Laugh and the world laughs with you, cry and you cry alone.....

Okay, this is how I now look. My hair pretty much looks like Arnie's, and he has a BAD dye job.

Actually, I'm a bit lighter than him, but similar...

On the positive side, my eyebrows look great!!!

So what's my solution... the same solution I always have.. MAKEUP!!!!! Lots of eye makeup, and I'm thinking my blush color is just not right, so I dig out an old Clinique Berry Stain color, put it on my cheeks, put on all that eyemakeup, shiny lipstick....

Now, I look like a bad imitation of an OLD Kewpie doll. All I need is hoop earrings and false eyelashes. Is that next??? I think NOT!!!!

It isn't really all that bad, not really. Really it isn't. But I'm on my way to the store to buy Tide, just in case. Oh what a day, what a day, what a DAY!!!!

What have I done now???

When I sent LC to the store this morning, I told him to get me hair color. So he's calling me from the color aisle in WallyWorld, I told him I wanted medium golden blonde, which I have been using for about a year now. My hair was just way too blonde, and I've been slowly going darker, but I'm thinking I might like to go a bit darker even still, so I told him to also pick me up a dark golden blonde and I would decide later which one I would use. Well, it's later... He got some new natural product from Loreal' and it has no peroxide in it. So I thought, what the heck, I'll try it.

And so here I sit, with it on my hair, and it's getting darker, and darker, and I'm just kinda watching it turn this funky color. But I can't wash it out yet, it isn't time...

Oh, I know tomorrow I'll be sitting around with Tide in it, trying to get it lighter. Lordy, lordy, whatever was I thinking? I'm thinking the problem is not the HAIRCOLOR, it's the WEIGHT. I should be "dieting" instead of "dying," know what I mean Vern...

Oh, but that's not all. In the meantime, I decided to wash my pillows. Well the washer was all lopsided, it was walking on me, I readjusted the pillows again and again, I had put two different types of pillows in there, one was polyfilled the other was, omg, it was FEATHERS.... Now why did I do that? So the polyfill one is relatively spun out, the feather one is totally water laden, I take out the polyfill, put it in the dryer, try and spin out the feather one again, but OH NO, it will NOT spin - kerthunk, kerthunk goes the washer, so I'm thinkin' where is that damned LC when I need him.... Arughhhhhhhhh.... So I lean in, mind you I'm still in my nightshirt with this crap all over my hair, I pull out the pillow, and I'm leaning into it, trying to squish out the water so I can dry it. I'm leaning on it with all my might, pushing on the darned thing, and by now my nightshirt is totally watersoaked, but I manage to get a reasonable amount of water out of it, hopefully enough that I can put it in the dryer without it short circuiting and electrocuting me. But now I have this "gunk" on my hair, and I'm wet, so I yank off the nightshirt, no way can I put another one over the hairdye, so now I'm sitting here, totally naked, totally pissed, blogging this. If the doorbell rings I'll just DIE!!!! Meanwhile, my hair is starting to look this awful mousy brown color, oh yeah, and I put the stuff on my eyebrows, too... oh what a day, WHAT- A- DAY!!!!!

Update later....

It's a three ring circus in Heavensville this sunny Friday morning....

Usually I break up bathtime for the M&M's into two days. It's quite a job giving them both a bath in the same morning, but I it was up early today, so I decided to do them both and get it over with, it wouldn't be a biggie. Munchie was first, I gave her her bath in the kitchen sink, blew her dry at LC's desk in the garage. She's such a good girl, she just sits quietly and lets me do whatever.

And I must admit, Mags has turned into a trooper as well. She used to try and escape out of the sink, but since we do this weekly, she's into the groove, she just sits there and lets me stream water over her without a struggle. I usually dry her at my dressing table, but since I was already setup in the garage for Munchie, I scooped her up in a warm towel and took her out there for her blowdry.

Well, first of all, LC had just left for WallyWorld, so the normally 60+ degree garage had cooled down considerably since Munchie's bathtime. Linds had given Maggie her pricey Redken straightening serum to see it it would help with my constant struggle with tangles in her nappy hair, so I applied a dab of it, I started drying her, and she's off the desk in a shot, bounces off my lap and heads for the hills, she was this little soggy streak, heading for the kitchen.

Meanwhile, I'm making caramel corn for hubby and Ryan and Lindsay, who will be here tonight, and my timer is beeping because it's time to stir it in the oven. So I give it a quick stir, find Maggie in the den, laying on her back on the couch, wriggling for all she's worth in an attempt to get herself dry. I scoop her up, head back to the now frigid garage, put her on the desk, fire up the dryer and bam, she's off again. The phone is ringing, it's LC from the store, so I talk to him, find Maggie once again in the den, ON THE COUCH AGAIN, running back and forth as fast as she can trying to get dry.

Duh, the light dawns, it's the sound of the garage hairdryer she doesn't like. It has a high pitch whine, while mine has a lower sound to it. So we head to my dressing table, she sits on my lap like the little sweetheart she is and I get her dry, FINALLY...

And that's my little Friday tale from my speck o' the net.... Never a dull moment with the M&M's......

Sleepin in the sun.... what a life...

It's a bright , sunny day in Heavensville, this cold January morning. The girl's are sleeping on the sunroom sofa. Maggie is in the back, nested in behind Munchie.

Why do i ALWAYS think about food???

Hooterville says I think about food more than anybody she has ever known. That woman NEVER thinks about it. I swear she can go around on empty all day if she's busy shootin pix. I wish I could do that. Nish and I always say that we will both we eating on our deathbed. No matter how sick we are, we STILL eat. And no matter WHAT I'm doing, when it's mealtime, I have to stop and eat. I just can't run on empty.

Lately I've been thinking a lot about chicken potpie. Now Tonia makes a killer one, it's SOOOO wonderful. I seldom make them, but I've been known to throw back a few Swanson's in my day... No Banquets tho, they only give you a top crust. Miz Piggy, here, wants the bottom crust, too. But of course, the Mother of all Frozen Pot Pies has to be Marie Calendar. The crust is made with lard, and it has a gadzillion fat grams... It's good, not as good as T's, but the best "store bought" available.

I remember as a little girl, Mother would come home from work, bake us both Swanson Beef or Chicken Pot Pies and a fix a salad with Wishbone Italian dressing, the mix in the little packets that you pour in the bottle and shake. She would chop celery and onion into a really small dice, and put it in the salad, tossing it in her big stainless steel bowl, the one that I now use daily in my own kitchen. We would set up the tv trays in the living room, and eat "supper" watching Chet Huntley and David Brinkley on the NBC evening news. Oh, I loved that meal. Jeez, Louise, what made me think of that??? Talk about a trip down memory lane....

I Googled Marie Calendar, looking for nutritional information, and found the recipe for their Pot Pie. I'm posting it on Jan Can Cook.

Doonesbury, tellin it like it is.... awesome 'toon

Click on Icky Donald to Enlarge and Read

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Busy little bee...

No time to blog, but I did take time to post some Super Bowl Recipes on Jan Can Cook. Hop over to that board, check them out, the barbecue coleslaw looks yum-o!

And I posted a great looking Potato and Onion Frittata on the Eating Light Board, 238 calories per serving, too.

Family Stuff...

Ryan and Lindsay arrived safely in Heavensville last night just ahead of a storm, so of course Mom is relieved to have them safely tucked in.

John and Tonia bought a new television, and John is busy hooking up all the wires, cables, speakers, etc. today. Tonia has had her eye on this iron canopy bed for months now. It's in a store in downtown Franklin, and it's really special. We had a big discussion about it yesterday and she really wants THAT bed. You go, girl!!!! I've seen the bed, it's adorable, and since it's gonna be in the guest room, Milly is all for it, too!!!

It's Barrett-Jackson Auto Auction weekend, so of course all the guys are glued to the tube. LC has been on the phone with Charlie already, they all have to discuss the selling prices and which of these old cars they had when they were young and how rich they would be now if they still had 'em. Men Schmen!

Uncle Rich had his 57th birthday yesterday. I told him he was as old as me now, he said NOT...

And that's it from Heavensville... Just sitting here waiting for the snow...

They left Texas in the dust.....

Ry and Linds are on their way to Heavensville, via Dallas. They should arrive late tomorrow night, each driving a car. We are all so thrilled that they are moving so close to home. Lexington, here they come!!!

Life is good when your kids are in a good place. *huge sigh of relief*

~ Jan

You need to try this....

Trish gave LC and I chowder tonight, shrimp chowder she had made. She got the recipe from her foodie girlfriend, it is SO easy, you can do this in five minutes and SO good! Trish has been ordering shrimp chowder at Abuelo's, and she says this is hands down better.

It's posted on Jan Can Cook - check it out!!! Perfect for this cold weather.

Arughhhhhh, you can't take me ANYWHERE!!!!

Hubby was off today, we had errands to run, I wanted to go to Panera for black bean soup, he didn't, but he humored me, we went. I had on a black sweater, denim jacket, and I kept thinking, something isn't right with the cuff on this sweater.

Well, we ate lunch, it was hot, I took off my jacket. Came home, took the jacket off again, I'm sitting at the computer, and he said, did you know your sweater is on wrong-side out? Holy crap, I was sitting in Panera all thru lunch with my sweater wrong side out. He said, "I thought something looked funny at lunch, but I didn't say anything." HE DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING??????? ROARRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MEN SCHMEN!!!

The times they are a changin'

The following was on the Drudge Report this morning. For a woman of my generation, this seems surreal...

~ jan

51% of Woman are Now Living Without Spouse

For what experts say is probably the first time, more American women are living without a husband than with one, according to a New York Times analysis of census results.

In 2005, 51 percent of women said they were living without a spouse, up from 35 percent in 1950 and 49 percent in 2000.

Coupled with the fact that in 2005 married couples became a minority of all American households for the first time, the trend could ultimately shape social and workplace policies, including the ways government and employers distribute benefits.

Several factors are driving the statistical shift. At one end of the age spectrum, women are marrying later or living with unmarried partners more often and for longer periods. At the other end, women are living longer as widows and, after a divorce, are more likely than men to delay remarriage, sometimes delighting in their newfound freedom.

In addition, marriage rates among black women remain low. Only about 30 percent of black women are living with a spouse, according to the Census Bureau, compared with about 49 percent of Hispanic women, 55 percent of non-Hispanic white women and more than 60 percent of Asian women.

Oh my...

You have to hop on over to the GirlTalk board, and see the pix of Diane Keaton. Even better, click on the link on my GirlTalk page to watch the trailer of her new movie. Gotta see it, as soon as it comes out....

Check it out!!!

GirlTalk is now working...

You can always access GirlTalk from munchiebusiness.com, just go there and click on the words GirlTalk, or you can access it here...

A little info....

I talked with Linds this morning, she too is having trouble adjusting to all the whitespace on this site, along with everybody else. Even hubby is saying, it's too plain, it needs "stuff."

You'll get used to it, really you will. I always hate change, too - but this is SO much easier for me to work with than the old Movable Type setup I was using. One of the great features we now have are labels. If you will scroll down the sidebar on the right, you will see the header labels, and underneath there are titles, Celebrities, Dirt, Dogs, Hooterville, etc. When I post an entry, I also post labels, so if you just want to look what I've been saying about a certain subject, you just click on one of the Labels, for instance, if you click on Yorkies, all the posts I've made about the M&M's will appear. Slick, huh?

I'll keep adding info to that sidebar, so keep checking it out. I need to make all of my Bedside Table Books hyperlinks so that you can click and read a synoposis. I'll get there, just takes time. And I'll try to bring more color into the next skin I do for this page. Patience, dear hearts, patience.....

I've also revamped GirlTalk, so it will be up and running later today. I'll post the necessary info on that when I get it published. I think you'll really like the changes I've made to it. I'm trying to get input about it from Tonia, but they're having internet problems this weekend. I really like having the Dillys give me their opinion, they are right on top of all the girl stuff.... Mandi gave me some good suggestions for GirlTalk yesterday, also... I love all the fresh ideas from the 20's & 30's crowd, it breathes new life into the rest of us "old girls."

Talk about a bad hair day....

Jeez Louise, you should see my hair today. I swear I look like an older, fatter Florence Henderson from the Brady Bunch. I'm TRYING to let it grow. REALLY TRYING... I've had it short and spiky for five years now, I'm tired of it, I would like it to be chin length. I'd post you all a picture, but even me, who makes fun of myself all the time, is too vain for that... But this is pretty much how it looks, just shorter in the back. Egads, what a horrid do.....

I blew it dry, straightened it, with no products on it, and it's flatter than a flitter... Yikes, it's scary looking. And I'm no real crazy about the color either. I'm never crazy about the color, but when I look back at my pictures, I was wayyyyy too blonde. I've toned it down the last year, with a medium golden blonde color, but I'm gonna take a deep breath and dry dark golden blonde. I'm gonna hate it, I know I am. I'll be sitting around with Tide on it, trying to get some of the color out. But it's just something I HAVE to do. Know what I mean, Vern???

Here's the story,
Of a man named Brady,
Who was busy with three boys of his own.
They were four me,
Living all together, but they were all alone-.

Till the one day when the lady met this fellow,
and they knew they was much more than a hunch.
That this group,
Must somehow form a family.
That's the way we all became the Brady Bunch,
The Brady Bunch- the Brady Bunch
That's the way- we became the Brady Bunch.

And another thing...

I'm looking at the Flickr badge on this page, and these pix are a little tired. Well, with the exception of Hooterville smoking on the tombstone, that one is plastered on this site for-ever.

Soooo, if any of you have what you consider to be an exceptionally flattering picture of yourself.. I'm talking about a recent picture, you ding-dongs, I can just see some of you trying to sneak in a high school pix... Would you just email some updates, so that I can get Flickr looking as good as the rest of this site.

And remember back in the fall when I asked for that favorite item of clothing that's in your closet. I still have that info and will attempt to get it posted in the near future. Along with a tear-stained picture of that pair of jeans that I used to be able to fit into many, MANY years ago....

I'll be on here all weekend. Hubby always works Saturday and Sunday. Trisher and I were going to see Miss Potter, but oh no, it's not playing in Heavensville yet! Grrrrrr...

Later 'gators...

Holy Schmoly!!!

Hubby came back from WallyWorld with 2 HUGE bags of Gummi Bears... The kind with REAL fruit. I can now tell you that I am absolutely sick of Gummi's. Maybe this is what it took, a major pigout for me to get past the fact that I have obsessed about them for weeks now... Well I do have 1.5 bags left, but these were really, REALLY big bags, ladies...

Did you ever have a major wad of gummi's in your tummy? Not a good thing, trust me on this.

Will I ever learn? Why would I eat gummi's at my age anyway. Well, V overdoses on Peeps, now those little dudes are nasty, IMO. *sigh* to each his own...

Hi from Heavensville...

It's a new year, ladies, time for a fresh start, fresh pages... I've been a busy little bee, revamping The Dish, Jan Can Cook, and Eating Right. A few of your old favorites are missing, Holiday Recipes, The Spring Fling, my photo albums, etc. but they'll be back. I'm working on it...

AND, comments are working again - for the first time in AGES!!!

I hope you enjoy the new look. There are no archives at this point, but I do have them saved. I'm waiting for Blogger to have an import feature to put them back on, it's too time consuming to do it any other way. If you have any suggestions, email me and let me know...

~ Jan