This week at our house...

1. We got home on Saturday and until I could go grocery shopping on Monday, all we had to eat that was fresh was chocolate milk. Chris even tried putting it on his breakfast cereal. Gross.

2. We got home on Saturday and until I could clean out the car on Monday, it ranked an 8 on the nasty stench-o-meter. Now it's about a 5. How I wish I had no sense of smell.

3. We got home on Saturday and since then, Chris has loaded and unloaded the dishwasher at least three times!

4. I'm 33 weeks pregnant. I can no longer reach my toes without twisting and contorting strangely, and comfortable sleep is a distant memory thanks to an awkward belly, rambunctious fetus, and acid reflux.

5. My child ate better, slept better, and entertained herself better at Grandma's house than at our house. Why do you suppose that is? Did I just ignore her better because there were more rooms to abandon her in? Is Grandma just more patient with her than I am?

6. Yesterday I made dinner for Chris so he could eat and run. Then, left to myself for several hours, I actually made dinner for Leah and me (and I don't mean Macaroni & Cheese or PBJ) and we both ate heartily until we were satisfied.

7. I'd like to put up our Christmas decorations this week, but Chris wants to do our tree together (good grief!) which means I have to wait until Friday to have a Christmas tree. By the time that comes, I will already have put up a garland, wrapped presents, and put the lights in the windows.

8. I'm surrounded by half-finished projects new and old, including the Christmas decorations (see number 7), a dried-paint-coated craft table that adorns my living room, a finished but unhung kitchen cabinet, the stenchified car-cleaning project, a box full of stuff from a drawer that was reassigned but which sits on my kitchen table, the house cleaning project which continues to become more daunting, my Relief Society responsibilities, and the list goes on. I even took a shower today but didn't actually do my hair or makeup meaning that I'm also half-finished. Good thing I'm not going anywhere today!

9. This Sunday is Leah's second birthday. This Sunday I teach a lesson in Relief Society. This Sunday we are having guests and having our own Thanksgiving dinner. Hey, I gotta learn the art of the turkey and thanksgiving-day kitchen mayhem some day!

10. I'm tired.

Our Thanksgiving Mad-Lib

Before we left on our trip, I tried to find Mad-Libs at the store so we could do them in the car, but had no luck. I was beginning to think they were a thing of the past until I serendipitously found them at Barnes & Noble--we had a blast doing them on the way home. I was so inspired to create our own Mad-Lib describing our vacation.

You do it first and then you can read my real, but much less silly version of the events.

Last name
Name of town
Number
Adjective
Noun
Food
Food
Verb
Musical instrument
Adjective
Animal plural
Noun
Noun
Number
Adjective
Food
Adjective
Number

We just went on vacation to visit Grandma and Grandpa (last name) in (name of town). We drove for (number) hours and although we were (adjective), we couldn't resist going swimming in their Endless (noun) right away. They treated us to Chicago style (food) and (food). We had lots of fun swimming, playing games, doing a puzzle, shopping, and (verb)-ing. I sang in the choir on Sunday and Dad treated us to (musical instrument) serenades. Carl scored us free tickets to the circus, where we saw (adjective) clowns and dancing horses, zebras and elephants. My favorite acts were the acrobats, and the (animal plural) that did backflips. One of the elephants painted a (noun) and Leah won it in the drawing! Then two people shot out of a human (noun) at (number) miles per hour. What a treat! On Thursday we had a (adjective) Thanksgiving dinner with lots of turkey, ham, trimmings, and tasty (food). Alas, nothing can last forever, so we packed up our (adjective) car and drove for (number) more days until we got back home to routine and responsibility.


Here's how it really went:

We just went on vacation to visit Grandma and Grandpa in Illinois. We drove for 22 hours and although we were exhausted, we couldn't resist going swimming in their Endless Pool right away. They treated us to Chicago style pizza and Portillo's hotdogs. We had lots of fun swimming, playing games, doing a puzzle, shopping, and visiting. I sang in the choir on Sunday and Dad treated us to organ and piano serenades. Carl scored us free tickets to the circus, where we saw silly clowns and dancing horses, zebras and elephants. My favorite acts were the acrobats, and the poodles that did backflips. One of the elephants painted a picture and Leah won it in the drawing! Then two people shot out of a human cannon at 65 miles per hour. What a treat! On Thursday we had a hugeThanksgiving dinner with lots of turkey, ham, trimmings, and tasty pies. Alas, nothing can last forever, so we packed up our tiny car and drove for two more days until we got back home to routine and responsibility.

Here are some photo highlights:

This Year's Worst Toys

Ever since I had a child, I've had this non-profit group on my radar--Every year, they single out the worst toys that are on the market, meaning toys that pose a potential threat of bodily harm or even fatality. Remember lawn darts? Yeah, same idea. What's sad is that 9 out of 10 toys on this year's top ten list haven't even been recalled! How do these things get on the market anyway? Somewhere, someone had to have a serious lapse of judgement...

I admit, I didn't go through the toy bin and get rid of everything made in China, I'm not boycotting mass-produced plastic toys, nor am I switching to all wooden--a child seriously has to ingest an awful lot of paint to get sick. Don't get me wrong, I don't approve of lead paint on children's toys and I think the practice should be stopped, but I'm not in a rampage. But AquaDots? That I have a serious problem with...

Check out this years list for yourself.

Been There

I think we've visited this subject before...

Is anybody out there?

Hello? Can you hear me now?

I like blogging. It's a fun way for me to put into words the quirky or mundane things that go on in our lives, and I don't mind sharing them with you. I even provide pretty pictures to go with them and I've added fancy lists and widgets to the panel for your reading enjoyment. This blog is for you.

Right now my blog gets between 10 and 20 hits a day, half of which are from unique users, the other half are returning for a second helping. I get closer to 30 hits on days when I put up new posts. And for the most part, I know who you are. I know where your ISP is located and what your IP address is and can track the referring link and how long you stuck around. So I know you're there...why do you insist on being invisible?

There are you lurkers out there who check my blog on a daily basis, but then leave without ever leaving a comment or signing my guestbook. You know who you are.

But I want to hear from you! I thrive only on your validation that my life is worth reading about and that it wasn't just a waste of your time to stop by for 90 seconds. I beg you to please comment on my posts...give me that validation that I so crave. Remember that I'm kind of insecure? Even if you only want to comment "Hi my name is Cindy Lou Who and I don't know you but I read your blog every day and I think you're funny" or "I love Cafe Rio, too!" is all I need in order to feel that my well-planned posts are not in vain and wasting away in a cyberspace void. Is there a certain kind of post you want me to write that will get you to comment? Do you want funny? Do you want pictures? Do you want analytical? Give me some feedback here...

I'm just aiming for even three comments per post...is that too much to ask for?