we're ready, big guy! bring it on!

It's still only Fall, and the world outside my door already looks like this...


So, it didn't feel that odd to put up The Tree.  Besides, it's not like I'm putting it up while it's still +30C outside and I'm wearing a bikini.  Which Roomie wouldn't complain about.  Mainly because of the bikini.

Ahem, anyway, you see, this weekend was the Santa Claus Parade in our wee little town, which is our cue to make the house Santa-friendly.  It's our tradition.  

The kids take turns putting up the star.  Of course, I couldn't remember which one did it last year, so I had to  check out the cat's guest post from last year's tree trimming.  Thank goodness Mittens documented it!

In panda hat and ballet duds, it's Mini Muffin's turn!
Roomie's just trying not to collapse -- he was still feeling ill in this pic.
Lucky for Lam, I decided to start a new tradition.  The one who doesn't do the star puts up the wreath.  And there was joy all around!

Wow, dude needs a haircut!
Some find this early.  If you live in the Philippines, it actually would be considered late.  Andy Williams singing "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" can be heard in all corners of various malls as early as September.  And they don't even get snow.  Yes, I come from a very weird and wonderful people.

like the recap at the beginning of each star wars movie. except not in space. and you can read this as slowly as you want.

I haven't been a very good hostess, have I... No, it's true -- I suck.
But I assure you, I'm better at it IRL.  Really.  When you visit my house, I'm here ready to entertain with a night full of hoagies, strippers and dancing bears wine, dark chocolate, and intellectual conversation.

Lately, when you've come to visit Life Candy, I've been in Phoenix, or a yurt in Sprucewoods, or on my couch watching The Big Bang Theory.

But no more!  You see, I've made a pact with my friend Natalie, and she's going to nag kick my ass poke me repeatedly to see if I'm still alive gently remind me when I've gone too long without putting fingers to keyboard for this blog.

I was all "yay, motivation!", then I got this...


... and I thought "oh, crap."

Hence, here I am at 10:22pm, hurriedly typing to meet my 12 noon deadline so Natalie won't be pounding at my door.  Which totally could happen.  We are city sisters after all.

Okay, so, what have we been up to?  Well, here we go...
  • In case, you forgot what I look like, here...  :)   No, I don't actually have a child growing out of my chest. That's my Mini and her Baba.


  • Because Lam isn't in Scouts, Roomie -- who did go to Scouts as a boy -- decided to teach our son a valuable survival skill:  making a campfire.  Lam did this one all by himself.  He was so proud.  So was Roomie.  I have purchased extra fire extinguishers.


  • I cleaned my house. OMG!  What?!  Yes, friends, my house looks presentable-ish.  Like this.
  • I'm still on my nutritional health & wellness program and still enjoying coaching others to feel strong and look healthy.  I hear "OMG, Nenette, my skinny jeans are getting loose on me!  And I'm running around like the Energizer Bunny!  Thank you!" all the time, and I LOVE IT!!!
    Oh, and I've lost about 25lbs!  Yay!
  • As I mentioned, I was in a yurt this summer!!!  I loved it!  Here are a couple of pictures.  This is what it looks like from the outside...


    And this is what the inside looks like if you were a stalker standing outside the door...

  • I am taking a hip hop class with Myrtle and many of my dance mom friends at the kids' dance school.  Yup, a bunch of moms trying to be all cool and street.  Oh, the humanity!  Luckily, we have an awesome teacher who is a miracle worker and gets us to move less like ZombieWalk on Portage Avenue and more like Janet's backup dancers.  
  • I went to my 25th year High School Reunion!  As you can see, we're an all-girls school, and we all still look HAWT.  Apparently, our Class of '87 counterparts at the all-boys school we were associated with didn't fair as well.  Their pic consisted of many bald pates and beer bellies.  

  • At that same Homecoming Weekend, the school held their Alumni Tea.  I brought Mini with me so she could take a tour of my old digs.  

  • It's a very old established Catholic school, so you can imagine how many statues of angels and St. Mary (the school is actually named St. Mary's Academy.  I know, weird coincidence, right?! LOL) there are in this place.  Mini didn't dare blink on the off chance that one or more of them would get up and do this...

  • Oh, and speaking of weeping angels, guess what Mini was for Halloween?!  As you can see, Mittens doesn't not watch enough Doctor Who.  She turned her back on a Weeping Angel, and this is what happened...
  • This year, Lam decided to be a Ninja.  As you can see from the pic above, my kids really get into character, so it should come as no surprise that Lam channeled the focus and balance needed to do this...  (the cat was not impressed)...
  • Speaking of the cat, we've established that Mittens has emotional problems.  No, I'm serious.  Well, wouldn't you with all the Weeping Angels and Ninjas having their way with you?!  But I think she's trying to overcome her issues by creating a Vision Board.  I think her goals mainly consist of "being outside" and "chasing squirrels" and "meeting friendly big dogs" and "hissing at other cats that try to come onto my turf".
    Okay, she's not really making a vision board, but we still think she has emo problems.  We do love her and threaten to eat her only once a week.  Kidding!  Sheesh...

  • Roomie and I celebrated our birthdays this month.  Our cake looked like this...

I'm back, baby!!!