Blog

  • FROST & TIP PARTY

    Today was FROST & TIP Saturday at my house. Yep… it was time to get our highlights on. And who better to put you through the torture of pulling your hair through a plastic cap with a knitting needle than your good friends.

    First we fortified ourselves with homemade deli style sandwiches accompanied by a chip or two. Washed it down with a refreshing  vodka tonic with lime….or two…or three…oh hell, who’s counting.

    Then we lamented about the stupid frenchman with too much baggage to recognize what a hot mess Christina is. I mean…WE see it – why can’t he????

    And then there are the on-line dating sites where you say NO SMOKERS and the person you meet REEKS of an ashtray and their idea of being a NON-SMOKERS is one who is trying to quit….Leisa calls “LOSER” !!!! Which of course is closely followed by the chubby chasers who just want to date us for our cushiness.LOSSERRRRRR!!!!! And the one who lives down the street from your last ex – ohhhh soooooo not an option under any circumstances. If you can get a new home address then we can talk. Maybe more! wink, wink!!

    Then we had to bitch a bit about menopause cause that’s just what we do now. I’m hot, I’m cranky, I’m dry, I’m…… okay…”Too much information” as my mother would say.

    Well, our blonde streaks are PERFECT….just saying. Patting myself on the back.

    We have laughed till we nearly peed my concrete floor – the cat has hidden under the bed all day to escape our shinanigans and it very well may be time for a nap!

    Love my girls, love my Saturdays, love a good frost and tip party!

    I love each and every one of you. Especially if you have highlights.

    Juliana

  • OMG….. FLAT ABS!

    I have FINALLY found the latest, most effective way to get in shape. It is THE ultimate work out!!!  A girlfriend was kind enough to share this secret with me. Talk about motivational! OHHHH I just couldn’t wait to share it with everyone. I think we are REALLY on to something that could change the face of workouts everywhere. It doesn’t matter how old you are or how out of shape. There is nothing to buy or sign up for. No special diet. No books to read or DVD’s to sweat to. You don’t even have to leave your house! Any woman with a pulse can do this! Are you ready???  It’s called Coregasm! Yep! COREGASM. Apparently – I say apparently cause I haven’t run home to try it yet – APPARENTLY, it is an orgasm some women can have when performing certain ab exercises. Experts say (wait….BIG O Experts?? Really??? Who knew!!) Well, EXPERTS say that this wacky core induced climax could be due to a number of factors:

    1.)The tightening of pelvic muscles

    2.) The build up of tension 

     3.) Nerve impulse

    At this point in my life I don’t really care if it’s caused by underpaid workers in a sweat shop in Malasia, I think it is wortha try.  It’s doesn’t matter HOW it works, only that it does!

    Oh….and if I lose a few inches of my waist…well that’s just gravy…so to speak.

  • Ice made from scratch…..

    It’s been a very busy week and it has shown no signs of slowing down but a notice came across my email and Facebook this afternoon that stopped me in my tracks. Greg, a wonderful man who sang with us at BCPA, entered the hospital last night and while we were all busy with our chaotic lives of multi-tasking and meeting deadlines, he simply and quietly …..slipped away. Another voice has been added to the celestial choir.

    It’s amazing that it can happen so fast. But it can. Lives change in  the blink of an eye.

    It is a reminder to me to keep my focus in front of me and to live in the moment. It tells me to stop looking behind me and trying to tug the past and the people in it along with me. To let it go and travel light. Those that want to walk beside me will. Those that don’t, choose a different path because they need to. It’s not personal. Goals are as individual as DNA. I have before me a great life of my choosing. I create new aspects everyday. There is joy to be had and love to be shared. I don’t have to wait to be thinner or richer or healthier to have a good day.

    We are often guilty of letting situations and other people’s circumstances steer us down a road that may not be the one we need to be on. That’s why God created exit ramps! Pull over on the shoulder and check your map. If you don’t have a map – keep driving forward till you see a BUC-EE’S

    They have maps, snacks and ice made from scratch! Life is truly for the living. Make sure you are living it. Greg did.

    I love each and every one of you

    Juliana

  • Red Rover, Red Rover…..

    Red Rover, Red Rover my friends coming over…for a three day WEEKEND!!!

    Yes, I can be excited…excited I cleaned tonight for one! Look at Punkin sitting and watching TV at the end of the couch…on the floor. He’s not quite sure where to sit with everything so fresh and organized.

    Matter of fact, I’m not quite sure where I can sit either. I don’t want to mess anything up.

    Not that my friends would care one way or the other. That is the beauty of true friends. They don’t really care if there are crumbs in the corner as long as a big fat rat isn’t dining on them!

    Friends are the people who feed your soul. They are there when you need them with an encouraging word and some times an ass chewing. Cause let’s face it, we all need both every now and then. Friendships aren’t always easy. They have ups and downs just like all relationships. But we tend to work harder on friendships. They are the rock when everything else turns sour.

    They pick up the pieces when we are broken. Hopes are dashed and dreams are shattered and there they are with a broom and dust pan sweeping up the pieces and slowly they pour them back into our hand and say with a casual tone. “Drop Something?”…..”Want me to get the glue or you gonna throw that away?”

    They are our partners in crime. Road Trip Co-Pilots. Wing-man. Fashion Consultant. House Fairy. Cheerleader. Confessor and Confidant. I’m excited I have been blessed with so many people I can call “friend”.

    I love each and every one of you

    Juliana

  • I’m not FAT ….I’m Fluffy!

    It sounds good in theory anyway. Being fluffy instead of fat. That’s what a friend’s son told me once a few years back. That I was Fluffy – not FAT.

    You see, kids don’t really have filters at 7, or 8, or 9….to him FAT was a negative thought and once he spent a few hours with me we were the best of pals and I couldn’t peel him off me. He was glued to my side.

    His mother politely told him to GET OFF me. He replied that he couldn’t. “She is so soft and fluffy”, he exclaimed with a smile and nuzzled his face into my side.

    Yep – that’s me. I’m broken in like an old Lazy Boy recliner. Soft and comfy in all the right places. I know I’m overweight. No nine-year old needs to tell me that. But somehow I have been able to win them over with my charm, wit and homemade peach cobbler.

    I never had kids. When I was younger I believed that threat my mother yelled out at me when I misbehaved. “Someday you’ll have  kids and they’re gonna be JUST LIKE YOU. YOU JUST WAIT LITTLE LADY!”. I always thought – HELL NO I’M NOT! And I have lived by my proclamation.

    So, I am Auntie, Aunt Huli, Tia. To Nieces and Nephews by blood and by choice. I am the coolest Aunt around. I answer calls at midnight from stranded college students. I hear about first kisses and broken hearts. I have done my fair share of homework , science projects and parties at Chucky Cheese. I’ve sat thru school and church concerts, plays and sports games at 8:00 am in the cold rainy morning.  I’ve dug thru mounds of dirty clothes in search of THE shirt that MUST be worn NOW! I’ve over bought and over indulged. I’ve bent the house rules, stayed up too late and let them sleep to long? YEP – I am Aunt Huli, Auntie, the fluffiest Tia in Town. I don’t mind it at all.

    I made an impression – and so did they. There is a new one on the way this fall. I can’t wait to meet her…or him.

    I love each and every one of you

    Signing off – Your fluffiness – Juliana

  • CANKLES!

    Remember back in the late 70’s when they used to show a commercial with a skillet on a stove with eggs frying in it and the sound bite was ‘THIS IS YOUR BRAIN ON DRUGS!” Sooo scary!

    Fast forward thirty years and you see a malformed CANKLE resting on a couch. “This is your foot after a 12 hour day running all over Christ’s creation to get a show up and running”.

    It looks much worse than it is – really…and it’s only one. The other is just fine…odd. I know. Just seems ironic that these days I pop 13 pills every morning to be healthy and instead of frying my brain I have swollen ankles. Where is the sense in that?

    So what is a CANKLE – the Slang dictionary describes it as:

    A fat ankle – one that is as thick as the person’s calf, such that there’s no visible anatomical difference in the two. From “calf” + “ankle.” Usually used in the plural.

    I’m special…I only have one cankle tonight. And it doesn’t always look like this. Normally, I have ankles. So I am just gonna sit back and relax and put my cankle up. WAY UP! and see if it can’t find a way to return to normal all on it’s own. Hopefully I won’t wake up with a knalf or worse a vagiknee.

    Tomorrow is another day…And I wouldn’t miss it!

    I love each and every one of you and your cankles!

    Juliana

     

     

  • Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink…

    I just HAVE to get this off my chest. Just as I don’t want to be dismissed from living a well rounded life because I am large, I also don’t want to be targeted for pick up …BECAUSE I am large.

    I keep getting emails on FACEBOOK from men around the world wanting to be my “FRIEND”. Apparently there are people who troll thru profiles looking for MS. Right. Like this one –  “When i read through your profile i was really amazed and motivated to send you an email and show my interest. Waiting to hear from you.”  Oh PLLLL-EEEEZE. Read a little further down my profile and you will see that men are not on my diet!

    One guy from another country who could only type – BROKEN English must of thought he was a real charmer.”I love fat lady – I wish had fat lady beautiful like you”.  See what I mean? Dude – buy a cow.

    One guy right here in Houston recently assured me that our age difference would take a back seat to the fact that he loved large women. (He was a young whipper snapper in his 30’s who posed next to a Bently in his profile picture, someone else’s I’m sure!) He was just sure we would hit it off. DELETE!

    DELETE, DELETE, DELETE!!!!!!!! Now I know how Anna Nicole felt. Always lauded after for her big– personalities….ehem….Just clearing my throat folks…..

    We are all more than our physical appearance. It is only natural to have certain preferences and attractions. Lord knows I have mine.  But I am MORE than my weight. And to be singled out for that single feature is annoying, shallow and down right offensive to me.

    I am a woman who knows what she wants. I love big and I love deeply. I enjoy life now like never before. I am an artist in the truest sense of the word.

  • One, such as a painter, sculptor, performer or writer, who is able by virtue of imagination and talent or skill to create works of aesthetic value, especially in the fine arts.
  • Yes, the truest sense of the word and beyond. I am an artist of life. I create my life through my thoughts, beliefs and deeds. I take full responsibility. I have no one else to blame if some days it seems less attractive or balanced  than I would like. And when I am ready I will attract the right partner I deserve to have. Right now – God’s just having fun showing me all the things on the shelf. You know what the merchants say – you break it – you buy it! Well I haven’t even seen a package I would bother lifting off the shelf in the last year. So it’s all good.

    I love each and every one of you

    Juliana

    I am more

  • Duck’in Church…..

    Oh yes. It is Sunday and a whole bunch a folks headed off to church today. God bless’em.

    The girls and I decided to have a little “Church” of our own out at the Lake Conroe with Ms. Wanda (my mom).We all had some chores to do first. Lori had to feed and water Big Bob. Kim had to make sure Blair House was tended to and me – well, I like to think I started my day at God’s Sunday School pinching and feeling all the fabulous natural creations of the earth at the local farmers market on Airline. I bought Ms. Wanda more than just groceries. I brought her a ton of work!

    She has beets to pickle and strawberries to stew and lots of nice, fresh treats to eat for the next few weeks. Now THAT is a southern girls blessing!

    So we all convened at the local “BIG Church” beside the lake. Otherwise known as Sam’s Boat. A nice table with an umbrella out beside the water beats a flat bottom pew any day. We got to watch all the folks come in on their boats and tie off to the dock.We greeted them warmly whether we knew them or now, after all – we did belong to the same church.  Lori and I being experienced church goers asked the waiter for some holy spirits. Ms. Wanda, being the Matriarch of the group, took her time reading the written word and made her selection carefully before sharing her choice with us. And Ms. Kimberly…well, sometimes she can be a woman of few words but she always knows exactly what she wants.

    The fellowship was amazing and we paid special attention to the wonders of nature. Mud hen here and a mallard there. We bought feed and tossed it to the grass carp and watched the water boil as they gobbled up every morsel. God is good and the day was beautiful. But then again any day we can sit outside and enjoy each other and have Ms. Wanda with us – well, it’s just a religious experience for us all. She’s a bright shining star of light and love where ever she goes. She never meets a stranger and always has a kind word. She has loved us through thick and thin, right and wrong and always reminds us that God is within each and every one of us. She was the preacher we needed to see today. We are blessed to have her.

    Well, some cute little boy passed the collection plate which is the usual sign that church is about over. We hugged and loved on Ms. Wanda two or three times each at least. Then off to our cars and back to our lives. Lori to check on Big Bob, Kim to Blair house and me?…aghhh I came home to Punkin ……and to you.

    Life is good. I love each and every one of you.

    Juliana

  • THINK BEFORE YOU EXPOSE……

    I hate to admit it but I might just be an advocate of reinstating the 1922 Bathing Beach Police. Maybe not with the same rules but there definitely are some offenders out there that need a citation or two and some should be put in the back of a paddy wagon and just hauled straight off to jail.

    It’s no BIG secret that I am a BIG gal. And though I love summer, the pool and hanging out at Surfside’s Pirate’s Alley with my girls, the thought of putting on an actual swim suit makes me more nervous that a virgin on prom night.

    I have a “social conscience” which is extremely lacking in some folks. I THINK before I EXPOSE. I have never fully recovered from seeing a grandpa in a Speedo back in the 80’s at Splash Day in South Padre. Had it not been for my youthful state and the copious amount of liquor I consumed I think I might have stroked out right there.

    So, it is with much forethought and trepidation that I select this years Fashionista Fatwear. I am selecting a two-piece. Okay – pick you ef’ing jaw up off the floor. Not THAT kinda two piece. I’m going for the drawstring swim shorts….in black of course and mixing and matching that with brightly colored  swim tops. I’m okay with that! All my bits and pieces will be sufficiently covered. My delicate white fluffiness will be served up to the sun for an extra dose of newly formed freckles and fun. I already have my floatie toy for the pool. My 55 Factor sunscreen, a great To-Go cup and a beach towel. Happiness!!!

    So you see. It doesn’t have to be THAT painful…for you…or the masses who may see you coming down the beach.

    Just remember; THINK before you EXPOSE! God, I wish I had gotten a hold of this woman before spring. It’s just WRONG I tell ya. Women can be attractive at any size – but NOT when you make really, really, reallllly bad choices. I’m hoping the sales person who sold her that piece of patchwork got a sales commission to match the size of the suit. NEXT TO NOTHING! ANYWAY!!!

    I love each and every one of you.

    If you have been emotionally scarred by this post then I suggest you leave work early and go have a cocktail poolside to recover.

    Juliana!!!!

  • I believe I can fly…..

    There comes a time in life when all the coaching, advice and best wishes of friends, family and mentors can’t help you anymore. You have done the work and climbed the mountain. At some point you have to make that leap of faith and believe that all the training will serve you well. You gotta spread your wings and fly. Just jump for Christ’s sake. BE THE BIRD!

    You gotta love the animal spirits in the world. Turtles that crawl up from the sandy beaches and instinctively head into the surf. No swimming lessons for them – they just dive headlong into the water! No floaties, no nose clips, they head straight for the deep end.  Birds are pretty cool too. One day they just decide to jump! And there you have it! Sometimes momma gives them a nudge cause she is damn sick and tired of regurgitating worms up 10 times a day to feed them. After weeks of benging and purging I bet “empty nest” syndrome never crosses her mind! Animals haven’t locked in on this code of fear like humans have. Instead they have an incredible and inherent sense of BELIEF.

    As I have gotten older I have gotten to a point where I can honestly say. I BELIEVE. I believe in me. Cause if I don’t, who will? Others can believe in you all day long but they can’t fly for you. They can tell you how to do it and where and when….but that is about it.

    Nope. If you wanna soar, you gotta jump out of the nest on all your own. Everyone else is just a cheerleader on the sideline…and I personally LOVE cheerleaders…unless they are too skinny. I hate looking at anything I could bust like a twig. I’M JUST SAYING!

    I believe I can fly. I believe I can touch the sky. Hide and watch. There’s gonna be some great things coming our way!

    I love each and every one of you. Even if you think your excluded, your not.

    Juliana