LASHED

IT'S BACK!

Prescriptives is back! Spefically, False Eyelashes! My mascara! I had been using this mascara since high school and then one day it went away and I was so sad but now it's back!

IT'S A THANKSGIVING MIRACLE! God bless us, each and every one!

NATIVITIED

My great grandmother, for whom I was named, used to make ceramics. I have dolls and other special keepsakes that she made for me. She taught the craft to my grandmother, who made an entire Nativity set for my family in 1983.

My sister inherited the Nativity that Nanny made for my grandmother, and over the weekend, I inherited the Nativity that my grandmother made for us.

I have so many memories of this Nativity. I mentioned before that growing up, we used to each get a piece at dinnertime and tell how it was a part of Jesus's birth. I love that she made it in 1983, the year I was born.

I unpacked it as soon as I got home today. I already have my tree up, why not a Nativity too? A few of the pieces have been cracked and glued back over the years, but it's still the most beautiful Nativity there ever was.


Before the pieces fully dried, MawMaw etched 1983 on the bottom of each one. She also wrote Love, Mawmaw or I love you all! or something close to it. She also picked four pieces and wrote each of our names on the bottom. I, naturally, was the angel:


My mom was Mary, my dad was the shepherd standing on the far left, and my sister was the kneeling wiseman:


I wish I could have been there when she told my grandmother that being a wiseman wasn't good enough for her. I can just hear Mawmaw trying to tell her how the wiseman brought gifts! And came from afar! And were really, really important! Oh, no. Not MY sister. She insisted my grandmother write her name on the bottom of something REALLY important, like the Christ child himself:


I guess MawMaw caved, and while she was at it, also wrote my sister's name on the bottom of the camel and the ox. I guess the ass would have been too easy!


I can't wait to tell my nephew stories like this one day... and to display this heirloom in my home year after year!

BESTED

This week, I had a special visitor. Someone I love had SO much fun here a few weekends ago, that he begged and pleaded for his mommy to bring him back. He won and up they came.

Guess what Aunt Nin did? I took care to make sure my Christmas tree was up so that he could enjoy looking at it. Boom. I have never had my own tree up before, let alone put one up in early November. But I was tha-rilled to do it this year. Though I'm not sure it was the smartest of all my ideas to teach the baby that YES, he CAN touch the Christmas tree, but whatever. The image of that little finger reaching out in wonder was worth whatever damage he does to the next one he comes across. Sorry, dear sister!

Speaking of my dear sister, we had a great time running all over town. Having a sister is just the best. We did some shopping and some eating and she and the bebé came to meet my coworkers, who have heard so much about them both. We also went to a park near my house to take the little guy to swing. It'd been a while since my fanny was on a swing so I was surprised to find that they make swings so small these days. Does anyone else find that to be the case? Teehee.

And today I am headed back to Alabama to see them all. That kid. I know when I have my own child I will reconsider this statement, but I can't imagine loving something more. I am often reminded of a song I used to sing (some of you will recognize it, wink wink): "Got along without ya before I met ya, can't get along without you now."

Aunthood is just the best.

CONTEMPLATIVE

I remember when my grandfather was campaigning for Sheriff of his county. I was pretty young, so a lot of it was way above my head.

Back then, election returns were broadcast on the radio. When I was really small and didn't understand how it worked, I would cheer each time I heard his name on the radio. I thought it meant he won.

Fast forward a few years later to 1994, the year he lost his seat. I was nine. I'll never forget listening to the returns that night. Once the race was called, his opponent's supporters that were at the courthouse broke out into "Whoomp! (There It Is)."

...

Queen Beyoncé moved down a few notches when I woke up this morning and found she'd updated her blog to include this:

Take that? Was it that kind of contest? Was this whole thing about getting your candidate to win, or about getting the other one to lose?

...

When did social media become the courthouse, with "Whoomp! (There It Is)" echoing over the airwaves after each election? When did this level of braggadocio become the norm? Are we celebrating our own success, or reveling in someone else's failure? When did it become okay for a grown mother of two to comment not on a man's character, but make fun of how big his ears are? Isn't that the same bullying we're trying to teach our kids NOT to do? When did any of it become okay? When did our country turn into this? And how do we get it back?

SNUGGLED

Upcoming holidays got you stressed?
Election Day got you manic?
IS IT ALL JUST TOO MUCH?!?

Take a visit to the Snuggery, a pay-per-cuddle shop in Manhattan. I can't decide if I am disgusted or jealous. Disgusted that cuddling has been reduced to this; jealous that I didn't think of it first.

My favorite part of the website is the Policies and FAQ section, Highlights include: "For our comfort and well being, please shower close to appointment time. Mouth should be cleansed and perfumes/colognes should not be worn."

And this part, which was mentioned in almost every article I read about this place yesterday (CNN, HuffPo, etc.):
Q. What if I become sexually aroused during my session? A. Don't worry, it happens! Although sexual activity is not permitted, arousal is perfectly normal and should not make anyone feel uncomfortable.

I bet that happens during the Double Cuddle, which "allows clients to cuddle with two Cuddlers concurrently."

What do you think? Fantastic idea OR what has the world come to?

AWARDSY

We came, we saw, we sparkled:

Well, one of us sparkled. After that shirt, there just weren't any rhinestones left in the Southeast for me. Winter white is always fashionable, though, amiright?

PS - Of all the performances, winners, speeches and jokes, this was hands-down the best moment of the night for me.