Wednesday Hodgepodge #55

1. Do you send Christmas cards? If so about how many will you send this year? How do you display the cards you receive? Or don't you? (gasp!)
I don't send out Christmas cards.  Call me crazy, but any kind of greeting cards seem like a big waste of money.  When someone asks me for my address around this time of year, I make sure they know that I don't send them out.  I usually display the cards we get around the door frame of the living room, but it won't be happening this year.  See tomorrow's post to find out why!  (Don't you just hate teasers?)
2. When do kids become adults?
Oh, geez!  I hope somebody has the answer to this question, because I have a 23 year old who isn't there yet!  And, there are times that I still feel like a kid and not an adult.
3. Does your 'beauty regimen' change with the seasons?
Nope.
4. What's something you like to eat that might cause another person to turn up their nose?
Peanut butter and celery is the only thing that comes to mind right away.  I'm sure I'll think of a different answer in a couple of days!
5. Gloves or mittens?
Mittens, although I don't own any, I much prefer them if I'm going to be in the cold for a long time.
6. What's the longest queue you've ever been in? Was it worth it? Queue=line but doesn't queue sound nicer?
It would have had to have been at Disneyworld, and, yes, it was worth it.
7. Besides Christmas, what is one thing you are looking forward to in the month of December?
Advent.  (See yesterday's post)  Oh, and Christmas break.
8. Insert your own random thought here.
There has been so much talk about the Catholic Church changing some of the words to the Mass lately.  We finally switched completely over last Sunday, and I honestly don't see what all the fuss is about.  Little things have changed here and there, but nothing real drastic.  I've heard/read several priests commenting that it will make all of us actually think about we're saying.  Now there's a novel idea!  I am a bit peeved that we had to change some of the music, especially to the Lamb of God.  Our choir sang this beautiful arrangement:  acapella with beautiful harmony...it brought me to tears.  Now they're having to sing some arrangement that goes along with the other music, and it stinks.  I want my "Lamb of God" back!

Advent 2011



This past Sunday was the 1st day of Advent 2011.  I love this time of year in the Catholic Church.  We wait in the dark for the coming of our Savior, as a baby.  (Just got a flash of Ricky Bobby praying, "Dear Lord Baby Jesus"!)  I remember being so excited to eat supper so that we could light the Advent wreath each night.  (Even though that meant one of my brothers trying to blow out the candle when it wasn't his turn.  There were plenty of arguments and tears - and tattling - during those nights, too!)  Lighting the pink candle was super exciting, because that meant that Advent was halfway over, and we were that much closer to Christmas! 
Father Christian had this video on his blog, and I wanted to share it with you.


Does your family do anything special for others during Advent/the holidays?

Meet Me on Monday



Blogging  is a funny thing...we tell our most intimate thoughts for all to read  and yet most of the time I find myself sitting and wondering, "who is  this person!?"  I know them...but yet I don't know them!  I want  to know who the person is behind all those words so I thought of a great  way for all of us to "meet" each other!

Every Sunday Never Growing Old will post five get to know you  questions that you can copy and paste into your own Monday post and we  can all learn a little more about each and every one of us!!

Java will add a linky so we can follow who participates and get to know them  better!!  Be sure to link the POST and not just your whole blog!!

 Questions:

1.  I really need to clean my _________?
Java, you started off with a hard one!  I just cleaned like crazy a couple of weekends ago, so I don't know of anything in my house that just needs to be cleaned.
2.  What food makes you think of Christmas?
 Homemade candy.  My mom used to make a bunch of it.  After we got older, we would bring tins home and fill them up.  Mom would put all of the candy out on the kitchen table, and we would fill them up with what we wanted.  Then, we each got a collection of recipes for Christmas with a surprise:  she was going to stop making anything.
3.  If you could choose to stay a certain age forever, what age would it be? 
29.  Because that's how old I tell people I am, anyway!  :-)
4.  What was your first paying job?
The basketroom at the swimming pool.  I babysit a few times before that, but I have to admit I wasn't a very good one...I didn't enjoy it very much.
5.  Have you read the Twilight series?
Ha!  I just saw the first movie on Halloween.  I've heard that the books are really good...maybe I'll get around to it.  I've also heard that the "Sookie Stackhouse" books are good...and geared more toward adults.

Friday Fragments

Mommy's Idea

~ Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving.  It was just CH, the boys, and myself for dinner. My parents came up the street to eat with us.  This was the year for my side of the family to be with our in-laws, but since a family member just had some major surgery, we stayed home.  Here's a picture of my parents right after dinner:
~  Thanksgiving Dinner turned out great...except for the ham.  Guess I left it in the oven too long, but on the bright side:  the turkey was really good.  I found a recipe for cooking the turkey breast in the slow cooker, so I opted to cook it that way to free up my oven.  When I got a new oven a few years ago, we debated getting a double oven but decided to just get a single.  I don't really need a double oven...except during the holidays.  Somehow it all worked today and it was timed perfectly...except for the ham, but that was totally my fault.

~  My Christmas decorations are going up this weekend.  I don't think I've ever put them up quite so early.   Before we moved to Tn., we had real trees so I didn't want to decorate too early and have the tree die before Christmas.  Then,  once we moved, it was still football season until the first weekend of December.  This year, football is over and there's no reason not to go ahead and put it up.


~  I think it's very sad that last night was the last time Texas and Texas A&M will play football.  I thought for sure this rivalry would continue even though A&M will be in the SEC.  A&M has such great traditions surrounding this game.  Don't know what I'm going to do if A&M plays UT (THE UT, not Univ. of Tx.!)...I guess it won't matter to me who wins.


~  We have a chance of rain/snow mix Sunday night into Monday.  The high on Monday is only suppose to be 45.  And...the heat in my room isn't working.  Guess I'll be a nomad on Monday and work in a different room.  Should be great fun.  Last winter it was broken, and it took them until almost the Spring to get it fixed.  It got old real quick.


Linking up with Mrs. 4444!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Thankful for the Wednesday Hodgepodge


Joyce has taken time out of her busy week to come up with some new questions for us!  Feel free to join in by clicking on the above button, copying the questions and providing your answers!

1. Let's start with something controversial...dressing or stuffing? What's it called at your house and what's included in your recipe...cornbread? oysters? sausage? chestnuts?
Dressing.  Southern style with cornbread.
2. Who do you sometimes compare yourself to? 
I try very hard not to compare myself to anybody.  I spent a good part of my youth doing that, and I'm comfortable being me at this time in my life!
3. When were you last inside an airport?
Oh, goodie!  An easy one!  It was on 8 Oct., when we came back from London.
4. What is one side dish that absolutely must be included in a turkey dinner?
Sweet potato casserole.
5. What Christmas song do you dread hearing?
Hard Candy Christmas by Dolly Parton.  That song just rubs me the wrong way for some reason.
6. If someone approaches you and asks for money do you give it to them? Do you drop money 'in a tin cup' that belongs to a person on the street? Do you have a specific charity you support during the holiday season and/or year round?
I don't know that I've ever had anyone come up to me and ask for money.  And, we don't have people sitting on the corner in the Small Town with tin cups!  I try to give to various charities through out the year, especially my church.
7. Share a favorite Thanksgiving memory. If you live in a country that doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving share a favorite memory associated with food.
The year:  1987.  The place:  NYC.  I was the guard instructor for Dalton (Ga.) High School, and we went to the Macy's Parade.  Here's a clip:
I wrote about this last year, but all the memories came flooding back in the past few days.  One of my college friend's daughter left yesterday morning because her high school band is going to the Macy's Parade.  I told her that was something she'd remember her whole life.
8. Insert your own random thought here.
I've gone to the grocery store & package store, made the pies, and have given the girls their baths.  On the agenda today:  Take Pepper to the vet for her shots, work out, make the cornbread for the dressing, and wait for the boys to come home!  It's nice having the day off so I can enjoy tomorrow!

Best Kind of Weekend

Last weekend was the best kind!  I feel rested and ready to go for this very short week.  CH was out of town so it was just YS & me; Friday night I had the house completely to myself since YS was at the football game.  I turned on the tv to the Hallmark Channel and watched those sappy Christmas movies all weekend.  I think I'm getting into the Holiday Spirit after watching those!  When the movies got too ridiculous, I cleaned the house.  I had neglected my housekeeping duties for too long; it felt great to have the house all clean and all of the laundry done.  I didn't even watch any football this weekend; that's rare for a fall weekend.
Friday night the Small Town lost a heartbreaker.  I listened to the game on the internet radio...well, I thought I did, anyway.  There was 2 minutes left in the game, and we were about to score to put the game out of reach.  The announcer said that the sweep had worked for us the whole half, so he expected that play to be a sweep.  It was 4th down and 8 to go, and we went for it:  on a play other than the sweep.  So, the other team ended up taking over at around the 40 yard line.  This other team is a really good passing team; it didn't take them long to go down the field and score, putting them up by 3.  At that point, there was about a minute to play, so I figured it was over and turned the radio off.  When I was the score in the paper the next day, I thought they had made a mistake because it had the other team winning by 1 point.  In overtime.  The Small Town made a field goal in the last seconds of the game to tie the score; each team made a touchdown in overtime, but the Small Town's extra point was blocked.  The kicking game has been a problem all year.  This team just didn't seem the same as in year's past; it was almost as if they expected it to be handed to them, or they just didn't really care, or something.  I was talking to a football mom a few weeks ago, and she made the comment that this group of boys are the first ones that didn't play all the way from peewee together.  Obviously it made a difference.  So, the high school football season comes to a close for us.  YS said that's the proudest he's ever been to say he's from Small Town High.
Sooo...all the laundry got done (but none on Friday night because the washing machine is in the basement and I was alone AND I'm such a "scaredy cat" when it comes to dark basements!) and the house is clean.  AND, I learned how to play Words with Friends and Hanging with Friends, along with downloading Angry Birds Rio.  On top of that, I finished a free Kindle book that was just heartbreaking.   Oh!  And I was able to catch up on reading some blogs, which turned out to be a good thing because I had completely forgotten to bake something for the CCW bake sale for church!  My friend, Patty, had a quick recipe for Pumpkin Muffins.  Her daughter made them for the Women's Guild Bake Sale at their church.  I posted the recipe on Facebook, and it was the talk of the school yesterday!  Thanks, Patty &Sally!
Sunday afternoon, MS came home for some tomato soup & grilled cheese sandwiches, and he brought a couple of pledges home with him.  It's "Hell Week" for them, and he was nice enough to bring them home for showers, food, and a nap.  CH said he talked to him yesterday, and MS told him they were going to the cafeteria to eat:  Since it's Hell Week, the pledges had to give the brothers their meal cards so they could eat off of them!  Those poor boys!  The 2 that came over appeared to be in good spirits, though.  Tonight is their initiation, so they'll officially be "brothers" before they start finals in 2 weeks.
CH got home around 7:00, just in time to relax a few minutes before dinner.  
How was your weekend?

Meet Me on Monday



Blogging  is a funny thing...we tell our most intimate thoughts for all to read  and yet most of the time I find myself sitting and wondering, "who is  this person!?"  I know them...but yet I don't know them!  I want  to know who the person is behind all those words so I thought of a great  way for all of us to "meet" each other!

Every Sunday Never Growing Old will post five get to know you  questions that you can copy and paste into your own Monday post and we  can all learn a little more about each and every one of us!!

Java will add a linky so we can follow who participates and get to know them  better!!  Be sure to link the POST and not just your whole blog!!

Questions:

1.  I wish I had more time to _________?
Read more.
2.  What is your favorite kind of soup?
Taco Soup.  When I get soup at Olive Garden, I always get their minestrone.  YUM!
3.  Where will you eat Thanksgiving dinner? 
At my house.  This is my side of the family's "off year" (the year to be with in-laws), but we decided to stay home and have a nice, quiet Thanksgiving at home.  It will be a little strange this year:  This is the first Thanksgiving weekend in 8 years when we won't have a high school football game to go to.  Yes, the Small Town High School lost on Friday by 1 point in overtime. 
4.  What is your favorite time of day?
Afternoon.  Say, around 3:00 when I get to leave work!  In the summer it's early morning, before everybody gets up and I have the house to myself. 
5.  Did you start Christmas shopping yet?
No.  I've thought about what to get my MIL and SIL on my husband's side.  I don't think we're planning on doing a  whole lot of gift-giving this year with the boys.  And, with my side of the family, we don't do gifts.  It's too much of a hassle; it's more fun to just get together and eat!

Friday Fragments

Mommy's Idea

Mrs. 4444 gives us the opportunity to wrap up the week in short little snippets, then go and catch up with everybody else!

~  CH bought me a new tablet last weekend.  We saw a Vizio Tablet that was on sale, so we went for it.  It's an Android.  No offense to you iPad/iPhone lovers, but it burns me up that one company can corner the market on something so cool.  I refuse to spend my own money on buying an apple product for myself.  (We won't discuss the iPhone that I bought OS for his birthday, so don't go there.)

~  I've found the joys of Words with Friends and Hanging with Friends.  I'm just learning, so during my first game with WWF I got my butt handed to me.  Then I got smart and found some "helper" sites online.  Yeah, I'm cheating, but, so what?  It's only 'til I get the hang of it, and it's with people I don't know, so it's like practicing, right?  I would never cheat with somebody I know!

~  The stomach bug is gone.  YAY!  It was rough, let me tell you.  I went back to work on Thurs. to find the principal and the nurse out, leaving the secretary by herself in the office. She had been out on Wed. with the bug.  Being the good friend I am, I shared my Ginger ale and peanut butter crackers with her, and we made it through the day.  

~  Aunt Flo decided to make her appearance yesterday.  Guess it could've been worse...she could've come knockin' a couple of days earlier to make me totally and completely miserable.  (TMI?)

~  The Small Town High School's football team is still in the playoffs.  They beat the #1 team in our quadrant 48-0 last Friday.  Tonight they play the team who was beat us for #1 in our district.  The other school has been playing football for 6 or 7 years, and this was the first time they beat us.  We've knocked them out of the playoffs for the past 5 or 6 years, so we'll see how it goes tonight.

~  Is everybody ready for Thanksgiving?  I haven't even started to think about it.  Guess I'll need to do that in the next day or two, huh?

Don't forget to head over to Mrs. 4444 and see how everybody's week was!

New Year Wednesday Hodgepodge


Can you believe we've been doing the Hodgepodge for a year already?  And, Joyce doesn't appear to be running out of new questions for us!

1. What song reminds you of a specific time in your life and what is it about that song that makes you remember?
Just about any song from the late 60's, early 70's takes me back to the community swimming pool, which was the local hangout during the summer when I was growing up.  People would have blankets laid out in the grass, and their radios blaring.  Not a whole lot has changed at the pool since I was little, except for the remodeling of the concessions/changing rooms.   Good times!
 
2. What's something you've given up on?
Purchasing a flute.  I honestly just don't have the time to get started on that.  
 
3. What's something you'll never give up on?
My kids.  Even though there are times I just want to throw my hands up, I know that they're good boys with ambitions that may not be what we want them to do, but we raised them to be independent and go after what they want.
 
4. If you had to cook something from scratch in the next hour what would it be?
Crepes.  It's time to go to the grocery store, so I have NO meat in the house right now! 

5. Have you started Christmas shopping? Decorating? Listening to Christmas music?
Absolutely not.  I have a strict policy not to decorate or listen to Christmas music until after Thanksgiving.   That's usually when I start my Christmas shopping, too.

6. What do you know about your parent's wedding?
I know that they had a full-blown mass wedding with a sit down lunch at the reception.  My mom's brother married them, and one of my dad's sisters was a bridesmaid.  One of mom's sisters was the matron of honor, and one of my cousins was the ringbearer.  When we had their 50th wedding anniversary, the only person from her side of the wedding party who wasn't here was her sister.  Without looking at pictures, I'm not sure who was on my dad's side of the wedding party.  I'm pretty sure one of his brothers was the best man, but I'm not sure who else was in the wedding.

7. I can't believe I ___________________.
Actually got to go to Wimbledon!  I never in a million years thought I would ever get to tour the centre.
 
8. Insert your own random thought here.
The nasty stomach bug has made its presence known in our house.  CH had it Sunday night, and I got it Monday night.  My stomach hasn't hurt like that in an awful long time.  Yesterday was the worst day this week this could've happened:  I had to call a parent at 6:45 a.m. to let him know that I wasn't going to be at work, so I would have to reschedule his 7:45 meeting.  He told me that he had to get off of work an hour early to come, so that made me feel awful, but there was NO way I could've even made it to the school.   I was suppose to work the basketball gate at one of my schools that evening, so the secretary said she'd find somebody to either work for me or switch with me.  On top of all of this, I have bus duty this week.  I found somebody to take my place (for a price, though!) so I'm out of school again since my stomach is still very queasy.
I'm not sure what the deal is this year:  I usually am able to avoid the stomach bugs going around, and only have 1 cold during the winter, but this year I already have had 2 colds and this stomach thing.  Guess I need to stock up on Airborn and make sure I take it.
Hope the bug has missed your house, 'cause this isn't fun at all.
Link up with Joyce and see how everybody else answered!

In the News

I haven't done a post like this in a while, but a couple of stories in the papers (1 local, 1 from the big city) need to be shared!  So, here we have News in/around the Small Town Area:

1)  In a town about an hour away from here (and smaller than the Small Town), a woman stabbed her 1st cousin with a pair of scissors because she wanted a relationship, and didn't want to be a "booty call".  Yes, I said "1st cousin".  At the end of the article, it is reported that the woman had consumed 1/4 bottle of Everclear, and he had consumed 1/2 of the bottle.  In his mugshot, he has a couple of bandaids on his face.  This town makes the Small Town seem very metropolitan!

2)  A woman from a mountain area in the county was arrested for stealing some jeans from Sears; she was seen leaving the store with 3 pairs of jeans in her pocketbook.  She got caught because she reported her car stolen from WalMart the next day.  She left the car running because she was having problems with the starter, and she reported that it was almost out of gas and the brakes weren't working properly.  To top it off, the license plate was for a different car because she borrowed the plate from a friend.

You can't fix stupid, people.

Meet Me on Monday



Blogging  is a funny thing...we tell our most intimate thoughts for all to read  and yet most of the time I find myself sitting and wondering, "who is  this person!?"  I know them...but yet I don't know them!  I want  to know who the person is behind all those words so I thought of a great  way for all of us to "meet" each other!

Every Sunday Never Growing Old will post five get to know you  questions that you can copy and paste into your own Monday post and we  can all learn a little more about each and every one of us!!

Java will add a linky so we can follow who participates and get to know them  better!!  Be sure to link the POST and not just your whole blog!!

Questions:

1.  Does your family/friends know about your blog?
Yes, they do.  There are times when I wish they didn't, 'cause I'd really like to cut loose sometimes!
2.  What is your favorite card game?
I haven't played cards with adults in YEARS.  I always liked a good game of "Slap Jack" when I was younger!
3.  What do you wear to bed? 
I wear a tank top thingy and panties.  I may get in bed with pj pants, but they don't last very long these nights.
4.  What is your favorite kind of French Fry?
Plain.  With a side of honey mustard.
5.  What is your usual bed time?
Usually around 10:00.  Sometimes it's a bit earlier, but I try to get in bed by 10:00.

TSMSS: When Love Takes You In




Wow.  I can't believe I haven't participated in this since July!  This is a video that a friend shared on FB.  Her son and daughter-in-law just adopted a little boy from Uganda; it was a long, drawn out process, but they finally got to bring their son home.  I have another friend whose daughter & SIL (she babysat our boys when we were in SC) have made the decision to adopt a little girl from the USA; they already have 2 boys, and after a lot of soul searching, decided not to adopt internationally, but to stay close to home.  Since adoption isn't cheap, she is photographing families to raise money to bring their little girl home.  So, if you're in the Charlotte area and need a family photo, look her up!  (Sorry for that shameless plug!)
And, of course, I have a friend, Patty, who adopted a little boy from Korea.  I haven't met him in person, but that boy already has my heart!

Friday Fragments

Mommy's Idea





~  Tonight may or may not be the Small Town's last football game.  If it is, this will be the shortest season in 8 years.

~   YS is ready for football to be over so they can get started with the concert music.

~  Plans for after school today:  workout, go home, take shower, put on jammies, and curl up on the couch.  Looks like a good night for the first "The Family Stone" viewing of the year.

~  Sad news:  The School Resource Officer (SRO) at one of my schools got some bad news this week:  his cancer has returned.  He went yesterday to get his port.  It's not looking too good.  He's a wonderful SRO:  the kids LOVE him, and he's very involved with the faculty.  Prayers are welcome.

~  As I headed up to my "mountain school" yesterday morning, I was able to take in the colors on the mountains.  It seems like they're hanging around longer than usual this year, and they are absolutely gorgeous.  I'd better get up to the parkway/cove this weekend to get some good pictures.

~  MS' high school friend/teammate who kicked during UT's game last week is traveling to Arkansas with the team this weekend.  He probably won't get in the game, but at least they're not leaving him behind!

~  We had quite a dilemma yesterday:  YS wanted to go the game store for the midnight release of some new game.  It was a school night, so we had to make a decision.  Being the good parent I am, I totally left it up to CH to decide.  The game has already been paid for, and apparently the store was having some party leading up to the release.  It's beyond me how anybody could spend 4 hours in a video store.  Yes, he got to go.  :)  And, he was up at 5:45 this morning to get a round in before school.

~  I went to a workshop last Monday; there were only 6 people there, and 4 of us are from the same school system.  We got some great ideas, and were able to interact with the speaker and pick her brain on some stuff.  I love going to workshops that get you fired up about your job!

~  It's going to be pretty cold here...what's it like where you are?

**Linking up with Mrs. 4444 (Friday Fragments) and Java (Follow Friday 40 and Over). 

Don't forget to thank a Veteran today!  We wouldn't enjoy the freedom we have without them!

Unbelievable Story

Last Saturday, the Big Orange had their homecoming game.  The 1st string kicker was hurt, so the 2nd string kicker started warming up, only to pull a muscle during warm-ups.  The coaching staff ended up calling the 3rd string kicker, who was on the couch watching football games.  They called, but the kicker didn't answer.  They called back, but the call dropped due to poor reception.  They called again, and the kicker went outside to get the call.  (All of this happened 50 minutes before the game was suppose to start.)  They told him that they were sending a policeman to get him to the stadium.
As he's getting in the car, he calls his parents and tells them he's getting into the cop car, but then he ended the phone call.  Can you imagine what was going through the parents' minds at that point?
He made it to the game on time, made 3 extra points and 1 field goal, and was handed the game ball.  What makes this story even funnier is that he graduated with MS!  He was the kicker for the football team until the 2nd playoff game of their junior year, when he chose soccer over football.  We're still chuckling today about the whole story.

Meet Me on Monday: It's back!



It's been a while since I've participated in this one, so I thought I'd link back up today!  (Especially since I'm too lazy to write my own post today!)

Blogging  is a funny thing...we tell our most intimate thoughts for all to read  and yet most of the time I find myself sitting and wondering, "who is  this person!?"  I know them...but yet I don't know them!  I want  to know who the person is behind all those words so I thought of a great  way for all of us to "meet" each other!

Every Sunday Never Growing Old will post five get to know you  questions that you can copy and paste into your own Monday post and we  can all learn a little more about each and every one of us!!

Java will add a linky so we can follow who participates and get to know them  better!!  Be sure to link the POST and not just your whole blog!!

Questions:

1.  Are you excited for the holidays or are you dreading them?
I'm looking forward to having all of the boys home, at least for a little while.  Since the boys are older and prefer money, Santa doesn't bring as much stuff  which eases up on the workload a bit!
2.  Do you hit the snooze button or get right up?
I usually have to get right up, since the girls know that when it goes off it's time for them to go outside and do their business.  This includes smelling all of the smells from overnight animals in the yard.
3.  Do you still have your tonsils? 
Yes.  I was suppose to have them out in jr. high, but just didn't have time for it.  It's really strange, but I rarely get strep/tonsillitis.
4.  What was the last piece of candy that you ate?
Hmmmm...it could've been a Twix, Milk Dud, or Butterfinger.  (Left over Halloween candy.)
5.  Do you shop at thrift stores?
No.  I know people who have found great things there, but I just haven't had time to get in there and dig around.  On the radio a couple of days ago, I heard the phrase "Dig Store".  It's another name for a thrift store, since you have to get int here and "dig" around!  I've never heard that phrase before, but it fits, doesn't it?

Have some fun and go visit Java...she's a pretty fun girl!

Friday Fragments

Mommy's Idea
Linking up with Mrs. 4444 today! 
~  Pumpkin Pie PopTarts.  'Nuff said.

~  Pumpkin Spice Latte to go along with the poptarts = What more could you ask for?

~  Starbucks is donating the first $5,000,000 (yep, that's 6 zeros) to an organization that helps small business owners in the USA get on their feet to keep jobs in the USA.  Donate $5 and get a wristband.  I got mine this morning; have you gotten yours yet?

~  It's the last home game for Small Town High:  the first week of playoffs.  For the first time in 8 years, we aren't the top seed.  In fact, we're the #4 seed in our quadrant.  A win tonight means we travel a couple of hours next week to face #1...as long as #1 wins tonight.  Should #1 lose, we'll have another home game, which is very doubtful!  Looks like we'll have a Thanksgiving weekend without high school football this year.

~  Meetings are slowing down at work...which means I can take a HUGE breath.  October is such a busy month.  Sayonara, October!

~  I'm loving the colors this fall.  I thought they might be kind of dull because we had such a dry summer, but Mother Nature is not disappointing!

~  We finally have a weekend (besides tonight) with nothing on the calendar.  There should be some good football games on tv tomorrow, so you'll know where to find me!

~  Hope everybody has a most excellent weekend!

Wednesday Hodgepodge


More great questions for us to answer, courtesy of Joyce!  To play along, click on the above button, copy & paste the questions, answer them (DUUUH!),  and don't forget to link up!

1. Who taught you how to cook?
No one, really.  I'm self-taught!  Mom taught me things like how to boil water, but I kind of had to learn by myself after I got married.  It really isn't hard...as long as you can follow directions.
2. Have you been told you think too much? Are too much of a perfectionist? Are too sensitive? Were they right?
Think too much?  NEVER.  Perfectionist?  Nope.  Too sensitive?  Yep!  When I was younger, I used to be extremely sensitive.  As I've gotten older, I've realized that it really doesn't matter what anyone else thinks:  It's more important to be comfortable with who you are instead of worrying what anyone else thinks of you.
3. As a child did you have a favorite blanket or toy? Tell about it.
I don't remember having a favorite. toy.  I didn't have a favorite blanket, either, but I did have a thumb, which I sucked until I was pretty old.
4. What 'institution' do you have the most faith in?
Religion...get it: "faith" and "religion"?  Honestly...if you don't have faith in religion, you can't have faith in anything else.
5. Chrysanthemums-pansies-burning bush-ornamental cabbage...your favorite in an autumn garden?
To me, nothing says "fall" like mums!
6. What superpower do the kids in your neighborhood seem to posses?
We have a couple of young boys right behind us, but we don't see them very often.  They do like to jump on their trampoline, though.
7. Are you a fan of the cranberry?
Uh....no.  Unless it's in muffins.
8. Insert your own random thought here.
As I was going down the stairs to get a group of students today, I saw this view:
  I ran back to the room to get my camera (okay, I actually walked because you're not suppose to run in the school!) and went into one of the Kindergarten classes to get a better picture (because taking a picture for my blog is more important than working with kids on their /r/!!!):
 Guess it was worth going to work today after all!

The Best Laid Plans

If you read Auburnchick's blog, you may be having a sense of deju vu.   I was flabbergasted when I read her post on Oct. 30.  That post had the exact same title as mine is today, only I drafted this post and titled it on the 29th.  Weird.

Small Town High's band competition was Saturday.  Everyone was asked to bring something for the bake sale and something for the director's area (where they can "get away from it all" and get something to eat).  Friday was cold and rainy.  I decided not to go to the football game since it was away and, well, since it was cold and rainy!  (I'm loving that I have a choice since YS doesn't play football!)
Here's how I pictured my Friday night:
I planned to go home after helping set up for the contest, clean the kitchen, and then start baking.  Just me & the tv.  Watching the football game.  Nice & quiet.
Now, here's what actually happened:
When I was at the high school setting up, MS called and said he was bringing some friends over for tomato soup & grilled cheese sandwiches.  What time was I going to be home? 
There went my nice quiet night out the window.  I ran by the store and grabbed some cans of tomato soup, cheese slices, bread, and butter.  Then I went home and emptied the dishwasher, and started the cornbread for Mexican Trifle  Bowl.  I had started on Pumpkin Crisp when MS & 3 friends came in.
I put everything on hold, and got them fed.  They hung around for a while (until MS took a shower), then headed back up to the university.
That's when I finally got my peace & quiet.  I cut the brownies for the bake sale and put them in sandwich bags, then realized I didn't think I had quite enough, so I made another batch and put it in the oven.  Then, I looked at the Pumpkin Crisp and couldn't remember if I had sprayed the pan.  Good thing I planned on making one for us:  I made another one and popped it into the oven when the brownies were done.  I had a few minutes before CH would be home from the game, so I popped a movie in.  Yes, it was "The Holiday".  YS came in and said, "The Holiday again?"  It won't be too much longer and "The Family Stone" will be watched over and over.
It wasn't quite the night I expected, but it was nice to stay in and bake while the rain was coming down and the air was cold.

Popular Posts