Here We Go Again

Happy Monday everyone. My four day weekend has come and gone with a bright light and a small explosion. I hate it when that happens. We went to my grandmother's house in Franklin for our Thanksgiving feast and I ate too much, as usual. I love going there to see my family but it is such a long drive from the big metropolis I live in! After a grand total of 3 hours and 20 minutes on the road....we made it home. The thing is, I had to get up at 3:45 the very next morning and drive to Cool Springs for Black Friday madness.
Kristie and I had a great time and went everywhere. Let me put it this way, we arrived at 6:20 and left at 4:30. I am proud to say I am 95% finished with my shopping as of the close of business on Friday AND I scored a sweet 5 dollar DVD of Christmas Vacation at Target. (which I tortured my family through that night because they did not have the option) Th only things I have left to buy are a couple of Wii games for Michael and some type of circuit/switch maker thingie he is wanting to do experiments with. I guess I can handle that.
Yesterday was Angela's day to lounge and lounge I did. I must say I am quite good at it. I peppered in some activity during my extremely arduous lounge time such as putting 1000 lights on the Christmas tree downstairs and cutting Michael's hair. Whew, I was exhausted! Later in the afternoon we journeyed to Cheryl's house to watch the Vikings beat the Bears like red headed step children, ate spaghetti and listened to the kids fight.
Tonight is going to be a lot of fun. It's time for the annual Christmas parade in our big town. We were invited to have chili and watch the parade from Henry Fincher's house since he lives right on the parade route. He and his wife are super neat people and he is our State Representative and funny as hell! I hope the kids have a lot of fun and we don't freeze our tookus's off.
Happy Monday!

Fell On, Black Days

Today is the 5th annual Cool Springs shoparama which marks the official kickoff for my shopping season. Every year we get up at the butt crack of dawn and make our way to said mall and shop for many, many hours. This is followed by a fantabulous meal at Macaroni Grill with the usual red wine and yummy olive oil dipped bread accoutrements. My girlfriends consider this the least we deserve after putting in such long hours on our feet and fighting crowds. I am waiting for my friend Kristie to arrive so I thought I would pass the time and make a quick entry about my mounting excitement. Well, that is it! Sorry, 5 a.m. is really too early to blog and make it even remotely interesting.

1. Wait! Wait, don't forget the 700 Wii games my child has requested this year!

2. Power shopping followed at once by buyer's remorse!

3. The trouble is I never make a specific list.

4. The mall we are shopping at is many miles away.

5. With a faint pop after the credit card was scanned; the limit had been officially met.

6. The checkout line stood before me shadowy and ominous.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to soaking my feet I am sure, tomorrow my plans include sifting through the previous day's booty and Sunday, I want to watch a little Viking's football and chill.

Friday Fill Ins on Sunday

Weird but true.....this is happening on a Sunday. I guess all the planets have finally aligned!
Kidding. The weekend went by too fast as usual, however, I feel a lot was accomplished. Cougar Run is finally over and "over 60 thousand raised" was thrown around. I sure hope that is correct. Quite a sum for a public school in a small town.
Mom's 61st birthday was today. I only wish I look as good as she does at this age. Size 4 at 61. PLEASE! She works hard for it so she deserves it! We visited her today and was able to finally witness her Condo transformation/remodeling......looks great and she deserves it. So here we go for the fill ins on Sunday.................

1. We need a little laughter and love in our lives.

2. I watched Christmas Vacation for the 100th time and it made me smile.

3. If you want happiness...you have to pursue it to any degree necessary.

4. Celebrate Christmas for all the right reason because it is the right thing to do.

5. Massachusetts has a proposed 5% sales tax on elective cosmetic surgery; I think beauty improvements should be at a 0% tax! After all we have sacrificed.

6. Laughing children, presents and lots of lights makes for a happy holiday.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to Cougar Awards Night (finally!) tomorrow my plans include vegging in the house and doing nothing and Sunday, I want to go to Sunday School and then head for Nashville to help my mom celebrate her birthday.

It's Friday

Well, for once in my life I am at a loss for words. I went to the usual website to get my Friday Fill Ins and they were the same from last week. Oh NO! That has been my usual stand by for almost a year. So now I get to pen my Friday blog from scratch...this ought to be interesting!
My week has been riddled with visions of cougar paws dancing in my head. I must say the first one-thousand times I listened to 'I Like to Move It' and 'Party in the USA' it was kind of catchy, now...it makes me feel nauseous! Not to mention I will be listening to the DVD run it's loop for God knows how many times tonight as I try to sell my wares for school. What can I say, it is a labor of love. RIGHT!
The kids are doing great except for the mild concussion (kidding) Michael received on the playground yesterday. How one falls of a slide and hits their head on the next door slide is beyond me. I would say that is a "Had to be there situation".
Marshall is up to his usual antics. When we converted his crib to a big boy bed...we also changed the theme for 'nautical' to 'jungle. I felt that was apropos since I call Marshall 'monkey' all the time. So the wooden anchor with pegs for hanging up jackets was replaced with monkeys on the wall with hooks. Guess what, Marshall doesn't like the monkeys. He will periodically take them down and hide them in his toy box. I get to pull them out and Velcro them back to the wall. (we hang most things up with those 3M strips to avoid all those random nail holes. Yes, I am super anal!) Well he was finally on to me. So during his 'nap time' Wednesday, he not only took the monkeys down but he peeled the 3M strips off the back of each one and off the wall. To further make his point, he took the 3M carcasses and threw them over the balcony into the foyer below. Gee, I wonder what he is trying to tell me.

How Long Can I Dress My Kids Alike?

I have decided this is our 'farmer look' prior to church a week or so ago. When I bought the matching shirts, I wasn't seeing a Green Acres theme happening. In retrospect, I am now hearing banjos, there is a piece of straw stuck in my eye and where in the hell is my trucker cap!? Hopefully both of my children will have health insurance when they grow up to pay for the years of therapy which I am the catalyst for! Aren't they cute, though.

This past weekend was great and I tried to get out and enjoy the wonderful weather. My mom stayed with us all weekend long which is a special treat on its own. The kids love all that grandma attention and Mike and I enjoy the down time. Selfish but true.
Michael had his last soccer game Saturday and won. They only lost one this season so I am pretty proud of that. Sunday was a fairly laid back day. After church, Mike and I went to Bilmar to watch the first half of the Vikings game. I have become a huge fan of theirs all of the sudden and I really want to see Favre take them to uncharted territory, i.e. Super Bowl Victory.
Lastly, Michael bowled his first 300 on the Wii last night. It was fun to watch how excited he was.
Well, I know this is an extremely lame post but I wanted to write a little something because I know a lot of people log in on Mondays. I hope everyone has a wonderfully fabulous Monday.

Friday Fill Ins

Less than two weeks until Thanksgiving....can you believe it! I only blinked twice since it was Halloween and you all know what is coming up next....I won't actually say it...just make an innuendo about it! Michael gets so tore up about the 'holiday' commercials airing since Turkey Day has not even graced our presence. I just told the ole stand by "It gets sooner every year". He looked at me strange and that was the end of that. Well, off to work....I am trying to start early so I can finish by one or so. I will take any half days I can get!

1. The last band I saw live was the Counting Crows as far as a large venue goes. On a smaller scale we saw Stacy Mitchhart.

2. What I look forward to most on Thanksgiving are all the fixings. I could give or take a turkey but bring on the mashed potatoes, dressing, turnip greens, etc.

3. My Christmas shopping is DOA! I haven't even started and I usually don't until the day after Thanksgiving for my annual Black Friday extravaganza with my friend Jinger. (yes she spells it with a 'J')

4. Thoughts of this, that and the other fill my head. (I have ADD!)

5. I wish I could wear a full thick head of hair! My own...not a wig! Hey, I made a rhyme.

6. Bagpipes are one of my favorite instruments to listen to. I want Amazing Grace played on the bagpipes at my funeral.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to our weekly pizza, beer, and Wii bowling night with the family, tomorrow my plans include spending the day with my awesome mom who is staying the entire weekend and a soccer game and Sunday, I want to continue to enjoy this awesome November weather....bring on the shorts!

Ketchup

Hello all.....just a little catch up (ketchup, ha ha) from the weekend and such. I had been meaning to write something over the past couple of days but my computer face time has been hijacked by the Jihad (aka Cougar Run DVD creation). So here you go:

• Mike's birthday party was a smashing success. We had about 30 adults and 15 children ages 2 to 13. The food was great and there was plenty of it (thanks a lot to my family, Cheryl and Kristie for bringing food too). I find it amazing that no matter how big a home is, everybody hangs out in the kitchen. All the adults stayed buzzing around the kitchen with a few meandering outside at times to sit by the fire. I don't know why people do that but they do just about at any party. We got Mike a chainsaw for his birthday but he cannot decide if he would get more use out of that or a gas powered hedge trimmer. I told him it would not bother me if he exchanged it....it would bother me if he kept it and never used it!
• Michael had a soccer game on Saturday and his team basically served the other team. It was so bad and the other team's families were getting so frustrated that the referee threatened to eject a GRANDPARENT! Can you believe that? This is a 9 year old soccer game at the YMCA not the World Cup for heaven's sake. Oh, Michael scored a goal too!
• Lastly, I would like to thank all the Veterans in honor of their day yesterday. Mike is a veteran and spent 8 months in the desert (Saudi Arabia and a little in Iraq) during George Bush Seniors war. My mom is the only one that called and thanked him for his service! SAD..... :(

Lastly, I wanted to include this picture of Marshall. It is not the best of quality but hilarious. This is the get up he decided to go outside wearing on Tuesday. Did I tell you it was raining on Tuesday. Marshall sure can be a mess but some of things he does truly lights up my life. Please take note of the Star Wars pajama top, boxer briefs, and his Crocs.

Not Good Enough

I tell ya...it is hard being the AV person for an entire elementary school! Due to a technical difficulty, I lost a lot of what I worked on last night and I will blame that on a learning curve. I was unable to go back and make changes without starting all over again............I considered defecting to another country but opted to stay. Anyway, good things often come when you are least expecting...hence.. I realized I was not at all happy with my maiden Capshaw video. In other words, I redid the entire thing (mostly the music fades and such) and I am much happier. If you can stomach it, please watch the new and improved version........IT ROCKS!

FINALLY

Well, anyone who doesn't have a child at Capshaw could not possibly appreciated the hard work that went in to this video. I let the 4th graders vote on the top 3 songs they wanted to be included in the DVD so I am not responible for what was chosen. Yes, I know....there is an extremely long pause between the second and third song...also the opening page has 209 instead of 2009, duh..I am still working on that and I am too tired to worry about it tonight. . I am just so glad to have this albatross off of my back. The DVD is complete. (for the most part) Ode to Silas!

Happy Birthday

This is it......Mike is officially 40 years old and for his birthday he is emptying the dishwasher at this very moment....AND....has a load of laundry going. God love him. I will be a busy girl at work followed by a little thing I like to call a party! I hope everyone has a wonderful Friday and a fabulous weekend.

1. Plans and schedules are usually the first things that get changed in my experience.

2. I'm happy when things running smooth as planned and on schedule. See #1 above

3. The last thing I drank was a Diet Coke which I am getting ready to polish off right now.

4. One of the most valuable things in my life is my family although I do take a lot of that for granted at times.

5. I like pepperoni, green olives and bell pepper on my pizza.

6. Dear November, thank you for keeping the temperatures so mild and enjoyable.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to duh, BIG PARTY, tomorrow my plans include the usual soccer game and enjoying the 70 degree temps and Sunday, I want to take a load off and get ready for Monday!

Dear Lord Help Me

Look at the time...........10:20 central. I have a huge batch of chili, a huge batch of tortilla soup, taco dip, and am almost finished with the bacon roll ups (props to my sis in law, Kristen). I am exhausted...yet...I mustered the energy to wipe out the fridge shelves due to their heinous presentation. So as I see it.....at 6 p.m. tomorrow...my house will be swarmed with many a people along with their babes (kids) of all ages and sizes. Should be interesting. Mike will officially be 40 years old tomorrow. I think he is looking in to the senior 10% discount at Kroger during the first Wednesday of the month. Maybe not old enough yet, BUT, you don't know until you ask.
Hopefully I will have the wherewithal to take lots of pictures of his party and post them on Facebook. If you are a follower of my blog...I will only post of few on this site. Anywho, hopefully my Friday won't be too overwhelming although it looks as if I will be driving over 150 miles. As a friend of mine says..'that is why they pay you the big bucks'. Not for sure who they are or the definition of big bucks, but whatever! I sure hope this party goes off without a hitch!

WTH

Sorry for the profane acronym...however...I am rather peeved by how fast the weekend has passed me by. Brace yourself for this amazing update.

• Friday: After I decided to actually clean up and show myself in public.....I went shopping and performed some random ancillary errands. Marshall was in tow and I must say I enjoyed my 'our' time together. Of course, the finale of a Happy Meal for him was the final touch. At 2, the fam damily went to Michael's Halloween party at school. Other than the stifling heat, we all had a good time. I am about tired of the school system complaining of lack of funds but they don't adjust the thermostat????? Our tax money hard at work!

• Saturday started with IHOP. Mom drove up to visit for the weekend and decided to take us out for breakfast. It was a lovely treat and to see Marshall eat with both his left and right hand was quite the site. Even the young couple (early twenties, yikes) sitting next to us noticed the strange fork/knife dexterity involved with my three year old cutting pancakes.
  Apparently, Marshall had been entertaining them with this display for a good 10 minutes. We all went shopping for a couple of hours, came home to put Marshall down for a nap, and Mom and I ventured out for a 40 minute walk to burn off our late breakfast. I made a yummy tortilla soup with a rather large loaf of garlic bread and trick or treating we went. Michael is now big enough that he would rather go with friends :( So, Mom and I went with Marshall, my friend Heather, her boyfriend, her daughter and his three sons! We were quite the caravan of folk! Mike stayed home to make a huge fire in the outdoor fireplace and to hand out candy. The last trick or treater (is that a word?) graced our porch at 8:45 which personally I fill is a little late but that could also be my age talking.

• Sunday was sweet due to a little thing I like to call 'an extra hour'. Mighty fine! Mom went to church with us but had to hit the road when we got home. After settling down to do his homework I noticed Michael wiggling a tooth that has been loose for at least a century. I bribed him with a Wii game of his choice. TADA....the tooth is now out of his mouth and he is the proud new owner of Wii Sports Resort! Funny how that works. Then it was off to soccer at two o'clock which they lost by one point. Dangit! They were 4 points down in the 4th....had a good rally at the end.....but to no avail. We got home and I was so mad the Vikings game was not going to be aired on regular TV so we dropped the boys off at Mimi's (grandmother) and braved a smoke filled sports bar to watch it. Boy, you should smell my pillow this morning......I should have washed my hair last night before I went to bed. How do people walk around smelling like that....BBBLLLEEECCCKKKK!

Well kids...........that was the exciting update to my exciting weekend. It was actually very fun despite the speed in which it passed. Pictures are pretty self explanatory except for the one of Marshall by himself. That was the morning after candy hangover!