It’s the last day of 2008. This day will never happen ever again!

Here’s a snapshot of my day:

• Slipped on the ice walking away from my car
• Found a new home for our foosball table (thanks, Akono!)
• Tried an elliptical machine for the first time
• Ate a ham sandwich and an orange for lunch
• Got some really good news regarding my job
• Slipped and fell on the ice walking to my car
• Ate bodacious blue cheese burgers for dinner (thanks, Mike!)
• Hooked up the webcam my mom bought for me cuz it FINALLY arrived (thanks, Mom!)
• Had a lot of fun talking with my mom via the webcam, of course
• Watched Rocky IV and Elf, two of my favorite movies (Six inch ribbon curls, honey!)

And now I plan to go to bed. Yes, that fluffy pillow and those three layers of blankets are calling to me.

I get some rest because tomorrow I plan to be a darling hostess as people join us to watch the big game - MSU vs. UGA, and also at some point I want to go to Staples or Office Max. I can’t think of anything better to do on my day off than to wander around with no time limits, drooling over laptop cases and calendars. I’m like a kid in a candy store in those office supply stores!

Oh look, I found some Christmas cheer. It’s The Drifters singing “White Christmas”.

This song is so much fun to lip sync to! Hit pause and go grab a hairbrush. Seriously, you have to try it. You’re gonna love it.

Uh, Christmas is next week? Really. Wow. I’m sure it will be fun once it’s here, but I’m lacking a little of that Christmas spirit this year.

What happened to my Christmas spirit? Welll, we didn’t put a tree up because the cats usually just knock it down anyway. Then throw little Luke into the mix… we just didn’t think it was a good idea. And I get frustrated with all the craze and hype surrounding all the presents you’re supposed to buy and the whole Santa thing is annoying and it seems so easy to forget the real meaning and blah blah blah…

Okay, here’s the real deal: My mom moved to Oklahoma just before Thanksgiving. So it’s still new and I’m carrying around some hidden sadness because I’m not going to see her for Christmas. Or her birthday. Or my birthday. Or Easter. It’s sad to me, you know? I guess I just really miss my mom.

With that said, I still have been blessed with lots of other wonderful family members whom I will be seeing around Christmas time and I can be thankful for that. This weekend we will go see Mike’s family and I am thrilled because I haven’t seen his mom in quite some time and I can’t even remember the last time I saw his stepbrother. It will be a weekend full of delicious food, entertaining conversation, and hopefully a few good games of Texas Hold ‘Em.

On the Saturday following Christmas we will be traveling to my dad’s house where we will have our first ever apple fritter taste-off. I imagine my stepmom will take some intriguing photos of the apple fritters before we devour them, so I’ll give a full report once it’s all over. For this family Christmas is almost always about the food. Well, first about Jesus but after that it’s all about the food.

Then we have some dear friends coming to Michigan from southern Illi so we plan on spending some time with them around the first part of the new year.

I don’t care for the travel and busyness but I do love seeing family and friends. That’s the best part, in my book. I guess the only true Christmas wish I have left is that I get some napping done somewhere in there

Not my best Thanksgiving but eventful and rich nonetheless. It is always good to be with family and enjoy a good meal and a little football. Oh, you Lions… you have reached new heights of suckiness. Does anyone remember how the Lions used to always win on Thanksgiving? Maybe I’m just making that up, I don’t know. Anyway, moving on to the highlights of Thanksgiving 2008:

• The turkey arrived just in time for the rest of the meal. But it was delicious and not technically late so I can’t hold it against it. You can’t hold grudges against dead birds anyhow.
• It’s not a real Thanksgiving without a little burned skin. I have yet to learn that you must not touch hot pans with bare hands. Who cares if it’s falling? Do not attempt to catch it. Ever.
• Luke had some major bonding with the toilet. Twice. Honestly, I don’t know how Jon & Kate keep track of eight toddlers. We can’t seem to keep track of one.
• The banana cream pie was 3D - delectable, divine, delicious.
• Luke happens to be a huge fan of Great Grandma’s cranberry relish. Barely touched anything else on his plate but scarfed that relish in seconds flat.
• Leftovers! We totally partook of the leftovers after all our guests had gone. Mike’s dad brought us a loaf of fresh baked bread so that we could have proper Leftover Turkey Sandwiches. Mike’s version of proper includes Miracle Whip but I tried it like that and it was wrong, all wrong. Thank God we had a small jar of good ole’ mayonnaise in the cupboard so that I could salvage that abomination he calls a sandwich. Yech. I’ll tolerate Miracle Whip but not on my Leftover Turkey Sandwich. No, sir, no.

The day totally wiped me out. My idea of the ultimate relaxation is nursing a beer while lounging on a cozy couch and listening to R.E.M. and The Cure and guess what? That is exactly what I did! And now I’m off to bed, dudes. Happy Thanksgiving!

I hate cooking, but Thanksgiving is the one day out of the year where I find myself enjoying it. Having loved ones all relaxing on their day off, enjoying each other’s company in my home somehow makes it worth it. And I always end up with help in the kitchen so I never feel like I’m doing it alone. With that said, I still try to keep the menu simple so as not to get overwhelmed. Here it is:

Turkey - provided by Grandma and Grandpa
Gravy - made here, probably from a seasoning packet or a jar
Mashed potatoes - made here, from scratch!
Stuffing - from a box, that’s the kind I like best anyway
Rolls - provided by father-in-law
Corn - provided by father-in-law
Corn bake - made here, from scratch
Pie, lots of pie - the pumpkin kind provided by our local grocery and banana cream provided by Dad (See now Dad? You have to make it. It’s in writing)

You’ll notice I did not include cranberry sauce or green bean casserole. Nobody eats the cranberry sauce and I’m pretty sure I’m the only one who likes green bean casserole. So unless I get some major objections, I’m leaving them out. I may keep a can of the cranberry sauce on hand just in case, but I’m positive no one will complain about the green bean casserole. They’ll be too busy raving about the corn bake.

Do any of you get excited about Thanksgiving? Do you have a favorite dish that you just absolutely have to have?

Tomorrow Mike and Luke are driving to Detroit to help my mom and stepdad load the truck. Tomorrow is the day they leave for Oklahoma. To live. Not for vacation. The reality that my mom is going to be 38,000 miles away is hitting me slowly (so what if it’s an exaggerated reality). But hey, she’s giving us her couch and loveseat, so at least there’s that.

On a brighter note, tomorrow is the fantabulous Silver Bells in the City event in downtown Lansing. It’s a light parade! After dark! With a giant Christmas tree at the end of it! With lights! And fireworks! Yay!

What else is going on, you ask? I have a whole new set of responsibilities at work. It feels like a got a new job but I’m still at the same place with all the same great people. I just have to learn new things is all, but I love that because if I’m not learning new things or being challenged I get bored and my brain turns to mush.

My little brother is getting married next week. He isn’t so little anymore. He is much younger than I am and I still remember when he was just a baby. Now he’s all grown up. It’s craziness.

Also, Thanksgiving is right around the corner and I’m always excited for that. We have it at our house every year. It’s great. No travel and we get to keep most of the leftovers!

The title of this post is courtesy of my son Luke, age 10 months. He’s helping me fold laundry too. We are having so much fun He’ll be going down for a nap very soon.

Today is Easter and pretty soon I need to get back in the kitchen to fix dinner. I spoke to my sister on the phone earlier. She told me she had a conversation with her husband about what to cook for dinner today and he suggested the “traditional” Easter dinner. She wasn’t sure what that was and thought maybe something was wrong with her because she didn’t know. She felt a lot better after she spoke with our brother because he didn’t know either. Then she read my blog and it was confirmed that she was not crazy. Not only did we grow up with a pastor for a dad, but our uncles and grandfather were pastors as well. There were no big family dinners on Easter. Easter Sunday was much like any other Sunday; we still came home after church, ate leftovers, and napped. The only difference was Dad had to go to work early and stay a little late.

We did not go to church today. We had every intention of going, but we didn’t get up in time for the earlier service. Luke’s nap schedule interferes with the other two services so we didn’t make it to those either. Luke cannot fall sleep during a church service, so bringing him to church is a challenge. I’m sure that will change once he grows up, I’ve seen my share of grown men sleeping in church.

The stupid cat just crawled into the laundry basket. I just folded all those clothes and she’s messing them all up again. Yesterday she threw up in the dining room, right in front of our guests. I am so done with cats right now.

Yesterday Luke ate oatmeal with a spoon. I got a lot of it on video and it’s super cute so I’ll have to post it soon. The look on his face was priceless. He was so pleased with himself. He made such a mess but we didn’t care because we were laughing so hard.

Well, I hope everyone else is having a wonderful Easter Sunday! Whatever you’re doing, don’t forget to stop and remember why we celebrate this day. Jesus Christ took on death for our sake and came out victorious! My only questions is this: if he can beat death, why can’t he do something about this snow?

Blogged with the Flock Browser

I’m getting stuff done today. I’m puttering, but I’m getting stuff done little by little. I find that I don’t mind picking up and putting things away but I really don’t like the cleaning part. The vacuuming and dusting and stuff. As long as things appear clean I don’t really mind.
We are having company over this afternoon. Good friends who have had us over a million times but for some reason we don’t have them over much. We’ll probably eat some snacks, watch a movie, chat, maybe play some games. Should be fun.

Tomorrow is Easter. I’ve never done much on Easter because when I was growing up we never did much as a family. Of course, we always went to church because my dad was the pastor, but we didn’t do much beyond that. We sometimes got Easter baskets with candy. My dad would hide them around the house for us to find. I remember one year I couldn’t find mine. I looked everywhere I could think of and just could not find it. I begged my dad to tell me where it was and he finally gave in. It was in a paper lunch bag inside my giant Strawberry Shortcake strawberry. My dad was great at hiding stuff.

Mike’s family has always had a big family dinner on Easter. This year Easter came early and his grandparents are still down in Texas, and since they usually arrange and host the Easter dinner nothing was planned. Mike insists that there be an Easter dinner with the traditional ham, mashed potatoes, and corn, so we have volunteered to host. This is exactly how we began hosting Thanksgiving dinner. There were four of us at the first one and now we host anywhere from 10-20 each year. This year there will be six of us for Easter dinner. Next year, maybe 12!

Well, another Christmas has come and gone. All that hype for one little day. We had a good Christmas. We spent a lot of time with our extended family, but we were able to have some down time at home too. Saturday we went to my sister’s house and celebrated with the rest of our siblings, my niece, nephew, and all four parents. Sunday we visited Mike’s dad’s family and Christmas day we visited his mom’s family.

Christmas Eve was our day. It has always been our day. (more…)