Happy Thanksgiving Y'all

I read a number of blogs from the Southern States.  Normally this brings back fond memories of our time in Texas, but this week it's just made me hungry.

If I have to read one more menu about sweet potato pie, biscuits, macaroni and cheese, cornbread stuffing and deep-fried turkey I am just gonna sit down and have me a cry.

And then some of y'all are going on about black Friday and your store maps and I do cry a little bit.

Because really there is nothing like standing in line at 4:00am for five dollar blenders.  Way Cooler and I LOVED every minute of Black Friday.  We only had one vehicle so I would drop him off at one shopping plaza and then head for Wal-Mart.  Which really was a cultural experience.

  

I had read about people fighting over merchandise but it was quite something to see it firsthand.  Nothing says classy like duking it out over a VCR at Wal-mart at four in the morning.

We must have told every single Canadian relative about our five dollar scanner, fifty dollar digital cameras and free CDroms till they were ready to hang up on us.  Forever.  It was better than Christmas for these two tightwads.  

But you know what made it even better?  When we left Texas we didn't have room for the scanner in the car.  So we sold it.  For ten bucks.  

And for that we are still thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving y'all.

Just a Bit of Bloggy Business

I've got a problem.

(My family might say I have lots of problems, but that's another post for another day.)

Anyway, apparently, some of you very nice people have tried to add me to your google reader (yeah for you) and are getting www.mommyknows.com instead.

Now, I have NOTHING against Mommy Knows, but I am a bit self-centered and want people to read me.  ME ME ME.

So, I'd like to solve this little hiccup but my technical expertise is limited to helping my parents open their e-mail.

Beyond, that I am clueless.

So, does anyone know how to solve a feed issue?  Can you help?  

If this is a big problem and requires more than 37 seconds or so, I'd even be willing to make a contribution to your paypal account if you could fix it for me.  Plus you'd have my undying gratitude.  That in itself is priceless.

Thank-you.

Now this is the part where if I was Melanie I'd show you a pretty picture since I subjected you to a terribly boring post.  But we all know MY photography skills so I will leave you with this instead.

Yes, this is how my kids have to remember their childhood.  I'm already saving for their therapy.

Teachable Moments

The other night when the boys and I were having dinner Spud was examining my wedding rings. He seemed quite interested as I was starting to explain things and the teacher in me yelled "TEACHABLE MOMENT, DON'T MISS IT!!!".

So I took off my band and was explaining to him how the circle was unbroken and how that was a symbol of God's love for us. Just as we were really getting into the deep theological truths of the Almighty's love for His fragile creation I noticed something out of the corner of my eye.

Sprout was taking full of advantage of a teachable moment too. While my attention was elsewhere he was combing tomato sauce through his freshly washed hair as fast as he could fork it up there.

Maybe I'll just leave the teaching to the Dr. from now on.

Happy

I am dealing with an evil infection.
It has taken ALL my creative juices on a vacation.
Probably the Bahamas.
Meanwhile, I am back here dealing with snot and snow.
SUCH a winning combination.
However, no one likes to listen to a whiner. (if you do, e-mail me, Id be happy to whine at you for PAGES and PAGES.)

For the rest of you, six random things that have made me smile this week.

Oxi-clean. Man, that stuff isn't just a laundry product, it is JOY IN A BOTTLE. If you have small boys and do not have oxi-clean, go buy some. It will change your life. I promise.

Gas is below 85 cents. (For my American readers, we buy it by the litre, so stop packing.)
I no longer have to choose between driving and sending my kids to college. For this week anyway.

New friends. (In Real Life.) While you people are beyond cool, it's nice to be called because you were not at the pre-school drop-off and you were missed. I smiled all evening.

Treehouse, CBC kids and PBS kids. While I've been totally neglecting my children at least I know they are being educated. Sort of.

Beck's run-down of Oprah's gift list. I laughed till I cried.

Good drug plans. The elixir of life antibiotic only cost me four bucks. Thank-you muchly oh great insurance corporation.

There you have it. What made you smile this week?

You say Potato, I say ARGGG

Before I get into the meat (and potatoes) of this post, does anyone have problems adding me to their google reader?

How about Bloglines?

Inquiring minds need to know.  Thanks.

Remember the bag of potatoes?

All 20 pounds of them?

Now for many households this would not really seem like a big deal but we don't eat a lot of potatoes here.  We're rice men. (20 points if you guess where that is from).

So, I began to think of ways to use up the cursed potatoes and had the following conversation:

HG:  You don't like Shepard's pie do you?

WC:  Nope.

HG:  Chicken pot pie?

WC: No pies involving meat.  Please.

HG:  Haven't changed your stance on scalloped potatoes, potato salad or  corn chowder recently eh?

WC:  Nope.  

HG:  Hey , I know, do you like potato pancakes?

WC:  What?  No.  No.  No.

HG:  Boiled?

WC:  Are you trying to kill me?

Before you start offering suggestions, any soup with potatoes, shipwreck and potato skins are all in the no-fly zone.

So, seriously, if you live near me, I am giving away potatoes.  For free.  Just come take them before I start chucking them at the happy shopper.

Please.

Underneath a Full Bright Moon

The bright, full moon hung above the house.

A house where two toddlers were busily jumping on their mother's last nerve.

Her head was swollen with a cold and self-disgust.

She was a trained educator and yet she had just lost her temper.  "What kind of a mommy hollers at a 4 years old?" 

The same one whose children took two hours, four time outs several lost privileges  and one spanking to clean a playroom.

She won't be writing any parenting books soon.

The moon in all it's fullness shone on as bedtime progressed.

Slowly.

Ever so slowly.

Her nerve was now throbbing.  The next tantrum would be hers.  It would be a doozy.

"Under the Moon mommy, sing Under the Moon"

"What?"

"Skinny minny song."

Oh yeah, their song.  The song she finished most nights with.

Skinamarinky dinky dink, Skinamarkiny doo I love you

(with all your tempers and my failures)

Skinamarinky dinky dink, Skinamarkiny doo I love you

(though I do always not show it well)

I love you in the morning and in the afternoon, I love you in the evening, underneath the moon

(even under the fullest of full moons)

Skinamarinky dinky dink, Skinamarkiny  doo I love you 

The moon shone on as full as ever as the mommy headed to tend to her evening chores humming.

I really do now, 

I love you.

This Pirate Will Do Anything

This year for Halloween Way Cooler were tied up at his fancy function so my parents took the boys out to their tiny town to go trick or treating.  I must say, I approached this with some trepidation after the whole fiasco last year.  But oh what a difference a year makes.

About the only thing that remained the same was the costume.  Spud has not clued in that you can be something different every year for Halloween and I plan to ride that pony till the tail falls off.  He was quite happy to be the exact same pirate that he was last year.  Only this time, he actually kept the costume on.

After doing a string of houses Sprout was beginning to get pretty tired so my dad took him back home and asked Spud if he wanted to do a few more houses.

"No Poppa, I want to do a lot more houses."  He has finally realized the whole point of trick or treating is to get candy.  He all but slept with his treat bag Saturday night.  If he has to be a pirate to get a food it is now a sacrifice he is willing to make.

Here a Geek, There a Geek, Everywhere's some Geek Geek

Can you ever get too much of mediocre rambling?

No I just don't think so.

So, I am guest-posting over at The Extraordinary Ordinary.

Come over and see why I am really one of the more dangerous things on the road.

And then you can get on with your day.

In Which the Geek Gets All Political

For those of you who know me, you knew this post was coming.  

You might want to click away now.

Now that the silly season of elections is over and done (Both Here and There) and the abject silliness follow-up is basically over I have a few observations.

God does not belong to a political party.

Just because the other guy got in does not mean that this is God's judgement on America. 

The only infallible document in the whole world is the Bible.  The Constitution?  It's not perfect.  The world will not stop spinning if it changes a little bit.

Obama's victory will not solve the credit crisis, bring about world peace or end poverty.

Many people who voted for prop 8 did so not out of hate but out a deep belief in the teachings of the Bible.

Most opponents of Prop 8 simply want equal rights for everyone.  They are not looking to destroy the family as we know it.

Talking with someone who has a different perspective than you does not turn into a follower of said person.  It may actually be good for you.

While it is NOT the best to vote for someone because of the colour of their skin, there were people who did that on both sides of the election this time.  The African Americans I can understand a little bit more.  For two years I taught with a group of African American women.  It was stone cold sobering to hear them discuss being denied entrance to a restaurant as kids because of the colour of their skin.  I was blessed to stand beside them at the birthplace of Martin Luther King and cry together.  They have grown up with the stories of not being able to vote, they themselves have lived with and fought against discrimination that I as a white Canadian can't even imagine, I can understand why they might vote simply based on colour.  I hope that all votes for Obama were more informed than that, but I do understand if some were not.

Not everyone who voted for Obama is a ignorant first time voter who got sucked in by the mainstream media.

Not everyone who voted for McCain is a backward redneck who wants to trample on the rights of the little guy.

God is still sovereign.  Everything is going to be all right.

Domestic Bliss (or something like that)

Way Cooler and I have a fairly traditional 1950's division of labour at our house. It was never more evidenced than the following phone conversation the other night.

WC: I found the flour but I can't find the other stuff at all.

HG: You cannot find potatoes?

WC: Nope.

HG: Did you check the produce department? They should have them.  They are generally considered a staple. (Thankfully the poor cell reception seemed to block out the dripping sarcasm.)

WC: Well, where in the produce department?

HG: In the middle by the onions, do you see them now?

WC: Oh yeah, thank-you. Now, what did you want again?

HG: A small bag of yellow or red potatoes.

Then we hung up. The happy shopper arrived home soon after with my flour and a 20 pound bag of russets.

If this is his way of ensuring he doesn't have to shop again for another 12 years, it worked.

And Finally

As promised I am finally getting to writing about THE dress.

Way Cooler's function went quite well. I got through the evening with absolutely no social blunders on my part. Apparently Halloween is also the evening of miracles.

The Shoes.

Notice the heel. And now I am going to go all "What Not to Wear" and proclaim that they were actually comfortable. Mind you, the only time I walked was to go to the bathroom yet again for another glance at myself looking put together. When you are in the midst of a miracle you have to keep beholding it.

The Clutch

It is quite sad how happy that dumb purse made me. I must confess, I actually felt like a grown-up, something a 12 year old marriage, mortgage and mini-van have not been able to accomplish.

The Shawl

(The shawl refused to download it's picture. So let me describe it to you. It's a cream Pashmina. So totally pretty.)

My S-I-L brought this back from a trip to China three years ago and I am finally getting around to wearing it. There was a little voice inside my head that kept telling me it probably didn't go with the Mickey Mouse hoodie I wear on a daily basis. So, it has languished in my closet till now.

What?

You didn't come to see accessories? If you wanted that you'd go to Payless? Alrighty then.

The Pic of me is now history.

For the record I am 5'10"

 D cup

And have long flowing blond hair.

What?  You doubt it?  Well, now you will never know.

Yes, your eyes are not deceiving you, I am posting a picture of myself on the internet. Don't panic all my paranoid concerned family members, I am pulling it down in 48 hours. Plus, the internet crazies could study that picture intently for hours and then pass me on the street tomorrow and not have a hope of recognizing me. I look this good about once every 10 years or so.

This Halloween I may not have worn a costume but I felt like a princess none-the-less. And that is a very good thing. Even if it only occurs every decade or so.

Skin-a-marinky-linky-linky

My house is full of company.

Apparently it is rude to excuse yourself to go blog.

Who knew?

So, I will leave you with these tidbits.

I really LOVE what Christine has to say about the election.  Every time someone goes off on a politician I will think of the line "I don't need a Saviour, I've  already got one."

Every time I play CandyLand with Spud I think of this post.  And I grin.

This video makes me laugh out loud.  It is definitely not child friendly but you won't be corrupted by watching it.  Just amused. (HT to Veronica)

Pictures of THE dress coming this week to a blog near you!