Thanksgiving...again

I do love thanksgiving. It is my favorite holiday, as it is many of yours. We all love the gathering of loved ones over a wonderful meal.
and
But what is the reality of the holiday?

Almost always you get up early, stuff yourself into a stuffy outfit, dress the kids in likewise uncomfortable clothes you don't want them to "mess up". Drive to someone else's house who has been designated to "make the dinner". You ask what you can bring.... and you always end up making it last minute or way before hand so it is either not done yet or cold and needs to be re-heated thus taking away the right out of the oven goodness.

Then you are squeezed in between half a dozen people to eat half warm, half hot, and the rest cold food with little to NO room for your elbows to get the food efficiently to your mouth, there by guaranteeing you will spill something on your shirt or pants. Everyone wolf's down their food to get away from the table and then it is over. OVER... it is OVER... and then the clean up begins, sometimes the clean up begins before some people are even done with dinner. Not to mention the weird tradition of eating thanksgiving dinner at 2 or 3 pm! I mean WHAT???? It is called DINNER not "semi lunch not quite dinner yet" dinner.

Then there is always the possibility the dinner being provided doesn't meet your expectations. The yams weren't made right, the potatoes were too lumpy, the turkey to dry, or the gravy watery. Thus rendering the whole thanksgiving dinner a bust for you. Leaving you dreaming of the thanksgiving that could of been, the one you should of just made at home. Not to mention you won't have LEFTOVERS! We all know leftovers the next day are one of the most valued leftovers in the WORLD, ever... all year your husband and children will turn up their noses at the dreaded leftover dinner. Throw a turkey and cranberry sauce in the mix and BAM leftovers ROCK the Casbah!

Also....

Why is it the woman inevitably get stuck with all the preparation and clean up, while the men seem to be honored and escorted to the living room to unbutton their pants and watch the game, as if they actually did something the whole day besides maybe trying to deep-fry a turkey, or burning half the porch down. I mean why is it that men will cook anything in an apparatus that is outside. God forbid it actually resides IN the kitchen.

Even if you buck the norm and stay home, cooking the entire meal to your liking and specifications, something will be missing. You will look around your table and wonder why you didn't invite anyone over to share in the wealth of food and love overflowing at your table. You will miss all those crazy relatives you were avoiding. Ok, well maybe not miss extremely, but you will feel a void of the one thing that actually makes thanksgiving...well.... Thanksgiving! Family. Sure you will have your little family of two, three, four, or five... but isn't having extended family over for dinner the actual point of having a Thanksgiving dinner in the first place?

So... what to do... what to do...

I think this year we are going to do two. One where we go to the assigned family destination to enjoy the craziness that is Thanksgiving dinner, and then one at home on Saturday so I can make the stuff we want to eat and really relax. Not to mention BONUS...bonus... all the leftovers are yours!

edited to add: Thanksgiving IS my all time fav holiday.. I love it, crazy family and all... bring it

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moving, cleaning, and swine flu

Can I just say I am sooo glad October is OVER! It was the worst month ever! Not that November is kicking off in style or anything, a 1900.00 water damage bill from our house in the "other town" did little to help my mood! However I do see the silver lining and know that the shower there is finally fixed and we can look forward to a year of renting it with no worries.... I HOPE!

So we moved to a new house and let me tell you it took FOREVER for us to move by ourselves. I guess when you are moved you just take a look around and say....yup....pack this shit up! When you move yourself you take a look around and say.....wait a minute...do we really want to move that shit?

We have had a lot happen to us in this month. 

1. We moved and it took ALL Month

2. Karl went out of town in the middle of the month, and he was in budget month all month while we were moving and let me tell you we were both stressed the eff out!

3. The most important thing this month that happened was Kena turned 1!  Her theme was lollipops, because she just LOVES lollipops!!!! So for her birthday party I made homemade lollipops and put an edible picture of her face on them. Edible kena pops :) They were adorable, however they did come out a little softer than they should of. I will attribute that to the corn syrup I added to the recipe.

4.  We entered in a chilli cook-off and we WON! Well we won best new comer of the year :) My chilli was called "Mean Monkey Chili" and Karl's was called "King Kong Chili".  We had fun and it was worth the stress.  The name of my chili was based on two books I read to Kya, Mean Soup and Monkey Soup.  Both books are well worth a look up and read.

5.  My sister and my foster mom both came out and visited this month which was awesome!

6. Kya and Kena both caught the swine flu.  It was the worst two weeks of my life. Kya was sick for 9 days with 103-104 fevers non-stop and breathing trouble. We wound up in the ER twice. I didn't really give my self the time to freak out, but when it was over I realized just how scared I was!  Counting your baby 3 year olds breathing at 3am while listening to her chest rattle and wheeze is not an event I want to ever repeat! When Kena got it I rushed her straight to the Dr and I am forever thankful for the Dr and the pharmacist who came in after hours to make sure she got tamiflu that night. I tell you Tamiflu is worth its weight in gold! 

Don't even get me started on the H1N1 flu mist and how you can get sick from it or from just being around those who had it!

As I type this up Karl is still moving boxes around and we are still getting the house organized. Sorry for not commenting on your blogs or posting this month. It has been a little crazy this month and I am just thankful it is over!

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moving again...

So a new cute rental house literally fell into our lap. I am so ready to be out of this house. It served its purpose but I am ready for a house that is ant, mouse, and mold free...( I really think the pipes in this house are clogged with filth and the basement is so damp I think it permeates through the whole thing.  

Karl has been working 16-20 hour days almost straight for the last two weeks. During the week he will come home, eat help me get the girls in their pajamas and then turn around and go straight back to work.  He hasn't even seen the new house yet.  I rented it and called him to tell him we were moving.  So we paid rent in both places.  We have one month to move.  I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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whew that was close...

I was driving down the road with Karl and I was putting lotion on my hands. I took off my bracelets because sometimes the lotion turns the silver black.  I wear two bracelets everyday. I never take them off... in fact I am a serial jewelry wearer. If I put it on it stays on until it literally falls off... Or I have to take it off to not ruin it.  Like my butterfly necklace! Lesson there learned. If I didn't take it off before a shower the water would make its way into the necklace and get the wing of the butterfly wet.  NOT GOOD! The artist Neile sent me a replacement (totally sweet of her).

Well, my one bracelet slipped down between the seats of the car. I couldn't reach it. I thought I would wait till I got home to get a paper clip or pen or something to try and get it out.

Fast Forward:

I went to get the car cleaned out and washed the other day. Guess what I forgot to do! YEP... Get my bracelet.  This is my sister bracelet the one I gave all my sisters. Including Angel. 

I forgot about it until I walked into a playdate and saw a friend wearing a similar heart pendant bracelet. I ran out to the car to check on it and sure as shit it was gone. And well....

I LOST MY SHIT!

I realized my bracelet means more to me than anything! I mean it ranks up there with my original wedding set and my new wedding set.  It means everything to me. 

I bawled cried my mind raced.... HOW in the world was I going to get it back? It had been sucked up by the worlds largest vacuum cleaner and lord knows what those car wash places suck up.

Apparently a lot.  Because when I called the manager told me they look through it before the dump it. Sure enough... there was my bracelet in the trash. 

I picked it up and put it back on my wrist where it will remain forever....

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Writing has become well writing...

I have soo many things going through my mind, so many stories to tell but lately I have a hard time getting them out of my head and onto the screen.  I feel like it all comes out in a written sort of garble.

Kena is about to turn one and I find myself literally in disbelief.  I know I have said this before but I feel like I have missed something. Like half of her first year vanished before my eyes and I missed it.  It feels like she should only be 8 or 6 months not 11.  I feel like I didn't examine every little aspect of her first year the way I did for Kya. 

Kena has added a joy to my life I never knew I needed. She is the best cuddler and hugger ever. She gives me kisses and hugs when she wakes up in the morning without being prompted or asked.  She is always smiling and loves to explore.  She is a quiet soul and only cries when she is really hungry and tired.  She is a flirt and coy, loves her daddy bunches. 

She loves lollipops, bugs, and anything Kya is playing with. She follows her sister around like a puppy dog and demands equality.  If Kya has it or is eating it.. SO IS SHE!

Now here is the question... am I done? Am I done having kids? I don't really feel done.  I feel like I should have one more, or maybe even two.  Realistically I think I should be done. I have two hands, I can carry two, two seems like a realistic number.  My heart wants more.  I am getting to old, to tired and lets face it my body STILL hasn't bounced back from Kena. I really do not want to see what will happen if I have another.  There is the whole c-section thing... ANOTHER C-SECTION! uggggggggg I was afraid the whole time with Kena I would die.  SO there is that too....

I wish I would of started younger some days.... but then I would not be the same parent. I am a much more mature, patient, and giving mother than I would have been at lets say 21.  So while I wish I would have started younger it is only because then I would have 4!  Sooooooo that is where I am. I want more, but I don't want more.   ohhhh the insanity of it all...\

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we are back....

I have to say this was the best vacation ever... even though we hit a screwdriver on the way and had to change a tire on the side of the road, stop at a town for a new tire to replace the shredded brand new tire..... it still ROCKED!

We spent the whole day on the beach.

Basically we woke up, ate breakfast, put on sun screen and suits and went to the beach. We would come back for lunch, take naps, wake up put on sunscreen and suits, go back to the beach, come in for dinner.  At night we would grab a kite, flash lights to look for crabs, or just collect sea shells.  It was amazing!

I am still collecting myself and getting on normal time.  Since we have been back Kya started pre-school, we had to go get our dogs, we had Dr appointments and as I type this most of my suitcase is still NOT unpacked.  Not to mention we are turning around and going out of town again tomorrow.....

Oh and I am also gearing up for Kena's 1st birthday.  Hard to believe she will be one in a month.
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beach house here I come...

This is the view from the house we are renting. I can barely contain myself.....

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