Juggling

Ever since I became a parent, I've had to juggle.

Schedules. Transportation. Money. Priorities. Childcare.

When I became a single parent, I had to add holidays to that list.

Ex1 and I split just before Thanksgiving, so we immediately had to decide who got the kids for the holiday and who got to spend the day alone. Then Christmas, then New Years....on and on it went until all of the paperwork was signed and dated and we got into a routine.

Even when we did have a routine, things always changed. He has local family and I don't - so I've always tried to be flexible so that the kids didn't miss holiday celebrations with their extended families. Then other kids came along, and ultimately other schedules - and for me, trying to keep all of my kids together for holidays became a huge juggling act no matter what day we actually celebrated whatever holiday it was.

I admit that I tried to be difficult about it at times. Sometimes I got my way, and sometimes I didn't. But somehow I always managed to squeeze some sort of holiday celebration into whatever time the 6 of us had together.

Yesterday, The Dude and I had to make another crazy road trip to Kansas City, and at some point during the drive it suddenly dawned on me that Easter is this weekend. EASTER IS THIS WEEKEND. How did that happen?

My brain went into overdrive while I tried to figure out how to make Easter happen within the walls of the house since it was obviously going to happen in the real world no matter what. I already know that I have no chance of having the older 3 kids at all during the weekend because Ex1 and his wife are returning from a weeklong missions trip out of the country and her parents are in town, so they're going to want the kids. Alex's father already made plans to take him for at least a day or two and I'm not going to stand in the way of that. So maybe we can do Easter the following weekend - but I'm running a half-marathon that Saturday, so I'm going to be useless for the rest of the weekend. So maybe we can do it during the week instead and who am I trying to kid because that would just be insane.

Then suddenly it dawned on me......wait a second. Friday. The kids don't have school. They'll all be here until about noonish when the older 3 have to head back to Ex1's.

The solution was as simple as breakfast. We'll have a huge breakfast Friday morning, like a big Good Friday/Easter breakfast, and they can get their Easter baskets and we can be pigs and eat junk all morning and then the older 3 can go where they need to go and we got our time together for the holiday (and then realistically, I don't have to cook a big dinner because we had a big breakfast so I'm actually getting off easy here) and it's all good.

So while I was in the kitchen prepping cinnamon rolls for tomorrow's breakfast feast, Emily teamed up with the Easter Bunny to fill the baskets (including the eggs that we dyed earlier tonight) and then I got the kitchen cleaned up and ready for morning - including loading up the coffee pot so that it's ready to go.

The constant juggling is hard. There have been times when I've felt as though I've had 87 different things up in the air all at once - some of them were on fire, some of them came at me like bricks while others floated around like feathers, some of them crumbled into dust as soon as I touched them, and some of them slammed to the ground and shattered because I didn't have enough hands to catch them all.

I think that the most important thing that I've learned over the past decade+ of single parenting is that no matter what, everything is going to work out in the end. We might not get exactly what we want but sometimes the best gift we can give our kids is to show them that we can be flexible and make the most out of any situation. We might not get our big Easter dinner as a family, but we're going to have a hell of a breakfast together before they go off in different directions.

And then I'm going to sit back with a giant cup of coffee and relax for a little bit. Just because.

Observations from the day....

Today has been insane-crazy. I'm pretty sure that we reached a whole new level of crazy over the past 24 hours, and it's only going to get worse.

It started with a phone call from my mother to let me know that my father had to be admitted to the hospital after what was supposed to be an outpatient procedure this morning. It's nothing serious serious, but he's 88 years old so there are always risks. They only expect to keep him overnight, but I've learned to brace myself for more bad news when things like this happen. Of course Mom is getting stressed out because we're having our big family reunion next weekend - I told her not to worry and that we'd try to get on the road earlier than planned so that we can get there Monday instead of Tuesday.

Of course, since we had originally planned to leave Monday evening and we now want to try to leave Sunday morning, we've basically lost 2 days of prep time. We haven't started packing anything yet, laundry isn't done, we don't have food to take on the road, and we are just totally not ready.

Along with all of that, there's approximately eleventy bajillion things to do around the house before we can walk out the door and leave it for almost 2 full weeks. The garden still needs to be weeded, the grass needs to be mowed, there's a huge pile of tree limbs that really need to go away to prevent rodents from taking up residency before we get back, the house needs to be cleaned, mouse traps need to be set now that those little a-holes have decided that they like my pantry, I need to get the house key to the neighbors, and so many other things that I haven't even thought about yet.

And here I thought that I was being so efficient by getting the oil changed in the van the other day. "Woohoo, look at me go, getting it done ahead of time." Ha.

Of course while this is all going on, we have a major opportunity for recruitment for Scouts tomorrow and I've been running around all week getting stuff ready for that, including taking about 3 hours to get set up for it this evening (not to mention making some really generic derby cars for people to play with at the event) so that I can maybe sleep a little bit later tomorrow - but basically my whole day tomorrow is shot too.

I have no idea how we're going to get all of this done. None.

But I just keep reminding myself that it will get done. I might lose my mind in the process, but it will get done.

Why is it that there is one wheel missing every time I buy more
than one derby car? 

Starting to weed the garden as the sun goes down was an amazing
 moment of peace in a day of chaos and stress.

By about 9:15pm it was too dark to see what I was doing,
but at least I got everything watered and started weeding.
And it was still 99 degrees outside.

The bats come out around 9pm. And it's really hard to
catch a picture of them with a cell phone.

If it was a full moon, I might have had enough light
to keep weeding.

More road trip planning

It's that time of the year again.

TMOART:15 is just around the corner.

If you haven't been around for very long, that stands for The Mother of All Road Trips: 2015 Edition. It's our annual (for the most part) road trip from here in Kansas to my parents' house in Pennsylvania, usually with a few (or a lot of) other stops thrown into the mix.

This year, we're keeping it simple. Renting the short bus last year cost us a small fortune, so we're taking my van this time - which means that luggage has to be kept to a minimum. Side trips are going to be eliminated due to finances and time and overcrowded seating arrangements. But we're still doing it. We're going to spend more time with my parents (including a reunion of all of my siblings, something which hasn't happened in a lot of years), more time relaxing and less time running around like idiots trying to see everything and do everything and run run run run constantly.

Of course, along with planning the actual itinerary comes planning for all of the crap that has to be done before we can even pull out of the driveway. There is a lot of stuff that we need to do first, things like an oil change in the van and weeding out the garden and flowerbeds and mowing the grass. And of course my constant obsession over the financial aspects of it, budgeting for gas and food and fun stuff and (please no) emergencies.

The lists are running rampant. On my phone. On scraps of paper. In my head. On my gigantic new-to-me white board calendar that I got in a thrift store in OKC earlier this week.

But the funny thing is that even now, as we get down to just over a week before we leave, I'm not spazzing out about it like I usually do. We've done these trips enough over the years that I know that no matter what, unexpected things are going to happen (remember The Great Flying Boulder Incident?) and we'll just make the most of it and have as much fun as possible before the reality of another school year starts less than 2 weeks after we get back.

The kids are excited to go, I'm more than excited to get away from reality for a while, my parents are looking forward to seeing the kids, and it'll be nice to have some real quality time with The Dude.

I'm so ready.

Catching up

I know I've been totally neglecting the blog over the past few days. Things have been hectic, to say the least.

Between working and taking care of the house and spending time with The Dude and being sick and fixing vehicles and life in general, I just haven't really had time to sit down and breathe - and when I do, I instantly fall asleep.

And from what I found out tonight, it's only going to get worse. The girls are involved in basketball, volleyball, and weightlifting during the summer. Jared is going to be taking swimming lessons. Alex and Daniel are both in Scouts. It's crazy. If I thought that I was running non-stop before, it's only going to get worse now.

I found out today that some of the plans that we had already made for the summer are going to have to change for a multitude of reasons. It does appear that we are going to have to cancel TMOART:13, which makes me very unhappy but this is one of those times when I have to make the grown-up decision to focus more on the most important things - and right now our biggest priority is to get moved so that all of my kids are in the same school district before August. That has to take precedence over anything else.

Now, if we happen to win the lottery.....that could change. However, I'm not going to count on that happening anytime soon.

So over the next few days, I have a bunch of projects to work on around the house, and lots of things to get done so that I can feel like my head is on straight(ish) again.  Hopefully the remains of the allergy fog will lift and I'll be able to function a bit more efficiently and I can just get back into the swing of things again. I've been lazy for a few days and now it's time to get back to reality.

Right after I pass out for the night.

Totally random shot. Just thought that it was cool -
and not seen very often anymore.

More zoo shots and stuff....

So I got to spend yet another day at the zoo today. Unfortunately the weather wasn't as wonderful, but it was still decent. It was hot, then cold, then hot, then cold...a few sprinkles, lots of wind, you know - typical Kansas stuff.

What's not typical is that although it was in the mid-80s for the past couple of days, it's going to be below freezing again tonight and tomorrow night. Blah.

So.....random zoo shots from today...

Excited to get there!

Excited to be there!

Are they..... SMILING at me?

I vant to.....oh, nevermind. Too cliche.

Add caption

Another red panda sighting!

Obligatory self-portrait - but he was getting tired.

This just makes me giggle.

If I had 1/10th of the energy that these three had....

Yeah. We were both pretty wiped on the way home.

In other news....

Came home to bloomin' irises.
Too bad they're going to FREEZE.

The Dude has been diligently working on a plan to get my van fixed - using his connections and whatnot to hopefully get it done for a fraction of the original quote, but we'll see what happens. Nothing is definite yet, so I'm still driving the chariot until we get the van done - and hoping and praying that his plan will work...

Winning the lottery would definitely help, but well, you know....

And last but not least...... if you haven't had a chance to donate yet, PLEASE DO. The walk is on Saturday and we need your help. Rumor has it that Ashley might be beating me in the donations, but I could have a few bucks stashed up my sleeve to throw in at the last minute - so if you want to see me strolling through the streets of Wichita in whatever ridiculous get-up she has me wearing - you'd better throw some more money in her direction. Or share the post. Whatever works to get the word out there and find a cure!

I have a plan...

Earlier this evening, I mentioned that I was formulating a plan - but I didn't say what it was.

Well, here it is: the reveal.

Seriously, it's not that big of a deal. Well, it kind of is. But not really. 

I always say that I'm going to plan out my month of meals so that when I get my money towards the end of the month, I can do one huge grocery shopping trip and be done with it. Sometimes I do it, and sometimes I don't. What usually ends up happening is that on that day, I spend a couple of hours paying bills, then run some errands, and then race into the store "just to get something for tonight" and then go home. Then the next day I get just a few more things - and so on and so on, and I end up running out of stuff and it's really annoying.

So, since we didn't have to go anywhere tonight, I sat down and started making a menu for the next month - with the help of so many wonderful people on my facebook page. But I made the menu, and then I made the grocery list - more or less.

Both of them are really pretty rough drafts at this point - I'll probably rearrange a few days on the menu because I forgot about an after-school activity or something like that, but for the most part, my menu and my grocery list for the next month is DONE. I can tweak it some between now and Wednesday, but now as soon as the kids are in school I can pay the bills and go to the store before I go to work, and all will be good.

This is something that I really want to stick to this month - with me working now, my time is even more limited, so doing this should really help to eliminate some of the stress and chaos that I deal with on a normal basis - theoretically, at least.

So that's one problem solved.

Now to figure out how to get my van running again. And to get The Dude back up on his feet. And to get moved into a bigger house.

Winning the lottery would definitely be a big help right about now. But since that's not going to happen, it's just one battle at a time.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Don't forget about this.

We still need your help.

:)

Unveil your ideas...

I find it kind of funny that just last night I talked about how I have put the wheels in motion to actually move into a different place and then this is the fortune that I got in a cookie tonight.

Today has been a fun day. I got to spend the entire day with Sarah and Daniel, which is not a combination that I get to have very often. I love seeing the relationship between my oldest and my youngest kids when these two are together - they don't get to have time with just the two of them very often, and I think that they had fun. I know that I did.  We went to church, did a little shopping, grabbed some lunch, hung out at home, spent some time with The Dude, went out for Chinese food, picked up Alex, came home.... nothing exceptionally spectacular, but it was wonderful in its own way.

As we were driving back home after getting the aforementioned fortune cookie, I started thinking about some of the ideas and plans that I have in my head. Some of them I've talked about  here and some of them I haven't, each for different reasons. I can be kind of superstitious at times and I don't like to jinx myself by talking about what I think might be a good idea - because it seems like right after it comes out of my mouth it immediately turns into the most ridiculous idea known to man.

Honestly, my biggest plan/idea right now is this move. Getting out of this house is really our number one priority at the moment for so many reasons. The kids all need to be in the same school district. It'll be easier not only for me, but also for Ex1 when we get moved over there. This house is too small. And there are so many things about this house that I've tolerated for the past 2 1/2 years, but at this point - I'm starting to hate it. I hate it more and more every day. Moving will not be a simple process (it never really is, is it?) but we'll get through it, one way or another.

My other short-term plan/idea is this half-marathon coming up in a few short weeks. I have talked about that because otherwise I can just pretend that I'm not signed up for it and have absolutely zero accountability for it. But, I'm doing it.

Probably my other big idea - one that I've touched on briefly - is trying to figure out how to turn my crafty stuff into a legitimate business. This is something that I've wanted to do for a very long time, but I've never really pursued it. I need to do that. I'm still not sure exactly what I want to do, but I know that I want to make stuff and I want to make money while I'm doing it - and more money than I can do in a once or twice per year craft show. It's something that I like to do, I'm fairly good at it, and it'll give me the freedom to work at home and still be with my family - the best of all worlds if you ask me.

So anyway, there you have it. A little bit of a brain dump courtesy of a fortune cookie.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

And if you haven't already please READ THIS POST because it's the most important one that I've ever posted on here - and it's your chance to make me look like an idiot. So go read it. Now.

Like a boss

I made a vow to myself yesterday that I was going to at least get my desk cleaned off today. I intended to do it first thing, but I kept getting distracted (imagine that).

On the plus side, one of those distractions was actually forcing myself to get outside and go for a walk.

It was cold. And windy. And muddy. But I did it. I only did about 2.5 miles, but I even managed to jog quite a bit of it, so progress is progress at this point, and it's another step toward my goal of not only doing the half-marathon but also getting healthier in general.

And I actually feel pretty good for getting out there and doing it. We'll just see if that continues through until morning.

After I got back home from that, The Dude and I went and grabbed a quick bite to eat and then ran some errands before he had to go to work. By then it was time for me to pick up the boys and then do supper and then go to Scouts and continue working on laundry and everything else. Finally, around the time that the boys went to bed, I started working on cleaning off my desk. I actually did more than I planned on doing, and cleaned off the top of the filing cabinet - which has always been a catch-all - and went through quite a bit of paperwork as well.

So all in all - while it wasn't a fun and exciting day - it was a productive day. I needed a day like this to actually help get me on the right track and maybe start getting some stuff accomplished around here. For real.

Tomorrow's plan? Other than the usual stuff, I'm going to do a few more miles, help The Dude change the oil in my van, scrub the bathroom, and maybe even mop some floors. And sew. I'm going to sew.

Sorting out the pieces

Remember the puzzle that I was talking about last night? Well, my brain still feels like that, but maybe not quite so much. I've been jotting down some ideas here and there, but it seems like any time I come up with a plan for one thing, something else occurs to me.

But the good news is that in general, I'm starting to get some things sorted out in my head. I'm starting to form game plans and figure out how to make things actually happen.

At the same time, when I get stressed or overwhelmed or have too much on my mind, one of the things that I do to deal with it in the moment is to clean. I think it's my subconscious way of maintaining control - if I can't control the crap that's rattling around in my head, at least I can control the crap that's been tossed around in the house, right?

So I tackled the boys' room today.

I don't know what in the world happened in there over the past few days, because I swear it wasn't that bad before - but whatever happened, it's been cleaned up now. And it's not quite as scary as it was to walk in there. I even have most of their laundry done too.

Of course, once I start cleaning, it's never a simple process. I ended up having to basically gut my vacuum to get it to work right, and it still ended up clogged and limping by the time I got that room done. But, it's done for now. And at some point in the (hopefully) near future, the vacuum will be laid to rest and replaced with one that has a better attitude.

By the end of the day I had the boys' room, the bathroom, and the kitchen clean, and had most of the laundry done too. So I really can't complain too much about that. Apparently I need to get stressed and overwhelmed more often, since that's when it seems that I get my best cleaning done.

Then I was cruising around online, looking up some information for another something that I want to get accomplished, and I stumbled upon something that definitely appears to be too good to be true. So, I shot a couple of messages out to some friends who can help me to get more information on that one, and hopefully...... *fingers crossed* ...... this one aspect might work out a little sooner than I had even dreamed. But, I'm not saying anything specific about it yet because I don't want to jinx it.

Yeah, maybe I'm a tad superstitious at times. At this point, I'll take superstition, prayer, hope, luck, pixie dust, karma, and whatever else I can possibly use to make things work out in the best possible way.

It's a puzzle

This is what my brain feels like tonight.

I'm not sure what's going on with it. Maybe it's the fact that Christmas is over. Maybe it's the impending New Year. Maybe it's the full moon. Maybe it's a combination of a whole bunch of different things that are jumbled up in there.

All I know is that right now, my mind is going in eleventy bajillion different directions, and I can't seem to get it to slow down. I have so many things that I want to do in so many areas of my life, and I'm just feeling a little overwhelmed right now because all of those ideas are running around in a great big unorganized mess in my head.

Yes, I know I go through this every now and then. I think everyone does, whether they want to admit it or not.

It used to be that when I would get into these moods, I would either ignore them and drive myself nuttier than I already am, or I would just jump right into whatever crazy plan was rolling around in my head at that moment. Or worse yet, I would start all 87 plans that were in my head at the same time, and never finish any of them.

I'm going to do something different this time. I'm just going to let my brain go. I'm going to see what kind of crazy ideas develop. And I'm going to keep a notebook and a pen beside me and I'm going to write things down. And I'm going to figure out what it is that has me so restless right now. Maybe, just maybe, if I write everything down as it comes to me, I'll be able to get my thoughts organized. I'll be able to figure out what it is that I want to do vs. what I need to do. I can prioritize. And maybe I can actually feel like I can accomplish something instead of starting it and never getting it done.

I feel like so much is finally starting to fall into place in my life - I am so lucky and so blessed (that is a word that I don't toss around lightly, either) - maybe this is really the time for me to start focusing on some of the things that I want to do with my life. Maybe this is the time to start looking into how to turn my craft hobby into a legitimate business (one of the biggest things bouncing around in my head right now). Maybe this is the time to start looking for a part-time job to help supplement our income. Maybe this is the time to really start looking for a bigger house for us to move into in the next few months.

I'm not usually the type of person to do "resolutions" every year, but I'm starting to think that maybe this could be our year. I can finally say that I'm looking forward to the future instead of dreading it.

I'm ready to get the new year started.

The Notebook

No, I'm not talking about the movie. Although, it is one of my favorites.

I'm talking about an actual notebook, an old one with a broken spiral and a stained cover that is sitting in front of me right now. It's one that's been around the house for a few years but has never really served a specific purpose. Honestly, I'm surprised that the kids haven't made off with it and used all of the paper in it by now.

However, it now has a purpose. I've been sitting here for the last hour or so, carefully crunching numbers. Maybe it's the impending new year with all of its potential, maybe it's frustration with where I'm at financially at the moment, maybe it's just the weird mood that I've been in for the past few days coupled with a few realizations of what I want to do with my life in the next year or so....

Maybe it's a combination of all of that. But regardless of what "it" is, I'm formulating plans. On paper, even. I'm figuring and re-figuring my budget. I'm figuring out a way to actually get some money into savings - starting this month - so that I can make some changes happen when I want them to happen without being totally stressed about money all of the time.

Living on a fixed income is not easy. It is nice to know exactly how much money is coming in and when, and it's easy to live day-to-day on that. But when emergencies like a busted transmission or an abscessed tooth happen, it's hard to come up with the extra to take care of those things. Now that I've been able to pay off some bills, it will be a little easier to build in a cushion each month to make those unexpected expenses easier to handle. And having that little extra cushion will also help us to be able to make some other things happen - including combining two households into one within the next 6 months or so.

Willpower has never been one of my strengths. In fact, I've always been horrible about it. Hopefully,  putting it all on paper (not to mention putting it "out there" for everyone to see) will give me the motivation to be able to stick with it and actually make progress.

Well, that didn't go as planned....

I mentioned on my facebook page earlier today that I was trying to get 3 Christmas stockings made that are for a last-minute special order. I figured that I could get them pretty much done today. Maybe not done, but close.

So I dug the fabric out of the closet and started going through the unorganized mess of Christmas stuff.

It's always been disorganized. I toss all of my Christmas fabric into this one bin, use some of it for a project, then toss the scraps back in on top of what was already there. So there are scraps, then big pieces, and more scraps, and actual yardage, all jumbled up together. And wrinkled.

So I came up with a plan - like I always do. But as usual, my plan sidetracked any sort of progress that I was going to make today.

Not to mention that these kids - I swear, I fed them yesterday, but they wanted food again today! Sheesh! I would get started on something, and they would want food. Or need help with something. Or whatever. It's only the first day of Alex and Daniel's winter break - but they definitely kept me on my toes today.

I started pulling out all of the fabric and sorted it. Solids in one pile (to use for the backing) and prints in another. Scraps sorted from yardage. And so on and so forth. And then I started ironing. And then I started cutting.

So as of right now, I have lots of strips of fabric, but no stockings. But, once I get all of the prep work done (hopefully later tonight) I'll be able to get cracking on the stockings themselves and whip them out fairly quickly.

After all, I do have a couple more days to get them done....no pressure.

On the plus side though, Alex actually helped me to fold and put away 4 loads of laundry tonight, I ran the dishwasher, and the kitchen is clean-ish. So although I totally did not get what I needed to do done, the day wasn't a total waste. I still have to get up in the morning to get the older 3 to school (assuming that the predicted snowpocalypse hasn't hit by then) for their last day before break....and of course I have a million other things to do tomorrow along with the sewing. Woot!

And yes - I will post pictures of the finished stockings - but only after I make sure that the person who is receiving one as a gift doesn't read my ramblings!

Me vs. The Tree

We bought our Christmas tree the other day, but it's been sitting out on the front porch in a bucket of water, waiting for the living room to be clean enough for it to fit somewhere. So today, while I was down to only one kid, I decided to at least get the tree inside the house.  Of course, that involved cleaning the living room, and pretty much completely rearranging anything that wasn't already bolted to the wall. Seriously, anything that's more than about 3' tall in this house is bolted to the wall because the entire house is...... wobbly. Plus, I have kids (in case you didn't know that). Actually some stuff that was bolted to the wall got moved too, now that I think about it.

Then it was time for battle. I have this really bad habit of buying really big trees - but with the amount of ornaments that we have, it's pretty much a necessity. And besides, I like big trees.

Doesn't look that big while it's just laying there...

Photography by Daniel....

The fight was on.

My head got eaten by a tree!

Still fighting....

And about an hour later...

No, I will not buy a fake tree. Yes, I understand that they are easier. Yes, I understand that they save money and natural resources and create much less of a mess to clean up after the holidays are over.

Know what? I don't care. I like real trees. I will always have a real tree. I've heard all of the arguments and I've even looked into buying a fake. But, no. I won't do it. Period. End of story.

Once I got the tree upright, I decided to go ahead and get the outside lights put up, since it was warm outside. Stupid weather.

How many moms does it take....

They're up - isn't that good enough?

Weird. My kid was outside playing in the leaves
without wearing a coat while I was hanging
Christmas lights.

Ghetto-tastic. Now if I can just get the second string of lights fixed,
I can do the same thing on the other porch too.

I'm going to attempt to get the lights put on the tree in the next day or so, but we won't be able to actually decorate it until at least Friday. The older 3 kids won't be back until Wednesday, but they have church. Thursday, we have basketball. So Friday is really the first chance that we have to do it as a family.

However, nothing's stopping me from going through the boxes of ornaments between now and then to *ahem* reduce the number of ornaments that the kids feel must go on the tree. Some of them are just downright ugly - but I keep them for sentimental reasons. Weird, I know. Don't judge.

For now, I just have a ton of cleaning and laundry to do (go figure) since I worked on the living room and the tree most of the day - and then I have to plan out my week. Too much to do, and too little time. As usual.

A delay and an ooops...

The delay...

So I've been hinting around for a few days about something really big and important that I was supposed to do today.

Yeah, well, the best laid plans....blah blah blah.

I went to do it as scheduled, and there was apparently a big breakdown in the communication, and it actually wasn't scheduled. So it's now scheduled for Friday morning. But, that's actually a good thing - because between now and then I'm going to have someone else who has done the same thing help me to write the post about it. And it's going to be really really awesome.

No, I'm not going to tell you what it is yet - because this is something really big and it's a really important message that needs to get "out there" - so I want everyone to be anxiously awaiting it. Evil of me? Maybe. Hopefully it's effective as well. I'm not usually the type of person who says "oh look at me,  I'm going to post something fabulous" but I really believe in this and I really want to get the word out there - and so does the person who is helping me.

So Friday - it'll be posted. I promise.

Now for the ooops....

The other day, I posted pictures from our Thanksgiving feast. And then a day or two later, when I was going through other pictures, I realized that I didn't post any of the pictures from the preparations for the feast - and some of those are classics. So.... here are some of them. Just because.

Now THAT's an onion!

The infamous peanut butter pie.

Potatoes with a little bit of garlic.

Prepped and ready to go.

That moment when you realize that your brilliant idea of covering your
23.5 pound turkey with the lid to the roaster overnight just
isn't going to work.

"Snap one more picture of me, and I'll wrap this lid around your face.
Darling."

All of it just sitting there, ready to be cooked.

"Mom! When's the turkey going to be ready???"