Rascal Flatts - Bless the Broken Road - Official Video

I have had many Northern Stars in my life, and I have also been a Northern Star more times than I would like to remember. This song has many special meanings to me, for many different people and many different reasons. I know that there will be many more Northern Stars in my lifetime, but I hope to not be one any longer.

What we're really talking about is a wonderful day set aside on the fourth Thursday of November when no one diets. I mean, why else would they call it Thanksgiving?

--Erma Bombeck

Signs.....

Last week on our way home from swimming lessons, I noticed a turtle on the side of the road, trying to cross. I turned the van around and Brian got out and moved him to the other side of the road. He didn't want to do it at first, but I was a *little* insistent that he try to help him out. After all, the road is pretty busy, the turtle is very slow and there was a curb on the other side of the road along the grass and I knew that the turtle, even if he did make it across road, would not make it up the curb to get on the grass. So, albeit reluctantly, Brian got out of the van and moved the turtle to the other side of the road, into the safe, grassy area where there was a swampy area below.

Late this afternoon, as I was coming back inside from getting the mail, I noticed something moving on my doorstep in the recessed area of the door frame. Upon closer look, I noticed it was a bird, a sparrow to be exact, but there was something wrong with it. He was shivering, he had his beak tucked under his wing and there was something on it's head. I thought that perhaps my cat hat gotten ahold of it, but remembered that my cat had been in all night & morning & was still inside. I left it where it was, thinking I would call the Bird Refuge people when Brian got home to look at it. In the meantime, my pastor came by to fetch his child and saw the bird in doorway. He told me that the "things" on it's head were not, as I had thought, brains, but rather ticks. TICKS. I nearly threw up. Ticks are gross....really, really GROSS. Anyway, he asked if me if I had a pair of gloves that he could wear and he would pull the ticks out. I got him some work gloves, he pulled the ticks out, put the bird out in the yard, he flew a bit, then headed toward our box holly bush, where he sat, shivering. The bird was still sitting there when Brian got home, so he got him some suet to see if he would eat, and when Brian went out to check on the bird about an hour later, he had falled over, with his eyes closed. Brian came in "playing" TAPS for me.

So, I can't help but wonder....is there something to that turtle and the bird? And if so, what? Especially the bird. Why did it come up onto my front stoop? He had to climb 3 big steps to get up there, then another step up into the recess of the door frame. I think "someone" is trying to tell me something, but if that is the case, I'm not good at solving riddles. I need clarity.

Thanksgiving

Tomorrow is the big day.....turkey day as it called by many.....not around here though. There will be no turkey stuffed nor ate at this residence. Why? you might ask. Simply put, I used to make a turkey of some sort (whole or just the breast) every year, slaving over the meal with all the fixins' only to find out 2 years ago that my husband doesn't like turkey. DOESN'T LIKE TURKEY. Okay, so we've been together almost 10 years and he couldn't have told me this the FIRST Thanksgiving or even the SECOND?? And even when he told me that he didn't like turkey, he didn't really tell me. He proclaimed that he was going to become a vegetarian. It was a few weeks into his vegetarianism that he finally told me that he didn't really want to become a vegetarian, but that he didn't like turkey and that the turkey I had made was so disgusting that it just turned him off from eating meat. Huh...'magine that. Food so disgusting that it made someone want to never eat meat again. Anyway, that lasted for less than a month, but turkey has never been served in this house since, except for the occasional lunch meat.

Last year I made lasagna and this year I am doing London Broil with garlic mashed potatoes, green beans with mushrooms & bacon and cherry pie for dessert.

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

The list..

One of my FB friends (Sarah M.) had made a list of things that she liked, and asked what was on out lists, so I thought I would also make my own for my blog, so here goes. And, as a caveat, family & friends are a given

THINGS I LIKE (in no particular order)

1. The feel of crisp, cold clean sheets on my feet.
2. The smell of crisp clean sheets dried on the line.
3. Sitting down on a couch and NOT being covered in pet hair when I stand up.
4. Putting the kids to bed just once.
5. Sleeping in.
6. Being needed.
7. A clean bathroom.
8. Clean floors.
9. Helping others.
10. The way I am greeted at the door from my kids (well, the little ones anyway) and the dog...it's the same whether I am gone 10 minutes or 10 hours.
11. Having the last word in a spat with my husband.
12. Looking good & feeling good.
13. Clothes that fit.
14. Cute shoes that don't make my feet look like Olive Oyl's.
15. The smell of "Heaven" (gap scent)
16. Praise songs & a good sermon.
17. A random hug from my teenage boy.
18. The smell of wood burning in the cold autumn air.
19. Snow days and snowy days.
20. Eating junk food on aformentioned snow days.
21. Clean babies.

And it wouldn't really be complete without listing things I DON'T like. So, again, in no particular order, are the things I don't like.

THINGS I DON'T LIKE

1. Sticking to the kitchen floor when I walk.
2. Sitting on the couch and standing up covered in pet hair.
3. Sweeping up enough dog & cat hair every day to make a small animal.
4. People who "let it mellow".
5. Poopy diapers....let's face it, I've been chaning my kids diapers for over 5 years now...c'mon Daniel, use the potty already!! ;-)
6. A messy kitchen counter.
7. Spiders.
8. The big black spot in the middle of my living room carpet....seriously, it was in front of the couch, I cleaned the carpets, and it has moved.....what is THAT all about???
9. Big chunks of meat in Chinese food....
10. Pate.
11. Snotty noses.
12. Cold feet / wet feet.

And that in no way is a complete list of all things liked and disliked, but merely a sampling....what's on YOUR list?

Tis the season.....

Well, it's not supposed to be the season yet anyway, at least not officially until November 28th, but it has been creeping around the corner since the back to school stuff was on the shelves. I have not done a lick of shopping and I am totally okay with that. I have found that in the past when I shopped early, I overbought, mainly because I forgot what I had. I have made a list of possible gift ideas for the boys, my husband and I will go over it and choose 4-5 gifts off the list. Between grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, etc, their gifts that they have to open Christmas morning are overwhelming. Not only is it tiring for us to watch them open them, it's not much fun for them when we are grabbing stuff away so that they can move on to the next. Hopefully that will not be the case this year. Of course, they will have their stocking stuffers, but believe me, no one in this house will be lacking on Christmas morning. We have been talking with the little boys, mainly Michael, about kids who don't have the things that he has, so he is very eager to help purchase gifts for the kids that our church sponsors with his money in his piggy bank.

Just a little pissed off.....(and so I'm venting)

As I sit here listening to my little boys play, wondering about what the future holds for my teenager, I can't help but being a *little* pissed off about the results of the election. We are not, by any stretch of the imagination "wealthy"; however, all of our hard work (mainly my husbands in the last 5 years), the lifestyle that we have grown accustomed to living, and providing our children with, is at risk. And why? Because (in my humble opinion), the people of the USA voted in a president not on the basis of qualifications and experience, but rather casting their ballot on false information provided by the liberal media and also so that they could be "part of history". I hope and pray for the best, but cannot help but being uneasy of what the future holds for me & my husband, but more importantly for my children.

Maybe I shouldn't keep telling the boys to HUSH.....