Thankful is as Thankful Does...

I decided that I was up for this challenge!  I could do it... I can share my thankful list... but then I got started and I realized that sharing the list would break all my rules because #1 it would be so long nobody would want to go all the way from Avocados to Zippers and #2 it would be full of names that I've sworn to protect... So I pared it down a "titch" - I happily present to you - the ABC's of gratitude:

A and her Mom - for entertaining M

B family - every last one... for keeping me grounded and for answering all my dumb computer questions

C family - for demonstrating every day the kind of life that I want to live

Dusting cloths...  they almost make me thankful for my plantation shutters (but I have an even better “P”)

Everything... listen, don’t go off about specificity now - I limited myself to 26 items and that’s frankly just not NEARLY enough!  

Facebook Friends - all those long lost people that add a little spice to life :)  and all those not so long lost people that now I get to smack with virtual pillows!

Green.  I love it, it’s a beautiful color in all of its hues - the grass, the leaves, the many different shades of olive green which I've painted around my house, the pants I'm wearing, the teensy green specks that come through in those hazel eyes, the plastic spider ring that is sitting on the desk in front of me... okay, well THAT one can go... neon isn't my Fave...

H - my sweet daughter who reminds me daily to be more mellow and who gives great hugs and writes the BEST love notes in town!

Irony.  What can I say, I love a good ironic twist in the books I read - and wouldn’t my 10th grade English Teacher be THRILLED to know that I still remember the 2 WEEKS we spent discussing Irony in his class? 

Jokes - a good way to break the ice.  Besides - who doesn’t love it when a 4 year old asks why the chicken crossed the road?  (To go to the movies of course!  Hey, that made a LOT more sense than the Knock-Knock jokes!)

Kitchens.  Aside from the fact that mine tends to be dirty most days - I love to make a good healthy meal in my own home.  I’d love it even more if the kids appreciated the good healthy meal... but that’s another story altogether!

Love.  It’s huge people - get some today!

M - the youngest of my sweet kids, who wants to buy me a “Mom Barbie that doesn’t pee” to go along with her “Potty Training Kelly” so that we can play together :)

Nails.  They hold the house together, they hang the family pictures on the walls.  Mine help me type...  what’s not to appreciate?

Others - all those people whose names should be in here but aren’t (sorry “Bloggy Buddies” just couldn’t supplant my own fam...  I DO still appreciate you!)

P - that third son of mine, who is teaching me patience (more of it?) and who loves to play card games with me even if I do beat the pants off of him!

Q - the hubby of the year award just isn’t enough - a man who supports my efforts, encourages my improvement, and gives me a hug at the end of the day whether I blew it or not.

Restaurants - there are just days when these save my sanity... 

Speaking of Sanity...  really, gotta be super grateful for this one - as tenuous as it seems to be sometimes!!!

T - my eldest, who gave me my first grey hairs and who still allows me to drive him to school without stopping a block away... even when I haven’t taken a shower yet!

Umbrellas - we used to live in Seattle and trust me... a really good umbrella is hard to find!

Violins - I played one... my two oldest boys have learned to play it...  Q’s family has a couple good players, mine does too.  I love the tones of a well played violin!

W - my second son - whose patience and forbearance should be a lesson to us all.  He shares unfailingly and forgives immediately - what would I do without him?

Xanadu - and all those other old black and white movies :)

Yummy - I am especially grateful when I hear that word out of my children’s mouths!

Zippers - they’re a good thing - as cute as those old fashioned button up boots are, I can’t imagine taking that much time to slip on my shoes to run out the door - and don’t get me started on button fly jeans!

Just 26... and so many more to go - slip your name in there wherever it fits :)

Separated at Birth?

So we sit down for family night to watch a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and before we're 5 minutes in my mind is boggled...  is it possible - am I seeing things?  How could these two obviously related people have not been outed previously!

I mean c'mon...  their penchant for the color orange aside, the lifeless hair, the incredibly ridiculously bad eyesight, the kneehigh socks (well, your guess is as good as mine as to where Marci's knees actually are)...

Add to that the fact that they are both the smartest kids around (although Linus is pretty good with the Scriptural and Historical references)... really, this has been hushed up long enough - but no longer...  I am blowing the lid right off this story and insisting that the truth be told...  err... well, whatever - I really just need to fill another day here on the old blog :)

and here I thought I was so Unique...

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 41 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

what's with that? 40 other people with the SAME name... I mean, yeah - so I'm closely related to one whose name is spelled differently (she's not part of the 40) and yeah, I used to work with one of the others (she got my paycheck once by mistake... THAT was a fiasco)... but really - maybe my Mom and Dad should have named me Natalie after all (can you imagine that?)

Update: ugh - still 39 Natalie ______s... not much better, I'll stick with T__!

But Tag week was sooooo long ago...

Okay - Mariann tagged me TWICE in two days - a 5 things tag, and a crazy 8's tag...  so I'm throwing all the answers in here in one big jumble... it won't get a cute name because I can't come up with one... and worry not - I won't tag you because well, I'm running out of friends that way, so just sit back and enjoy... as I once again blog by the seat of my pants and hope that there is some humor in there somewhere :)

8 shows I love to watch:  CSI, ER, LOST, Law and Order SVU, Chuck, Monk, Psych, and Heroes...  

8 places I love to eat:  My dining room, My mother in law's house, My grandmother's house, Romano's Macaroni Grill, Applebee's, Really Good Chinese, Anyplace with great seafood, and on a picnic blanket.  (can you tell I don't get out much?)

8 things that happened yesterday:  Laundry, Dishes, Blogging, Played Scrabble on Facebook with my sister, lots of trips to the schools, Did some Christmas shopping finally, Haircut (needed a trim already!), and finished reading a book that I still need to write a review for.

8 things I look forward to:  a day when my house stays clean, visiting family for the holidays, taking down the Christmas tree, Sunday Dinners, Summer Days with the kids, Time to read more, going on vacation, time alone with the hubby

8 things I love about fall:  Red, Orange, Yellow, Brown, Brisk Air, Hot Apple Cider, Family Time, cuddling in my "cozy" (what, everyone doesn't name their favorite blanket?)

8 things on my wish list:  basement remodel, world peace, my Cricut to work again the right way, an end to global hunger, a new pair of brown dress shoes, a cure for cancer and arthritis and all of those other nasty diseases, a cute new pair of glasses, and a solution for the education crisis in our country!  (I'm nothing if not well-rounded)

8 things I was doing 10 years ago:  taking care of a toddler W, working at KinderCare, moving from Wichita to Utah, picking 4-leaf clovers in our back-yard (while still in Wichita), Being VERY sick (long story... maybe some other time), Being very grateful for the hospitality of Q's family (in Utah), Dealing with little T's asthma... not dealing very well might I add), and Being annoyed at my boss (in Utah).

8 things on today's "to-do" list:  Laundry, Dishes, Figuring out where we are at with Christmas Shopping, Children's Museum Meeting, Pick up Kids at School, Buy a new Printer/Scanner/Copier/Fax, Make the kids clean their rooms, Update Blog (almost done!)

8 snacks I enjoy:  pretzels, Reese's Pieces, Almonds, Candy Cane Kisses (Hershey's only makes them around Christmas... yummy!), String Cheese, All Bran Crackers, Mango Tango Smoothies, any fruit.

8 places I've lived:  all over the place as a baby Navy Brat (CA), Thornton (CO), Canyon Lake (CA), Provo (UT), Loveland (CO), Wichita (KS), Arlington (WA),  and then here.

8 things I'd do if I were a b'zillionaire:  get out of debt, get my family out of debt, travel all over the place, drive a more eco-friendly car, put a bathroom in my basement, buy a new house anyway, build the children's museum, hire private tutors for my children.  (okay, to be honest Mariann's tag said "millionaire", but I quickly ran out of money... had to dream bigger!)

8 jobs I've had:  preschool teacher, Usher, Nanny, Dental Assistant, Football Stadium Ticket Taker (they let me do field security ONCE...), After School Program Teacher/Curriculum Developer, Kindergarten Teacher.  (and MOM... it may be 9th, but who's counting right?)

Oh look at that, just when I was tired of typing and you were tired of hearing so much about ME... it's over.  Now I REALLY think I've done every tag out there and I'm positive that my readers know more about me than they ever wanted to...  maybe someday I'll tell you about the 5 years I spent on crutches...  or not. 

are YOU a twi-hard?

... Now I'm officially and forever stating for the fact that although I enjoyed the Twilight books as much as the next person - I am not, have never been, and never will be a "Twi-Hard"... 

So, how many of YOU stayed up all night to see the movie?  I don't even have my tickets yet - I prefer to wait and see it when the theatre is NOT full of teens that are screaming at the glittery hotness of Edward!  Besides - hubby said he'd go with me (he even read the book so he wouldn't be lost) and I'm certainly not going to subject him to the first weekend when it's 90% women!  Besides, I didn't buy a "Bite Me" shirt - so I don't dare show my face :) (shoot, couldn't find a little smiley that looked like vampire teeth - THAT would have been much cooler)

I'm pretty sure that there's no "spoilers" in the movie if I've already read the book, but just in case - let's not fill my comment section with "I can't believe you missed out on (insert awesome scene of your choice here)" because who knows, there might be SOME people out there who have yet to read the books!  And if you are close enough to me to ask (physically or emotionally), yes - you can borrow them!

Okay - that's all - just making sure that although I AM the one that read the first 3 books in 3 days (it would have been 2, but I had to wait for the book to be released the next morning) - I am NOT the one missing out on sleep in order to see the movie first!

Devastating News... ???

So yesterday I'm at the intermediate school - helping with vision screenings... which basically means that I stood for a few hours pointing at letters on a chart while nurses listened to the kids and determined whether or not they should be referred to a doctor.  All sweetness and light right?  Yeah, you would think so... I  had a few flashback moments as I'm standing there - I was this age when I got dragged to the eye doctor and given a monstrous pair of hideous glasses that I was embarrassed to wear at school!  I also remember though that the first time I wore them outside what a relief it was to have depth perception... to realize that I might be able to JUDGE how high the curb was and how far to lift my foot instead of guessing.  Whoa - just realized I've ALWAYS been a clutz, Hubby thought it was a recent development :)

Anyway - back to the present!  You have to know first off that these nurses were both heavier women in their 50s or 60s... and you only have to know that because of the way the 12 year old kids are viewing them...  older ladies, both wearing glasses.  

So this one sweet girl comes to the front of the line - and proceeds to prove that she cannot see.  The nurse asks her if she has glasses that she's left at home or in her locker and she replies "I don't wear glasses" and the nurse retorts quickly "You're going to be wearing glasses now" - and the girl walks off - quickly - with tears in her eyes.  I wanted to chase her down and give her a pep talk, or a hug, or SOMETHING...  of course, I'm probably just another old lady with glasses (oops, I was wearing my contacts) in her mind so I let her go and get some teeny bopper consolation.  Apparently the nurse was un-phased - or just didn't notice because we went right on to the next kid (who had great vision).

My question here is - for those of you who have vision issues... was it Devastating for you?  Did it seem like a death sentence?  Did you believe the old saying of "Boys don't make passes at girls who wear glasses"?  Did you leave them in your locker and only pull them out for the bi-annual vision screening?  

I certainly only wore mine during math class!

--P.S. by the end of standing there pointing for a few hours my back HURT...  good thing they were also doing scoliosis checks!--

Gimme, Gimme, Gimme... (a.k.a. our new Santa Letter tradition)

Sometimes the Holiday season drives me crazy...  something about the crowded stores and the increase in TV commercials for dumb toys... the tripling in phone calls to my house asking for me to donate to another good cause also drives me crazy - but that's another post!  Today I'll just focus on commercialism... because frankly  -  I love Christmas, it's a great holiday...  a great time to reflect on our lives, our spirituality, our commitment to our family - everything about it is wonderful (Mmmm... pumpkin pie...), everything... except that Gimme attitude!

In an effort to combat this attitude we have simplified our Christmas letters to "Santa" - each child now sends a form letter to Santa (We hope the fat man won't hold this against our children) and has only a few places to put requests...

Dear Santa,

I have been very Good / Bad this year.  The thing I want most for Christmas is _______.  When I go outside to play it would be nice to have a ___________ also.  The best movie to bring me this year would be ___________ and when I sit down to read I would like to have ___________.  A ___________ would help me a lot with learning about new stuff.  And since I keep growing it’s probably about time I had some new ___________ to wear!  Just for fun it would be nice to have a game like ___________ or a toy I saw called ___________.  Thanks so much for everything!

Love, ___________  

P.S.  My favorite Candy is ___________ 

Now, to be honest - there is no WAY the kids are getting everything off these lists anyway - but it does prevent them from filling a page with every new Wii game, and it reminds them gently that there are simpler wants in the world...  like Kit-Kat Bars and a bookmark (two of this years' requests)

Problem Solved?  Yeah right... not there yet, but this is just our second year with this system, and it has already saved money, stress, and whining...  anything that cuts back on Whining is a winner in my book!