Rantings of a Creole Princess

Good Champagne. Reasonable Price!

Mumm Napa Brut Prestige

2013...BALANCE

Heated Foot Rest...YES PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!

Toasty Toes Heated Footrest

Okay...seriously...I want this.  Thank you in advance. 

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Awareness

On Christmas day I was cooking and the fire alarm went off in our home.  I was confused because nothing was smoking in the kitchen.  Robby went to the panel and disarmed it but then the alarm company called and told us they'd sent out the fire department already because it was the carbon monoxide detector.

Um...huh?

Then they told us to get out the house and wait on the fire department.

As they were telling us this...the fire department rolled up and we got out of their way.  They were all official and whatnot with monitors and they checked the levels in our home for carbon monoxide.  The highest they found was a 5.  It's dangerous when it's 35.

So...it was determined that it's time to change out our detectors because they store "levels" and start going bad after about 10 years.  We're going to get new ones installed in January because we didn't know they needed to be replaced every 10 years.

I don't know if you knew this or not...but now you do so yeah...check that out.  Carbon Monoxide poisoning ain't nothing to play with.

How to write good.

PURE.HILARITY!

HotNESS or HotMESS? (SM)

Young Fabulous & Broke:  Viny One-Shoulder Jumpsuit

HotNESS or HotMESS? (SM)

Gucci Flora Infinity Linen Shorts

HotNESS or HotMESS? (SM): Day Ready Pajama Dressing

This Is 43

Last night we went to see "This Is 40."  It was a bit longer than we thought it should be but that's that style of movies this crew does where they just ramble and talk like we do in real life so it's cool if you like that in a movie.

There were some major gut busting laughs...especially during the weekend getaway scenes.  

There is one part in the movie where a couple was apologizing to each other for a stupid fight they'd had.  The woman said something along the lines of wanting to be with her husband forever and the husband was like...you're already with me forever...da hell you talking about?

And that made me smile cuz that's how Robby and I view marriage.  Hell...we're together forever so yeah...be mad...and get over that shit cuz ain't nobody going nowhere and we don't want to be miserable so we need to sit down and deal with this shit as it is and make it better.

MAKE.IT.BETTER.

See...we respect and love each other so we take things the other says seriously when we have a problem.  Now...please don't think that means we've mastered communicating effectively all the time cuz it doesn't.  Sometimes I don't wanna hear shit right then and sometimes he doesn't wanna hear shit right then.  

But we always circle back around to it and deal with it.  We don't walk or run away when we're fighting.  I wish Robby would walk off and out of my house like somebody stole his damn bike.  That shit is disrespectful.  You'd better take your mad azz to the basement until you can use your words hell.

And that's vice versa.  

I used to be the type who needed to get as far away as possible from an S/O who'd pissed me off but honestly...that was just me being immature or maybe it was just me with someone who wasn't Robby...the love of my life.  I can be mad at Robby and be right up under him because I know whatever thing I'm mad about isn't who he is completely.

We both have things the other does which irks the hell out of us but we realize we're being irrational that it irks us so we try not to say anything about it because seriously...it's just dumb and thank goodness we have enough sense to understand that too.

The thing we do right more than anything, in my opinion, is laugh.  It's always comedy at 13700.  ALWAYS.  And I wouldn't change it for the world.  

The best thing about the movie is that it will probably make you talk about and think about your marriage.  We drove home laughing and talking and then got home pretty happy and secure with what we have.  The second we walked into our home I looked at Robby and said..."And this is 43."

LOL!

And it is.

Ain't nobody going nowhere.  That should be the mindset of marriage.  

SIP:  Unless there is cheating and beating.  

What say YOU?

WHO are YOU?

A friend answered these questions and I thought we could too!  GO US!

1. Who would you want to play you in a movie?

Gosh...someone cute but not too cute and who doesn't do a lot of neck rolling.  Someone who has a mean side eye and can purse their lips JUST.RIGHT.  Aw hell...who am I kidding.  Only the infamous SIP could do me justice on camera.  LOL!

2. I wish I could…

Fly through the air like Gabby Douglas.  I would totally dress like a Ninja every.single.day if I could.

3. My first style memory is…

I wasn't ever really into clothes growing up.  Mainly because I knew my shopping choices were limited to Montgomery Wards and JC Penny.  LOL!    The first thing I ever wanted more than anything was a Coca-Cola shirt.  When I got it I was sooooooo excited but I didn't get it until the fad was almost over because my mom thought they were stupid and refused to buy me one for like forever.

4. I could not live with out my…

My husband.  Seriously.  I couldn't live without that dude.  And wifi.  I couldn't live without wifi.  I've visited people who didn't have wifi before and it made me want to chew off my arm.  

5. I could live without…

Violence in the news on television and in movies.  I've gotten to the point where I'm good with sticking my head in the sand.  The last few movies we've watched where there was senseless random violence, we've turned it off and found an old school sitcom rerun to cleanse the palette.

Pick a photo, décor object, or piece of clothing that defines your style:

TOTALLY.ME.  http://www.converse.com/#/products/detail/page/527880C

YOUR TURN!!!!!

Raw, Fresh, Uncured Ham!

I wanted to try something different for Christmas this year so I decided to do a raw, fresh, uncured ham.  It seemed to be pretty daunting but honestly...it was the easiest thing in the world to do and sooooooooooo delicious!

I ordered a 10 - 12 pound ham with the bone-in shank up on an angle.  (NOTE...mine was a little over 12 pounds.)

GO ME!

Merry Christmas Eve from 13700!!!!!

What say YOU? Proud parent moment?

Christmas Treats for UPS, FedEx and USPS!

Cool Holiday Tip from 13700!

Keep a basket of holiday treats near the front door so when packages are being delivered you can give the different UPS, FedEx and USPS delivery people a holiday treat if you're home!

You can find holiday themed packaged candy almost anywhere and you can always use peppermint candy canes.  Russell Stover usually has individually wrapped turtles, etc. and the movie candy boxes are only $1 each.  

I simply hold out the basket and let them pick what they want and they are always grinned up just like kids at Halloween!  LOL!  Add a friendly Merry Christmas or Happy Holiday with a wave and they get the Christmas feel good!

Trust me...your delivery people will LURVE IT!  Little things like this go a long, long way with the spirit of giving!

Christmas Memories!

Share a memory from your childhood Christmases. 
Share a memory from your childrens' Christmases.
~ MMingo

*sigh*

I just saw this and yeah...wherein this might be the true feelings of many...this sort of rhetoric does nothing.  

Absolutely nothing.

*sigh*

CreoleInDC PSA: 100% Wool Tags on Coat Sleeves Should be REMOVED!

I don't know why this isn't common knowledge but apparently it's not.  

You see those black tags on the sleeve of that coat?  The ones which have a lil' flimsy stitch keeping it on the coat?  The one's which usually say 100% WOOL or something?  That's not supposed to stay there.  You are to remove that as soon as you get ready to wear it okay?  You are NOT to leave your home with that still on the sleeve of your coat.  

Think about it.

Why in the world would you walk around wearing a tag on your nice new coat which tells the world what it's made of?  Does that even SOUND right?  That tag was for you...the buyer.  So you know what you're buying without having to pull the coat off the hanger.

Simple.

Oh...and while we're at it.  You know those two loose stitches that make an X on the back vent/split of the jacket or on skirts?  Yeah...you're not supposed to leave your home with those still on the jacket or coat either.  See...the vent/split is supposed to OPEN when you walk to help the coat move right when you're walking.  If it's closed...the garment won't move properly.

So please remove that as well.

You're welcome.

Act like you been somewhere.

Scenario...Daddy Warbucks (Real life ish...)

You're a single mother of a 10 year old struggling financially.

But you make do.

Your child's father is unemployed and you get an extremely small percentage of your child support payments monthly.

That's kinda why you're struggling financially as he's been unemployed for over a year now.

You have plans to downgrade your two bedroom apartment to a one bedroom apartment as soon as your lease is up so you can get some breathing room.

You do what you have to do.

Your child's father asks can he drop off some Christmas gifts for the child.

You say sure.

You and he are cordial and are always trying to be as responsible as possible when it comes to your child.

He asks would you mind wrapping them cuz he's not good at that.

You say sure.

He brings over a Best Buy bag with an iPad and a WiiU.

The receipt is in the bag.

He paid cash.

How would you react?  

What would you do?  

Would you even CONSIDER returning one of the high ticket items and getting the cash?  

Would you say something to dude?

Scenario from real life...

You get a call from a family member asking you to log on to Skype or Facetime so they can see your face while talking to you one last time before the end of the world.

Do you log on?

Instrastin Holiday Gift

The most instrastin holiday gift I've received so far is an umbrella.

No worries...it's from a business so I'm not putting anyone on front street.  I'm just wondering at the selection committee for the company gift giving.  It's not even a particularly awesome umbrella.  Had it been one of these weather ones with like the dual brella for the wind ...dude...cool...but it's just all randomly regular.

Instrastin...

What's the most instrastin thing you've ever received?

Oh yeah...

Scenario from real life...

A man has 10 children with 6 different women.

He's behind in child support by over $100,000.

The government subsidizes the welfare of his children.

The judge in his child support case orders him to stop having children until he can afford to be financially responsible for them.

You good?

Thoughts?

Different Kind of Pebbles

My husband doesn't like going out on a school night.

He never has.

It used to be a source of contention but I figured out it tastes like chicken and just went without him.  Simple.

Increasingly I find that I don't like going anywhere without him. Especially since my plus 1 of choice moved away from the area.

It's free shrimp season I know. WE know. But we're old and ornery and like to do what WE want to do.

Last night...instead of going have free shrimp, we bowed out of something and went to see "Silver Linings Playbook."

On a school night.

It was all Robby's idea.

I was all shocked and whatnot but I just got movie cute dressed and we rolled out. The movie was sooooooooooooooo good and we had an awesome time just going to the movies on a Wednesday night in our little sleepy area.

One the way home...

Robby: Were you surprised that I suggested we go somewhere on a school night?

Me: Well...yeah...now that you mentioned it. What's that all about?

Robby: I just want to be better. It was nice to do something different and we didn't have to get dressed up.  And besides...I'm trying to get in all my votes before the end of the year so I can be HUSBAND OF THE YEAR this year.

Me: It was really nice. Thank you for taking me to the movies but now that I know it was all a ploy to influence the judges...

And we laughed all the way home discussing the end of the year/world/etc.

And we drove home sleepy, took the doggies out and went to bed.

Little things.

Different kind of pebbles.

Monnie & Robby against the world.

Do something nice and out of the ordinary for your guy/girl/babies/mom/dad/doggie.  You'll love it.

Christmas Menu!!!!!

I'm trying to decide what we're going to have for Christmas dinner this year.  We all know Robby can't have Christmas without a ham but I wanted to do something new and different too. 

What are YOU having?

Come Out as Gay Service!

Crazy Pebbles?

A.  If a guy tells you that his mother doesn't want to meet you because she doesn't have teeth and she's trying to get some and a new wig...would you consider that a crazy pebble?

B.  If you're on a dinner date and your date pulls his money out of his sock to pay the bill...would you consider that a crazy pebble?

C.  If you're on a lunch date with a guy and he has to outrun the repo man while you're in the car...would you consider that a crazy pebble?

D.  If a guy tells you that he doesn't go on any vacations other than the Tom Joyner Family Reunion cruise each year...would you consider that a crazy pebble?

E.  If a guy has a love/hate relationship with his mother where he talks about her negatively to you but is always doing stuff for her...would you consider that a crazy pebble?

F.  If a woman calls a man's phone 3 times in an hour but doesn't leave a message...would you consider that a crazy pebble?

G.  If a guy has more pron in his home than books...would you consider that a crazy pebble?

How would YOU respond...A & B?

Your 14 year old DAUGHTER tells you that a 17 year old YOUNG MAN (who is in one of her classes...o_0) hit on her.

How do you respond?  

 

Your 14 year old SON tells you that a 17 year old YOUNG LADY (who is in one of his classes...o_0) hit on him.

How do you respond?

TROUBLE!

The other day Shelly and I got in trouble.  

We did something seemingly innocent and Robby cussed us BOTH the hell out and stomped off like somebody stole his bike.

We tried to defend ourselves but he wasn't trying to hear it.

In the end we were left whispering on the phone about him being right but there is a gray area that we were in and it wasn't really our fault.

Shelly and I agreed we should never do what got us cussed out again.

Kinda.

I think.

It's on Shelly.

We laughed about it last night as the situation came up again and we decided to bow out.  Shelly called me and we 'bout DIED laughing at getting in "trouble" as grown azz women.

The thing about Robby, however, is that he is a pretty black and white kinda guy (no pun intended).  Once someone crosses a line...he erects a wall so he can't even see them across that line anymore.  As women...we pretty much can allow the line to be blurred based on the specific incident.  Sure...we'll be wary because of the initial line crossed...but yeah...we can give a pass.

Robby says that's why women are crazy.  

What do YOU say?  

Do you listen to YOUR S/O when he's criticizing something you've done that he doesn't agree with?  Do you cave because you just don't want to argue or do you defend your actions?  How do you determine your follow-on action?

Oh and Slim...don't get jumped.  LOL!

 

 

 

Name 5 Marriages...

...you admire.

Dating 101: Beware the Crazy Pebbles

I was talking to someone about dating and sharing that the most important part...IN MY OPINION...is taking your time to get to know the person just dating without trying to force anything.  No jumping right into a relationship cuz you're single and they're single.  See...I feel like you need to give the crazy pebbles a chance to surface so you know exactly what you're dealing with.

And then...it got kinda gray because I couldn't really explain exactly what I was trying to say.

See...you know I believe that God sends you pebbles before He hits you with a brick.

Crazy pebbles too.

The thing about crazy pebbles that's most important is how YOU are able to deal with them.

So I used a for example...

Tell the truth and shame the devil!

Do you have family members you adore but who really drive you bat.shat.crazy?  

Congrats President Obama!

Rush order fees?

Pssshaw...put him to work! LOL!
~ MMingo

~ MMingo

~ MMingo

From Instagram to Flikr.

http://www.flickr.com/

Aiight...I have all of my pics off Instagram now and am about to upload them to Flickr who continues to have privacy sense.

Yup.

Someone posted this on FB today. I remember watching this episode and cheering at timecode 01:57 cuz they were about to BOUNCE on that dude.

Homeowner Maintenance and Upkeep

If the exhaust fan in your bathroom of the home that you own went out...would you pay to have it fixed or is this the kind of thing you wouldn't worry about until you were about to put the house on the market?  

Instagram Bailout!

I'm bailing on Instagram and I've already made my account private while I take the following steps to do so:

Step 1:  Download all of my pictures via Instaport.

Step 2:  Delete account.

Step 3:  Delete app on my phone.

I'll be damned if my pictures end up as ads without my permission nor my being paid.

CeeLo's Magic Moment

You need this in your life.  CeeLo's Magic Moment

Now say what now?

Instagram says it now has the right to sell your photos

In its first big policy shift since Facebook bought the photo-sharing site, Instagram claims the right to sell users' photos without payment or notification. Oh, and there's no way to opt out.

How do/did YOU handle?

Shelly said in reply to CreoleInDC...

Unfortunately those of us who don't live in the area are forced to discuss because schools are changing safety practices & kids are asking questions. Dropping Cole off to school yesterday was VERY different than previous days. They are a lot more strict about lettingfolks into the school. I'm not arguing that they shouldn't, but Cole is astute enough to notice the difference & asked many questions about it.

How old are your children and how did YOU handle talking to your kids about this?  

Tell the truth and shame the devil!

Do you know anyone who can eat whatever they want and NEVER gain weight no matter what they eat?  Like...they can even eat fast food and not even have a pooch?

Botox Face

Olivia Newton-John was on GMA this morning.

I would never do Botox.

That is all.

ATE.UP: Gun Control or Mental Illness?

I've been staying as far away from the specific details of the latest tragedy as I can.  When I heard about it I burst into tears horrified, simply horrified for all those poor babies and then...I stayed as far away as possible.  No news, no news channels, no NPR.

I just couldn't.  I found that I couldn't deal with any additional details.  I didn't want to know anything else.  Some say this was sticking my head in the sand.  I say thank God I'm not so desensitized about life and humanity where hearing about every detail of this horror isn't something I'm able to do without internalizing some major pain.

I just couldn't.

In the days which have followed, starting, unfortunately, on Friday, folks started a debate about gun control.  All over Facebook people were posting about their right to bear arms being in the Constitution.  Almost as an afterthought...the debate about mental illness awareness began as well as the details of the shooter's history of mental illness surfaced.

And some folks had drawn a line in the sand calling for either/or.

Better gun control.

Better assistance for mental illness.

My father was a gun enthusiast.  You name it...he had it.  I've very comfortable around guns because I've always known how to properly handle them.  I was taught at an early age to break down, clean, oil, put back together and properly store several types of guns.  He had a locked cabinet for his long barrel guns and a lock box for all but one of his handguns.  

And he slept with one under his pillow.

What are YOU?

I'm A.

Robby is C.

This is funny.

What are you?

Your S/O?

Tell the truth and shame the devil!

Do you know any obese vegetarians? Do you ever wonder about it?

This dude...

...is just the perfect mix of everything.

 

Free Lunch Vs. Regular Lunch at School

Did yall know that the free lunch at some schools differs from the regular lunch so the kids on the free lunch program are easily identified by other students?

Cafeteria Worker Rehired After Losing Job for Giving Food to Low-Income Student

 

 

What say YOU?

North Alabama player tweets racist Obama comment after speech pre-empted NFL game, now gone from team

Do YOU think he should have been kicked off the team?

Christmas Card Game PROPER!

The Tiffany McGraw collection.

Where do you guys generally purchase your Christmas cards?

For your Jewish friends...do you get a couple of individual cards which say Happy Holidays?

Do you do photo cards?

Do you send photo cards to family and framily only?  

About how much do you normally spend on Christmas cards?

How many cards do you generally send out?

Do you keep a stash to send a card to someone who sent you one who wasn't on your original list?

Holla atcha girl.