wasting time

If you like to procrastinate, here is one of my favorite websites (I have it bookmarked):

http://www.postsecret.blogspot.com/

enjoy! :)

the world is his canvas...

I'm all for creative expression, and want to encourage my sons to use art/music/language to do so. Evan doesn't need much encouragement.

His new favorite thing to do is dump out full bottles of whatever he can get his hands on. Some of the victims of his latest, um, art include: a new bottle of mousse, a full bottle of conditioner, a full bottle of that carpet powder stuff (atleast he got THIS in the right place!), and just the other night a full bottle of body wash. You may ask why we let him play with these... we don't! He's a climber, and has recently learned how to climb up on the sink and on the kitchen counter, which is really scary. Security has had to be stepped up! With the body wash - it was out of his reach, and I was headed upstairs. I put two bottles on the kitchen table, took a sippy cup into the kitchen, came back into the kitchen and half the bottle of body wash was in the rug. I can't leave him alone! Grrr!!

To all you who asked, Thanksgiving went very well. I did the turkey in a brine overnight the night before, and it turned out really well. We actually enjoyed the day with the family, and my grandfather pretty much spared the rude comments he's famous for, which was a pleasant surprise.

Ugh... I'm back to work now...

T minus 40 hours...

Okay. So, the living room is clean. The boys' room is clean (kind of). The kitchen is almost clean, and the dining room will be done as soon as I finish this. Maybe.

Two fun things happened today. First, I got a decent-sized photo order that I wasn't expecting. Boom, there it was, a nice little check in my mailbox. Two, actually, and I dropped off two other orders and got paid for them. So, the checkbook is happy.

Second, and even more exciting, I got my bus ticket to KY for December 15.... for our Wicked trip!! Yeah!!! I wanted to wait until I felt like I had enough to fall back on in the checkbook, and there it was. :) I hate, HATE, driving in the snow, and I don't want to commit to driving that far in December. So, I looked into train and bus tickets (much cheaper than flying!), and found one that will get me very close to Ali. I can't wait... both for the show and the visit w/ Ali. :) And, this should be fun.... Lauren called me tonight to tell me about this dismal company Christmas party he wants me to go to - he said it was "very important." Like, it's for this CPA he used to work for in Carmel, and it's going to be very flashy. Mind you, he USED to work there... in 2003. Anyway, the fun part is that it is one of the nights I will be in KY. Damn, I'm so upset that I can't go. :)

My children are the kings of destruction. I'm letting them stay up until Lauren gets home (any minute now), then it's going to be bedtime. I can't wait. I also can't wait to have a whole two-and-a-half days off from being a mother! Woo-hoo! Just a few more minutes...

As if I really needed another distraction...

So, thank you Megan, I've started a blog and it's ALL YOUR FAULT!

I have a blog on my myspace page, but I don't like everyone reading it, and although I know you can do friend lists and all that crap, people get offended if they're not on the list, and I'm done with it! So, now, I have this blog and I can send it out to people I like. :)

So, my big thing this week is, of course, Thanksgiving. I am hosting for the first time... and I'm a little intimidated. Luckily there are only eight of us, but my big worry is keeping the place clean until then. Wait, that makes it sound like it's clean now... whatever! If you're a mom, you know how this works. I can spend the morning in the kitchen cleaning, and when I emerge from the cloud of cleaning products, the living room is a disaster.

Case in point: my perfect little terrible two, Evan Ray. Evan is VERY good at being a two-year-old boy. Yesterday, around naptime, I was getting a few things done upstairs and walked in his room to check on him. There he was, my sweet little angel, sleeping under the covers in his bed. I checked in a few minutes later to find out I had been had; he was pretending to sleep (he's good) and was also hiding some hair product. In those few minutes, he used about half the mousse and it was all over his sheets, comforter, clothes, and himself. He didn't get any in his hair, of course, but had smeared it on his face like shaving cream. This morning he did the same thing with a bottle of hand lotion.

I love my son. I love him as much as I can, but I'm looking forward to his growing out of this phase. I'm so glad Ben did, and can't wait to be able to quit holding my breath for Evan. Oy vay.

So, yeah, back to Thanksgiving. My two goals are to (1) get the house clean and presentable, and (2) make Thanksgiving dinner. I have it all planned out: mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, apple butter and turkey brine on Wednesday, and bread, turkey and last minute disaster relief Thursday morning. Is it terrible that I keep reminding myself that (A) my mother won't mind a little mess, and (B) my grandfather is too old to see most of it? Oh well. Like I've been telling everyone in the family who wasn't invited, it's better that I ruin dinner for 8 than dinner for 20. I keep remembering the scene from Bridget Jones' Diary when she makes the soup with the blue twine and it turns everyone's mouths blue. If I pull a stunt like that, I will be sure to take pictures and post them here.

One last funny little Thanksgiving story. My senior year in college I lived in a duplex with two roommates, and we had three guys who lived downstairs in the other half. We had Wednesday off from class and decided to have a little house celebration. I can't remember the specifics, but I think the turkey was still frozen as of that morning. All I do remember is the turkey wasn't ready until about 11 that night, we ate everything else before that, and we imbibed *quite a bit* of spiced cider. We had fun; I guess that's the moral of the story, right?

So, if anyone has any suggestions, they are greatly appreciated. I hope you all have a wonderful, and memorable Thanksgiving. :)