How Observent are You?

Yah, as if...

Your Observation Skills Get A C

You tend to notice the big things in life... But the details aren't exactly your forte

How Observant Are You?

Oh, just do it ....

Cheesy internet Quiz brought to you today by the letter 10, and the color Pink (or Laurie)

TEN random things you might not know about me:
1. I thrive on order. Chaos makes me a little crazy.
2. I grind my teeth. I know, it's horrible, and I hate it. But apparently I can't stop.
3. I could live on Cheese and Fruit. Love cheese, in all shapes and sizes.
4. I suffer from PTSD and panic attacks. Although, this year has been pretty mild. Maybe I'm getting better.
5. I like lists. No, cross that. I love lists. See number 1.
6. I hate Halloween. Don't have a real good reason why. I just do.
7. In the Chocolate Vs. Vanilla depate, Vanilla wins everytime. Real Vanilla Bean..not that French Vanilla cr@p.
8. I do yoga. And pilates. Never both on the same day. I shoot for 5 times a week. It doesn't always happen, but it helps keep me sane, especially with the work I do. And on the days that I don't fit it in, I have beer. Beer helps a LOT.
9. If I had to do it all over, I would. Every little minute detail of it. I am better for it.
10. Being cold makes me grouchy.

Patience my child..

Today is the first Sunday of Advent. For those of you not in the know, there are four Sundays before Christmas that make up the Advent Season, which is the time we prepare for Christmas. Each night, starting on the first day, a candle is lit and a prayer is said, as we get ready to celebrate the birth of Jesus. An advent wreath includes 3 purple candles, and a rose (or pink), and every week you add another candle until the 4th week when they are all lit together.

My children made this wreath, and I'm rather proud of them. Oh, don't get me wrong, they argued and bickered and I sure didn't feel spiritual as I thought about how I'd like to kill them, or at least hang them up by their toenails..but they did a good job. Tonight we will light the first candle before dinner, and reflect upon why we celebrate Christmas.

Or is it Christmas?

I took this photo at 10am yesterday. We got about 4-5 inches of snow before it was all said and done. It looks rather lovely out there today with the sun glistening off the snow. I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving. Don't spend too much money today, and enjoy the leftovers!

The Friday 5 will be taking a bit of a break this week so I can work at crossing off my list of things to get done before we go see Harry Potter this afternoon.It's about half done already. Not bad seeing as it's only 9 am (but before you grumble I have been up for 3 hours). For those of you asking for photos, don't worry. The blog with be littered with them all month, as I plan on using them to accent my December posts.

Give thanks.. with a grateful heart

I have a few issues with Thanksgiving as a whole. What started out as a celebration of living, and gratefulness..has turned into a hyped up excuse to eat until you're sick and watch football. Oh, and we can't forget the big shopping sales.

When I was a kid, Thanksgiving was a lot of family, some that I only saw 2 times a year, stuffed into a tiny apartment eating turkey and enjoying each others company. And for us kids, it meant awkward moments with relatives we barely knew, good smells, and lots of fun and giggles in the back room. And then I grew up. And things changed. And people got older, and the celebration moved. And it was OK. A little weird, and still awkward, but OK. This year, our celebration will be small. The family is scattered all over, relatives have passed on, and others barely hold on to life. But we will be grateful for the time we have together, and the memories will hold us until the next time we see each other, be it a few weeks, months or even a year.

I'm a turkey..you're a turkey...

Ok, Carly tagged me.. I won't tag anyone else..but for your reading enjoyment:

It's Thanksgiving. Would you rather host the party or be a guest?No thanks. I host enough parties in December that I am quite happy to skip the turkey. Besides, it's turkey. How creative can you be with turkey. Besides, the boy doesn't like to wake up to the smell of turkey cooking. We happily go elsewhere. And the year that isn't possible anymore, we'll be having something else. Like baked zitti and garlic bread. Or sumthin.

What's your signature side dish?
Right... I travel to the house of someone who likes to be in control of the WHOLE thing. I don't have a sidedish.. I bring a desert. Might be pumpkin pie this year. Might not.
Do you watch the Macy's parade? Why or Why not?
I watch a little of it. It starts around the same time we have to leave.. so we watch some of it. I enjoy the floats.

Will you be doing Christmas/Holiday shopping the day after Thanksgiving?
Not this year. I have. And for the past few years I have gotten up at some unruly hour..but nothing this year is making me want to hit the stores at 5am. I will still get up early, but instead will enjoy a nice breakfast with my boy, and then start some decorating.
What is the next movie you plan to see in the theater?
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Friday.
What do you want for Christmas?
Snow Shoes. I'm considering these, but also these. However I think I might get the most use out of the first pair, as they are more of an all-terain type of shoe. I just wish they came in Taragon Green.

It's not Christmas until __________ is on TV.
Emmet Otter's Jugband Christmas. That is by far my favorite Christmas movie ever. I own it, so I can watch it whenever I want. I also like the newer version of Miracle On 34th street.

It's all about the pie

(love these stupid little quizes)

You Are Lemon Meringue Pie

You're the perfect combo of sassy and sweet Those who like you have well refined tastes

What Kind of Pie Are You?

It's begining to look a lot like......

C H R I S T M A S

I know, it's not even Thanksgiving yet. I know. But it was 50 degrees outside today, and as that is not normal for the end of November. So we took advantage of the nice day and put up our wreaths.. and the lights across the porch, and the lights/garland/bows on the fence. If we can figure out a way, there will be lights and garland around the front door again this year (hasn't been since we installed the outside lights and have no exterior power out there). I have given up on lights around the frame of the house.. and am quite happy with how it works out.Besides, I like how the wreaths look better. Especially now that the house has been painted. They really pop out, where as before they kind of blended in a bit. Friday is the day we decorate the rest of the house/porch and start playing Christmas music. Although, as we only have 2 days of school this week (hooray for short weeks!) I might do the porch on Wednesday like I did last year. That is a project in itself. 

5 things to be happy about

1. Sunshine coming through a window. Especially this far in the cold north. Winter is a hard time of the year for me. 80% of our days are grey and dreary. I think if we had more sunny days, I'd actually enjoy winter.

2. A silent, peaceful room with a rocker in the corner. I actually have a room like this. The rocker isn't in the corner, but it's a nice spot to retreat to when the rest of the house is loud and crazy. My goal for next spring/summer is to finish sanding all the old stain off and refinish it. It was a gift from the boy one year for Mother's Day, and I treasure it for the thought that went into it during a difficult time.
3. The smell of a wood fire burning on a cold, crisp day, and seeing the swirls of smoke come out of the chimneys. I love the smell of a wood fire, and I love that most of the houses around here burn wood, or pellets.. and a cold morning you can see plumes of smoke as far as your eye can see.

4. Homemade soup; bubbling softly, warming the house with delicious aromas and comforting your tummy on chilly nights. I love homemade soup. Once the weather gets chilly, we have homemade soup once a week until it warms up again. Usually, if time allows we have homemade bread to go along with it. It is one of my favorite cold weather traditions. Tonight we are having beef stew. nights.

5.The soft, peacefulness of Christmas music. It's getting to be that time. Thanksgiving is almost here. And while I was doing errands this morning(7am is by far the best time to shop), I happily hummed along with the Christmas music playing out of the speakers.

Sometimes...

Sometimes, you have to do things that are hard. Things that you don't want to do, but are required to do anyways. Sometimes the powers that be determine that you need to be tested, to be put through the ringer, to see how you come out on the other end. And even though you could pitch a fit and scream and whine, you do the hard thing anyways. Because you are who you are. And you have a work ethic. And even though you don't want to be doing this incredibly hard thing, you do it anyways. And you do it the best that you can, and you do it with a smile on your face. Well, most of the time.

And then, just when you think that you can't possibly do it one more day... that the powers that be were wrong, and you aren't the person for the task, and it's too hard.. emotionally and physically and what on earth were they thinking.. when you've reached the end of your rope and you feel like if you could just let go things might actually get better...

They get a little worse. And you are tested harder than you thought you ever would be. And there are meetings and people talking, and bickering and fighting. About you. And you hear these things and second guess yourself and wonder what on earth you were thinking when you agreed to do this, and why didn't they pick someone else, and who cares if I was best match because I. Just. Can't. Take. It. One. More. Minute.

I may be a bigger dork than I thought

(note, I always hit shuffle on my ipod. Always.)

I give, for your laughing enjoyment, the top 10 songs played on my ipod.

1. Hero-Enrique Eglasias
2. All Out of Love-Air Supply
3. The Right Kind of Wrong-Lee Anne Rimes
4. Dancing Queen-Abba
5. Straw Hat and Old Dirty-Bare Naked Ladies
6. One Way or Another-Blondie
7. Shut Up-Bloodhound Gang
8. Wrapped Around- Brad Paisley
9. New York Minute-Don Henley
10. Estranged- Guns N Roses

I need....

So I read about this game today, where you go to google, type in "_____(your name here) needs" and post the first 10 replies. Now keep in mind, a lot of people have already played this game, so you have to sift through the links that are other people's blogs of the game. Ok, here's mine.

1. Beth needs prayers. Boy do I ever. A few prayers that I can get through this year and make it to June with my sanity in tact would do just fine thanks.

2. Beth needs your vote at Foxsports.com. Umm.. well. The only sport I've done latley is walking, and I don't think they have competitions for that. So thanks, but no thanks.

3. Beth needs a first floor bedroom. Well, as a matter of fact, I have a bedroom on the first floor of my house. And the way my knees are working latley (or not), maybe that bed will come in handy.

I'm blue.. la da dee da da la da deee da da da

Your Heart Is Blue

Love is a doing word for you. You know it's love when you treat each other well. You are a giving lover, but you don't give too much. You expect something in return. Your flirting style: Friendly Your lucky first date: Lunch at an outdoor cafe Your dream lover: Is both generous and selfish What you bring to relationships: Loyalty

What Color Heart Do You Have?

Home of the brave

Thank you doesn't seem like enough.

Happy Veteran's Day

Five things I love about You

1. The things you find photo-worthy. Like these little birds that were hanging out under my bird feeders one day. They aren't anything spectacular, their color is pretty drab.. yet you got it in your head that the group of them on the ground was worth a shot. I see them every day, and I'm not sure I would've taken the picture. I snap the bright red cardinal's that visit, and the little yellow birds, and other bright birds that I don't normally see. You on the other hand, have a whole different perspective on things. Now that you have your own camera, I enjoy going through the files and seeing the world through your eyes. You've become quite a good photographer. I wonder why for years I had a hard time getting you to take photos with my camera.. but I see now that digital was obviously better for you.

2. The way you gather me close, when I feel like I am going to shatter into a million different pieces, and hold me tight until I can stand on my own two feet again. No one in my life has ever made me feel as safe and loved as you do.

Everything you NEVER needed to know..and then some

(*I might not post for a while after this.. phew!)

Age: 31
Height: 5'51/2
Natural hair color: brown
Eye color: golden brown
Number of siblings: I have a whole crapload, natural and step
Glasses/contacts?: I wear purple glasses. I would wear contacts, but I have multiple vision issues and that prevents me from being able to
Piercings: one diamond stud in my left ear
Tattoos: just one, colors starting to fade after all these years
Braces?: nope, saving my pennies for when Ms. Thang needs hers

Hmmpph

Not sure how I feel about this


Colon
You scored 46% Sociability and 23% Sophistication!

It doesn't bother you when people make anatomical jokes about you,
because you're laughing right along with them. True, you cannot be
called gregarious, but within your domain you're secure for a very
simple reason: you know that nothing can ever replace you. You have a
quiet confidence, and a love of simplicity. You should be a bit leery
around the dash.

Take the stupid test for yourself, and see which punctuation mark you are

It shoulda been me...

(note, this post is mostly whining.. see prior post about being hormonal, and add being late to that)

So for the past 10ish years I have participated in a football pool. It started out a fun thing with the family, and has graduated to a full blown money involved-50 people thing. I used to win a lot. Back before the money. In the days of circle your picks on a paper and we'd all compare on Monday night. FFWD 10 years. I haven't won a single week since money became involved. It is still fun, but it would be nice to win. Once. This week, I almost had it. Up until Yesterday, I was going to win. I had the points. I had the team picked, they won the damn game last night. And because we have a tie-breaker score pick for the Monday night game.. someone else won. My brother's Father-In-Law, who picked a few more points closer than I did OK, not a few. TWO points. I picked 57 points. He picked 59 points. The game was a total of 61 points. I pouted all morning. I know it's rather childish, and frankly Scarlett, I don't give a damn. I honestly expected to wake up, log on and find out I won. Seems the planets are aligned all wrong.

Rake your effing leaves already!!!!!

Maybe I'm just cranky. Or maybe I'm hormonal. Or it could be that the fluid in my ear that is making not only my ear hurt, but my throat along with it (and did I mention the dizziness?) is causing an imbalance in my mood. Perhaps the moon and the planets are lined up just right and the tides are pulling my good karma out to sea. Whatever it is.. I feel a little irrational.

See, last weekend we raked. I might have mentioned that we had a lot of leaves. We got half the year cleared, and most of the other half in piles. Then the week went by, and the places that we already raked, filled with leaves again. Not as many as we started with, but enough to make me grumble as I re-raked. I glared across the street at my neighbor's yard, and all his un-raked leaves, and continued raking.

We are the champions.. my friend

The sun was just coming up over the field when the players arrived. It was 8:30am and the first playoffs of the day were here already. A look of relief crossed the faces of the team as they looked around and realized what team they were playing against. You could almost hear them thinking aloud. "Well, we've beaten them twice already, we can do it again."

The game started, and the team played hard. Each time a goal was scored there was jumping and cheering on the field. Maybe a little too much, but hey when you're young, a win is a great thing. The other team was getting discouraged. They had adopted a "why are we even bothering attitude", despite getting 3 goals against us. Sometimes it's hard to play against your friends. The kids manage, and the other team gave a half hearted attempt at playing back. But in the end, we beat them 7-3.

Look Ma... cables!

So I'm home from school today. I've felt pretty crappy all week, but for various reasons needed to be there the past few days. Yesterday before I was getting ready to leave, as my throat called out for mercy and my world spun as I stood up, I decided I wasn't going in today.

So this morning, after the kids left, I spent a few quality hours camped out on the couch watching morning TV on ABC, and knitting. This is the Irish Hiking Scarf, whose pattern can be found here. I started it this morning, and this photo represents about 5 pattern repeats (plus 2 more rows). It's going to be a Christmas present for my SIL, whom I love, and judging by the speed that it's working up at (so much faster than that sock on those little toothpicks with tiny string) I think when I'm finished I'll make myself one. She's a wash and wear kind of gal, so I'm using Lion Brand Wool-Ease, with size 8 needles. I think I'll use Cascade 220 for mine, in the same color.

Stop the train.....

"When you try your best but you don't succeed
When you get what you want but not what you need
When you feel so tired but you can't sleep
Stuck in reverse

And the tears come streaming down your face
When you lose something you can't replace
When you love someone but it goes to waste
Could it be worse?

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you "

This song hits a cord so deep that I could adopt it as my current theme song. Work is kicking my arse this year. It's gotten so chaotic and overwhelming, that I can't look past the current day. I can't think about the meeting next week, or a book report my son has coming up, or the project that my daughter is about to embark upon.. because right now I am just trying to get through each day. I am trying, and trying, and no matter how hard I try I can't seem to get up for air. Doing the work of 3 people is a lot on a good day. Doing it day after day after... sucks the very life right out of you.