Birthday Party for ME!

Well, I can't believe it came around again but my birthday has come and gone for another year. Amazing how fast a year can go by!

I had been informed by a couple of my friends that we were going out that night to celebrate. I had been trying to figure out just what to do that would be more fun than just getting together at my house for food and drink. So this solved that little matter. The plan was to go to one of two locations called DJ's Dugout in Bellevue, NE. They have two grand pianos set up on stage that the best dueling piano players from all over the country fly in to play and entertain. Different players are there every week so it's never the same show. They call it Blazing Pianos or Dueling Pianos.
Some of us went early enough that we could eat there first. The piano players were to start at 9PM sharp. So we wanted to be done in time for that. I had made an angel food cake with home made no-cook marshmallow frosting (a recipe that Beverly gave me....yummy!) and took it with me so we could all have a taste.

Of course because they play strictly by the requests that are brought up to them, one of my friends let them know that it was my birthday. There was also another guy there with a huge group celebrating his birthday as well. I was called up on stage and one of the players had me sit next to him on the piano bench. He sang a song that was virtually about he and I (I've never met him before!) and it was a little dirty to say the least! But it was so funny! He gave the crowd the choice of keeping it clean or making it a little "bad", if you know what I mean. They voted for dirty! After that, the whole bar sang "Happy birthday" to me.

Then later the other guy was called up and they had a different version of embarrassing him for his birthday. It's all in good fun. Early on there were two guys standing up there, but I'm not sure what the occasion was, and they had to pose and sing the song "I'm a Little Tea Pot." Remember the little kids song? One arm is the spout and the other arm is the handle. Yep, they made that one a little dirty too! Just watching two grown men stand there and tip themselves to one side like the children do when they learn it was rather entertaining!

The songs that you request can be anything. Of course they're more apt to play them for you if you include a bit of a tip with it. The more money you add, the earlier they play it. I'm simply amazed by how many songs they know from memory. And not only on the piano. The lyrics as well. I've been to several dueling piano bars. One time I visited my sister Cathy in Oregon. We went to one in Portland that got the bar included in a couple of songs by dividing the crowd into two sections. It was a competition to see which group could be louder.

Of course it goes without saying that pictures were taken. I'm not the only one that loves to have the camera on hand. Several of my friends do too. I had my camera along that also takes videos. So one of my friends got my honorary tribute on video. But that won't be posted!

Tina and I

Some of my friends.

Me and Trisa

Chris, Dee and Tim. Chris and Dee are married. Tim is Chris's brother.


The girls.

The piano players. I sat next to the guy closest in a red shirt.

Guess who?

Angie, DeeAnn, Me, Trisa, Susan, Tammy, Tina

Some of my friends....

Here I am being sung to.

Many of us still had to work early the next morning so by the time 11PM came around, we were all leaving for home. The night was so much fun and I received many gifts from all my friends. Thanks to all those that came out and helped me celebrate! I had a great time!

Happy Birthday Mom

Today is my Mom's birthday. As anyone would know that has lost a loved one, you never forget these special days. It's especially memorable to me in that my birthday is only 4 days from now. Typically our relatives would visit our home when I was little to celebrate both of our birthdays together. We got to share photos with cakes that were made for both of us. I think my Aunt Penny would even decorate the cakes with that cake candy that said "Happy birthday Mary Ann and Sandy!".
So in honor of Mom and for me too, I made an Angel Food cake yesterday. I will frost it with a sweet frosting that is just like eating marshmallow cream right from the jar! Thanks to Beverly for giving me the recipe! It's so delectable.
Another memory during this time of year as a youngster was the fact that snowmobiling was a huge part of our upbringing. We had two machines for the longest time and eventually got a third. We also had what was called a Cat Cutter sleigh or sled. (Artic Cat was the brand of machines we rode, thus the name Cat Cutter.) It was pulled behind a snowmobile and my siblings and I would ride in it. (it has no motor) We rode all the time. Never mind the fact that the weather was usually 10-20* below zero. We belonged to a club called the Battleview Trailblazers. Many neighbors gathered together every Sunday during the winter in the central location of Battleview, a little tiny town in ND only a couple miles from my Dad's farm. We all brought food to contribute to a pot luck meal that would be eaten later in the evening. Then we would go out riding all our snowmobiles on a 2-3 hour ride on no particular route. Sometimes there were as many as 15 machines. (was there ever more than that Dad?) One of the men would lead the pack and we would ride in coulee's and meadows, across creeks and bridges and eventually make a huge circle out in the country and end up back in Battleview. The meal was usually ready to eat along with plenty of hot chocolate and coffee. Some of the ladies of the club that didn't ride would always be waiting for us and had it piping hot! Then after the meal, many of the adults would sit and play cards while the kids went back outside to play and maybe ride the snowmobiles again. Soon it was time to ride the machines back home and get to bed as we had school the next day. These were the best days.
This is another reason I remember birthday time so much. When relatives would visit to celebrate with us, the snowmobiles never sat still. The kids rode for hours. Sleds were even pulled behind on occasion to change things up a bit. It was fun to be riding on the sled and make jumps over the drifts, big and small. But it was even more fun to be the driver and see the sled rider go through some of the fluffy drifts and get all covered with snow! Remember that Cathy and Kevin? It didn't matter how cold it was, we enjoyed the outdoor toys!
So, on that note, happy birthday Mom. As always, we think of you often and miss you. I do especially during our birthday time. I know you won't mind if I eat your share of the cake!

Another Birthday Already?

Remember this birthday post from a year ago? Well here we are again. Gavin is now 6 years old! I can hardly believe it! His birthday is February 15TH but they had a party on the 18TH.
To celebrate, Trisa and Jamie (Gavin's Mom and Dad) had his little friends (and some big ones!) join them at BounceU. It's similar to the place we went to last year. But at BounceU the adults can join in the fun of bouncing. I had my camera so I didn't bounce.
After an hour of bouncing and playing, we went to a party room where ice cream cake, cookies and soda were served. Here are a few pictures.....

Gavin having a great time!

The Ninja Turtles cake

Waiting for cake

Some of the girls

Jamie at the top teasing the kids when they tried to slide down!

Waiting for cake....do you want ice cream with your ice cream cake?

Walking up to the top....little soldiers.

Trisa and Jamie

Gavin waiting for the candles to be lit.

Being silly in the birthday chair.

He's growing up way too fast! I hope you had a great birthday Gavin!

New Survivor and New Race Are Here!

Do you have your favorite shows of all time? You know, the ones that you just hate to see come to a seasonal end in the spring and bringing the delay of your shows until fall?

That's how I feel each time the shows Survivor and The Amazing Race come to an end. Well, this is the week of new episodes for each of these shows! I always record them so that I can skip through the commercials. If you've never seen these shows, you may want to check them out.

Along with these I enjoy watching The Bachelor and The Bachorelette. They alternate them. One season it's The Bachelor and the next one will be The Bachelorette. Right now it's The Bachelor. I never used to watch either of them but one night a few years ago I watched one of them only because I didn't have much interest in anything else that was being aired that night. Now, I'm hooked!

This is the time of year when all 3 are being aired. Sunday night-The Amazing Race, Monday night-The Bachelor, Thursday night-Survivor. In between these nights, I record several other TV programs of which several are half hour comedies. Whenever I have time on my days off, I'll sit and watch them all to catch up before the next weeks' episode. And you can also watch them on line if you don't record them. Isn't technology wonderful?

My other faves happen to be:

• Two and a Half Men
• Modern Family
• Cougar Town
• Criminal Minds
• CSI: Las Vegas
• CSI: Miami
• Gary Unmarried
• Cold Case
• Dancing With the Stars(off season right now)

What are your favorite shows? It's interesting to me to know what type of programming entertains people. I also love to watch HGTV and The Food Network.

Poll time. I would like to see YOUR favorite programs. Click on the word "comment" at the bottom of this post. Then follow the prompts in order to write your own words. Please participate! Thanks!

Tastefully Simple on Tour

This weekend was quite a blur for me. It started on Friday. I worked my normal shift at the airport and then drove straight home. I had a conference here in Omaha at the Omaha Mariott to attend for Tastefully Simple. Leaders from headquarters in Alexandria, MN came to Omaha along with many other cities during the same weekend for our conference. It was starting promptly at 3pm. I knew I wouldn't make that time but knew I could go in whenever I arrived. Leadership meetings were being held at that time. Now that I'm officially a Senior Consultant, which I earned by recruiting one person under me, I was eligible to attend this particular meeting.
I was able to get in on most of the meeting. After registering My own advisor Teri and our team mentor Tami from Burnsville, MN were at my table with a few others from our huge team. Soon after all the attendees gathered in the same room for the rest of the conference (the consultants had there own separate meeting prior to this) and we commenced learning about the new products that we would see in our new catalog that will be effective on March 8TH. Along with seeing them and hearing about them, we actually got to sample some of them too. Two big screens each had a video of the products being prepared by a product specialist at headquarters. So we got to see just how yummy they all looked!
Awards were given out for more categories than I can even remember. Top sales in a region, top recruiter in a region, top team sales in a region, and the list goes on and on. The numbers that some of these people reached was unbelievable. I hope that I can get those numbers myself someday. Anyway, Friday conference ended roughly at 7:30PM.
Saturday started out at 7:30AM with breakfast for anyone that wanted to be up that early. It included new breakfast products along with juice, coffee, water and various doughnuts, bagels and the like. We commenced our meeting at 8:30 with more product unveiling's. New strategies for sales and recruiting were introduced. Break time came about 10:00 with time for sampling some of the other new products. At this time, I was very full. Breakfast had satisfied me and then to put a snack on top of that only a couple of hours later was almost too much. But just sitting still after the eating made it worse.
Back in for more meeting and new product unveiling's. More awards were given to various consultants, and prizes were given out with name drawings. We had a chance to do a "booking blitz". Everyone had been told prior to the conference to bring their contact lists and booking calendar. We spent 20 minutes making phone calls to see how many parties each table could book. Yep, each person used their own cell phone and called their customers. It was quite noisy hearing all the chatter in the big room. Amazingly, the number of parties booked overall was unbelievable. Over 500 parties booked in 20 minutes!
Lunch time was at noon. New products in our catalog were prepared for our sampling. Really? More food? Wow, I wasn't in the least bit hungry. But the food was great! We were each given 3 of the new products to take home and have friends and family try out as well.
Back to the meetings. A mock party was shown on the stage with usage of the new party products and also to show everyone the best way to host the parties. Later, more products were unveiled. More awards were given out. Pictures were taken and more food was sampled at our mid afternoon break. Uffda....can you say miserable? It reminded me of days growing up and attending Christmas gatherings at my Grandparents house with all the relatives. We ate more food than anyone should consume in one meal!
Once we reconvened and had more of the usual, it was time to say goodbye. My team mentor had some awards to give to some of the members on my own team to give out. So we met in the hotel lounge for socializing and award time. I actually have an award coming to me for being 4th in sales last year! (she has to send it to me.) There are 64 total on our entire team. Can you believe it? I was very surprised!
A successful conference with many great ideas and helpful information for the upcoming year of parties. I'm very excited to start selling products from the new catalog. I have ordered and now received the new line of food. It's ready for my parties! Feel free to browse my web site and see if there is anything you want to get from the Fall/Winter catalog that will be discontinued on March 7TH. www.tastefullysimple.com/web/smccloud