And then...I fell down.

I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving day. I woke up yesterday morning with violent tendencies and nearly had a crying fit tryin' to get out the door on time with all my goodies in tow. I was 15 minutes later than I should have been but still was there in plenty of time. Little prayer and some time with my people and all was right with the world again. There was a heck of a turnout at the dinner and the food was fabulous! I'm not much of a turkey fan, but man, I could live on Rebecca's green beans and mashed potatoes. A lady brought a buttermilk cheesecake...excellent! There were no leftovers to have to deal with so I don't have to worry about coming up with ingenious recipes that turn turkey into anything but turkey! The school cafeteria has officially ruined me...I've no desire to cook & clean anywhere else ever again. My only complaint is that time didn't stop or even slow down. The good days seem to pass faster than the rest and yesterday ended way too soon.

Plus, when I got home, I had a head on collision with my deck. It was sleeting and I was running to get in the door and well, I just should have concentrated on the steps instead of the door. I didn't quite lift my foot high enough on that last one and I knew I was goin down. I threw my arms out to catch myself but the deck was slick from the rain and sleet and my hands just flew straight out...I felt like I was sliding for home plate only home plate was the back door. I was flat of my face but not for long. I've fallen so many times, I'm an expert at jumping back up...injured or not. Grace has never been a fan of mine. It's so sweet how the kids and Josh will wait to laugh...they wait for me to start laughing first. When I started falling, I let one single choice word go...along with my cell phone and everything else I had in my hands. I saw Matthew turn away quickly so I wouldn't see him trying hard to not laugh at me. It's not the pain that gets me...I'm far too adrenalized to feel a thing at the time, it's the embarassment. I'm known to lash out violently at the nearest anything when I'm embarrassed like that. I just need a few seconds to try to regain some composure before everyone starts laughing at me...and I die laughing myself. I don't know how tense I was when I hit the deck (lol...literally) but my everything hurts today. Is this what it is to get older? I hope I find a good helping of some gracefulness before I hit middle age or these little clumsy fits may land me in a cast or two. Geeze.

The holiday hasn't ended for my family just yet. The teens are headed to Dallas with my mom to have Thanksgiving at my great grandma's. My Gramma will be there and she and Taylor are going shopping tomorrow...I'm crazy jealous. I miss holiday shopping with her...not the actual shopping but the time I used to get with her doing it. Just she and I. I'm slightly territorial when it comes to my Gramma. (I was her first granchild and I'm not too proud to pull rank. ) Everything about a mall this time of year brings her to mind. One of these days, I will be far enough ahead in life to be able to take time off to enjoy all the things that don't last forever. I hope, I hope, I hope. If not, screw the checkbook, I'm doin it anyway.

Josh, Tracker, and I are headed to his mom's for the evening when I get off work to eat dinner with her and that part of our family. I'm looking forward to it. I'm blessed to have a mother in law I genuinely love and her house is just, well, comfy to me. I'd even wear my sweats if there weren't gonna be other people present. I will take them along, however! This should wrap up Thanksgiving for us for the year. I'm almost sad to see it go...it reminds me that the remainder of the year is about to pass us by at lightning speed...again.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well, I know I'll not be blogging tomorrow...I'll be too busy eating things I've waited all year to eat, so I figured I'd better say what I have to say today. Not that I have anything at all to say but sometimes it does my mind good to just sit here and ramble. So I shall ramble on...

Taylor's burns are better...she's still walking funny but she is managing to hang for the day at her "boyfriend's" family cabin. I hate that word. It was cute when she was 5 but at 15 it's almost terrorizing to think that she has a boyfriend...AND that she's out in the woods with him. But, she's not 5 anymore so I'm learning to let go a little at a time...a very little with a lot of time in between. I found it extremely amusing that Miss Priss managed to get ready in about five minutes flat at 6 AM and told her that I had taken note of this ability. No more causing the entire family to run 15 minutes behind schedule to everything. Her dad was much impressed with her sudden interest in the deer woods after the years of NO's to his invites to join him. He acts like it doesn't bother him, but I know his feelings are hurt. It's no fun to realize that your little girl much prefers the company of a teenage boy to yours. Probaby why he's been pestering me lately about having another baby....the little girl is no longer a little girl. But that boy is crazy if he thinks I'm puttin another baby in this body on purpose. Huh uh. Pregnancy and I have never been pals.

My "homemade" pumpkin rolls were just delivered. It makes me no difference that they were made in someone else's home. These things are fabulous and it's just a good thing I haven't the patience to make them. I'd rather spend the ten dollars for almost instant gratification....I did have to wait a whole day on their arrival. One of them will be polished off tonite, I've no doubt, at the potato peeling party we're having. I say "party" becuz I'm handing each of the teens from youth group a knife and telling them they can't play ball until they produce skinless potatoes for tomorrow's community dinner. Anytime I don't have to peel thirty pounds of potatoes, it's cause for a party. :) They love it. I have to say, they are some of the most giving teens I've ever met. I love them all to pieces....even my spoiled, rotten, boyfriended daughter. It's so much easier to enjoy 'teen-dom' on this side of it all. If nothing else, I can be thankful I'm NO LONGER 16 tomorrow!

Tomorrow really is a day to be thankful for all I've been blessed with: A family that goes past bloodlines, friends from every corner of the US, a place to call home and love to fill it with. We have never had much, but we've always had enough and to me, that makes it just right.

It's Just Life

Days like these should come with their own tee shirt, a friendly warning to those I encounter: "PMS: The art of crying for no apparent reason, crying because you're crying, crying in response to everything, basically. I'm livin' it!" Ugh! I hate it when I get like this. After today, so does my poor boss. Men do NOT know what to do with crying women. The one I'm married to does an okay job with it...but he's had years of experience. I learned this morning that I can clear an office lickety-split with just a few tears. There were exactly three men standing in this office when the attack hit....by the time the first tear hit my shirt, there were none. They ran off in three different directions all babbling something about being sorry. They had to have been wondering for what tho. Trained men....throw an apology at her and get OUT of the way. It's comical now but a mere thirty minutes ago, it was disastrous...from my PMS-y perspective. I had to hit the bathroom to fix my face and tell myself how absolutely ridiculous my behavior was. It's hard to stop it when you don't even know why you're doing it. Oh, the high's and low's of these days. I nearly outright bawled watching How To Train Your Dragon last nite. I get on my own nerves but not for long at a time....the moods seem to switch about every five minutes or so. What's amazing is the wide range of emotion I can express in such a short amount of time. Oh and it always lands on the holidays when I'm around people I see only once or twice a year. Terrific...I can only imagine the impression I make. Oh well, I won't care in another five minutes.....

I cancelled Tracker's dental appointment yesterday to take a very ill Josh to the doctor instead and while we were there, Taylor spilled an entire bowl of ramen noodles into her lap. Poor thing...I've yet to get Tracker's eye witness account but apparently, it was pretty intense there for a bit. She said the first thing she did was scream which caused Tracker to jump straight into the air like a scalded cat and cover his ears. Matthew drug himself outta bed to see what the commotion was all about but he said, "She wouldn't tell me what was wrong, so I just went back to bed." Ah, Matthew, the little compassionate thing that he is, could (and would) sleep thru anything. That poor little girl is burned in places she didn't want a doctor to see. I feel so sorry for her. That burn cream is an absolute miracle solution though...she was up and moving an hour after applying it. Impressive. She's better today but is lookin at sweatpants bein her sole attire option for a good while. Not something a very fashion savvy girl wants to hear. And she was so looking forward to her Thanksgiving break from school too....now she'll spend it, pretty much, flat of her back in front of a fan.

The doctors still don't know what's wrong with Josh. So far, it's a medical mystery but he seems to be feeling better today. He ate and drank for the first time in three days last night. He was convinced he would surely thirst to death yesterday morning....I was beginning to wonder myself. All I know is there are some funky illnesses makin' their rounds out there and I'm pretty sure this household's quota has been met. Enough already.

The chill has officially ARRIVED and with it has come the never ending phone calls from people who are out of propane :), the hunters with their always empty RV bottles, and the knowledge that my wood pile isn't nearly high enough! But, man, how I'm lovin' the smell of the fireplaces and wood stoves. Fall finally feels and smells as good as it looks!


I can't believe Thanksgiving is less than a week away. It's just wild how fast time is flying by. I can't wait til Thursday...the community Thanksgiving dinner is the highlight of my month. It's so much fun to get together with people who mean the world to me and laugh and cook and just exist in each other's presence for the day. Just a day to slow down and enjoy life and the people in it. Plus, we're given a chance to make a difference in the lives of others. You just can't beat the feeling you get when you sit down to dinner with someone who otherwise might not have had a meal that day....but more commonly, we sit down to dinner with people who would have spent the day alone. No one should be alone on the holidays, in my opinion. Not even if they think they wanna be! I've got my heart set on baking a pumpkin cheesecake. I'm pretty sure you can't go wrong with the combination of pumpkin, cream cheese, and sugar...unless you forget the Cool Whip. I never forget the Cool Whip...and it shows!





I've begun the dreaded shopping experience of the year. It's not right to hate something so much that's such a big part of the day you love so much. I despise the shopping part but I love the giving part. Someone mentions Black Friday and I shudder. Why would anyone do that on purpose??? I've been exactly twice. The first time 11 years ago when my very pregnant sister almost clobbered a dude over a VCR and the last time in Colorado with Josh. I literally have witnessed people shop til they dropped...or rather, dropped trying to shop?? I dunno but I've watched a chick hit the dirt grabbin' a toy...one dedicated momma. Both times I went, I didn't get what I went after and because of it, I spent way more money than I wanted to buying things I never planned to buy in the first place to compensate for not getting what I went for! Insanity and it shan't happen a third time. I'm shuddering again. Ugh! More power to those who're braver than I! I'll stay home and out of their way! I had to take Josh to Ft Smith to the doctor last nite and just seeing all the Christmas decor that's already out and all the traffic and the jammed full parking lots triggered a near anxiety attack. (Can we please just finish giving thanks before we wrap the world in tinsel??) So, I'm shopping online....I can breathe while buying. I highly recommend it...it's fantastic!

Hello, Friday!

Fall is stuck somewhere between itself and summer, the weather can't decide what it wants to be today...but it's definitely anti-hoody. I was so jealous when I read the statuses of snowfall from some of my fellow Facebookers. This year, I'm learning that the main reason I love this time of year has a lot to do with what the temperature gauge reads. I look thru my windshield at the gorgeous colors of the seemingly autumn scene all around me, but then I step outside my car into a humid summer atmosphere. What the heck? I'm still sleeping with the A/C on for cryin' out loud! Oh, but the trees are magnificent this year....the colors are positively brilliant. I'm hoping to get to run the kids up to the Runestone for some pictures tomorrow before all the colors fade and fall away for the year. I'll just look at the pictures and pretend there's a chill in the air!

The kids played their second home game of the season last nite and holy smokes, the boys game was a nail biter!!!!! How I love, love, LOVE basketball....especially the games that have you eating your fingers and screaming at refs. I'm pretty sure I make a complete spectacle of myself....I just don't care. The girls and boys teams both won and I couldn't have been prouder for them. They're finding their groove and moving in it. Taylor played well and my poor lowly freshman was forced to support his team from the bench. He wasn't impressed in the least but it's hard to not be happy about the first win of the season.

They play again tonite and I'm struggling between being the loud mouthed mom in the stands and being the mom who makes sure there are groceries and toilet paper in her house. It's been three weeks since my last Walmart exchange and we'll be using newspaper for toilet paper soon. We're even out of Ramen noodles at this point. Josh is threatening to strike or worse, go grocery shopping himself. If that happens, we'll be broke and the cabinets will be full of Wolf Brand Chili, Little Debbie's, and Oreos, I'll be washin' clothes with Dawn dish soap, and we'll still not have any toilet paper.

Another day gone...

I now understand what "hold onto your heels" means. I giggled when I read this Facebook status not long ago....she was posting regarding her household's encounter with the flu. "If this flu hits your house, you better hold onto your heels", I think it was. I'd never heard the expression and if I haven't mentioned it before, well, I'm a visual person. So, while I hated that her babies were sick, I still found the image in my head amusing. Maybe I needed a little lesson in why this expression is not funny when used in conjunction with the flu virus. I got one. Poor Tracker was down four days! In all my motherhood experience, this was the WORST and most bizarre flu I've seen. I once was told that the virus will either (either!) attack the digestive or the respiratory system of its victim. Well, that was either a big fat lie or this flu bug broke protocol. Tracker was one miserable 7 year old. He didn't MOVE from the recliner for three days with the exception of bathroom visits, he lost ten pounds, went from burning up to freezing to death over and over, and to top it all off, he couldn't breathe. I felt so sorry for him. It's bad when it's you sick...it's worse when it's your kids. Thankfully, the rest of us have escaped its nasty grip so far. I'm the disinfecting queen of my house....Lysol is the king.

The time change has begun to kick my butt. Well, that and my two faced friend, Coffee. The thing about caffeine is...it's your best friend when your eyes just won't open but it will stab you in the back about the time you want them to close and then you're forced to make it your friend again the next morning. We'll see how I fare tonite. I'm blaming the coffee but it could have been the symphony of snoring that kept me awake until well past 1 am this morning (my body was feeling TWO a.m., btw). Between Tracker and Josh...no silence was to be had. It's amazing the things that roll thru your head in the middle of the nite. I kept thinking I should just get UP, do something productive. But then I'd talk myself into staying just right where I was. I attempted to initiate a conversation with Josh to no avail. He's told me all kinds of things when under the influence of sleep but not last nite. So I just laid right there and thought.

I went to 16 and back and back again. I guess Taylor being 15 1/2 and with some of the things we're dealing with right now, my memory is freshly plowed. And maybe the "blast from the past" slap in the face I recevied yesterday morning helped the thought processes along as well. And that one's a blog for a different day...perhaps even a nonexistent day. I'm just not sure yet...I'm still in the "I'm not ready to recall" stages. And now, well, it's five o'clock and I'm going home. Blogging always helps me to burn the hour that lasts an eternity!

Where did October go??

I'm so mad at my computer today. The SD drive will NOT work and I wanted to post pix of my lil Mad Hatter. Tracker won his class's costume contest Friday with his Johnny Depp impression altho, he flat refused to let me paint his face. We did a trial run Thursday nite so I'd know how long I needed to get him ready and that was it. Burned him right out on face paint. He said it itches and chaps his lips so NO MORE. With more than a little persuasion, Amanda and I finally did talk him into orange eyebrows at least. Geeze. Stubborn, strong-willed...whatever you wanna call it, at my house it all means the same thing....Tracker Eli.

I also got the privilege of taking Mr. Tracker trick or treating for the first time Saturday nite. Well, the first time that he can actually recall anyway. We took him when he was one but the poor thing had to stay wrapped tight in a blanket in his stroller on that extremely COLD Colorado nite. Wasn't much fun for any of us...we all returned home with wind chapped faces and runny noses. He opted out of the Mad Hatter costume for trick or treating...well, more like he bawled and had a fit to not wear it. The top hat and wig are a miserable ensemble I guess. Who knew? He plainly told me that next year, he was bein' something NORMAL. Okay, okay. So much for my bright and very adorable ideas. He dug thru Josh's camo til he found the leafy set that reminds me of The Swamp Thing and went as that. Happy as a little lark too. Brat. (Coulda saved myself trouble and money!)

Mom's house was his first stop. I didn't figure she was expecting us, so we parked around the side so she didn't recognize Track by our car. The camo set has a hood and only his eyes were showing. I love my mom...she is the most dramatic person I know. She would have rocked as an actress. She opens the door and yells, "OH MY GOD! It's a trick or treater!" as she turned and ran for her bowl of candy. She was home alone. Maybe she was telling Cooper the cat?? She was so thrilled to get to hand out candy! I got tickled cuz I knew by her reaction she didn't know it was Tracker. So me, Josh and Matt are laughin our heads off and motioning like crazy at Tracker not to give it away. He ripped off his hood when she asked him what he was dressed up as. We got another, "OH MY GOD, it's TRACKER!". She thought that was the best thing ever, that he tricked her and she just laughed and laughed. I love it...love her drama and hearing her laugh. It made our nite, too.

He was a little bashful at the first couple houses, not too sure about bangin' on door and saying "Trick or Treat!" and expecting something in return. He got the hang of it pretty quickly after the chocolate started piling up in his bucket. He was so excited to run from door to door. I hadn't taken any of them trick or treating in so long, I'd forgotten how much fun it is to watch all the excitement. I had a blast and we came home with boat loads of candy. Good stuff too. He got full sized candy bars and light stix. He was most impressed with the lady that gave him a Koolaid Burst...he was wiped OUT from all that candy gathering! Matthew Lee wiped him out on Three Musketeers and Taylor stole most of his suckers. He politely informed us, "It's okay, I'll share....I didn't buy any of it anyway." They must have worn their welcome out with him, however, becuz it wasn't long and he'd labeled everything in the blue bucket as HIS and his alone. The rest, he said, was fair game. :)

We polished off our weekend with a Fall Fest at church yesterday afternoon. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows, the kids played flag football and basketball, shot some pool, and of course, the highlight of the evening was yet, more candy. I know that's the teenager's favorite part of the night, when they get their beloved bag of goodies....I don't care what they say, how cool they pretend they are....they LOVE getting candy and you may likely lose a finger if you try to take it from them. I only wish I'd have sat a little longer around the fire. There's something so calming and relaxing about the smell and sound of a campfire in the fall. I didn't even dread Monday morning...but I have a good reason...the kids' first basketball game is tonite!!! I am so excited...can't wait to go watch the mystery unravel...will my sophomore and freshman make it off the bench????? :)