TOP TEN

10 things you can only say at
Thanksgiving!


10. Talk about a huge breast!

9. Tying the legs together keeps the inside moist.

8. If I don't undo my pants, I'll burst!

7. That's one terrific spread!

6. It's a little dry, do you still want to eat It?

5. Just wait your turn, you'll get some!

4. Don't play with your meat.

3. I didn't expect everyone to come at once!

2. How long will it take after you stick it in?

and the Number #1 thing you can only say on Thanksgiving....

1. I'm in the mood for a little dark meat.

Be very careful......

to listen to what people say to you. It is easy to misunderstand what they say. Take the poor tin man here. He was supposed to be the smart one.... he should have thought a little more carefully about what Dorothy was asking of him. It is easy to just respond to what someone says without thinking it through all the way. Sometimes I do that and it isn't always so good. Take time to really listen to people. Think first, act second. Its a pretty good rule to live by. After all, who wants to eat straw?

Sheee-eeee's Baaa-aaaack!

So, we made the big move this weekend. Our little cramped home office upstairs is now in the beautiful big space downstairs that was once a garage. The only down-side? 2 days with no internet lol! How did I survive before this? To top it all off, I haven't been able to find my cell phone all weekend (turned up in a coat pocket this morning, so all is well). Which all leads me to this... How much technology is good for us? I mean, I grew up with no computer, no cell phone, no internet once we did get a computer, and the TV I had as a kid, you had to get up to change the channels, all 6 of them! I know, I sound like that old guy on the car-sense commercials... "We had to go find cars the old way, kicking tires, cup of Joe and days on end.." But you see what I mean. I have to admit, it was kind of cool having a tech-free weekend. I had to run out to do some errands, I had no phone, so I paid attention to what I was doing. My errands ended up being quicker. Lack of technology made me MORE efficient, it seems. The running around that would have ended up being the whole afternoon? Back in an hour. I couldn't keep calling to see if we needed that. I couldn't just run to a few other places because Ira could call if he was looking for me. I told him I would be back at a certain time and I needed to be back as reasonably close to that time as I could. No excuses. Could it be that all those things that are meant to be time savers and helpers are really inhibitors? When you don't have them at your constant disposal, it makes a world of difference. I was able to accomplish so much more, honestly! I am thinking, I just may start leaving my cell phone at home on the weekends from now on. It works a lot better than any other time management tool I have ever had.

Dirty Little Secret

Ok, here it goes.... I. Don't. Finish. Things. There, I said it. It doesn't feel any better. It isn't like I don't admit it. I do. I even call myself the Queen of Unfinished Projects. I am sure you have noticed that I started out with a bang, posting every night, faithfully, right on time, like I said I would. Then, this week... well.. not so much. I could even give you some fabulous excuses. Last night we took my computer down and unplugged everything so that we could move my desk into the new office. Sure, that could be an excuse. But I could have done my entry earlier. I could have blogged from Ira's computer. So it is just that, an excuse. I am not a whiner, so I wont' go there. I just didn't do it. I am fading. I have a tendency to do that. I start something all gung-ho and then... well, the momentum fades just a little. It certainly isn't intentional. It is my biggest weakness. I am trying to work on it. Admission is the first step, right? Think there is a program for this problem? Probably not. Any of you have this same particular dirty little secret? Let me know. Misery loves company. Some day, I will set a goal and complete it. Someday. Maybe that can be the first goal Start and complete one thing. Now, back to the list of unfinished projects, cheer me on people, I could use a little encouragement!

Bad Blogger!

Bad, Bad, Blogger! Did I not post yesterday? Are you sure? I thought I posted yesterday? Where did the time go? What exactly did I do yesterday? Where did yesterday go? What about today? What the hell happened to today? How does this happen! It isn't like I was busy or anything? I didn't even cook dinner the last few nights, we went out? Where does time go? This is my life. Things get in the way. The best intentions.. all those cliches. I just don't understand how it happens. It seems as though all I did today after work was read the mail, grab a bite for dinner, pajamas, tuck kids in, and it is almost 10:00. Hmph. I think I have to learn a little time management or organization or something. There has to be a better way to make it through the week?

This is what happens to me when I turn on the computer. There is no such thing as "Just checking my email" or any such nonsense. At least I am honest. "My name is Michelle and I am addicted to the Internet." I do not call the computer a time saver, a useful tool, an organizational device. I call it what it is; A vacuum of time that sucks the minutes out of my day by pulling me away from the 1,000 other things my time should be spent accomplishing. Instead, I am aimlessly wandering and getting lost on the world wide web. Sure it is convenient to be able to find anything I want. Problem is, once I quickly (insert snort of sarcasm here) find what I need, I am so easily swayed to click on every other link that the time saved using the Internet rather than going to an actual store is quickly lost. When I look at one simple site for, oh let us just say, a new coffee pot, I end up going from the coffee pot, to a site that has the best price on the coffee. That site leads me to a place that has these really cool mugs that match the new paint in the kitchen. The mugs lead me to a site that has these other kitchen appliances that all coordinate. From there I am in a chat room about recipes for the upcoming holidays. (Because I need to read all the wonderful things I won't make because I always make the same traditional things every year.. but juuuust in case....) now heading to a site on kids in the kitchen (just for the stories, I don't actually let my kids in the kitchen, or cook for that matter) heading on over to a site making house crafts from kitchen materials. (Did you ever know all the fascinating uses of cling wrap, flour and water?) clicking to some crafting stuff. (Now we're talking, baby!) That has me at this blog written by a lady in Kalamazoo that quit her job to live on only recycled materials. (They are called "fregans, like vegans, but they eat from dumpsters only food they find or get from free! Really, do a google search on it! I dare you!) and she does this because the world is filling up with trash so fast we will all have to live on another planet soon because we throw away perfectly good things. I am now prompted to go look at information on the environment. Gee, look at the ad on the side for a whale watching excursion? I bet that would be fun? Check out the travel site this is linked too... See what I mean? Looking for a coffee pot and I end up on a whale watching excursion in Alaska. Logical, huh?

Weekend photos

Not a full post, just pictures of what we did this weekend.

First slide show is our trip to Inner Harbor with a pit stop to see Rachael at Towson. Second batch is Erin & Haley's joint kid birthday party (and the mess I made baking cupcakes!) as well as family dinner afterwards.

What was I thinking?

Ok, remember when I got this great idea to do 32 posts in 32 days..... with pictures? I had this great idea that I wanted to let my kids know a little about me at this time in my life. I had this idea that I could chronicle a month of day-to-day life, throw it all together, and create a scrapbook that would be a perfect way to show them what their mom was like at age 36? Me, as a person, rather than as the "mom". Remember that first post about how I love making their birthday cakes? How I want them to remember that I always did that? Remember all the nostalgia there? Go back and reread that post. Then come here and read this. WHAT WAS I THINKING? Why in God's Green EARTH am I spending most of a Saturday night and then the better part of a Sunday morning making 2 small round cakes surrounded by a million differently colored frosted cupcakes on cute trays with coordinating sparkling sprinkles? Yeah, they are adorable and yummy. Yeah, nothing is as tempting as a cupcake, if you ask me. But there are some pretty good bakeries around here. After the $14,000 I spent on cake mix, butter cream frosting ingredients (11 pounds of butter, 92 pounds of powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon milk) and then the colored gel to dye it, the sprinkles, the gizmos and gadgets to make all the swirls and such in the frosting just so, What the hell is wrong with me? Here is what my kitchen counter looked like after. You can't even see the eleven bowls in the sink along with the 47 spoons, scrapers, pans, and assorted measuring devices. Next year, we are doing the Acme sheet cake with fancy plastic princess figurines. I will still sprinkle the edible glitter on it. Yeah, that is a nice touch. I can even take it out of the box and put it on one of my own trays. Maybe I will write their names in my own hand writing. That could fool them. If they doubt I love them, I will just get they a pony or something.

2 pictures for 2 days

We took the girls to Inner Harbor in Maryland yesterday for an overnight family getaway. It was pretty cool. On the way down, we stopped at Towson University to see my niece Rachael (and relive our college days... somehow I don't recall dorms being that small?) From there, we headed to our hotel to check in, then across the street to the Baltimore Science Museum. It is just an incredible place to spend a day. We followed the life cycle of the blue crab, dug for fossils, built with kinex, explored, investigated, researched.... AWESOME! They had activities that showed kids basic principals of gravity, how pulleys work, leverage, electricity, the kids were completely into it! You would have thought they were discovering some of these basic principals of science themselves. So, to round out all that good learning, we went to the imax movie and saw Madagascar II and pigged out on popcorn and Mike & Ikes. Nice way to re-mush the mind a little :o)
Day two brought us to the National Aquarium. Ira and I had visited here when we were in college, so it was exciting to come back with children. We saw the dolphin show (always a favorite) then toured all the exhibits. Not too exciting for Erin & Haley since we have a salt water tank at home and they "know" all this already... silly mommy and daddy! So that wasn't a winner, but the ice cream afterwards was a home run, so it balanced the day.

The best part of the trip, you ask? 2 days together. 2 days just spending time laughing, being goofy, torturing, eating ice cream, kissing somebody whenever the mood strikes, just good family time. There is nothing like it. Family time. Work, chores, stress, all the responsibilities of every day life tend to get in the way. Family Time. Capital letters, you see. It is that important. No matter what, you have to stop, spend time with those most important in your world. Real time. Time away from everybody else. Time at home is ok, but you have to get away from the phone, errands to run, all of it. You don't have to go out of town, but you have to go someplace that you are away from your "life", you know? This family of mine, I love them. Love them like nobody's business. Family Time. Yeah. The where is fun, but the Family Time. That's what it's all about.

Hubert

What made me laugh today.

It was a rubber chicken. $1.99 Rubber chicken. It was a dog toy, once upon a time. Actually, about 2 hours ago. It didn't last very long, but I would still say I got my money's worth. It went kind of like this.

Picture Haley and me running a bunch of errands today. We decided to take the dogs with us. If they were going to just sit in their crate and be lonely, they may as well just sit in the car and keep us company. They do so enjoy barking at all the passers by in the parking lot. Michael's, Old Navy, Bertucci's... Izzy sat in the front with me, Rufus in the back with Haley. We made it to Ulta, stopped at Chick Fil-a for a drink. They were so good, we took them to Pet Smart to pick out some new toys and treats. You see, I love my dogs. I mean I love them like one of those crazy dog people. I AM one of those crazy dog people. I even got them matching his-and-hers hooded sweat shirts for chilly fall days. They wear them to go running with Ira. They like them. I have issues, I know. But I digress, back to Pet Smart. We wander the toy department, Haley, the dogs and I, picking out the perfect rubber chewies. In the past, I found the most indestructible $10 toys that would last about 4 days. Time for a new tactic. I chose the $2 flimsy toy that would last about 3 minutes. I figure I pay about that much for really good bones, and they don't last much longer.

When we got home, the dogs got their little rubber chicken after dinner. He was very cute. I named him Hubert and we said a little prayer over the sacrificial chicken before giving him to the hounds of hell. They each loved just carrying little Hubert around. He made the most adorable little squeaky sounds. I think my mistake was in buying only one chicken. Had there been two... perhaps a Herbert to help divert all attention away from Hubert...

What made me laugh today was this. Ira came home from work late. I was upstairs watching TV. He called out, "Can anyone tell me why the dog is running around with a decapitated chicken in her mouth?" How exactly does one even answer that?
So I just had to laugh.
Rest in peace, Hubert.

Did you?

Waking up today, there was a new President Elect, it was very exciting. At school, the kids all came in chanting "Obama!" and it was so cool to see these 12, 13 and 14 year olds all hyped up about POLITICS! It is a very exciting time in our lives to be a part of this election. I am not saying which way I voted, Democrat, Republican, whatever... just the act of walking in to that booth, looking at the choices before me. Knowing that each of us has the privilege, the responsibility, the power to make that decision and influence the outcome. It overwhelms me. I think of other places in this world that people are controlled by their government. Not here. Not me. So today, I am just relishing in the fact that I VOTED. I went and let my opinion on who should be the president of the United States of America be counted. Win or lose, my candidate got my vote. My voice was heard. It wasn't that many years ago that women didn't have the right to vote. Not at all. I don't take that right for granted. Now, look who is president. Now that is something you don't see every day.

Life is Good

I found this tag this morning when I was hunting through my closet looking for something to wear. It is from my favorite pair of flannel pajama pants. Pink with white daisies. When I bought the pants a few years ago, for a scrapping get away of course, I must have just tossed the tag on the closet shelf with the intention of including it on a scrap page. {Of course I did, that sounds so "me" doesn't it?} Little did I know that Life is Good would become more than a cozy pair of pants to me. It is kind of my personal mantra. When the kids are on my nerves, Life is Good reminds me how fortunate I am to have these kids to bug me. When I am tired at the end of a long day, I think how fortunate I am to have worked hard to be tired. When I go to put on my favorite jeans to walk the dogs, go to the park with the family, the movies with Ira, just run errands on the weekend, I think, yeah, life is pretty good. Do What You Like. Like What You Do. The guys that came up with this stuff knew what they were talking about. Who knew a pair of pajama pants would turn out to give me my outlook of life? Good thing they are comfortable.

Pure Joy

...is coming home to see this beautiful sight, on any given standard business day, that is. Aaahhh, a package.... is there any sight so sweet? Any other sight that can lift one's heart? bring a smile at the end of a weary work day? It doesn't really matter what the contents are. We order coffee in bulk, dog treats, gadgets and gizmos, house hold supplies, office things, computer parts, a mop, some books, holiday gifts for the kids, clothes, all sorts of things. Each and every one gives me pleasure when it waits on my porch for me at the end of the day. Today though, oh sweet joy, today.... SCRAPBOOK SUPPLIES! It was not my beloved scrapbook obsessions kit (I would have been stalking the mail carrier for that), No, today was forbidden purchases from some random scrapping website. Papers and stickers and doodads and things that just make me so happy to open up and run my fingers over. (must be some glitter involved, I do so very much love all things that bling). As I sit here typing, they are right next to me, making me smile. No, there is nothing that makes it any sweeter to come home after a long day than to see that beautiful brown box sitting on the front porch.... waiting... with my own name in neat black letters on the front.

So, there's this guy I know....

..... OK, so it's my husband. (Ira, stop reading now, I don't want you to hear this! I mean it!)
He is just perfect, for me, at least. Yeah, we argue and disagree, and he makes me crazy, but it works. Last night we took my parents out for dinner. In the car we were talking about a color of paint for the office we are doing, and my dad said, "Stop arguing!" We both said "We aren't arguing?" what was he even talking about? As opposite as we are, as different as the things we like, when it comes down to it we just work. This picture here, is from the summer. We drove down to North Carolina with the girls for his cousin's wedding. On the way home, the kids fell asleep and Ira ended up trying to avoid bad traffic ahead his dad had called to warn us about. We ended up driving through Washington DC at midnight..... NOT on our plans. There was me, taking pictures out the windows as we passed the capitol, him pointing out landmarks, and both of us just laughing at the fact that we were so totally lost. So what did I do? I leaned over and took our picture together. Nearly blinding the driver, of course. We laughed even harder. How many guys would even begin to understand that their wife needed to document this moment to scrapbook? How many husbands would think to point out the white house at 80 mph so I could try to catch a snapshot? It just got funnier by the second. Ira gets me. He doesn't expect me to change. Even the parts that aren't always the best. He just keeps on loving me. How cool is that?

Happy Birthday!

To my parents, Phil and Nancy! Every year Ira and I take them out to celebrate their birthdays. Since they are only 4 days apart, it is easy to share the night, except this year their busy social calendar kept us from getting a date until almost 2 weeks after the big days. What's that all about? Being all grown up, it is a great pleasure to be able to just enjoy the company of my parents. We can talk, relax, and it is always a good time. I don't think that 20 years ago I would have believed you if you told me that one day a great Saturday night would be going out with the parental units. Perspective of the young, I suppose. Now I know that nights like this are the ones I treasure. Year after year, Phil and Nancy just get better :o)
Love you, mom & dad!

Spoooooky!

We had a "cheerless cheerleader" who wore black lipstick and pouted and a "scary beautiful princess witch" which is pretty self explanatory. Haley is still into the cutesy costumes, but Erin, as you can see, is moving into the more grown up idea of Halloween. I am not so sure I like that. I love all the make up and hair, and yes, I am THAT MOM that sprayed my hair to go out with the kids. Erin was disappointed that I didn't have a costume. After I finished doing her hair, I took the cans to mine and went a little crazy. I can't say it was a costume, but it was festive, and it made the girls happy. Isn't that what it is all about? Well, that and the candy :o)