Thanksgiving Memories

1. We played Scattergories and for an "S" hobby Ryan said, "For a hobbit, I put Samwise Gamgee." Maybe you had to be there, but it was a funny play on words to me.

2. This interchange between my family:
Aunt to my future biology teacher brother: You should tutor your cousin in biology.
Brother to my scholarly cousin: You're not doing well in biology?
Scholarly cousin: No, I'm doing fine. I have a C.
Brother sighs.

3. While playing Taboo I blurted out "pigeon stool!" when the answer was obviously (to everyone else anyway) "stool pigeon." Oops.

4. I pointed out to my brother that he's more closely related to me than any other human on earth. He quickly proceeded to pick up his butter knife and stab it to his chest. Then he mumbled something about his stupid sternum being in the way. Again, you probably had to be there, but I giggled so hard I snorted.

Hope you all enjoyed yours too!

The Segue of Thanksgiving

I proudly profess that Thanksgiving is my favorite day of the year, but I love Christmas time the most. I know a lot of people think that Thanksgiving is overshadowed and ignored, falling too close in between Halloween and Christmas. While that's true, I feel like the holiday is the perfect segue to Christmas. What better way to get us all in the Christmas Spirit than to spend a full day of gratitude? I admit I have my lights on the roof and Christmas CD's in my player . . . but I promise that doesn't make me love Thanksgiving any less.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Brilliant

This may be the worst idea ever.

When in Doubt, Throw It Out

Today our department scheduled five hours to clean up our workspace. That seemed ridiculously long, but I had no idea what we were getting into [forgive me for ending in a preposition; I'm tired]. I found such items as antacids in the filing cabinet nobody's used for over a year, Highroads issues (our member magazine) from 2000, and procedure notes for processes we no longer use. That last one really floored me. Why would you send training notes to the warehouse? If it's a current process, you should keep them WITH you. If it's not a current process, trash them. When was the last time you were at work and thought, "Man, I wish I had a copy of those instructions from ten years ago so that I can see how much better we do things now." If there's anything I have learned from being my dad's executor, it's "When in doubt, throw it out." If you don't, it just means someone else ( = me) will have to do it.

Turning on the Oven

We have been out of the 90's now for a week or two, so I can finally turn on the oven. Okay, so I have been using it the summer through, but I tried to use it as little as possible. Now I can just let it run, baby. I've made things like my grandma's rolls, midnight chocolate cake, twice baked potatoes, and butternut squash puree. [Did you know twice baked potatoes aren't that hard? I've never made them before because baking something twice seemed difficult. I was wrong! They're easier than mashed because you only have one bowl to clean and you can leave them in the oven instead of hovering over the stove to occasionally stir.] Anyway, I'm pretty excited. What have you been putting in your oven lately?

Historic Day for the Blog!

My dear friend Holly is allowing me to guest post on her endlessly witty blog If I Were Really Skinny. We ate lunch together every day in middle school. She saved me from the Earthworm Jim kid and helped me learn that being a girl is okay. Her dry humor distracted me from horrors of the social scene in secondary education and now entertains me on a regular basis. I highly recommend you look her up here and check my two cents worth here. Happy Monday!

Hard Time

Maybe it was just a rough week, or maybe I'm just a cry baby. Either way, this one got me all choked up.

Hope Ya Know We Had a Hard Time

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I LOVE this time of year. From now through Christmas! Even if it was in the 90's today. Sigh.

Oops - Missed the Blog Anniversary

Why didn't anyone tell me it was my blog anniversary? Two months ago! Oops. Or if I'm channeling my mother (which happens often) oopsy-daisy.

I guess this isn't unexpected. I have a hard time with dates. In fact, Ryan and I both think we got married in 2005. We didn't. But that's the year we blurt out when asked. I guess as long as we're both wrong, it's okay.