series of unfortunate events...

it's a sad sad day in Chriselda-land. It's funny that everything that sucks and blows, happens to me ... but you know what, i'm expecting it. kinda like "it's already been broughten!" (hehe, jen)i've already come to the conclusion that i'm going to spend the rest of my life making lemonade...
especially when i wake up to copy some music into my ipod and this happens:



this resulted in a complete formatting of my hard drive. yes. all of it. gone. it means - those thousands upon thousands of pictures that i have taken of my son over the course of the last nine months (that i failed to back up on disk) = GONE!

those 4000+ songs that i spent weeks importing into itunes (plus the ones i purchased)= GONE!
the journaling, school papers, and other misc. crap that i store in there because it's my life - it's my hub - it's supposed to be a storage device for important documents = GONE!!!

sigh. but, alas, it's NUTCRACKER DAY!!!! and that is not going to be ruined by this! NO SIR!!!
So, i start playing with laken and he's cracking me up because he's so in love with himself. especially when he sees himself in the mirror. there are several pictures of him making out with himself in the mirror... but this one is my favorite.



i had to run errands all morning yesterday and then it happened. i saw the most devasting thing ever!!!



That is my beloved Weinerschnitzel (as we lovingly refer to as "The Schnitz"). and it's torn down. sad sad day in the hotdog lover's world. So many people hate the Schnitz, but i love it! One of my friends says, "i just can't bring myself to eat at a place that sells nothing but hotdogs." and i quickly said, "Nuh-uh! They have chili cheese fries too!!!"



This is Amy and her Boyfriend Brandon. If i have to be the third wheel for any couple... this is the one i chose. They are so cute. They're working on an eternity together. and they're adorable. they are one and the same person. I am so glad she finally met someone that cherishes her for what she is!!! Thanks B!!!

Anyway, i digress. We all went to the Nutcracker together. This is B's second time to go. I think he secretly likes it. We had the worst seats ever. And not because the location of them sucked. But because there was a group of about 20 people (and i'm not kidding) who failed to appreciate the Nutcracker and moved and got up and traded seats the ENTIRE TIME!!! They were sitting two rows in front of us. Because of this, the two "Sweaters" as B lovingly named them because they were wearing bright and completely distasteful Christmas Sweaters complete with beads sewn on them... kept moving their seats. They're directly in front of us. So their Texas bouffant hair do seriously put a damper on our view of the stage. The lady right next to me was holding a little boy, about three years old, who - five minutes into the show - asks, "Is it over yet?" She got smart and drugged him up with tyenol and he passed out and wasn't seen again until the end of the second act. The worst part was the family behind us. The family with two little girls that would NOT shut up. One kept humming all the music. (impressive for a child) The other said "My tummy hurts" for about ten minutes and i wanted to scream. Amy starts forming a choke hold with her hands. Then the little girl says, "Mommy, my tummy hurts because there's no food in it!" Way to go little girl! Tell the world about the neglect!!! and amy and i almost die laughing. Finally, it's quiet. it's peaceful. it's almost over. and this is when the family of 20 decides they should leave now and beat the crowd. Now we really can't see!!! people. i swear. B points out that the rest of the flippin' auditorium is still and not moving... except for the section right in front of us. sigh.

Amarillo is full of uncultured swine!!!!

but, i did, however get a shload of cool shots (when the Sweaters weren't blocking me with their hair...) and here are my faves:





Gawd, i love the Amarillo production because of this flippin' Ginormous Christmas tree and all the pyrotechnics!!! and look at this girl... she's about to have a major wardrobe malfunction.


yes... i snuck my camera in. They said "no flash photography" so i set my ISO to 1600 and shot away. and no, we weren't THAT close. I just have a bad ass zoom lens!! Thankyouverymuch!

and just so you know. there are some things worth living for. some things that just make life grand. and the molten lava cake from chilis is DEFINITELY one of those things....