Ah, Black Friday...

For some reason my mom decided to go against tradition this year. Consequently, I got to sleep in until 7 instead of waking up at 3:30 to do the madness that is day-after-Thanksgiving shopping. To be honest, I feel a little out of sorts. Granted, I'm not a rabid sale shopper myself, so if I'm not at my mom's I usually don't go to the sales, but it seems so odd to me to be at my mom's and not go shopping. My sister-in-law put it very aptly: You know you're in a recession when the Lowder women don't do Black Friday.

On the other hand, Thanksgiving day was everything I'd expected. There was the turkey, the candied yams, the pies stuck on every space of counter possible. And, of course, the sparkling conversation at dinner. Here's a few snippets:

Me: Joseph (my nephew), do you know why turkey makes you tired?
Janae (my sister): Oh, it's because it's an aphrodisiac.
All adults at the table bust up laughing
Molly (niece): What's that?
Me: We'll tell you in a few years.
Colby: Mommy, can I go play? (dinner started two minutes ago)
Me: Not until you've eaten your dinner.
Colby: I don't want dinner. Can I go play?
Me: You need to try at least one bite of everything on your plate.
Colby: Oh, tartar sauce!
Licks everything on his place very gingerly
Colby: Okay, mommy, can I go play now?
Me: Colby, if you're not going to eat you can go to your room
Colby: Okay, I'll go to my room.
Dad: Why is there a salt shaker on my plate?
Me: We thought you should have your own. Dad should never have to ask for the salt on Thanksgiving.
Dad: You know you can die of salt poisoning.
Launches into latest news story of kid who used to sneak off in the middle of the night to eat salt and died from salt poisoning. Interesting.
Dad: I used to sneak into the cow pasture and take chunks off the cows' salt block. . .
Everyone: Eww!
Me: Mom, did you know about this?
Mom: Yes. I actually used to do the same thing.
Wade (my brother): So, that's how you two really met! The whole grocery store tale was just a cover-up!

I think you get the idea. Needless to say it was a very enjoyable holiday, culminating in laughing like crazy while we drooled over the sale ads. I seriously believe that turkey makes you slap happy. Someone should do a study.

I'm not a fashion guru, but. . .

. . . I knew that the 80s were coming back to some extent. Which is unfathomable to me. Just watching 80s movies makes me laugh at the oh-so-wonderful look of big bangs and leg warmers. Granted I don't remember half of the decade, but that's what 80s movies are for, right?

So I was just a little disturbed by a commercial I saw on TV yesterday. High tops are back in. Of course, Sketchers is calling them "Hy Tops" since apparently that makes it okay.
There's nothing quite as odd as seeing kids half your age running around in something you wore when you were in second grade. Maybe I just need to have another 80s movie marathon to get me into the spirit of things....

Calling all addresses!

I sat down to address my Christmas cards last night and realized that I don't have the current addresses for a lot of people. This came as quite a blow to my pride, since I thought I was doing pretty well at keeping my little address box current. Sigh.

So if you would like a Christmas card, please send me your current address! Especially if you've moved in the last year. . .which I think most of you have. Don't feel bad. We did too :)**

**I'm going to note that Megan is excused, since she was extremely efficient and emailed me her address weeks ago. What's up with the rest of you??!! There's a time limit, people! I'm leaving the country next week.

Happy Toilet Day!

So I was doing some "research" for a Christmas present tonight, and I came across the little known fact that November 19 is World Toilet Day. It's totally true.

Of course today is also Have a Bad Day Day and Use Less Stuff Day. Who knew? I've been blown away by the fact that I had no idea what I should have been celebrating today. I should have had a bad day and hugged my toilet. I guess with the right amount of bad Chinese/Thai/Mexican food, those two could go together....

Happy World Toilet Day everyone!

Poulsen, Pandora and Penicillin

I'm going to cram 4 days of thankfulness into one post. Consequently, we're going have to resort to...dum, dum, dum: the bulleted list!

• Friday: think back 4 days. Not remembering what I did 4 days ago. I probably worked. I know I "slept in" because Colby didn't have school. That's what I was thankful for on Friday- days off. They don't come nearly often enough.
• Saturday: Thank all that is holy for penicillin. Colby randomly started screaming during rush hour traffic on Friday night that his ear hurt, and then proceeded to throw up on every bed and the couch during the night. My lovely doctor prescribed the yummy bubble gum penicillin* so Colby had no compulsions taking it. Whoever invented flavoring for antibiotics was a genius. And probably a mom.
  
• Sunday: I love my teaching partner. We were in charge of Sharing Time on Sunday and that wonderful woman totally took over so I could stay home with Colby. She's completely awesome.
• Monday: I have a crush on Pandora.com. It's by far my favorite music website, and pretty much how I've discovered my last three favorite bands. And nothing makes the work day go by faster than Muse, Linkin Park and Skillet.

*This is same medicine my older sister and I would sneak tastes of whenever anyone else in the family was sick. Sad and twisted, I know, but it tastes really good! And that's probably why the regular antibiotics don't work on my anymore. Oh, well. On the other hand I think I need to devote a post to how much I love footnotes. Anyone who reads Terry Pratchett will understand.

Love my DVR!

This is thankful post #3. Today, I love my DVR. I've had crazy work this week, so I've missed House, Bones, and I'm going to miss the Office tonight. My three favorite shows, and I don't have time at all to sit down and watch them.

So thank heaven for my nice cable man and my DVR! I can just set up my shows to be recorded, and then watch them at my leisure this weekend - assuming work will slow down for the weekend. Plus, a nice bonus is being able to record all those movies on TV that I never have time to watch, and Colby doesn't have to miss Jimmy Neutron and Little Einsteins.

Now my only problem is figuring out when I can sit down to watch all of the things I've recorded....Hmm.

Yummy Cereal!

The cereal producers in this country have sworn out a vendetta against me. One by one, my favorite cereals are disappearing from the shelves. Tragic, I know. First there was Sweet Crunch, then Alphabits with marshmellows...*sniff*...I can't talk about that one.

Most recently it was Count Chocula. Until August, my local Walmart carried this on a regular basis. I was in heaven. Until they decided to remodel the store, and for some reason the 12 inches of space the box would take up wasn't figured into their plans.

So, today, I'm very thankful for Target, who deigned to carry this fabulous cereal for the Halloween season, allowing me to buy 20 boxes to stock in my pantry. Seriously. I have a whole shelf just for my cereal storage. Most surprising was how many people agreed with me after I explained why I had a whole shopping cart full of cereal. I guess they've had their favorite cereal yanked off the shelf once or twice too. Thank you, Target!

Happy Veteran's Day

I'm trying to find more things to be thankful for this month. In the past, I've always fallen into a sort of slump after Halloween that doesn't really pick up until Christmas. So I'm going to revel in the season of Thanksgiving more this year before totally devoting my attention to the next holiday.

As today is Veteran's Day, I thought I'd be grateful for all the armed forces, past and present. This is actually the first time I've given more than a passing thought to Veteran's Day and it's truly hit me this year - mostly because every country radio station in the state seems to be playing tear-jerker military songs. Someone needs to call Tim McGraw and tell him that "If You're Reading This" is NOT comforting.

But I'm truly grateful to live in the country I do and to know personally some of the men and women who sacrifice so much to protect our way of life. And I'm very, very, very proud of all the soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, etc. who are currently serving. I hope that we can all appreciate what they give and are willing to give for us. So hug a veteran today! Or send one some warm fuzzies via mail, the internet or prayer.

Let it Snow...Grrr....

That's right. I woke up to snow this morning. My first instinct was to go right back to bed and burrow under the covers in the hope that it would have melted by the time I got up again. But Colby had school this morning, so I went in to get him up.

His first response to the snow? I found him leaning out of bed with his blinds open, staring out at the white world in wonder. As soon as I walked in he announced, "Mommy, it's Christmas! Santa's going to come here now!" I tried to keep that wonderful enthusiasm in mind while I drove him to school and came back home, and for a moment I could remember what it was like to be a kid and wake up to snow in the morning. There is something rather pretty and peaceful about the world covered in white.

Of course, it helps that the snow wasn't sticking to the road. If I had to shovel my driveway this morning, it would be a different story!

October's over already?

Apparently Colby and I have been having way too much fun this month to stop and post anything, but at least I've taken lots of pictures to catch up. However, since the lack of posts has caused more than one person to question our viability in the last week, I thought I'd better sit down and update the blog. Let's face it - one post for the whole month of October is pretty sad.

But October has been lots of fun for both of us! There was my birthday (we're not going to discuss how old I am since I'm still in denial. By the time my next birthday comes, I'm sure I'll be reconciled to the number and more than willing to claim it, but as for now I still like to claim that I'm 25). My adorable husband outdid himself once again. *sigh* And then there were the multitude of Halloween activities.

Thanksgiving Point is fast becoming one of my favorite places in Utah. They had quite a few activities there for Halloween this year, and Colby and I trekked it out to Lehi one day after preschool for the Boo at the Barnyard and the Scarecrow Festival. There were lots of activities for kids, but my favorite was watching Colby digging up styrofoam bones from a coffin filled with sand. Everyone smile and say "Tibia!"And just in case you're wondering what those green things are, that's another story. There was a balloon clown there doing all sorts of shapes for the kids. I thought for sure Colby would ask for a sword or something, but he saw a little girl get pink and purple butterfly wings and decided he wanted "dragonfly" wings too.
At least he got the "manly" spider painted on his face instead of a flower or something.The next thing on our calendar was the Boo at the Zoo at Hogle Zoo. It also happened to be the same Saturday as the rehearsal for our Primary program and the National Guard Trunk or Treat, so we were both VERY ready for bed that night. We got to go to the zoo with Colby's cousing Bentley, who was Batman. And I really have to say that Colby was the best-looking Indiana Jones there. It was a lot more crowded than I was expecting, but we still had lots of fun.So by this time October was almost over and Colby and I still hadn't done our pumpkins. Thank goodness for our small town - there was a pumpkin patch on the way back from the grocery store! Colby picked out the pattern for this one. I think he's missing Disney World...The day before Halloween Colby had a party at his preschool where they went on a "parade" and trick-or-treated at the staff offices in the education building and a classroom or two. They performed this really cute witch song a couple of times (I'm trying to talk his teacher into giving me a copy of the video since I was an idiot and left my camera at home!). He really does make an adorable Indiana Jones. I was a little upset that he decided against Stitch (if anyone wants a Stitch costume that's never been used, call me!), but the Indiana Jones thing was cool. He was the most popular kid at the zoo and at school because his costume came with a whip. Boys.