"It Was a Cold & Wet December Day"

well actually it's still November but I'm reminded of the opening lines to U2's Angel of Harlem this time of the year.
It was cold and wet yesterday as well when we watched ASU take on SC State in the first round of the FCS playoffs. App won 37-21. The game was close into the 4th quarter. Once it appeared we were going to win, my mind left football and I realized I was cold.

I normally don't post pictures of my children but this sums up my daughter's enthusiasm for football.















My plan for today was to get the Christmas stuff out of the attic (not sure now). It needs to be sorted through, etc. We don't decorate right after Thanksgiving which seems to be more and more the norm these days. For one thing, we get a real tree therefore I like to wait. Appalachian State University is in the heart of Christmas tree country. Maybe we can coordinate Christmas and football? Works for me.
Well if I don't tackle the ornaments and decorations, I still have enough laundry and overall picking up around the house to keep me busy. Starting a pot of chili in the crockpot sounds like a good idea. How was your weekend?

Re-Thinking Holiday Shopping Routines

I confess Thanksgiving was fine but kind of a blur. I didn't take the time to reflect on what I am thankful for. Yes in many way 2008 frankly has sucked but I'm still blessed to have a lot especially my family and friends.
I am doing my best to pysch myself up for Christmas. It seems each year I dislike the whole season more and more. It is really difficult for me. I want to break the cycle this holiday. With Mom's situation, it will be a different Christmas. I've made a dent in shopping and I've changed some of my old buying habits.
The children are getting 1 or 2 really nice gifts but not many little things. I use to give small stock stuffers and odds and ends. I realized last year items went unused. Wasteful.
Our office has decided to help out someone we know who is in need. I'm happy about this. Work was one example of where I felt we were buying gifts out of obligation. It became a burden. We were basically exchanging the same types of gifts back and forth (e.g. candles, lotion, oranments,etc.)
If you follow me on twitter you know I've been on a baking frenzy for several months. I could write a whole post on why that's happening. Maybe I will. I've never baked a lot of goodies to give as gifts in the past. I will this year. I like doing it and it's more economical.
In summary for everyone, I like giving gifts but I don't want to give gifts just out of obligation. I want it to be meaningful whether it's large or small. There are other areas of Christmas I may write about in the future.
In an earlier post, many of you expressed a dismal outlook about Christmas. Do you still feel this way? Are you doing anything different?

Birthday Gift

My daughter painted this for her friend as a birthday present.

I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving.

Bad Pet Owner

A few of you have already heard about this but Saturday I let the wrong cat in. Chloe is an indoor cat. My son yelled to me that she was on the deck. I didn't see how Chloe could have gotten out but the cat sure looked like her. The kitty came right up to me then walked inside and seemed at home. On closer inspection I started having my doubts. The cat's eyes were more green than amber. The ears were a little smaller. (Chloe and her brother have rather large ears.) I ran upstairs and found Chloe under the bed. I was worried this sweet cat was lost. I remembered my neighbors got a gray cat this summer. I called and sure enough *he* was their cat. I wasn't sure if he could get back home so I carried him over to his house. It was freaky how much he looked like Chloe. He's not full grown so eventually he will be larger. I felt like the worse pet owner not being able to identify my own cat.

P.S. Katie Bonk if you read this, yes Chloe has stripes on her tail. So does my neighbor cat.

I've Been Spanx'd

I gave in. I purchased a pair of Spanx to wear under something I just bought. I know Spanx is all the rave among the celebrities. Oprah confessed to wearing them. Eva Longoria was just spotted with Spanx under her dress. Brooke Shield, Renee Zellweger, and Gwyneth Paltrow used them. Still I feel defeated. I work out. I watch what I eat. Back in the day, I returned to work from maternity leave wearing my pre-pregnancy clothes. I didn't need Spanx. Age, it's gotta be age. Geez.

What Happened to Fall?

It has been unusually cold here in the last 2 weeks. I hope Fall makes a reappearance again.

Gloves, Football, and Fun

Warm temperatures, freezing temperatures, sunshine, clouds, rain, snow, wind.

What am I getting at? I experienced all those elements yesterday from the time we left our house, traveled to Boone, tailgated for several hours and sat through the game. It was weird weather. A cold front came in making temperatures drop as the day went on. To me, it wasn't bad. I've certainly been through worse. We were prepared. We had a heater for our tent. We were dressed in many layers passing out hand and foot warmers like candy.
A big shout out to Allison for overseeing of my gloves. During our tailgating, I touched the propane heater. Allison pointed out they had melted in a few places. Since they were so insulated, I had not noticed. While in the stadium bathroom after the game washing my hands, I checked my pockets and realized one of my gloves was missing - not the one with melted finger tips. Allison called out to see if anyone found it. A woman opened her stall and handed Allison my wet glove. She kindly took it. I rinsed it off (and later washed it). If they weren't expensive coming from REI, I would have chucked them. I'm going with the thought it fell into clean water.
Oh, by the way Appalachian did win! Though we have one regular season game remaining, the Mountaineers clinched the Southern Conference and will be going to the playoffs!
I did not take many pictures due to the weather. Here is my usual of Howard's Knob before kickoff:

Wednesday Hump Day

It's the 3rd week in a row the kids only go to school four days. It's hit me I'll have to deal with Christmas soon. If you have followed me for over a year, you know I am not a big fan of the season. It will be even more difficult with Mom's situation. I can blog more about that in the future.

What's going on with you?

A View From the Top

We went hiking at Hanging Rock State Park Sunday.

Now That's What I Like

I normally don't buy magazines but this one just grabbed my attention. I've been a big Keanu Reeves fan since around 1990 when he first came on the scene playing various goofy airhead parts. He went on to do such classics (IMO) as Point Break, Speed (the absolute best!) and the Matrix series. There are many other films as well. I know he's not the best actor. I put on twitter about the running argument my brother-in-law and I have. He thinks Charlie Sheen would have been better in Speed. Get real!
A few reasons I like Keanu:

• When he looks good, he looks good.
• With that said, he like many people as they get older can let themselves go. I can relate to that. After all he is my age.
  
• With all the good, he's had several really bad things happen as well. He has my sympathy.
  
• He just won a case against an aggressive paparazzi.
• Yeah he doesn't come across as friendly out in public but he doesn't leave his house in order to have a PR opportunity every time. From what I've heard, he is very nice one on one. He is generous to charities without wanting to be recognized for it.

Yes I'm married but my husband is quite understanding about the Keanu crush considering I've had the crush about as long as I've been married.

A Look Down My Road and At My List

Update from when I posted the picture Thursday: actually nothing really exciting. Tonight my son has his last football game. They should win and will end up 10-1. The school and team are new and are not eligible for the state playoffs until next season. ASU is playing away in Chattanooga Saturday. We will not be attending but will check in via the computer. All this week I've been creating a daily to-do list and plugging away at it. I love making lists but hate completing them. Nevertheless I find myself not doing things or forgetting if not in writing. The list is holding me accountable. I'm off work today and here's a look at my list:

•  tackle the laundry mountain
  

•  wash car 
  

• buy Inc magazine b/c of article on Kevin Rose (btw he has 71,452 followers on twitter)

• workout at home then hit the trails to enjoy the beautiful warm fall day
  

• try to think of something for dinner

• go to grocery store

• catch diggNation (maybe)

I wonder what my completion percentage will be? 71%

Last 2008 Political Post ... Maybe

A wrap-up: I am glad it is over. The majority of the candidates I voted for won. I am happy those pre-recorded calls will stop. I have to say I witnessed quite a division in this presidential election even in my family. Many folks had a lot to say about McCain's choice of Sarah Palin for a running mate. Here in the south it was spoken and unspoken - some voters could not bring themselves to elect an African-American for President of the United States. My office in the city in a rather liberal environment was pro Obama. Back in the suburbs and rural area where I live seemed heavily McCain. I saw my daughter put down for her choice in Kids Voting by an adult. If this person only knew, my daughter put more thought in her choices than many voters.
Yes it's over. Yes history was made and yes I really loved those SNL's sketches.

Our Look

I normally don't post pictures of my husband and me but here's us at the ASU vs Wofford game on Halloween. The Burger King jumped in too. By the way, the Mountaineers stomped the Terriers 70 - 24!