You Won't Believe It

As I was traveling over the Thanksgiving holiday, I loaded my Ipod with podcasts.

One of my favorite radio shows is NPR's show "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me". As I was listening to one of their recent shows, they began talking about a new invention that had not received any backers just yet, but promised to revolutionize the exercise industry.

Because I know all of you will be just as interested in it as I am, I have posted the video demonstrating its merits.

If anyone orders one, please let me know, because I want to see you in action on this.

Drumroll Please

This morning was a VERY early morning and involved standing in line in the rain. There was actually a bit of pushing and shoving (not on my part, of course), but when all was said and done, I must say that it was a successful morning. This means that Santa Claus is giving me my dream gift for Christmas.

So...

without further delay...

Drumroll, please.

I am now the proud owner of a Dyson vacuum cleaner.

Can I tell you how anxious I am to get back to my home so that I can pull out my vacuum cleaner and begin cleaning my floor. Yes, that is right, Santa is letting me have my gift early. It is a dream come true.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Black Friday, and if you dared venture out, I hope you were able to get the deal you were hoping for.

Goodbye Turkey Day #1...

Goodbye Turkey Day #1. Hello Turkey Day #2. Thanksgiving dinner today was wonderful! We had way too much food for the 16 folks who sat around the table, but it was really great.

Anyway, tomorrow brings another Thanksgiving meal (yes, we celebrate twice which means twice the pumpkin pie), but tomorrow also brings Black Friday. In years past, my mother and I typically have hauled ourselves out of bed at around 3:30am to get the majority of our shopping done during the "doorbusters" hours.

Tomorrow, we won't need to do much. There are only a couple of items that are "must haves." One of those items is going to be my present from Santa Claus. Just thinking about it today has made me giddy (in fact, today my relatives were forced to listen to long monologues espousing the wonderment that is this item). Anyway, I don't want to jinx it, so I won't tell you what it is right now, but I promise to do a HUGE post about it if I am able to scrap my way through the crowds and grasp the coveted item.

In the mean time, everyone enjoy the rest of their holiday weekend. I am off to finish the last bit of cooking that I think I will do for a bit.

Lessons from Cooking for Thanksgiving

So, I have been "cooking up a storm" since about 4pm this afternoon (it is currently a little after midnight). Everyone else in the house has gone to bed, but I am still waiting on my last pumpkin pie to come out of the oven.

Now, anyone who knows me knows that I am not a stellar cook. However, over the past few months, I have been working hard to do a lot more cooking. So, I was excited to get to cook some of the Thanksgiving meal. I still have a number of items to get up early and work on, but I thought I would go ahead and tell you some of the things that I have learned up to this point. These are definitely "must knows" so that all of your cooking turns out just as wonderfully as mine.

1. Don't lick the spoon that you used to scrape out the can of Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk as you are getting ready to throw the spoon in the sink. You will GAG, and the obnoxious sweetness of it will simulate a burning feeling as it goes down your throat.

2. If you keep messing up the banana pudding and finally get it right on the 4th one, then you probably didn't need banana pudding to begin with.

3. A pumpkin pie shell filled to the brim with pie filling will not contain all of its contents as one makes the journey from the counter to the oven.

4. If you hold the beaters up out of the mixing bowl while the mixer is still on, you will splatter batter everywhere.

5. It shouldn't take 3 boxes of Vanilla Wafers to make one banana pudding, but it does if you have to keep starting over (and your dad eats quite a few before you start).

6. When you accidentally drop frozen mounds of strawberries into red jello mixture, there will be lots of red spots on the cabinet, counter top, and floor to clean up.

7. It is actually possible to have to load and run the dishwasher 3 times amidst cooking, and still run out of dishes.

Well, there is still more cooking to be done. So, if I learn any more valuable lessons to share with you guys, I will most definitely let you know.

Stocking Cap

So, I thought about taking a picture of myself for this post, but then I thought better of it. You will just have to use your imagination.

Since we have entered the colder weather season (keep in mind that this is Houston colder weather season which is chilly but not unbearable), I have decided to see how long I can go without turning on my heater. As of now, it is November 22, and I still have not turned on my heater, but then again, we have only had a few days of cold cold cold weather.

To help with the chill in my apartment, I have taken to wearing a stocking cap. It is nice and warm and cuddly, but I think I now have given myself permanent hat head. In fact, I am already preparing for the inevitability that is hanging my head upside down for a good while tomorrow morning as I blow dry my hair and try to find some amount of bounce.

If I come to church still wearing the stocking cap, you'll know I failed miserably.

Blessing

It has been a pretty awful past couple of weeks. I've found myself frustrated to no end, tired, overwhelmed, and nursing some hurt feelings. I have shed at least a few tears (sometimes more) each night this week, and I am fairly certain that trend will continue this evening. I desperately need to go back into work tomorrow on my day off for the 3rd week in a row just so that I can get a little bit closer to having my "must finish by Sunday" list completed. Things seem pretty bleak.

However, I finally found some perspective. Someone recently told me, "There are always blessings in your life. It's just a matter of finding them."

Well, tonight I found my blessing. My blessing is finding joy in hearing that my good friend's husband has made it through a very difficult surgery to remove cancer."

Next to that, everything else seems unimportant.

In fact, I would have to say that is definitely a blessing.

Hmm...What to Comment On???

Well, I don't have enough of any one story to write an entire blog post, so I will give you tidbits.

1. I saw someone driving down the road today wearing a Santa hat? Yes, a Santa Hat. Now, I love Christmas as much as the next person, but it is not even Thanksgiving yet. There should be a law against wearing Christmas apparel until after Thanksgiving, and then another law banning ALL Christmas sweaters. You know the ones I am talking about. They usually have a protruding Rudolf nose sticking out from your tummy, or bells on a "tree" that jingle as you walk.

2. I went to the Medina Children's Home Dinner last night and the first part of it was a silent auction. I ended up in a bidding war for a Michael Jordan bobble head doll. I lost (sniff, sniff).

3. When I spoke to my niece on the phone this afternoon, at one point I could hear her roll her eyes at me over the phone. So, I gave her my dissertation on eye rolling. Let me know if you want to hear it sometime.

4. Typically, I am not a Lifetime Television viewer. However, I am super-excited because the other night as I was watching Fraiser, I saw the advertisement for Fa-La-La-La-Lifetime Time. All those Christmas movies...I had better get my DVR warmed up.

5. As I was driving to church this morning, I saw a hatchback Ford Focus STUFFED with clothes, etc. I mean really stuffed. You could see the driver and part of the passenger seat, and the rest of it was filled to the brim with items. It looked a little strange until it got all the way past me, and I saw the Vic Firth sticker on the back. Then it all made sense. (FYI...You probably have to be a musician to get this one.)

6. Last, but not least, I broke down and bought a soda this afternoon.

Christmas Shopping...Check

Yep, it is true. It is completely and totally true. The date is November 14, and I have finished with ALL of my Christmas Shopping. Now I don't mean to sound boastful, but I am rather proud of myself and pleased with the gifts I found, too.

Now, the key is to not forget that I have finished my shopping and buy people additional items.

In other news, something is wrong with my smoke detector. In the middle of the night last night it went off for about 5 seconds (and it is L.O.U.D.) and then stopped. It scared me to death. I was a little afraid I might wet my bed.

Anyway, I got up and looked around and sniffed around. I didn't smell any smoke, and again, it only went off for about 5 seconds.

Then about 30 minutes later, just as I had fallen back asleep, it did it again. And again, it scared me to death (there's nothing like being jolted out of a totally relaxed state by an ear-piercingly shrill sound). Again, I got up and checked around, but didn't see or smell anything. So, I went back to bed. However, this time, I could really fall back into a deep sleep because I was so afraid it was going to go off again.

I hoping tonight will be a much different story, and there will be no suddent smoke alarms going off.

Good Thing I Have My Dignity

I had a doctor's appointment yesterday with a specialist in binocular vision/strabismus. Because of my eye issues, I have to see (no pun intended) a specialist when my eyes need to be checked.

Anyway, I made my appointment with a doctor who had come highly recommended by both my former opthamologist and others who have needed this sort of specialist.

So, I got up bright and early yesterday morning and made my way downtown. As I entered the building, I found the suite of offices that I needed and entered.

Here is the first thing I saw...

Yes, those are giraffe legs protruding from the ceiling (actually very cool giraffe legs). My appointment was apparently with a PEDIATRIC opthamologist. On the positive side, she and her staff were absolutely wonderful, and I got to enjoy some time playing on the Leap Frog learning pad before my appointment.

Productive Day

Today was quite a productive day. Fridays are my day off. So, when I get up on Fridays, sometimes I just stay in my pajamas and work on stuff here at the house, and other Fridays, I take advantage of no crowds and run my errands. Well, today was an errand kind of day.

I'm feeling like I accomplished a lot. In fact, I have given myself quite a few pats on the back today. I knew I was going to get a lot done when I woke up feeling like cleaning. So, I went up to church and cleaned my ever-so-messy-but-never-gets-picked-up office.

Then, I took all of my newspapers and magazines to the recycling bin. Made my house a little neater and was earth-friendly.

Next, I went in search of a five gallon bucket with a lid because I am going to start making my own laundry detergent. I currently spend an arm and a leg on laundry detergent because my sensitive skin requires me to get the Tide with no dyes and no perfumes. I have a friend who makes her own hypo-allergenic laundry detergent, and she swears by it. So, after doing the math, I figured out that I could do 500+ loads of laundry for what it currently costs me to do 32. Anyway, I found my bucket and lid at Home Depot.

Next I went to Walmart because I needed a few more basics, and I had a Randalls ad with zucchini 10 pounds for $10. So, I got my basics and my zucchini (to make loafs for Christmas).

Then I headed to the library. I had some books that needed to be returned, and I wanted to check out a few more.

After that, I stopped by Kroger because they were having a coupon mega-event and their were items there that I needed to stock up on. So, for $8.68, I purchased $24.28 worth of groceries.

My last stop was by Walgreens because I had a set of coupons that matched their easy saver deals for this month. I spent $4.24 for $30.34 worth of merchandise. Again, none of it was extraneous.

(As an aside, I would like to point out for all the gas conscious people, that with the exception of the church, all of these places are fairly near each other, and I made a neat little circular route so as not to waste gas.)

Now, that I am home, I am a little pooped, but feeling good about all that I got done. Now, I can spend my Friday evening making laundry detergent, peeling and grating 10 pounds of zucchini, and starting a new novel. I know, I know, you wish you were going to have as much fun on a Friday night as I am.

Christmas Gift

So I am working on a Christmas Gift for my grandmother, and for her to give everyone else as a Christmas gift. Since that probably doesn't make sense, I will explain.

I am scanning in ALL of the pictures that my grandparents took over the years, and they took a lot. Wherever we went, there was Granddaddy with his camera (usually with duct tape holding it together) documenting whatever was happening. So, as my gift to her, I am preserving all of those pictures on DVD, and then she will give everyone a DVD with the pictures.

It has been a lot of fun, looking through the old pictures, and so I thought I would share a few of them with you.


This is one of the many family pictures we would take when we would get together. Notice the clothing. It is superfly.


At our regular gatherings, my grandparents would usually get out the volleyball net for a family game. The man in the pink shirt that is showing his mad volleyball skills is my dad. I am fairly certain the photo was photoshopped, because I don't think he can jump that high.

This is me holding one of my cousins. I vaguely remember dropping him at one point. Also, notice the knees. I was forever falling or running into things which is why it is surprising that they were letting me hold the baby.

This picture is my favorite one of all time. Camera in hand, hat turned to the side so the bill of the hat wouldn't affect his picture taking skills.

Two Eliz(s)abeths, Two Rebeccas, and a Kathleen

Two Eliz(s)abeths, Two Rebeccas, and a Kathleen (aka Kathy, Elisa, Becky, Elizabeth, and me (who's name is actually Rebecca Jennifer for those who are confused about the second Rebecca)). That's who we have in the picture above. These are my dear, dear friends from college, and I have to say that this is probably my favorite picture of the five of us (yes, a little because I still wished I looked like that).

Anyway, Lindy forwarded me the following email tag:

Name your 10 most interesting moments from college.

And while I could only come up with 7 rather than 10, here are my answers...

1. I don't remember who all was involved in this, but I do remember an incident with pushing each other in shopping carts across the Braum's parking lot. I'm still a little embarrassed about that one.

2. Elisa, Elizabeth, and I worked Cheerleading camps for a couple of summers. The best part of that job was the walkie talkies and celebrating Canada Day.

3. I went home with Becky one Christmas holiday for a few days to Pennsylvania and we chased/stalked the Amish people. Plus everyone in my family got chocolate from the Hershey factory for Christmas.

4. A few of us felt the need to reinact the Kerri Strug vault. That included a lot of fake "tumbling" that ended with us throwing our arms in the air and standing on one foot.

5. Kathy, Becky, and I had Orchestration class together, and even though we look NOTHING ALIKE, our teacher couldn't remember which one of us was which and constantly called each of us by the wrong name.

6. Three of us worked at the DCC (Denton Country Club) one summer, and they loved that we could sing Happy Birthday in harmony. Our uniforms consisted of tux shirts from Sears, a bow tie, black pants, and awful, manly shoes.

7. If I remember correctly, I believe that Becky, Elisa, Elizabeth, and Kathy all dated (or were at least asked out) by one particular guy. I don't think he realized that they were all friends and compared notes. (And no, he didn't ask me out.)

Well, thanks for walking down memory lane with me. I enjoyed the trip, and made myself laugh some during the process. I'll get to see some of the group over Thanksgiving holiday, so I'll be sure and let you know if there are any stories to add to the list.