Monday, November 29, 2010

Holiday Joy

I feel like I have Thanksgiving weekend hangover. I am exhausted today. Yesterday we went to my Mom's for dinner since my brother, who was unable to attend my Thanksgiving dinner, was coming to visit. It was Thanksgiving all over again. Round 2 of cooking, serving and cleaning up. Then at home, it's all about decorating. Boxes and boxes and more boxes of decorations keep coming out of the attic. It's partly my fault. I collect nutcrackers and storing them is difficult since the boxes tend to get pretty heavy the more you pile in them. So we try to spread them out into numerous boxes. We're not talking just a few boxes. I have close to 80 nutcrackers - some of them rather large. I just spent the past hour trying to organize them on my fireplace hearth only to realize I have another box full of them to put out. Did I mention I'm exhausted?

Saturday, November 27, 2010

O Christmas Tree

After sleeping the day away yesterday, hubby decided to put up the Christmas tree last night. I was thrilled because he did this while I was getting baby boy to bed. By the time I came downstairs, he had only the top 2 rows of the artificial tree left to do. Woo Hoo!!! Dodged that bullet. It's not that I don't like putting up the tree, I do. I just don't like the lights. Hubby came up with a system that makes it less painful. As he puts on each row, he covers that row with lights. Next row goes on and more lights. Definitely makes it easier and the tree actually looks more lit, especially from within since the inside actually has some lights. My job is putting the ornaments on. No small task since I have hundreds upon hundreds of ornaments. I will post a before-ornament and an after-ornament pic so you can see just how many I have. I love a full tree. Each year I try to get a new ornament to add to it. Everyone thinks I'm crazy and I have too many but, really, it makes me happy. And that's what counts!

Friday, November 26, 2010

Photo Friday

This was an annual tradition when I was growing up - putting up the trains on the day after Thanksgiving. Looks like we're carrying on this tradition, or at least trying to.

My Black Friday

Another Thanksgiving over, another holiday to prepare for. Call me crazy but I've already started putting up some of the Christmas decorations at 9am this morning. I changed the dining room tablecloth to red, swapped out my Thanksgiving/Fall decorative plates to Christmas ones, and even put out some Christmas kitchen towels. I figure while I'm in the mood, I might as well get it done. I'm pretty sure we're going to start putting up the tree today. Absolutely NO Black Friday shopping for me. I've never done it before and there's no reason to start now. I know there are probably some great deals out there, but I have no desire to deal with crowds after I dealt with my own crowd of family yesterday. My Black Friday will be full of Christmas decorating - not so black after all.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Thanksgiving Day

Whew! I made it to turkey day. There were no casualties yesterday, although my lower back was bitching and moaning and my right arm could've used a sling. But other than that, the kids weren't too bad and I was able to get my cooking done. Here we are, 8:30am Thanksgiving Day, and I'm getting ready to prep the turkey. First I have to clean out that cavity again (yuck) and salt the hell out of it to kill any bacteria. Then I'm going to salt, pepper and butter the hell out of it, stuff it full of stuffing, stitch it shut, tie it together and shove it in the oven. Sounds so violating, but I'll be soooooooooo glad once it's actually in the oven. My time with it will be over and, I can move on to getting the house ready. With any luck, a sense of relief and accomplishment will carry me through the rest of family time, which is just as stressful as cooking a turkey.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Thanksgiving Wednesday

The dreaded day is here. It's cooking day and I have no idea how I'm going to get it all done with 2 little ones running around. I need to make the stuffing and peel the potatoes. The potatoes are the easy part. It's the stuffing that's a doozy. Cutting the onion (tissues please), cutting the celery, frying the onion and celery, frying the sausage meat, adding the bread (bit by bit by bit by bit), and then trying (and I mean t-r-y-i-n-g) to stir it all together. My arm will be broken by the end of the day. But the tricky part is getting all this done in between "Mom, let's play a game." or "Cracker. Cracker." or "Mom, I want to go to the park." or "Waaaaa!!! Waaaaaa!!!" If I (and they) survive this day, it should be smooth sailing tomorrow.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Thanksgiving Tuesday

No cooking today. Just cleaning. Which seems completely futile since the house will be a wreck 5 minutes after it's clean. Having 2 boys and a husband = mess, mess, and more mess. But I try anyway. So far I've mopped the floors, cleaned the bathroom, cleaned some windows and tried to get rid of some junk in the kitchen and dining room. Organization is near impossible in this house. There are piles here and there and some more over there. The dining room table is ALMOST completely clear. I just need to swap out the tablecloth for a clean one on Thursday and it should be good to go. I have a bottle of Fantastik out on the counter at all times. Whenever I see dirt, I give it a spritz and a wipe. It's amazing where dirt ends up. I have no idea how or when it gets there, but it finds its way to the strangest of places. It's almost 4pm. I think a quick dusting is in order to get that out of the way. Then it's time to think about dinner. I've been so focused on Thanksgiving dinner that I almost forgot we need to eat on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday as well. Cooking and cleaning, so not glamorous but so my life right now.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Thanksgiving Monday

Okay, so I'm starting to prep for Thanksgiving since I am hosting. Fortunately, I'm not hosting a huge crowd this year. We sometimes have the pleasure of hubby's aunts, uncles, cousins and grandfather along with the immediate families joining us for the holidays. At least for Thanksgiving this year, we are only hosting the a portion of the immediate family, which is my parents, my brother, and hubby's Dad and wife. Wherein we could be having 20 guests, we're only having 5 so I shouldn't complain. I purchased a turkey this morning, which is now starting to defrost in the refrigerator. I make my mom's homemade stuffing so the slices of bread are out to dry. That's about all the tasks required for Monday. Tuesday is kind of an off day so maybe I'll do a little more straigtening up around the house. Wednesday is the big cooking day. I need to cut the potatoes and have them soak in a pot of water overnight. I need to fry the sausage meat, cut the celery and onion and actually make the stuffing. I also need to open up that damn turkey and clean it and remove the gizzards. GROSS! This is what I hate most about the Thanksgiving meal - dealing with the damn turkey. It seems so unnatural to me to be sticking my hands inside that bird. I gag through the entire process. I honestly cannot believe that I do this every year. The younger me would be laughing her ass off at the present-day me. Strange what time will do to a girl.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Oh Heavenly Brunch

When I was organizing a moms group, I used to schedule a monthly brunch. Hardly anyone ever showed except one woman, who I am still friends with and, go figure, still see over brunch. We went this morning, first time in a few months, just the two of us, and it was sublime. I can't say enough about brunch. I think it should be a mandatory weekly event. It's just so fantastic - the different foods, the endless coffee/tea, and the ability to get up and fill your plate as many times as you like. What a treat!! I don't have to cook and I can eat as much as I want. I went through 2 personal pots of tea and about 3 plates of breakfast/lunch/dessert. This may sound cruel, but the best part for me was having a couple of hours sans children. That's what I call heaven on a Sunday morning.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

A Babe in the Woods

I've been cruising around the mom blogosphere lately and am incredibly impressed by what I see. I am 100% amateur when it comes to blogging, which explains why no one is reading my stuff. These women have awesome sites full of links and giveaways and reviews and buttons to other mom sites. What the hell? I had no idea any of this stuff existed. I just wanted to babble on about my boring life. Time to spruce things up I think. Once I have the time to figure this all out, this No Filter Mom crap just might make feel good about myself.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Love this site for their 2010 Holiday Giveaways. Definitely check them out!!



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Such an Ugly Word

I'm so tired of feeling stupid. Whatever I do seems to lie on the incompetent side of the spectrum as far as my hubby is concerned. I hung new valances in the boys' bedroom the other day. Hubby comes home, looks at it and says "It's not straight." Today I wanted to order firewood but thought the quote I got for 1/2 cord from a local tree service listed in the phone book might be high so I checked with hubby. He looked in the classified section of the newspaper and found firewood for significantly less. I am halfway through replacing the drawer pulls in the boys' bedroom in my attempt to make it look more like a boys' room rather than the guest room. I couldn't find all of the pulls to finish but hubby came home and pulled out a bag from another drawer. See what I mean? And these are just 3 examples that I can actually recall. There are plenty more I'm sure. I must be stupid because I can't do anything right, not even remember all the things I'm doing wrong.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Sleeping Beauties

I love nothing more than going for a drive, with the boys in the backseat, and they fall asleep. Seeing their beautiful, sleeping little boy faces in the rearview mirror makes me full of pride and joy. They're safe, they're warm, they're loved, they're peaceful. Plus knowing that I have a few minutes to myself, with just the radio and road, is one of my favorite parts of the day. It's a moment of selfishness and selflessness all at once.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Oh No, Another Nice Day

Who would've thought that in mid-November I'd still be scrambling for things to do with the kids. It's going to be in the 60s today, and it seems ridiculous to stay indoors. Living in the Northeast, you don't get to enjoy the warm weather too long so taking advantage of beautiful days is important - at least to me it is. I've always felt that whatever I was or wasn't doing, there was something better I should be doing. All my life I've felt this way, and, quite honestly, it really messes everything up. Should we go to a craft fair, a park, the zoo, something, anything but staying in the house. God forbid the kids spend a day in the house when the temperature reads 60 degrees outside. I find out what others are doing, and they seem perfectly content just staying in or going to Lowe's to do a little shopping or maybe visiting a family member. Not me. Hurry, put your coats on. Let's go. I have no idea where I'm taking you, but let's just go.

Friday, November 12, 2010

Men Won't Ask for Directions, Or Something Like That

I am always surprised at how stupid men can be. I pray to God dear hubby doesn't read this, but here goes. He came home this afternoon with a HUGE piece of styrofoam insulation for the attic. He insisted on trying to shove it up the attic stairs and through the small passageway into the attic. Of course, any reasonable person could see this was not going to happen. Yet, dear hubby shoved one side, then the other, back and forth and back and forth in his feeble attempt to get this entire piece of insulation in the attic. You see, he didn't want to cut it, for it would defeat the purpose of insulation I guess. After about 10 minutes of shoving, he decided to pull it down and cut it. I thought, finally, he's come to his senses. No. He proceeded to cut about an inch or so off of either side and tried to shove it back up there. Not only was this not working, clearly because those 2 inches just wasn't enough to get it in there, it was getting wedged and pieces of insulation were now falling all over the upstairs hall underneath the attic ladder. After about half an hour and massive amounts of insulation pieces everywhere, along with a quart of sweat, he gave in and cut the insulation so it would fit. Why, why, why are men so stupid? And he damn well better pick up every last piece of insulation off that floor!

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Daylight Savings?

The kids just don't understand daylight savings time. Honestly, my body doesn't understand it either. I could force myself to stay in bed for an extra hour if I had the opportunity, but my body knows when it's had enough rest and it's time to get up. I think I was awake before the kids today. I'll probably be falling asleep before them tonight as well.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Photo Friday

It was a Super Hero Halloween at our house. Yes, that's me as BatGirl.







Tuesday, November 2, 2010

A Moment of Silence

I was in church on Saturday evening and found myself completely distracted throughout the entire Mass. There was a teenage girl and her mother 2 rows in front of me. The girl clearly had a cold because she was sniffling and coughing. For a semi-germaphone like me, that was enough distraction. Then she put her feet up on the pew in front of her. She proceeded to take out a drink and a snack. Like she was at a soccer game or something. Next she placed a folder in her lap and began writing down what her mother told her as "thought"s or "general lessons" from the sermon. Are you kidding me? The girl must be taking a CCD class and had some homework to do. Uhm, it's called homework for a reason!!! And why is the mother telling her what to write down? Maybe because the girl's clearly not listening to the sermon herself what with all the drinking, eating and coughing. I literally spent the hour praying for God to give me strength to keep my mouth shut. I wanted to smack the girl in the back of the head and tell the mother a thing or two about respect. Do you see anyone else eating or putting their feet up?? Other children doing their homework? I blame the mother but still wanted to smack the daughter. I couldn't think of a tactful way to tell them what I thought of this behavior. No matter what I would have said or how I would have said it, one or both of them would have had some snippy remark and that would have been the end of that. I don't respond well to snippy remarks. Thankfully the Lord provided me with a mouth full of silence. But my weekly precious hour of reflection and prayer with no misbehaving children of my own was lost on this girl.