Christmas In California

Yes, it's true. The Haskell Rascals spent Christmas in California! It was amazing---COLD, but totally amazing!
We flew out on Christmas Day. The flight was very easygoing, considering we were flying with 3 children who hate to stay still for very long. :) My mom (Mimi) went with us, which was a wonderful plan. That way there was 1 adult per child. It made crowd control much easier.
We arrived in Los Angeles, rented a Dodge Durango, and headed out toward our hotel at the front gates of Disneyland.
Did I mention it was raining like crazy when we arrived??? My gosh, it was a downpour! Trying to rent a car and get all of us and our luggage in the Durango was quite the feat. We took our Garmin (I highly recommend you own one) and it was perfect for helping us navigate the L.A. area. Before we got to the hotel, we attempted to visit Venice Beach--or any beach for that matter. We drove to Santa Monica and tried to get to the pier, but the rain was too hard and wouldn't let up. The beaches were closed and the waves were huge, so it was a big no-go. The drive from Santa Monica to our hotel was pleasant and virtually traffic-free.
Once we arrived at our hotel, we unpacked and enjoyed the view of Disneyland while we found something to eat. Then it was off to bed--not that we were going to sleep a whole heck of a lot with all of the excitement building.
The next day, we got up and were at the front gates of Disneyland at 8am. It was SO NICE to be able to ride whatever ride we wanted without waiting. The 1st one we did was It's A Small World. Too fun! Caroline and Christian were completely amazed by it. Then it was on to the teacups, Dumbo, the carousel, and much more. We did most of the small kids rides in record time. We then visited Toon Town. That was the most fun! We got to have our picture taken with Mickey Mouse--something I'd always wanted to do.
After Toon Town, the 2 smaller ones were getting tired--by this time it was noon. Mimi and I took them back to the hotel for naps while John and Caitlin stayed and rode the big rides with long waiting lines. By this time, the park was completely packed!
Did I mention it was freezing??? Oh my gosh---I had on 5 layers of clothing---3 shirts, a hoodie, and a fleece jacket---and I was still an ice cube when we went to the hotel for naps.
Mimi, the 2 smaller C's, and I returned to Disneyland around 4:30pm. John and Caitlin had had a blast while we were gone. We went over to Adventure Land, Tomorrow Land, and much more--we were there until 9:30pm. Let me tell you, I was pooped!! We got to see everything we wanted to see and ride all of the rides we'd hoped for. It was great!
Caitlin's favorite ride was the Indiana Jones. Christian's favorite was the flying Dumbo. Caroline's favorite was Winnie the Pooh's ride. I didn't do the teacups or the Matterhorn--I wasn't in the mood to throw up. :) Other than that, I did pretty much everything they did. Caitlin and Mimi stayed to watch the fireworks, then we all passed out sometime around midnight.
The next morning, we made our way along the coast looking for a beach to visit. It was much more sunny, but not very warm. We were headed to San Diego to visit the zoo, but we were able to find a cool little surfer's beach on the way. We stayed just a short while, but it was fun. The ocean was cold, but there were still probably 100+ surfers in the water.
Now on to San Diego Zoo---we arrived in downtown San Diego around noon and found a Wendy's to eat at. What was weird about the restaurant was we had to PAY to use the restroom! Mom put a quarter in and all 4 of us girlies went in at once. 4 for the price of 1. Heehee
Anywho, we got to the zoo around 1pm, and folks, there was NO parking. We circled the huge parking lots for about 45 minutes and found nothing. Mom decided to drop me, John, Caitlin, and Christian off at the front gates of the zoo and she offered to circle around until she found a spot. Caroline was asleep, so it worked out great. Those of us that got right into the zoo had a fun time looking at all of the neat animals. It literally took Mom 2 hours to find a spot--yes, she drove around for that long! Not only that, but she didn't park in the zoo parking lots....she had to park 2 miles away in a residential area! It was insane.
After we visited the zoo, we found our hotel that was very close to the bay area, and we hunted down a tiny seafood restaurant for dinner. It was SO COOL--right on the bay where we watched fishing boats and the fishermen come in and out. The food was out of this world and the atmosphere couldn't have been more perfect. After a great dinner, we went back and zonked out for the night.
Sunday morning, we got up bright and early, returned the rental car, and flew home.
Oh yeah--we had even more fun on the return flight. The pilot was from Happy, Texas--and he was a hoot. He kept cracking jokes and talked to the passengers much more than any other pilot. When we stopped in Las Vegas to drop off passengers and load others, the pilot got off to go get some coffee. Meanwhile, the co-pilot saw Christian in his seat (we were in the 1st and 2nd rows) and asked if he'd like to come sit in the cockpit for a bit. Christian ran up there and made himself completely comfortable in the pilot's seat. He even got to touch things and push buttons! The co-pilot told me to go get my camera, so I snapped some pretty cool shots of Christian before we had to remove him and finish the flight.
All in all, it was a TREMENDOUS vacation. Thank you to Mimi for coming with us and being such a huge help! We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas as well.
Now, we are soon to be off to Dallas/Fort Worth for New Year's. Can't wait to report the happenings from there when we return!
And, as promised---the SLIDESHOW!

Anonymous Napkin

*Before I begin this post, I just want to let you all know that I AM working on getting our vacation photos together. It takes time to sort and fix any red-eye issues on them, and I plan on making a slideshow instead of downloading each and every one I want on here. That being said, it's coming--I promise!*

Now, on to the post:
There are times when I wonder what's going through another person's head when they do things that aren't what you'd consider "kind."
For instance....
John, the kids, and I went up to the hospital this evening to visit the Crum family who just welcomed a beautiful baby boy into this world. His name is Joseph Grant, and he's as cute as a button!! I visited him earlier today, but wanted to give John a chance to hold him as well--and to say hi to his wonderful parents, Steve and Jill.
John was in his car and I was in my van--since we had just come straight over from the gym--so we were having to circle the parking lot of the hospital to find 2 places. Let me just tell you that the parking spaces were few and far between. Anywho, as I was rounding the front of an aisle, I saw a pickup pulling out further down. Knowing that John had already parked, I gunned it and put my blinker on. There was another car with the same idea, only she was coming from the opposite direction and around a corner--with her blinker on too. We both came to the spot at the same time as the pickup was backing out. Fortunately (for me) he backed out and drove off in the other direction, giving me clear access to the spot...blocking the other car from having a chance at it.
Let me just say it was a spot WAY at the back of the parking lot, so it's not like I took a prized spot.
Well, the lady in the other car was furious. She was so mad that she parked her happy hiney right behind my van after I'd pulled in to the spot (yes, out in the middle of the driving area), watched me unload my 3 children, and glared at me the whole time. Not only that, but she drove very slowly next to me as I met up with John and walked along the long sidewalk toward the hospital. John had seen the whole thing and had waited for me, knowing the driver of the other car wasn't happy with me.
Folks, she followed me the whole way to the front of the hospital (driving very slowly as to keep right by my side) and watched as we all went in. She didn't take her eyes off of me...no words...no gestures...no rolling down of her window....just stares. I made no gestures or said words either--I just shrugged my shoulders and looked straight ahead.
We went up to visit the Crums and joked about how weird that lady was being about a way-in-the-back parking space. I was secretly hoping the she hadn't hurt my van.
As we left the hospital and found our cars, John walked all the way around mine and saw nothing out of the ordinary. I breathed a big sigh of relief, got in the car, and turned it on.
The I looked up and noticed something stuck under my windshield wiper.
Apparently she was hacked enough to leave me a note.
Great.
I got out, pulled it out from underneath the wiper, and got back into the car to read it.
It was written on a white napkin.
Here is what it said:
(if you can't read it, click on the pic and it will make it bigger
I just sat there thinking, "Wow."

I called John and told him about it, and he told me not to give it another thought. His take on it was this:

The woman was obviously weird, just from the fact that she followed me around the parking lot and took the time to leave a note. He didn't believe a word of what she had written because, if indeed her grandfather had died, she would be in a much bigger hurry and wouldn't have thought twice about messing with me. Also, the hospital offers valet parking---all she would have had to do is drop her car off at the front door and run up to wherever it was that her grandfather was staying. John said she was just being rude herself, and that she was trying to put a huge guilt trip on me.

Maybe so.

Still, it hurt, and I felt bad.

I never meant to be ugly. I wasn't trying to cause her grief. I don't consider myself a nasty-acting person. If I would have seen that she had small children or was elderly, I probably would have moved on and let her have it.

To me, it's just not worth the trouble.

I can tell you this: next time I am in a situation like that, I will definitely re-evaluate and make sure it's totally worth it to park there.

Nothing like an anonymous napkin to make you think.

So There's This Lotion

And it smells AMAZING.
That's not all I wanted to say--there is a story to go along with it.

About 6 months ago, my mom went to Austin to visit my brother. While there, she had lunch with my bro and his girlfriend at a very cool restaurant that had a gift shop. Inside this gift shop, she found a great smelling lotion and decided I might like it.
She brought it home to me, and I put it up in the cabinet near my kitchen sink to use after I wash my hands.
Somehow, it got pushed back behind the meds and vitamins up in that cabinet.
Roughly 2 weeks ago, John found it hidden in the back. I'd never had a chance to use it because--like I said---it had been hidden this whole time. So he grabbed it and took it to work.
Apparently the man gets dry hands while typing on the computer. Whatever.
On the first day he used the lotion, he came home from work and I smelled something unusual on him. It was very....floraly...vanilla...yummy....
I accused him of seeing another woman (in a kidding sort of way, mind you).
He laughed it off and called me crazy.
Perhaps I am.
Anywho, I discovered that the wonderful smell was coming from his hands, and he admitted to stealing my lotion from the cabinet.
Not only was I shocked at just how amazing it smelled, but I was also embarrassed that I couldn't quit smelling my husband's hands.
Sure, go ahead. Call me weird.

I asked for my lotion back, and he explained that it was not possible for him to return it. Apparently the entire day staff of the fire department came through John's office and had to use some of the lotion for themselves.
He has that effect on people.
All he had was this one 4oz. bottle, and he said it was almost 1/2 empty already.
Sheesh.
So he asked me to order some more of it. Sure honey! One bottle for you, one bottle for me. Works great in my book!

Here's the funny thing: one of the day officers went home the night after John let him borrow some of this hand lotion and his wife accused HIM of seeing another woman too! Hahahaha
I laughed outloud over that one.
Apparently I'm not the only weird wife around here.
Seriously, this stuff smells AWESOME!

Soooooooooooooo, I ordered the bottles of lotion and they arrived. I quickly popped open the lid and tried it out on my own hands (being as I've only been enjoying the smell on John's hands now for 2 weeks). You know what? It actually smells better on HIS hands than it does mine!!
I still like it though, and it just may be good enough to use instead of perfume.

Ok---so it's called Sandal Wood Vanilla lotion. It's only found in Austin, TX, so if you want some you have to order it. It's made by SOAP (South Austin People). Google it if you're interested--it's on sale!

PS: I'll have pics up soon of our vacation!!

Goodnight folks. I'm off to bathe myself in "lotiony goodness."

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2008

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!
Much love from the Haskell Rascals to your family!!

It's Building!!

The excitement around here is building like crazy! Besides the pure joy of Christmas, we are packing to go spend some time in California. YEAH! :) We will be going to Disneyland, San Diego Zoo, the beach, and much more. Man, I can't remember the last time I had a good long vacation that didn't involve driving with 3 small children---and that was out of the state of Texas.

*side note*
For all of you weirdos that roam blogs looking for information as to when people are leaving town so you can attempt to cause trouble for them--BEWARE. Not only am I not telling exactly when we are leaving and when we are returning, I have a guard dog named Charlie. Don't let his fluffiness and sweet nature fool you; he's a killer.
Oh--and then there's my dad. He'll be in and out making sure all is well.
And he owns many guns.
And he's a cop.
Nuff said.

Ok, where was I?
Now, it's been forever and a day since I've packed all 5 of us to go somewhere (technically John packs his own, but you know that I, being the anal person I am, check in on his progress from time to time). We don't have to take a pack-n-play or stroller which eliminates 2 bulky items, but then there's 2 car seats.
Then there's clothes, shoes, socks, underwear, toys, hats, rain ponchos, more toys, cameras, cell phones and their appropriate chargers, swimsuits, more toys, jackets, Dramamine....you get the idea.
Whew! I'm tired already! :)

I am SO EXCITED--really!! I know once we get on the plane and get going, it will be a breeze.
(Now, if I can keep from passing out from nervousness during the flight, we'll be doing great--oh, and then there's the driving portion that I might possibly need a tranquilizer for. Sheesh.) We will have our last of 3 Christmas-present-opening-and-food-eating celebrations this evening with the Haskell side, so I plan on chilling out today and enjoying the final hours before we take off.

All of you in bloggerland have a FABULOUS Christmas and we'll post pictures as soon as we can!