I'M NOT AS THINK AS YOU TIRED I AM

My brain officially turned off about 11:00 this evening, but yet, here I sit and type! I have discovered, as many (clearly more intelligent) people have discovered before me, that 20 hours of sleep a week. just. stinks. I think those people who like to quote you 8 hours a night may just be on to something.
I'm finishing up my first week of a long term sub. tomorrow, and it's been a lot of fun--and a lot of work! The kids are great, the teachers are great, and I feel so blessed to be part of this group of people for the time that I'll be there. That being said, if you see me sitting in the parking lot at Walmart or Target in my car, head down on the steering wheel sleeping? Please just leave me be. Keep on walking, nothing to see here folks. I just really need to rest for a bit. I was so tired last night on my way to bed that I actually ran right into a wall on my way into my bathroom to brush my teeth. The best part is that I couldn't stop laughing afterward--it struck me as completely hilarious. Not my husband, though, he was sleeping. I think that the thought of having to wake up, dress, and drive me to the insane asylum was very unappealing to him. Plus, who would make the kids' lunches?!
Here's wishing everyone a VERY HAPPY FRIDAY! I'm off to bed, mindfully watching the walls!

****Research in monkeys suggests that a new drug can temporarily improve performance and reverse the effects of sleep deprivation on the brain, which would be a breakthrough in helping shift workers, health professionals, military personnel and others who must function at top performance in spite of sleep deficits. --Innovations Report****

(Did they forget moms? The ultimate in sleep-deprived?)

IT'S ALL FUN AND GAMES...

(Click on photo to enlarge, and check out my son's very determined look!)

until someone gets impaled with a snowball! This is one of the funniest pictures I've ever taken, and it never fails to make me giggle! What is Christmas, if not to showcase brotherly and sisterly love?! We were waiting outside the church to enjoy our Christmas 2006 get together with my hubby's family up in Show Low. I told the kids to entertain themselves by making a snowman while we waited, and well, you know...one thing led to another. I really think this should be the front of a Christmas card! I will post Thanksgiving pictures next time, just wanted to get this up in time to say Happy December 1st to the SITSAS and everyone!

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Turkey Tom hiding by the Thanksgiving Tree!

One table set and ready for action...
...and another!
the spiced cider station...
Thanksgiving NotebookIndex Page

Guest List Page
Dish by Dish Ingredients ListMaster Shopping List, separated by store name

I thought I would share my "Thanksgiving Notebook" (doesn't everyone have one?!) with you, as the BIG DAY rapidly approaches. Now, in my defense, the year this notebook was created, I was entertaining 20 plus people for dinner and wanted the food to be really yummy. I am a self proclaimed "psycho organizer", so how could I have pulled it off without my handy-dandy Thanksgiving Notebook? I find myself "spinning my wheels" if I don't establish a way to direct my rapid-fire thoughts into some semblance of order. I broke down each dish I planned to serve into a grocery list, and then combined all necessary items onto a master grocery list. I also went to a couple different stores, according to where the necessary item was on sale for the best price. It really did simplify things, and allowed me more time to enjoy family and friends as they arrived. The "guest list" section was generated to be cut apart and made into place cards. My daughter and I made really cute place cards, and also handmade napkin rings (for our paper napkins!) out of recycled plastic napkin rings that I picked up for next to nothing at a garage sale, some fabric remnants, and my Sizzix machine and scrap paper. I am including some pictures of that Thanksgiving--it was a blast! We are spending this holiday close to home with some dear friends, and we are truly thankful for all we have been given! After dinner, (which will be served on heavy-duty paper plates for fast clean up!), we will watch movies and play games for as long as we can before the turkey kicks in and we need to nap! Then we'll do my favorite thing--we'll get out all the leftovers and eat again!

HOW TO ENTERTAIN THE FAMILY DOG

If you're not in the mood to go out in the backyard and throw a ball or stick for the Family Fido, rest assured, there's another way to keep man's best friend busy. My friend and I were sitting in my dining room just the other day doing our important work (read: doing crossword puzzles and reading magazines) waiting for the kids to come home from school. Now this particular friend of mine has a sort of "animal magnetism", because Scooter just can't seem to leave her alone whenever she visits. Or maybe it's that he knows he can ALWAYS sucker her in to throwing the ball for him. Or maybe it's the tasty lotion that she wears and he licks off her legs...ANYWAY, she decided to trick him by hiding the ball he'd just dropped in her lap in our basket of shoes (it runneth over) by the front door. Jack Russell's are notorious for being diggers, so he was in heaven playing his new game of hide and seek! We laughed and watched the shoes fly out of the basket, and Scooter run back and forth and jump in and out of the basket like a dog on diet pills. It was a real hoot and a half, I tell you. The pictures speak for themselves, especially the blurry ones! I guess I should've put my camera on Sports Mode!

A GREAT READ!

Okay, it may be official, I've lost my mind. Does anyone see the time? That's right, it's 2:30 in the morning (why is the clock at the bottom an hour off? hmmm...). I just finished working, and had to post a quick note about an author I recently found. She's not new, but she's new to me, and I am absolutely digging her books (I've read 2 this week, and have started on a third). Her name is Nancy Moser. I found her accidentally, because I totally judge books by their covers. I understand the metaphor behind not doing that, with people and all, but with books? Come on! There'd be no jobs out there for graphic designers, photographers, and marketing folk if we didn't judge books by their covers! Anyway, the first book I read by her is called "The Good Nearby". The message in this book was so powerful, uplifting, and overwhelmingly simple! It was truly a life-changing read for me, and I READ A LOT! Almost as often as I think about cleaning my house (but don't) and eating chocolate (totally do)! If you get a chance to check her out (ha ha, from the library--get it?!), you won't be disappointed! Here's a link to her website. http://www.nancymoser.com/

HAIR OF THE DOG

It seems we are having a problem at our house. It's a very wiley, very sneaky problem indeed. The specifics were reported to my hubby and I earlier in the week by our 10 year old daughter. It seems that she's been waking up with someone's DOG HAIR on her p.j. shorts. I say SOMEONE'S, because I don't want anyone to think I'm jumping to conclusions, or that I'm not being sensitive to everyone's right be assumed innocent until proven guilty. Let me back up the bus here a minute and explain. Katie has asthma, which made committing to a dog in the family a tough venture. We bought our Scooter Pie from a family member who promised to take him back and love him (naturally) if things didn't work out between us. So off we went, folding under the pressure of aforementioned daughter's plea that "she had a hole in her heart that only a dog would fill". I'm not kidding, those were her words at age 7. Her future in politics or sales is bright, I think. I immediately requested a "dog run" of my husband, who drove across town to get the 4 month old "surprise". As soon as she saw the dog come through the door of our home in his cage, she gasped, "Scooter!", and the name stuck! Those first few weeks with Scooter in our home went fairly well, and we established a few "house rules" for him. The NUMBER ONE RULE was that he would reside on the first floor of our home, and would NOT BE ALLOWED upstairs where all of the bedrooms are. We have wood flooring downstairs, and it's relatively easy to sweep up the mounds of dog hair that accumulate daily. I am often heard remarking that I think I could build an entirely new dog from the hair that I sweep up. Things were going along nicely, and everyone was following the rules. Or so it seemed. Sometimes, especially lately, I have had dreams of ringing bells (could they be dog tags?) as I lay sleeping in bed. But there's never been any evidence that would suggest a night time visitor on the second floor...until now. More research is pending, and I'm looking for a jury of his peers should I find enough evidence to convict. I'll keep you posted.

THIS JUST IN...

Hey, guess what? Did you know that if you cut in line in high school, they will stuff you in a garbage can? It has to be true, because I heard it from a kindergarten friend of mine this morning. Also, CORN is made from the CORNUCOPIA (which strangely resembles the Bugle snack). This last part is my own observation.
If it weren't for the vast knowledge imparted to me by these worldly little folk (just ask 'em), I'd be forced to get my information from the news, or some other terrible place, and that just WOULDN'T DO! I do prefer to believe that MOST of what they tell me is true, because they are unjaded by pessimism, political correctness, and the cynicism of the world. To them, UP is UP, DOWN is DOWN, and no one gives a flying fart what color anyone is. I just giggled a little when I typed fart. Come on, you can laugh, it's a funny word.
Today, I told the the class the story of "The 3 Billy Goats Gruff". We used a felt board, just like in the olden days. Even though most of the kids had already heard the story, they all clapped at the ending, when the mean old troll got tossed into the lake by the biggest Billy Goat Gruff. They clapped because that's what you do when the bad guy gets his, and the good guys win. There's no gray area, no hurt feelings afterward. It just IS what it IS, and that's the beauty of the innocence of a child!