Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving

While I was at work yesterday I got a picture from Josh and Carter showing me what they had been up to all day long.  They had a surprise waiting for me at home.  The had put some lights up outside, put our tree and put out some holiday decorations inside.  I was so surprised.  I thought I would miss doing this year, but I have to tell you that it was so nice walking in the house with everything done.  I will tweek a few little things just to make it the way I like it, but the majority of work is done!

Josh also cooked dinner for us.  He made Enchiladas and rice.  It was nice to have dinner taken care of for me too.  I had a long night in the kitchen making Pumpkin Pies and Deviled Eggs.  I cannot stress enough how much I dispise peeling eggs.  I dispise it so much so that I bought an Eggstractor (ya know, that As Seen on T.V. product) a couple of years ago.  That was a waste of money.  The egg shells of the deviled eggs look like crap but as we tell Carter "You get what you get and you won't throw a fit."  I am not stressing out about it even though I did consider running to the store to buy more eggs and try it again I quickly scratched that idea after thinking about the crowds.

I had a frustrating experience with Redbox.  Apparantly, if the machine is outside and it is raining it will not always work properly.  Tuesday I reserved Santa Buddies at the last redbox in town that had the movie...it happened to be between work and home so I thought it was going to work out great.  I try to pick it up on my lunch hour and the machine would not work.  I tried again on my way home from work and then again this morning.  Finally, this evening Josh tried it and it was finally working.  This particular machine did not have a cover over it like many of the outdoor machines do...I will remember this in the future if the weather is bad.  Just thought I would pass that little tip along to you.

Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful.  I have been thinking about what I am thankful this year and there are just so many things.  Just to name a few I am thankful...

~ for my wonderful husband and son

~ for the wonderful ways that God takes care of us

~ Josh and I both have jobs that we enjoy {most of the time}

~ all 3 of us are healthy and the medical issues we have had this year have been able to be taken care of

~ we are able to spend time with family thoughout the year, not just on holidays

~ we have a roof over our heads and have 2 cars that we can use to easily to get to and from work

~ we have a wonderful person to watch Carter while we are at work. 

I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving!

Weight Watchers Wednesday

This morning when I weighed in I was so happy to see that I had lost 3 lbs. this week.  So far on my renewed journey of weight loss I am down 8 lbs.  I only need to lose 2 lbs. before I can reward myself with a little something.  I better start thinking of what that could be.  That makes me very happy and motivated to keep going. 

This morning I had a dentist appointment to have a cavity filled and I was so tempted stop at McDonald's or Sonic for a big Diet Coke and a little something for breakfast.  I thought I would swing by after my appointment and on my way to work.  I was strong and didn't because I didn't want to chip away at my 3 lbs for the week.  Yeah me!

Tomorrow will be a challenge for me.  I am going to eat what I want but be very aware of portion sizes and the quantity on my plate.  I do not want to stuff myself silly!  I have noticed that when at home it is harder for me to drink the amount of water that I should.  I need to be very aware of what I am drinking and not resort to drinking Diet Coke all weekend long.

I am still not doing what I need to be doing as far as exercise goes.  I love going to Zumba but Josh's days off were just changed (yet again) so I won't be able to attend the class that I was taking.  I know there are some other places that offer the class and once I get that figured out I will have 1 - 2 workouts per week.  Then I need to get going on Power 90 again.  I wish I was a morning person.  Is there a way to "make" yourself one?  I guess I could just start making myself get up early enough a couple days a week to squeeze in a workout before I need to start getting ready for work.

How did you do this week?

Wordless Wednesday - My Boys

My two guys...oh how I love them both so!

For more Wordless Wednesday posts stop by 5 Minutes for Mom.

Have a wonderful Thanksfiving!

Ford County Stories - John Grisham

Over the weekend I finished reading Ford County Stories by John Grisham.  This book is a collection of 7 short stories all written by John Grisham.  Some are what you might expect from his usual writing but others are much different than his norm.  I enjoyed reading a majority of the stories.  This is a quick and easy read.

Here is an Exclusive Interview from Amazon:
Amazon Exclusive: Pat Conroy Reviews Ford County


"Pat Conroy is most recently the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller South of Broad, as well as eight previous books: The Boo, The Water Is Wide, The Great Santini, The Lords of Discipline, The Prince of Tides, Beach Music, My Losing Season, and The Pat Conroy Cookbook: Recipes of My Life. He lives on Fripp Island, South Carolina. Read his exclusive Amazon guest review of Ford County:


In the mail last week, I received a copy of John Grisham’s latest fiction. It surprised me that the book was comprised of seven short stories. From the time I first began publishing at Doubleday, they have always made sure that I received a copy of a Grisham book long before it went on sale in the bookstores. He has written 22 books, and I’ve read them all as soon as they were available in crisp review copies.


I have loved the Grisham books for the same reason that I love the works of John Irving, Richard Russo, or Anne Rivers Siddons: I get hooked by an early page, and pure habit forces me to read until I am issued my walking papers and can return to my normal life. These writers are all wish-bringers who cast spells with the bright enchantment of their stories, and the power of story has retained its glamour and necessity for me. I’ve always liked it when Grisham took a sabbatical from his impressive fiction to romp in the field of sports or non-fiction.


John surprised me by entering the ring of danger that the short story represents for all writers. In the world of writing, the poets come first as they finger the language like worry beads and wonder where their next meal is coming from. The art of the short story writer is one of economy, concision, and the genius of trying to craft a whole world inside a mason jar. The modern world punishes the short story writer with inattention. The literary reviews keep the short story alive and finger-popping in America today, while the New Yorker tries to strangle the form with its bare hands. But a great short story is a source of joy, and the reading of Chekhov, de Maupassant, Flannery O’Connor and others offer pleasures unmatched by any other form. Since I’m incapable of writing the short story form, I wanted to see how Grisham fared, knowing the critics would sharpen their swords against him no matter how accomplished his stories might be.


Ford County is the best writing that John Grisham has ever done. One of the many things I’ve admired about his books is his intimate chronicle of Mississippi life in the generations following William Faulkner and Eudora Welty. Grisham writes equally well about the plantation south, the black south, and white-cracker south. Over the years he has used the legal system as an instrument to illuminate the world of mansions and sharecroppers and everything in between as he not only defined Mississippi but also staked it out as his home fictional territory. His short stories were a surprise to me. All of them are very good; three of them, I believe, are great. Grisham has always had a rare gift for breaking hearts when he invokes unforgettable images of the broken, hopeless South. Some of the stories are hilarious, and Grisham’s gift of humor has never found a showcase like this. One of these stories should find its way into the anthologies of the best short stories of 2009. It might not happen, but I for one think the stories in Ford County are that damned good."  --Pat Conroy

Next on my night stand is What on Earth Have I Done? by Robert Fulghum.

What are you reading?

Tuesday Randoms

* Last night I tried a new recipe. I made Weeknight Ravioli Bake. It was super simple and very tasty. I think it is a keeper. Go here to see how to make it.

* Josh went to a friend's house to watch football so it was just me and Carter again last night. It was a really rough evening. I was so wore out from work and had a pesky headache. I ended up leaving work about 30 minutes late but the good news to that was we had a great day in sales.

* Carter is feeling better. He still has the occassional cough but he was bouncing off the walls last night. It was seriously driving me crazy. I am so glad that he is feeling better but it would have been really nice if Josh were home to give me a little break.

* Each year the day after Thanksgiving I go out hunting for great deals. This year I am just not in the mood to venture out. I just don't want to deal with the crowds. I think I have been getting some great deals online already. I was looking over my Christmas List and I am probably a good 75% done. I think the few remaining that I have left to buy for will get gift certificates. I will keep my eyes open for ideas but if nothing jumps out to me I am taking the easy way. We normally put the tree up that evening but Josh will be working so we will have to get on the ball and get it up before he heads to work.

* I tried to participate in the Build-A-Bear Twitter Party last night but I had no clue what I was suppose to be doing. Could someone please shed some light on this for me?

* I listed some books of mine and my mom's on Ebay. The two that I have listed have bids. Yeah!

* I still have not gotten the boxes from the basement with the outside Christmas lights. Josh said that one one of his days off this week he would work on getting them up. He doesn't know that Carter has big plans for this little project. Carter wants there to be lights on the roof. I have a feeling that his plan will need to be adjusted once Josh catches wind of his thoughts. Do you decorate outside?

Weekend Recap

I had my post almost finished up and I did something that highlighted all of the words and I some deleted it all! Oh how I wish there was an undo button!

Let's try this again.

The weekend was pretty low key. Carter is still fighting croup with his good moments and bad moments. I feel so bad for the little guy. Once he gets coughing it really hurts him which gets him all worked up coughing more which hurts him more...it is a vicious cycle! He has taken naps on his own over the past 3 days. We have given up on the naps so for him to voluntary take a nap tells me that he just feels crummy.

We did lots of playing, building and movie watching. We made a huge GeoTrax town. We used every single piece of track that he had. I was proud that little accomplishment. It will break my heart to see all of that hard work being demolished...at least he didn't start rebuilding as soon as I was done building!

Yesterday we were able to go to the AT & T Store to upgrade to the iPhone. I love it so much! We are having so much fun texting each other and finding so many cool apps. We could text before but it just wasn't as fun as it is now! I love being able to access email, Facebook, twitter and the web from anywhere I am! If you have an iPhone is there an app out there that you recommend we look into? There are so many out there to choose from.

I did manage to get some more Christmas shopping done from the web. I marked 6 more people off my list. That is so exciting. I can't wait for it all to get here so I can start wrapping. We are mostly done with Carter except for getting him a guitar. I have no idea where that came from but it made it on the letter to Santa so to Carter it my be a priority. I hope he doesn't expect us to teach him how to play it! It would be cool if he learned how to play it. My dad could play the guitar, so that would be pretty neat to follow in his footsteps! I also need to pick up a few stocking stuffers. Josh and I gave each other the iPhone for Christmas so that will take one more thing off the list!

I am planning on making my first new recipe of the batch tonight. I hope it turns out well. Wish me luck!

Quote of the Day

"The most important thing is to enjoy life - to be happy - that's all that matters."

~ Audrey Hepburn