Thanksgiving Day Celebrations!

It's Black Friday - time to update on Thanksgiving! All went so nicely. I let the kids make their Christmas cards while things were cooking. (I still have glitter all over the place...)
Finally, the turkey was done! Rick carved the delicious bird the best that he could with the rotten knife that I have- but he managed to get things together. :)
And we set the table with as much formal stuff as I really have. I realized that I don't really have all that much when it comes to formal place settings. I have the glasses, and the stemware (Kind of) and I have napkins... but the gravy was still served with the trusty 1c pyrex measurer. :P
Everything was lovely and wonderful... Rick is (seriously) the best cook I have ever been married to. After the feast we went downstairs and watched as many Christmas movies as we could before it was time for bed. I did go out for Black Friday shopping before work today - and I was mostly successful. :) I got everything that I really wanted to for now. I just need to remember to go to the Mexi-Mart on 13th - I think that because of the cops, there was a better selection. Centerville was so uncivilized this year... Yuck. Never again there, if I can help it...

One Thousand, Three Hundred, Fifty One Lights

That's how many lights are on this tree... One thousand, Three Hundred, and Fifty One. Where did the one come from? The one bulb in the star. Three boxes of 450 lights, and we are set to go.

And here it is after the decorating is done... :) The kids did the same thing that they do every year - all the ornaments are on the front - and there are hardly any around the back. Now, I do understand, after all - you can't see the back, but there is only so much of the front of the tree, and I have a-LOT of ornaments...

So, you are hereby invited to come over and bask the the lovely glow of one thousand, three hundred, and fifty one lights whenever you want - just give me a call first so I can be sure to tidy up! HUGS!

My New Moon Semi - Review

Sooo, way back when (This past July) I decided to finally break down and read the Twilight series. I will admit that it was VERY addictive. And I think that I read all 4 books in a weeks time. After the books, I rented Twilight - the movie... and I was pretty disappointed in the acting and how much information that was left out of the movie that I think should have been put in... BUT, my co-worker / friend Mandy convinced me to get tickets MONTHS ago to go see New Moon.

I wasn't so sure about the upcoming movie, I will admit... BUT, I already paid for the tickets, and I figured that it wouldn't hurt to have a girls night out... why not, right? So, I started reading what I could about the movie, and finally - this morning at 12:30AM, I got to see Part 2.

And I will admit, that I was surprised. Slightly irritated at the screaming girls each time some young boy went shirtless... but that's besides the point. It was as if the cast finally read the books themselves, or took acting classes. This movie was (in my honest opinion) so much better than the first movie. It even followed the book better. So, I will have to say that you should go see it ... it was pretty good.

On a side note - I haven't been to sleep yet... I came from the theater to work .. .. and I have been here since. I need sleep - and I will get it... but time is just a draggin' away...

Maaaan - Politicians

That's right - we plan to keep them in the family...

And, can you believe that this little politician suckered me into helping her make posters to put up at school, when ELECTION day is on Monday?!?! But, we pulled it together just the same. So, we came up with two "catchy" slogans - GO GREEN WITH GEHRING and KENNEDY G. 4 VP. We were so beat after coloring the first sign that the second sign didn't have near as much "STUFF".

Anyway, the election is on Monday. Kennedy says that even if she doesn't get it she is going to Run for President next year - something about planning parties and stuff. I don't know if she put up her stuff in time this year, but I guess we will wait and see. Anyway - I say we all dress up as 5th graders and go to her school on Monday and vote her in office. :) She would be a fantastic VP!!

DON'T BUST THE CRUST!

This weekend we went to my Mom's house for a short visit. (Weekends are always WAY too short in my book). And on Saturday we decided to take Aspen to the Colorado National Monument so she could become... ba da de dummm... a Junior Ranger. Kennedy and Darrell have already done this program twice before - but, naturally, they wanted to do it again... so, off we went.
On alcove nature trail there is an area where the kids (Yes, D qualifies as a kid too) climbed up the side of the mountain. I, personally, feel like it's too high, but this has kind of become a tradition since we first did the Junior Ranger Program - This time Kennedy wasn't too certain about going all the way up. Then Grandpa D said "I'll show you how to do it!" And up he went. I am shocked that he didn't seem a bit sore on Sunday!
Towards the end of the Alcove Nature Trail, the sandstone has been worn away by the wind. The girls insisted that they saw a mountain lion up in one of these "caves" - I think that it was doubtful... but, ...

And, a picture from across the Monument to Window Rock -

Fun day... the kids all got their Junior Ranger badges (Yet again). And we got to spend a lovely day with G and G. They have lived there "FOREVER" and it was their first time going up to the Monument together. I think that they should invest in a yearly pass - it's really beautiful up there. But then again, at the same time - very scary. I can't stand that there aren't fences up the whole way around so a child doesn't slip and go right over the edge, but that's just me.

Style Designer open for all!

So, there is this tool that we have at Obeo - that is now going to be released to the public. I've told people about it before - it's the Style Designer feature that is on most of our tours.

http://obeosites.com/360/

I love this tool because you can take a room and you can change the walls paint or the floors. You can change cabinets, trim, countertops. It's a lot of fun. So, I think that they finally realized that you can use this for a home you already have and you can see what it would look like if you changed the paint on the walls and such. I just thought that everyone would want to play with it. Tell your friends that are thinking about painting their homes or remodeling their kitchens. :) It's really a fun little too.

Sick of being sick...

You know, I am really sick of being sick... Tomorrow will make 7 days of "Sick" - and 7 days is 6 days longer than I prefer to be sick. I went to the Doctor today, who did not give me anything conclusive other than it was Laryngitis / Bronchitis / Asthma / and perhaps the tail end of Strepticoccolidoodledoo. (See, nothing conclusive). Though, the Asthma part is what threw me. He said that with the coughing that it had to be Asthma, but I did not have the cough prior to last Tuesday, so it's unlikely in my mind, but he wants me to start back up on Albuterol. Seriously? Is the man nuts? My typical doctor is out of town and this is the quack he left in charge?

So, I spent another entire day doing nothing strenuous, (I suffered through cross stitching and daytime television). And the meds that I got seem to have started helping quite a bit. I think that I might even try out working tomorrow... after all, I am not contagious. I just sound like a dog. But all in all, I am tired of being sick. :( Anyone want to trade places with me?

Happy Halloween

Well, Halloween has come and gone - and this year I ended up with three classic monsters on my hands. A lovely Frankenstein Monster, A Vampire (Who prefers to kill his victims with his swords prior to drinking their blood), and The Grimm Reaper. I did not go trick or treating this year with the children, the dad's took them out since I was sick. I stayed at home and watched Michael Meyers butcher people with a kitchen knife and I hid out from people knocking on my door. When the kids got home, I heard that the girls wussed out early due to the cold, but Darrell kept on going from house to house. He'd probably still be going on if Rick hadn't stopped him...

Posting of Pie

For all of you that don't know, this past week I have been - well - Sick. I don't know what I have. It's doubtful that it's the pig cooties, but you never know. I haven't seen my doctor yet, just hashing things out at the house. Because of the sickness, I was home on Friday when the kids were here. And, Darrell was locked out of the room by the "Girls" (It's in quotations because Kayath was playing too... and Darrell insists that Kayath must be a girl as well). So, D came home all mopey and I offered to help him make a dessert from his book. While deciding he discovered that Mississippi Mud Pie is not really "PIE" at all... and this vexed him greatly. So, I offered to help him make a cherry pie.

After talking on the phone to the grandson of a sugar chemist, Darrell learned that he was the grandson of the grandson of a sugar chemist... and we began to work our magic on our cherry Pie.
I showed Darrell how to do a lattice top for the cherry pie. He made a huge mess with the flour while putting it on the table, but we managed to use it to our advantage with the dough.
Then I showed Darrell how to brush the tops of the lattice with egg white to give the pie a golden color while it was baking, and to help the lattice stick together properly. He even brushed the inside of the pie in certain places, he wanted to make sure that it was "Golden" everywhere.
Here's the little man getting ready to put it in the oven. It looks yummy and it isn't even done yet!

AHHHH! The finished product. Turns out that Aspen and Kennedy do not like Cherry Pie - such GIRLS... Oh well, more for me and D!

And Darrell gives the Pie TWO dumb thumbs up... Way to go dude! It was delicious!