Oh my God, I was so very very tired this morning after having been awake until after midnight. Even though I went in to bed around 11pm I couldn't really fall asleep until after Tammy left. Extra coffee for me today...



It was absolutely freezing when I dropped Samantha off at school this morning. I think it was something stupid like 28 degrees and there was a wind that made it worse.



Boy, I am Miss Complainer today. You'd think I was having a bad day but actually it's a quite pleasant day.



So, while I am complaining I will tell you that my fingers are numb from all the crocheting I've been doing. I finished Kelly scarf for her birthday and will post a picture soon. And, my Dad's blanket is sort of close to about half way done. I am planning on embellishing it with felt cutouts when it's finished and Ellen had a great idea, hand prints. Mine and Samantha's. That's a beautiful idea, I love it and that is exactly what I am going to do.

Monday was Kelly's Birthday but I didn't finish her scarf until today. I wrapped it up and took it to Skyline Kid's Night for her. I had the perfect card too... it was about how she is such a good friend that I consider her family. It was funny because Kelly told me a story: Sean asked if he could take to new dog, Grady, to his friend's house. Kelly told him no, that you don't just show up at someones house with a big dog who wasn't invited. Sean said something about them bringing Grady to our house uninvited. Kelly told him that was different and he said:"that's because they are like family."

I think I've mentioned the little girl who sometimes waits with our little group at school, the girl who is quite annoying. Anyway, I was thinking about her today and how much younger she seems than all the other 3rd graders. It made me reflect on how thankful I am that we didn't start Samantha too early.

After work I cashed my Birthday check from my parents. I put half in our saving account and then bought the Jessica Seinfeld Cookbook and a really cool map with part of the rest. I can't wait to read through the cookbook and make some of the recipes.

This evening Lee and Tammy came over for dinner. (Police department Tammy, not neighbor Tammy...) Tammy had never been over before. John had been talking about her a lot so we decided to have her over. I'm glad we did, she is really nice. We invited her partner, PJ but she was out of town with work so she will come over next time. Tammy brought us flowers, yellow roses. It was so nice.

It was nice to get to know Tammy better. She spent 14 months in Iraq, I did not know that. It was really interesting learning about what it's like over there.

Lee left around 10pm and Tammy stayed until 12am! I went to bed about 11pm and then she and John went down to the man cave to talk about work.

This is Samantha's Meat Eating Plant called a Speckled Spider Plant that she made for her science project. She got an A+! They were to create a meat eating plant out of recycled things from around the house. Samantha used a milk carton, lasagna pan and a dryer sheet.

These are the beautiful flowers Tammy brought when she came to our house for dinner tonight.

Samantha did not want to go to school today after having 5 days off for Thanksgiving break. She tried to tell us she had a stomach ache but neither John nor I bought it. Once she figured out that she had to go to school anyway she was fine.

After work I picked up John and we went to the grocery. John was sulking... I hate it when he is sulking. And, he wouldn't tell me what it was about. He'll get over it I suppose.

Kelly and Tim met us at school and we waited together for the girls to come out. Today is Kelly's Birthday. (I'm almost done with her present...) They have pretty much decided to keep the dog that's been visiting from the rescue group. And, they have decided that his name will be Grady. I got to meet him on Thanksgiving when Kelly and the kids came by. He is a great dog.

I fell asleep on the couch. I was so very tired when we got home and John made tacos for dinner. This evening Samantha took a bath, John straightened the basement storage area and I worked on the blanket I am making my dad for Christmas.

Not only is today Thanksgiving but it is also my 39th Birthday. Thanksgiving is my 2nd favorite holiday, my favorite being the 4th of July. Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy is the absolute best meal there is. And pie, I can't forget about pie!

John worked today, 7am to 3pm so Samantha and I were still asleep when he left. We got up to make coffee in time for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. We love, absolutely love parades. After the parade there was a Law & Order marathon on in honor of my Birthday. (Oh ok, maybe it was in honor of Thanksgiving...)

Kelly and the kids came over to drop off my birthday present. She got me the cutest pig tin from Fern's Attic, one of our favorite stores in town. She said she knew she wanted to get me the pig tin because of the pig I have hanging in my kitchen. The kitchen pig is a rustic wood pig that says Hog Inn. I love my pig tin.

For Thanksgiving dinner we went to Deana's house. She lives right behind the police station and every year she and her sister, Amy, cook for their family and the officers. Her family is involved in town politics and her sister is a teacher in town so all the officers know her family so it's like a huge family gathering.

Before Deana's we went by the station to get John but he had to work overtime so we went on without him. He had 2 kids who stole a bike that he had to deal with. We were working on dessert by the time he got there. And guess what, he had a cake for me and everyone sang Happy Birthday. Yum, cake and pie!

We left about 6pm. We'd been home a few hours when we all decided we were hungry again. We seriously considered driving back in to Deana's for another round.

John and Samantha gave me a 2008 Get Fuzzy calendar. They give it to me every year and it is the best! They also gave me a food processor. I have been wanting one along with Jessica Seinfeld's cook book which I am going to go get next week. Tasey has it and brought it to Skyline one week so I could look through it and it's awesome. I want to make the brownies with spinach in them.

It was a great Birthday and Thanksgiving and I am thankful for such an amazing family and such great friends.

We looked out the window into the back yard this morning and saw that we had mushrooms! Naturally we had to go out an play with them.

Well, we've done something and I am worried that we have made some sort of major parenting mess up.

Last year Samantha played basketball. She was really good and she enjoyed it but, she cried at the beginning of every single practice and game and had to be dragged out on to the court. But by the end of the practice or game she would be perfectly fine and having a great time.

So, this year when she said she wanted to play basketball again we were totally surprised. We must have said, "are you sure?!?" a thousand times before we signed her up. Each time she said she was sure that yes, she wanted to play basketball. We explained that once she signed up that she would be part of the team and she could not change her mind. She said she was sure.

She has had 3 practices that have all been the same as last year. She cried had the coach had to drag her out onto the court.

So, John and I decided that if it is that terrible for her that she could quit. We had a really long talk about how you finish what you start and all that. She explained to us that she is so worried that she is going to make a mistake and everyone is going to laugh at her. This has never happened to her but for some reason she is fraught with worry that it's going to happen.

It's not just basketball either, it's pretty much everything that she is unfamiliar with. And, it makes me terribly sad because I don't want her to feel icky and I don't want her to be afraid to try something she might enjoy because she is too scared.

So, we told her she could quit but that she would have to pay us back the $75* sign up fee and that she would need to find another activity. The activity doesn't need to be a live long passion but I want her to do something.

After some thought she decided that she wants to learn to crochet and she wants to take up hiking.

I am pleased with her decisions as far as the new activities go. We decided that we are more the kind of people who like to watch the sports rather than play them and that is ok. I am just so worried (like mother, like daughter) that we have done some sort of damage by letting her quit.

*Note: paying back the money sounds harsh but not for Samantha. She could fund a small army with the money she has squirreled away.

So, I started the scarf for my mom for Christmas and I discovered half way through that I don't have enough yarn. The yarn I got was on clearance and I got the last 2 rolls. So, my plan is to get some different yarn for mom and use the really short scarf for one of my bears.

I talk to Mom everyday on the way to work I talk to my mom. This morning she wasn't home so I called my dad at his office and talked to him instead. Usually dad is not all that talkative but today he was. I told him about the show I watched on the History Channel about cities of the underworld. This one was on Hitler's Germany and the bunkers he built under Berlin. Dad said that during the war they had delivered a carrier of aircraft to France and they got to see one of the bunkers built by the Germans. He said it was so creepy that he went out that night and got so drunk that the guys had to carry him back to the ship and he missed going to Paris the next day. I love stories that put a personal face to history.

Yesterday we had a plumber come out to fix one of the toilets and something quite perplexing happened. to preface the story though I must say that someone coming into our house would probably be able to guess John's profession but not exactly where he works. So, the plumber comes in the house and says, "are you a police office for the city of ______?" John didn't remember him and the "dealings with the law" that he told John about didn't involve John so we are totally wondering how he knew. If I had been there I would have asked him but I wasn't home yet. John of course didn't ask...

I've started making several Christmas / Birthday presents. It seems like every one's birthday is around Christmas. Mine is is November, John's and my dad's are right before Christmas and my mom's is right after Christmas. Mom says she has the worst one because all the decorations are down and everyone is quite done with the holidays. Anyway, I have begun crocheting a scarf for mom with a green and blue fuzzy kind of yarn... so, back to crocheting now...

Tonight was home made pizza night. We had the best time loading them up with our toppings. No one wanted my spinach though... but little do they know that same spinach is going to get chopped up and added to their dinners next week. They will never even know it.

No matter how rich you become, how famous or powerful, when you die the size of your funeral will still pretty much depend on the weather. - Michael Pritchard

John is still sick and I'm glad it is almost Friday. I am so very tired today. I didn't sleep very well last night. John was snoring so LOUDLY that it was even too loud out on the couch so I had to go in Samantha's room.

John stayed home from work again today but he did want to get out of the house for a bit so I picked him up on my way to get Samantha from school. Then when we got home I got on the couch and stayed there for the rest of the day.

This evening John and Samantha played Battleship. I think it's so cute how Samantha knows all the names of the ships. She said she is going to take her Life game to school tomorrow for Fantastic Friday. Tomorrow they are going to play games the kids bring in from home.

Samantha has a big reading project due on Friday so she's in the big bed finishing up the book. She is reading a book called "Stone Fox" about a sled dog. I started reading it and told her I wanted to finish it up when she was done tonight. She told me that Brianna cried at the end. I cry at almost anything so I told her to forget it, I didn't want to read it anymore. So, she comes out and asks me about a sentence she doesn't understand: She died instantly. Oh my God, the freakin dog dies just as it crosses the finish line of the big race! I cried of course and so did Samantha.

I am so very thankful that she enjoys doing her homework and takes doing her work seriously.

Flurries were spotted in Columbus today. It's cold but I seem to be getting used to it even after only two days of cold.

John stayed home from work sick today. He thinks he is going to die. I told him to take some Airborne but he says he won't take anything "hokey" like that. I said, "what's the difference if you are going to die anyway."

Kelly and I took the kids to Skyline for kids night. We have a new friend who meets us there every Wednesday. Her name is Tasey. (Like Tasty but without the second "t".) We have the best time chatting while the kids do their thing.

Samantha had her first basketball practice of the season, voting was today, errands and dinner at Bob Evans so not much time to post...

Well, the curio fit. It fit after they took some of it apart. Once they got it down there and put back together Ryan said: "It's a good thing Aunt Kate took those pictures to document our greatness." um, yeah, that's why I took them... Anyway, the above picture is not of the curio fiasco nor is it of John and Ryan... I am waiting to post those pictures until I am able to get an after picture. It's going to take John a while to get his cars in there. I stand corrected, he has 400 cars, not what ever piddly number I said yesterday.

The above picture is of Andy and Amber. They go to school with Samantha and live in her back pack. Sometimes they line in the doll house or My Little Pony land. First there was Andy and then one day I was at the thrift store and I saw Amber. She was so cute I had to get her because she just looked like the perfect girlfriend for Andy. They dated briefly and then there was a wedding. Pathetic aren't I...

John and Ryan are attempting to move our HUGE curio cabinet from our hallway upstairs to the man cave downstairs. Upstairs it had all of John's police figurines in it but he wants to put it downstairs with all his Road Champs police car collection. He has about 300 of the little cars and he wants to put more shelves in the cabinet to display them all. I asked why he couldn't do the police cars upstairs but he said he really really wanted them downstairs and he really really wanted them in said curio cabinet. The problem is it doesn't fit. They already took the door frame off and the hand railing on the stairs off. Now they are trying to take the really well made cabinet apart. Not only is it nailed but it is also glued together. I absolutely hate watching people move furniture so I went in to take a bath when they first started. But when my hands and feet got all prune like I had to get out. Plus I was all dizzy from being in hot water for so long. When I came out they were in the middle of taking it apart. Samantha had been downstairs but she had to get them to let her up because she had to poop. (That's my girl!) As I sit typing this I hear hammering and drilling and I am scared. If they put a hole n the wall I will kill them both. Tune in tomorrow to see what happened. I hope to have before and after pictures.

This is the beautiful recipe card holder Samantha made me in school. They are doing a whole unit on reading a recipe, following directions and measurements. I don't know if you can see the recipe at all but it is for pumpkin bread.

Last night I broke a light bulb while I was getting an extra blanket down. I had to call for John to come clean it up because I was in my bare feet. He said in exchange for waking him up I had to get up with him this morning while he was getting ready for work at 5:45am. I said, "oh, yes honey, of course I will get up with you!"

Funny, I actually did get up with him this morning. I stayed in bed so it was more like I was awake than really "up" but it's the thought that counts. After he left for work I went back to sleep and then spent the rest of the day doing absolutely nothing on the couch.

Fall is finally here. It seems as though the trees are finally changing. There are two amazing reddish yellow mixed with orange-y trees outside my office and the Birch trees in our back yard have turned yellow. I think this weekend, on Sunday, John's day off, that we will do something outdoors. Maybe we'll go hiking. Hiking is the perfect fall activity and then we'll have hot cider.

After work I stopped by the farm market to pick up some of my favorite cheese, Guggisburg Swiss. The market smelled amazing, a mixture of apples and straw. I got a bunch of apples and they filled the car with their sweet scent.

Kelly and I picked the girls up and we took them up to the school library for the fall book fair. Samantha had a $5 coupon for completing her reading challenge. That plus the $15 we gave her allowed her to get four cool books. She and Tara had the best time making their selections.

Tonight is "Ghost Whisperer", "Women's Murder Club" and "Numbers". I getting all ready to curl up on the couch with a mug of hot cider.

I have never really stressed the whole "family dinner" thing partly because John has worked 2nd shift for Samantha's entire life and because well, Samantha and I are sort of grazers. But after tonight's dinner I am a huge fan. We had ham, stuffing, mixed vegetables and some really good French bread. We played guess the state... Samantha formed the shape of various US states out of ham! It was great, a ham Texas, a ham New York, a ham West Virginia. And the funny thing is John and I could actually recognize the states! Then John wanted to play too but he'd eaten all his ham so he formed Michigan out of his stuffing. John's on day shift for 2 more months, I wonder what's next?

Grandma Rose gave Samantha a coloring kit for Trick - or -Treat. As soon as we got home she opened it up and started coloring with it. It made me so happy that her grandmother's gift made her so happy.