Random Musings Friday: Champagne Toast to 2011

First of all, Shana has established a link-up for Random Musings Friday. I'm not saying she has caved to heavily whispered peer pressure...but you can link up for Random Musings Friday here. As I shaved my cavewoman legs (hush it...it goes with the Paleo diet) in the shower this morning, I contemplated writing a Year in Review. And suddenly, that just seemed wickedly overambitious. Especially when there is laundry to do, Christmas to put away, champagne to purchase...y'know, the basics. So, I am simply recalling random moments from the week and leaving it at that. It's all part of my 2012 New Year's resolution to realize and embrace the idea that I can't do it all, all at once, every second of every day. I think it's going to be a good year.

• Santa brought me an iPad for Christmas. I gave Santa 2 jars of handmade, organic shaving cream (because the Barbisol was making me physically ill with all of its Chernobyl-smelling puffs of foamy death) and the Pinterest craft, the "I Love You Because" framed print. Handmade Christmas was an awesome success...but there were moments of inferiority. 
• My new, all-time, favorite hobby is pinching the application closed on the new IOS 5 update. Pincers for the win! 
• Maker's Mark sends out Christmas gifts every year to its lengthy list of ambassadors. When we moved, Neal forgot to update the Maker's website with our new mailing address...which probably means the elderly snowbirds who bought our old house are wondering why the hell Maker's sent them a doggie sweater. It is not, however, a doggie sweater. It's a Maker's bottle sweater. Except when it's a cat sweater. I promise, no Lulus were harmed in the donning of this warm weather attire. 

• We took Mama Virgo and Anna Banana to The Whistle Stop Cafe, where Fried Green Tomatoes was filmed in Juliette, GA. Thinking we would make a day of it, we researched downtown Juliette and found a field residing there. And then checked surrounding picturesque towns that we may want to visit. Nada. Nothing. Zilcho. Barren. Oh, except for the Jarrell Plantation which is 10 minutes down the road. Mom, buoyed by the idea that it might be the big house from Fried Green Tomatoes, asked us to drive over. I assure you, it is NOT the big house. But it is open all year round...and by that, I mean Thursday-Saturday. Get it together Jarrell Plantation...you cannot advertise it both ways.
• But before we visited Ruth and Idgy's old stomping grounds, we had dinner the night before at a local pizza joint in Warner Robins...Atlas Pizza. We ended up there after pulling into Cheddar's and seeing a line...out the door...in the bitter cold and biting wind...on a Tuesday night. Atlas was the much better choice, of course...being local and all. Plus they offer a military discount. However, we learned that evening that not all pizza dough is equal. Upon sitting, we were told that they were out of small and medium pizzas. These pies are not pre-made, in a cooler, waiting for micro waves to be shot through them. So...one has to wonder...how do you run out of small and medium pizzas? Did elves steal your pizza pans? Elf on the Shelf is over, y'know...
• The short version of this is the clothes washer finally bit it and we ended up getting a front-loading Kenmore from AAFES, which was delivered last Monday. We did 4 loads of laundry and listened to it squeak and rock for 4 solid hours. We called Sears to request a repair man because no way, on God's green earth, did 115 reviewers and Consumer Reports say "Get this machine! It is the bee's knees!" after hearing that ear assault for hours on end. The guys arrived on Wednesday morning as I was preparing a breakfast of chocolate chip waffles for our houseguests. Mama Virgo asked for butter. I said, "sure! Would you like Country Crock or grass-fed butter?" And, according to both Mama Virgo and Neal, the repair guys turned and looked at me as if I had just said, "By the way, I've invited the Queen of England to dine with us this morning. She just called from the motorcade. They'll be here in 5." Grass-fed butter is not that uncommon. I buy it at Kroger (also, people...please stop saying Kroger's). But I guess that was a fine example of 2 cavemen who are not on the Paleo diet. 
• Lastly, this is my final post on 400 Wakeups. I have conducted a constant internal debate about which blog to use ever since Neal returned home. And to be quite honest, the blog's title no longer fits me, my blogging style and the life we share the way Magnolias & Mimosas does. So, I will be returning on New Year's Day with a new and welcoming post over there. My deepest apologies to your Google Reader, your RSS Feed, and to all of you who keep up with a list of blogs in the sidebar of your own blog. I'm done moving. I promise. 

Thank you for reading and commenting us through the past year. When I woke on January 21st, I literally thought I cannot do this. But I put my head down and pushed through each day, one day at a time, lifted up by your own comments, thoughts, prayers, well wishes, and hysterical stories. We will always be on a countdown of some sort and we actually thrive on occasional change, but we pray, along with the rest of the country, that Neal's time in the sandbox is finished, as it will hopefully soon be for all of our troops. May God bless each of you and your families in 2012. May you find peace if this year has been tumultuous, a well-lit path if it has been dark, quiet if it has been chaotic, and new ways to love others, but especially yourself.

Signing off....

Allyson 

Cheers!