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!

Cats generally do well at grooming themselves with those razor sharp tongues of theirs but sometimes they need a bit of help. Sometimes things get stuck in places they don’t belong and the task of removing said things is too great a task for them, if you know what I mean. I’m just as grossed out by that as you are, which is why I let Mike handle the dirty work.

I present to you “Poor, Pitiful Pele”:

And in case you’re a fan of felines, here’s a picture of our other cat, Buster Brown. I think he was hoping he would be next in line for a bath.

This joke was written by Alaina, age 5:

Why did the elephant cross the road?

He had to fart.

Why did the giraffe cross the road?

To get away from the elephant!

I love it! (This is me starting to follow my own tagline about not taking life too seriously.)

I’ve been staring at this blank screen while trying to formulate an intelligent or witty or at least mildly entertaining post. I have nothing. I realize my blog has lost a bit of its personality lately and I would really love to rectify that but I have been different lately and since I’m the one who writes here… well, you get it.

The problem is that I’m holding back. A lot of times I just want to lighten the mood but I feel insensitive because while I’m over here at Griddle Bandits rambling on about silly things, crappy things are going on all around me. Money problems, job problems, marriage problems, health problems, etcetera, etcetera. All crappy things happening to people I love. And I can’t fix it.

(Have I written this before or am I just having a major case of deja vu?)

I really don’t want to write about serious stuff right now. Well, there is one serious thing I want to say.

Life is short. Please do not be so concerned about what’s for dinner tomorrow or how you’re going to afford your next vacation (or even your next mortage payment). Take this moment and ponder the people you love. I’ll wait.

…Done pondering? Okay, now go tell them. We don’t know how many chances we will be given to tell the people we love how much they mean to us. We are given those chances every day but most of the time we let them slip through our fingers. One of those chances may be the last one and the scary thing is you don’t know which one it will be. So take them all. It’s the kind of thing that’s impossible to regret.

I FINALLY got my wedding ring resized last week. The ring has been too small for years and I can finally admit I will never be the size I was at 21 again. I’ve actually lost a decent amount of weight this year and the ring is still tight enough to give me blisters. It’s a white gold and the rhodium plating had worn off so I had it replated as well.

My goodness, I don’t know why I didn’t do this sooner. My ring is just as shiny as it was the day I got married! And it fits! I’m reminded of the early days of marriage, when I couldn’t stop staring at the ring. I’ve been stretching out my hand periodically to take a glance while I’m typing and driving with my hands at 10 and 2 so it’s nearer to my line of vision. I’m such a geek.

Oh, and I had Mike’s ring repolished too. We can’t believe the transformation. His was way scratched up and dull but now it looks brand new again. At $7 for a repolish, I think it’s worth not waiting another 10 years to get it done again.

And I realize this post would go way better with a picture so you can see what I’m talking about but I’m posting from work on my lunch break so I’ll have to get that added tonight. You blogging addicts will have to just bite your nails until then…

Big heavy things weighing on my mind…

1. I have osteoarthritis in my knees. It’s always a little more painful during the colder months, but this year I’ve noticed considerably more pain. Especially when walking down stairs. It makes me feel much older than I am. I also have a bit of osteoarthritis in my lower back. This is a degenerative kind of arthritis, and to be honest that scares me a little.
2. My OB told me to wait three to four months after the miscarriage before trying to conceive again. It’s been more than three months so we’ve been thinking and praying about what we should do. Do we still want to try for another and if we do, when?
3. My grandpa is dying. I don’t know how long he has but I know I need to call him. I just… oh, I’m just such a pansy so I don’t because I just won’t know what to say. That’s an enormous cop out.
4. My mom is moving to Oklahoma. Oklahoma. That’s way far from Michigan. My stepdad finally found a job in writing there and I totally agree they should go, but I am going to miss her. A lot.

Happy things that weigh a little less:

1. Luke is highly entertaining at this age (17 months if you lost track).
2. My job is going well.
3. My house is clean. Super clean. And I wasn’t the one who had to clean it.
4. My husband is amazing (see #3).

Mike has been to every MSU home football game so far, filling in to work security for his friend. Today’s game was going to be the only one he didn’t go to, but at the last minute another friend called and offered him a ticket.

Mike says maybe God is looking out for his inner Spartan. I think that either God is a Spartan too or he’s just rewarding Mike for all those years of working 6 days a week and all his recent long days spent with Luke here at home.

I’m just glad Mike isn’t hating life anymore. He is such a fantastic husband and father and has made many sacrifices over the years. He deserves to have some fun every once in awhile!

Luke has been gaining interest in talking so we’re using Google Images to teach him some basic words. Note at the end of this video that he has become quite familiar with Michigan State sports…

You know it’s time to clean out the fridge when you open up a container of leftovers and these words exit your mouth:

“Wow. I don’t even remember making meatloaf.”

Once upon a time there was a lady. The lady woke up one morning and discovered that her shirt was on backwards. Not only was her shirt on backwards, but it wasn’t the shirt she wore when she went to bed the night before. Oh no, it was a totally different shirt, and she did not remember putting it on. Not at all.

Needless to say, I slept pretty soundly last night.