It's Turkey Time!!

Wow... I created my title with such enthusiasm that it really doesn't matter that I don't like turkey. At least not the Thanksgiving kind. I can tolerate it pretty well on a sandwich at Panera. I'm more of a ham or chicken sort of girl.

Anyway... despite our founding fathers' poor choice of Thanksgiving poultry, Thanksgiving means that it's officially the start of the holiday season!! YAY!! Thanksgiving makes it OK to listen to Magic 96.5's "All Christmas Music, All the Time." (Please ignore the fact that I've been listening to Christmas music since Halloween.) Thanksgiving makes it OK to over-decorate the house, the tree, the front porch... (Please also ignore the fact that I've been buying ornaments for my tree since January.) Christmas usually puts people in a great mood... well, except for the people at the Galleria, but they don't count as real people. Those frantic-Christmas-shopper types could generally pass easier as Pod People. But besides the retail workers and the over-zealous shoppers, people are generally in a good, cheery sort of mood. Happy almost. :) I like it.

I am reeling from my very fantastic weekend in Gainesville... you folks should be so lucky. I'm convinced that everyone wishes they had my friends. And if you happen to be one of those negative, cranky people who don't actually wish you had my friends, humor me. It's Christmas, after all. Here are some of the highlights...

My new favorite chair... I LOVE IT!! Just in case you can't actually see the price tag, it definitely says $349. It did not make it home with me. Instead, I bought the same fabric in the floor sample/scratch & dent section and am going to make a headboard!! I know you're jealous. Try to restrain yourselves.

Notice the matching fabric on the bench cushions. And the bench for the table is built directly onto the kitchen bar... clever, huh? I really, REALLY like this whole room concept. Here are a couple more pics:

Please ignore the poorly dressed people in this photo. They apparently were unconcerned that I was trying to document my future home decor for the masses. In any event, the room was awesome. I heart IKEA.

I haven't learned much to speak of lately, though it's not from a lack of trying. But here are a few things to note:

1) I am unfathomably addicted to the Twilight series. Who knew that a teenage vampire love story could be so intriguing?!? I am almost finished with the second book, New Moon. It's a great read.

2) I frequently find myself trying to image what life must be like for people very different from myself. For instance, I can't image what it must be like to NOT like to read. My sisters think reading is work. That's a strange concept to me.

3) Bad grammar and poor spelling irritate me. Especially in e-mails and even in text messages. I was reading the back of a Post cereal box this past weekend. The text was like 5 "sentences." 4 out of 5 were incomplete sentences. How disappointing, Post. I cannot support poor grammar from a major corporation. Surely someone there can proofread your boxes before they're printed. Until then, goodbye Pecan Maple Crunch cereal.

4) Bottled water at Disney World costs more than soda. This is because water quenches your thirst and soda does not. Bad for me... but good for Disney. Congrats on that outstanding business move.

Happy Thanksgiving, y'all! Hope it's blessed!

Because I Felt Like It

Hold yourselves back, folks... I'm posting two days in a row. I don't know why... I just felt like posting a new list. A "Happy Things" list. A girl I went to high school with started a "Happy Things" list back in the day, so I'm going with that idea. Here's a list of random things that make me happy...

1) iTunes
2) The Color Yellow
3) Holding Hands at the Movies
4) Finding Money in the Pocket of My Coat
5) Leaving Work Early for No Reason at All
6) Brightly Colored Knee-High Socks
7) The Drama of "The Hills"
8) Weather Cold Enough to Wear a Scarf
9) Random E-Mails from Long-Lost Friends
10) The Song "Curbside Prophet" by Jason Mraz
11) Making My Nieces Laugh
12) Choir Music
13) Conversations at the Work Lunch Table
14) New Haircuts
15) Useless Trivia
16) Corny Jokes
17) Decorating for Christmas
18) Snow (In Case We Ever Get Any...)
19) San Francisco, CA
20) The Feeling of Anticipation
21) Historic Buildings
22) Pretty Pictures
23) Giving Somebody a Really Great Gift
24) Chick-fil-A Milkshakes
25) The First Warm Day of Spring
26) Dancing in the Dark When There's No One Else Around
27) Southern Gospel Music
28) Wrapping Presents
29) Buying a New Pair of Shoes
30) Finding the Perfect Shade of Red Nail Polish
31) Target
32) American Idol
33) The Polk County Picnic & What's the Matter, Nannybird
34) The New Sharpie Pens
35) Peppermint Mocha from Starbucks
36) Playing Cards
37) Auburn University
38) A Great View
39) O'Henry's Frisco Chicken Pocket Sandwich
40) Being Crafty
41) Dave Barnes
42) Playing Text Twist on MSN Games
43) Sylvester the Snake
44) Wireless Internet
45) Crystal Light Raspberry Lemonade
46) Hobby Lobby
47) MySpace Bulletins
48) Starz Karaoke Lounge
49) Halloween Costumes
50) Nickel Creek
51) Josh's Cop Stories
52) Sk-Sk-Skipper
53) Sunshine
54) Romantic Walks
55) Trashy Tabloid Magazines
56) Mexican Food & Margaritas
57) My Birthday
58) Rick & Bubba's Turkey Toss
59) Compliments
60) Hugs from My Granddaddy

OK, that's enough for now... feel free to let me know what makes you happy and I'll post it! :)

Sing Over Me

These past couple of weeks have been very tired ones. Maybe that doesn't make sense, but it's true... I've had a couple very tired weeks. Where work is concerned, I'm pumped up. I'm motivated. I'm ready to get some exciting things in the works. And there's obviously a lot going on personally with my sister's new baby and all... so my weeks have been tired and I haven't been posting like the dedicated blogger that I promised myself I would be.

My friend and I have decided that we're going to start a little business on the side... on the side of what? Well, in between babies that are growing too fast, making meals for familes, piles of dirty laundry, full-time jobs, making time for church, and "finding ourselves" (where have we gone??)... we have decided to put our craftiness to work. We're calling it "Dots & Doodles." We make personalized gifts for women and children (because let's face it... when was the last time your husband/boyfriend/father/brother came home and said, "Honey, I'd really like to have one of those really cute framed scrapbook pages made"? Get real.). It's becoming a lot of work to get stuff ready, but it's been fun so far. I promise to post some pictures very soon...

It's great for you guys that I'm terrible at writing essay and am better at lists. Let's not delay, shall we? Here's the things I've learned recently:

1) "Obama kills the babies just like Pharoh." As funny as I find this little quip, it makes me wonder what we're teaching children when we think no one is listening. I learned many moons ago (with literally dozens of children growing up around me), you shouldn't say anything you don't want repeated. If you don't believe me, say a swear word in front of your child. He/she will repeat it when you're least expecting it... probably during church sometime.

2) I am beginning to believe that people can fall in love via the internet. This is a big step for me. I'm a late bloomer.

3) You can buy "Christmas Tree Scent" in a spray bottle at Wal-Mart. Apparently this little invention has been around for ages... and apparently it never occurred to me that I could just buy some Pine Sol or something to put on my artificial tree... but anyway, I'm obsessed with getting some for my artificial tree now. I love artificial trees because I'm a perfectionist and there are just too many unknowns with the real trees... you might have wayward branches to cut off or you might not have even branch distribution. I know this may seem a little OCD to you, but trust me, I'm a Christmas-tree-decorating-expert. These things matter. But now, I get the best of both worlds. I won't miss the real thing at all!

4) Miley Cyrus has a YouTube page called "The Mandy & Me Show." (I don't know why I'm always the last person to learn of these things.) Enough Miley is already too much. Stop the madness.

5) I love to make my 3-year-old niece say "Hello Kitty." She has a hard time with hard K- and C- sounds... and replaces them with a T- sound. So she says "Hello Titty." Yes, I actually am 5.

More to post soon....!! Enjoy the day!