thanksgiving on mars

Mommy cooked and cooked and cooked. And I ate and ate and ate. The whole break I took an unhealthy amount of naps after eating unhealthy amounts of ham, it was GLORIOUS.

David and I went out Black Friday to look for lights but didn't find anything. I'm a little worried because I've had very bad xmas crafting luck and it is still November. I'm not going to lie, I already have a giant knot in my stomach because of Christmas planning, I wish it was still easy. However, Dp did get my outside lights up over the weekend (Wheels helped - she is such a sweetie). I don't know what it is this year but nothing looks right. Meh. I need an explosion of lights this year.

If you are a 5 year old boy you might ask Santa for a David for Christmas.

Those kids love, I mean loooooooove David. They want to play with him non-stop when we visit. It is kinda a fair fight, 2 of them against 1 giant.

I've been wondering if they are old enough now to file these holidays into long term memory. Will they remember how they liked to snuggle after nap?  Or that I would watch movies with them and watch them play Angry Birds (shockingly well)?

Games Hot with the childrens:

:: Wrestling is still hot (this is when I can play Rescue From Monster)

:: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle the board game (don't throw anything out, this go fish knock off is from circa 1989)

:: Space Invaders - does your Swing Set Space Ship frequently crash on Mars? The Moon? Or Planet Shundelcloon? Then you too can play space invaders!

Next Thanksgiving they will be Kindergartners! And will have a baby sister!  And maybe Grandaddy will have been called home.

Life keeps changing. 

I can't wait for next year to see the boys grow and play with Sweet Monkey, yet at the same time want everything to stay the same. Ecclesiastes 3 says there is a time for everything, but really it should say that everything happens at once. Somehow we are meant to be joyful in the midst of bills, mourning, stress, and frustrations. What a gift! To be able to put our sadness away for moments and enjoy life.

3:13 That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God.

its camping not the apocalypse

I have a theory about camping: it should be fun not torture.

We have been watching a lot of survivor shows on Netflicks lately and Dp thinks "mental note, I can boil water in a soda can and eat the stems of water lilies" and I think "why is this man putting himself through all this?" I love being outdoors and in the quiet, but I'm not going to eat wild edibles or use my pee to make condensation I can drink. Its camping, not the apocalypse.

Quick visit this weekend to Hunstville St. Park.

Pretty good park, great trails but way to crowded. I know they gotta make money but, geewiz the sites are close together.

Also, beware the park will sell you moist sappy wood. We had trouble getting a fire going when we first arrived. And even when we got some of the wood dried out we couldn't get a roaring fire to get us warm.

Accomplishments:

• David can really get the tent up fast now. Our first time it took an hour, in the rain and cold. I think it took him 20 min this time.
• We took a pretty nice hike on Saturday, about 5 miles. I could have gone further but we were running out of daylight and I was pretty sure it would take 18 years to get a fire going to cook dinner.
• I hadn't made a foil packet dinner since Camp Fire, but we tried some this time, YUM! We had chicken, red potatoes, onions and bell peppers. So civilized. I tried a baked apple recipe but they were not good. I was expecting apple pie and got warm apple. So we had JUMBO smores instead. Have you seen these Jumbo Jet Puffs? Unreal.
• David has this skill of getting the tent folded just so that it always fits back in the bag. I told him he should work for Coleman. I try rolling sleeping bags and they are 4x the size that will fit in the bag, Dp has room to spare? I guess we all have secret talents.

Why is it always nice to get away even for just 1 night? I feel so recharged and renewed.

On our walk I was thinking how horrible the last few years have been. I struggled with my health, and watched my MeeMaw slip from this world, seen Mary decline and the incredible weight associated with supporting David and Gil, going back to school, losing the GI Bill and my Grandaddy's struggles to name a few. We had so many huge life changes and the difficult kind.

At the beginning of 2012 I was asking (basically begging) God for a break because I am out of steam. But it took most of the year to make it out of the bad stuff. Slowly in the last two months I've felt like the storm is dying down. Not that everything will be perfect, but just less heavy.

Finally, I feel hopeful about the future, even excited about it. That is a true gift.

Haunted MichMansion

Happy Halloween

They love me. ;)

ketchup...

Have you felt it?

Have you noticed it is fall?

Have you realised how fast time is moving?

Seriously, two months till Christmas.

Right about this time things get so busy around the office, and in life. So let me see if I have anything to report.

:: MichMansion

Still waiting on GI Bill money to come in so we can finish... well anything. We did try to hang our own light fixture in the dining room. It works. It is not level, and I will be honest there is an argument in our house about whether to swag or not. Really looking forward to being able to buy more paint to finish painting, and hire the electrician to fix our bathroom light (still using a lamp). Our list is so long.

We finally got rid of our old bathtub and other such junk. thank you heavy trash pick up!

:: GI Bill

I guess since I just mentioned it I could say a little something more. No, they have not paid David's tuition. It has been 11 weeks when the waiting period is 6-8 wks. And they have lost David's paperwork twice, yes twice, emphatically denying they have received it. This is nuts considering one day we call they are processing our payment, then the server crashes, they get Columbus Day off (WHAT? oh yeah workin' overtime alright) and then our paperwork is missing. Sure. Sure VA we didn't send it in. grrrrrrr

Ok. I'm done.

::Fun Stuff

It wasn't even last weekend, it was two weekends ok, I am behind. My company had an employee day at the Downtown Aquarium. We got all the attractions for $5! And I could bring as many people as I wanted. So Christi's birthday was Oct. 1st, I said I was behind, so we brought her as a birthday present.

First we met Melissa, her mom and her grandma at Zoe's for lunch. Sheesh I love this place. I just can't stand it.

Then on to $5 fun.

We went through the aquarium first. I was really impressed with how big it was.

There was also a tank where you could pet sharks and sting rays. It was a little intimidating at first. The rays were so excited they try to climb out of their tank! ps- linking to Melissa's blog and some of her awesome pics! Basically if you see *great pictures* they are hers.

Also there was a bubble you could crawl into to see the rays from underneath. Oh yeah. I totally crawled on the ground.
They even have 2 white tigers. One of them saw Christi and charged the glass. We were asked to back away and not look at him anymore. She must look pretty tasty.

So then the main event for me, The Shark Train! You can ride their train through a shark tank tunnel. Me and Christi got to be in the caboose! And I don't want to ruin it for you guys out there, but it was maybe the most fun of my life. Cheese-tastic!
I was laughing so hard I nearly peed my pants. Seriously. Melissa may think twice about bring me and Christi anywhere funny, we are notorious for being the loudest laughers in a room.

We rounded out the day with the Ferris Wheel, I watch it everyday at lunch I just had to do it. Ok warning, it is FAST! And finished up on the Carousel. Too much fun. Too much.


There you go. Your ketchup.

Another vote....

Been thinking about changing header and I can't quite decide. I will just probably do both for a while and see what gets the most response. So this is option a, what I like to call Cactus.

My weekend was pretty good. Friday night was Halloween. We had chili at my parents house, carved a pumpkin (Louie), made caramel corn and handed out candy to the little TOTs. Very sucsessful!

I saw some cute little kidos. The following are the highlighs from the night.

:: A tiny little Hulk.

:: Obama!

:: When David guessed the little girl was Hannah Montana!

:: The 18yr old pregnant girl... trick or treating... I guess for her unborn child?

And for some picture highlights...

Abbey in her hat. :)

Rigby didn't like the hat as much...

David carving the pumpkin, my design.

Louie the jack-o-lanturn!

The caramel corn me and my mom made. It was yummy!!

Twas the night before Halloween...

Twas the night before Halloween and all through the house,
Was the crinkle crinkle of Analee failing at not eating the Halloween candy.

I just had 3 pieces. There is still some for my TOT's. (Trick-or-Treaters)