1. Got my very first passport (story to come soon–it’s a doozy).
2. Stayed up until the wee hours of the morning reading through the archives of this blog. Wept until my face hurt, and then went to love on my kids.
3. Spent $54 at the vet’s office on an $8 rat.
4. While in Arkansas, awakened in our hotel room in the middle of the night to find that my daughter was nowhere to be seen. Found the little bugger in the bathroom, where she had painted the entire room (walls, potty, sink, herself, etc.) with my mascara wand.
5. Left housekeeping a very good tip the next day.
6. Went to Wal Mart so many times that I’m starting to think I should just hand out my credit card number to every associate the minute I walk in the door.
7. Listened to Hubs Dryer beatbox using a Disney Princess microphone. I love that man.
8. Joined a gym, but I did it on December 31st so that technically it wouldn’t count as a new year’s resolution.
9. Went into such an absolutely spazzed-out organization/cleaning frenzy that it will truly have to be a blog post of its own.
10. Got a much-needed phone call from a dear friend who said simply, "I’m coming to get your boys right now. You need some rest." That girl has bailed me out more times than I can count.
11. Was amazed at how much cleaner my house was when I’m not blogging regularly. Thought about giving up blogging for 3.7 seconds. Then the moment passed, and I just decided to live in a dirty house.
12. Saw this movie in the theaters (liked it), rented this movie (absolutely adored it), and also rented this movie (hated it with a white-hot hatred).
13. Fell in love with this toy. Corrie calls it her "pooter" (computer). Listened to sons joke endlessly about the fact that their sister talks about a pooter.
14. Stayed up too late laughing with dear friends last night. It’s a great way to start the year.
15. Let my kids watch the ball drop at 11 pm CST last night and conveniently "forgot" to explain how time zones work so that they’d go ahead and GO TO BED ALREADY.
16. Three words: sassy pink laptop. Oh, and one more word: MINE!
Rocks In My Dryer 
SOunds like a pretty exciting “vacation”.
A mascara strewn hotel bathroom?? Well I’m sure you handled it better than I would have. 🙂
You kind of wonder what goes on in the little minds of children when they are participating in such “creativity”. Do they realize they are doing something “bad”? Part way through do they start feeling a bit apprehensive? Or are they just having so much fun they aren’t thinking at all??!
Impressive list! What happened to the rat that required a trip to the vet? And I love the thought of Hubs Dryer beatboxing into a pink princessy microphone. lol!
I think you are the only other person I know that also enjoyed Lady In The Water. Yay! What a fabulous vacation you’ve had.
Happy New Year!
Steph
#3 makes me think of the old 10cc song, “The Things We do For Love.” My number 11 is that I think about quitting my job and my house would be better. Great list.
Great times! Sounds like you had a great break. That rhymes…lol.
Anyway…we watched alot of movies….Pursuit of Happyness….great movie if you haven’t seen it…great.
We did the same thing with the time zones with Madison last night but she figured it out and got mad and said lying is a sin and we should consider this to be a new years resolution….kids!
Sassy Pink Laptop…….congrats! I wish I could say the same.
Lovin’ #’s 4 and 6…bwahahahahaha
Wow, I want to comment and I can’t even pick which one to comment on. I am curious if the hotel bathroom looked longer and more lustrous?
We saw the new National Treasure, also. I thought it was well done.
Welcome back! I missed you!
We let the kids stay up too. We thought they would fall asleep since they are only 4, 5 and 7, but they were still going strong at 11:30pm. I was asleep on the floor and hubs was falling asleep on the couch. We were terrible and made them go to bed at 11:30pm…we just couldn’t keep OUR eyes open anymore.
I want a sassy new pink laptop too!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Passport, huh?
😉
Oh girl, our tastes in movies seem to be identical, hooray!
And I’m thrilled that you got your sassy pink laptop! How special are YOU?
So glad I’m not alone in my hatred of Click!! What was with all those good reviews?! I thought “Spanglish” was another Sandler stinker–and it was popular among professional reviewers, too.
Sounds like a fantastic Christmas! I can’t wait to hear about the passport, and what you’re going to DO with it. 😉
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year!
I can’t believe you got the pink laptop. Oh, this is making me covet…
I have been to Wal-mart so much that the greeter just says, “Hey, Melanie. Welcome to Wal-mart. How’s your Mama doing?”
Thanks for all the insight you bring to your blog about the daily doses of reality in a family that loves the Lord. You are able to share real life with a holy perspecitve on it. I love to read your blog. May God continue to bless and encourage you to walk in His ways. Blessings. Jean
They were greeting me by name at Target. “Good Morning Melissa, how much would you like to spend today?”
Happy New Year!
Sounds fab! Passport…My mind is wandering!
Nice score on the pink “pooter”.
Is the Rat ok?
Busy vacation. sounds like you need a vacation from your vacation.
I missed your sunday linkage the other day. 😦
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
glad you are back!
~Amy
I love your lists.
Sounds like a great vacation, to me. I anxiously await the details of your cleaning whirlwind and the passport saga.
Happy 2008, Shannon.
Glad to hear you liked Lady in the Water. I think some reviewers took it way too seriously instead of viewing it as a bedtime story, which is what it was supposed to be.
I know just from the previews that I would hate Click. I loved Spanglish, though.
I got a laptop too. Thanks Santa. My is a gorgeous black and silver. I really do like pink though. Funny, I had nearly the same fantasy you did. #4 scared me silly at first, and my kids are big now. Glad you had a wonder filled Christmas and thrilled you aren’t going to quit blogging. Happy New Year.
What an interesting break! The laptop sounds great 🙂
(And, I feel your pain on #3. Our “free” cats cost us $350 just in unexpected bills this year)
We got the same pooter for Christmas! My little one’s love it! We also saw Nat’l Treasure and loved it.
Happy New Year!
Love Lady in the Water, it didn’t do so well with reviewers though. I am looking forward to seeing National Treasure and while I didn’t hate Click, I wasn’t crazy about it!
I am so much in agreement with you…blogging is definitely a winner over cleaning!
I adore you Shannon, but ‘Lady in the Water’?
Every time I ever think of lifting a dumb bell I think of the Guardian.
It’s really a visual I could do without.
At least it motivates me to work both sides equally…lol
Happy 2008!
Im gonna have to remember that #15 for future reference!
Lee Ann, Mason, and I enjoyed seeing you and the entire Dryer family. Glad you had a good break!
I can’t believe I followed the link to Ellie and spent 2 days crying over her and her family. How sad, tragic and yet inspirational. Thank you.
Congrats on scoring your deeply hinted at gift! Bonus!
You hated Click? Spanglish was a little sad and disappointing to me but I loved Click. Aside from the slutty secretaries. I thought it stated an important message about not wanting to rush through the little moments in life. I was expecting something slapstick with Adam Sandler in it but was surprised that I actually wanted to cry during moments.
I’m looking forward to seeing National Treasure, have wanted to see Lady in the Water and I also hated Click. Stupid movie.
I got my daughter a ClickStart for Christmas. We all love it!! She knows how to turn it all on and plays it whenever she wants to…has a great time!!