Thing 2 Has His Own Blog!

You're invited to check out Thing 2's Blog--enjoy reading I Don't Eat My Drumsticks! This is a great outlet for our little drummer boy (heheheh) and resident comedian! And I'm sure, he, like all bloggers, enjoys comments, so have at it! :)

We did it AGAIN!!

We started later than we wanted to,
didn't get to it every day,
didn't get it done before Thanksgiving like we'd hoped,
BUT we did it
(and before the end of the month, too)!

We all won NaNoWriMo again!!

Mark and I wrote an over 50K-word book together
and we're both really pleased with it and our impressive teamwork on it.

Thing 1 wrote an over 35K-word book
and says it's a delightfully odd and strange book.

Things 2 wrote an over 4K-word book
and says it's his favorite NaNoWriMo book to date.

Random Thoughts

I just sat down to work on my novel,
so of course I'm writing a blog post first.
I am a HIGHLY distracted person.

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Since writing that thought,
I have written 2 texts,
taken a picture of Scout,
and charged a battery.

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Jerry Sandusky has an autobiography called "Touched."
How is that scumbag not in jail?
Did you know that he and his wife adopted 6 children
and took in several foster children?
Bastard.

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Loving X-Factor.
Great, great show.
I feel like I'm at a great concert every week.
The Magic Violinist did a great review of it on her blog.

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I am so excited for Modern Family
(simple pleasures).
I was so disappointed that the CMAs preempted it this past week,
so I am REALLY excited about this week.

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NaNoWriMo is in full swing here.
Mark and I are hoping to break 30K words tonight.
The kids are both way more than half way to their goals.

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I like boy jeans SO much better than girl jeans.

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Overheard at a hair salon today:
"I don't like vampires either.
I only like Twilight vampires, because they're sparkly."
What?!
Just more reasons for me not to read it.

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I'm writing a novel with Mark.
At it evolves, we're noticing that it is
basically asking the question:
Would you rather happily live a lie of which you are unaware,
or would you want to know the truth, even if it would hurt?

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It's not all heavy, though.
We have some hilarious scenes.
One of our characters is patterned after Jennifer Coolidge
in this guest appearance on Friends.

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Our dog has separation anxiety.
Oh, and she's also racist.
It makes me think of this song every time we talk about it.
(And then I get nostalgic for my teenage years).

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Every November, we put up a big sheet of paper
and place a box of crayons nearby.
It's our "Gratitude" Door.
I love this tradition!

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I think it TOTALLY sucks for workers
that Black Friday has bumped up even more
to the point that it starts on Thursday at 10pm.
Um, THURSDAY is Thanksgiving.
Oh yeah, and it's not a FRIDAY!!

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I've sent more texts,
checked the clinic,
read stuff online,
and checked email
since writing that 2nd thought.
I think I'll write my story now . . .

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Double Dating in the 21st Century

It's not the same. But it will do for now.

(This is a picture of all 4 of us
trying to figure out how to take a screen shot
of our double date.
We figured it out and smiled and took the picture --
apparently a picture of the Johnsons
working on figuring it out themselves).

Note the time. We were just warming up.
3 hours later (that's 2AM for the math-challenged),
we got to bed.
Insanity.
But totally worth it.
(We were all doubled over and in tears
from laughing so hard -
it's a new form of Internet Therapy).

Our kids LOVE Skyping with the Johnson kids.
Our houses fill with belly laughs, giggles, and singing.

But, man, are we looking forward to hosting all those
sounds in person at our house
without Skype!

I'm also glad they got us into Skype,
because we've been able to meet our two newest nieces
via video chat!

I'm grateful for the Internet.

Halloween Costumes

Here are the kids' costumes from Halloween this year. I think you'll agree they are cute kids!

Harry Potter fans, name this Quibbler-reading character.

Complete with Spectrespecs and radish earrings 

(and yes, those are real radishes).

It's Luna Lovegood!

He collects Charmander and Piplup and Pikachu

(at least, I think he does).

He has the ball to prove it.

He's a Pokemon Trainer!

Don't they look great?

November 1st

It's NaNoWriMo time!

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This past September,
a random older man walked up to us one day and said,
"This is a tough economy.
I don't envy you and your generation at all.
You have it way tougher than we ever did."
I had mixed feelings about his statement:
a bit of stress at the truthfulness of it,
slightly odd that he just walked up to strangers and said it,
and gratitude that he recognized it.

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Kim Kardashian spent 10 million dollars on a lavish wedding
and filed for divorce 72 days later.
We all knew it was coming,
but 72 days?!?!?
That's one hell of an expensive party for nothing.

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My brother is going on a 15-night transatlantic cruise.
He's flying to London
(and even paid for a BED on the plane --
new feature with mattress, pillows, and special seat belts
so you can sleep on the plane),
visiting seven or eight European countries,
and then cruising to the Bahamas.
Wow!

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We went trick-or-treating yesterday.
Thing 2 dressed up as a Pokemon Trainer.
Thing 1 dressed up as Luna Lovegood.
They are both super cute.

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We had dentist appointments on Halloween.
That's just wrong.
Plus it was a really rough appointment.
No cavities, thankfully, but, well,
let's just say
it was a long and expensive day.

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I often turn my cell phone off when I'm hanging out with my kids,
which is pretty much every day,
so my cell phone is off a lot.
I suck at being reachable that way,
but I'm okay with it
(though I think it might frustrate some friends and extended family).

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I do love texting as a way to communicate.

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There are several downsides
to not living near grandparents,
including (but not limited to):
You can't show off your costume/trick-or-treat at their house.
You can't sell those obnoxious sports fund raisers to them
(We hate those, so we just buy them all ourselves).
Kids can't go on grandparent dates or simply go over to play.
They can't cook for you/have you to dinner (and vice-versa).
No nearby family for rides, BBQs, lessons, parties, recitals, etc.
We won't even mention going on dates/overnights
(Mark and I haven't been away on an overnight trip
in a dozen years).
BUT one of the upsides is:
Lots of excitement over long visits from faraway grandparents!
18 days until Grandma and Papa come for Thanksgiving!

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Finished The Book Thief and ended up liking it!
I didn't enjoy the first part of the book,
but there was payoff in the story
and in its presentation and conclusion.

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We got 6 inches of snow this past Saturday.
Yes, IN OCTOBER.

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The weather this year has been generally wacky.
We've had tornadoes, drought, hurricanes,
earthquakes, serious floods, and a fall snowstorm.
We are all very weather weary here.

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Funny Kid Story from breakfast this morning:

Thing 2: I don't get how someone pushes a baby
and it just pops out of their belly.
Me: Babies don't come out the belly.
Thing 2: Then where do they come out?
Me: A woman's vagina.
Thing 2 (looking shocked): But a baby is so big!?
Me: Yeah! It hurts!
Thing 2: (shaking head) I'm so glad I'm not a girl.
(And turning to his sister): Good luck with that.