is a picture of my feet on day 2 of my travels. You're welcome.

All blistered and puffy from cheap shoes and airplane pressure. My 2nd toe is unusually long. I was told that this is a sign of intelligence. I realize, by my length, I should be a distinguished genius.

My shampoo was all over the entire of my bathroom bag. Fan-freaking-tastic.

In the meantime, my brother and his girlfriend went to Houston to see my little sister, Noel. I know you all love my Noel stories. Anyway, time to brag for a moment...

My brother is one of the biggest St. Louis Cardinal fans I know. His middle name is 'Louis' for the baseball team! Noel's husband was drafted to the Houston Astros {maybe she can send me some hand me downs for once now...}.

The Astros had a series against the Cardinals over the weekend. My sister flew my brother and his girlfriend Kayla down for the games and hooked them up in the family section. They got to meet every player.... and we're on cloud 9.

Butkus with Big Puma, Lance Berkman! Lance is one of my favorite, besides David Freese.

Mark McGwire!

Matt Holliday. Notice my brother hiding his Astros shirt? Him and Kayla wore Astros gear the first night to support my brother in law.

And here they all are with my niece, Eliana.

We're heading to Houston this week!! Hoping to eat my weight in Tex-Mex and not put my niece down.
Also.... am I the only one confused my the new blogger with editing HTML? Where are my space breaks?