I've got a plan...

A menu plan to be exact. In an effort to take control of the chaos that my life becomes at the first sighting of Christmas decorations, I am trying out Menu Plan Monday. After reading organizing junkie's helpful links, I gathered the husband and the young un around the computer to find some family friendly meals, printed out my lists, and hit the grocery store. Here's our Menu for the week:
Monday: Baked Teriyaki Chicken & Brown Rice
Tuesday: Cheeseburger Joes & Sweet Potato Fries
Wednesday: Smarter Fettuccine Alfredo (I'm adding shrimp to mine)
Thursday: *Slow Cooker Meal* Easy Cheesy Chicken
Friday: Leftover Buffet :)

So cross your fingers and wish me luck! I'll let you know how many times the fire dept has to visit our house this week.

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens

It seems like the days have been flying by at lightening speed lately. I have to admit, I love this time of year, but it really sneaks up on you. It's quite possible to get overwhelmed driving home in the dark at 6:00, but there are a few things I can count on to keep my head above water.

The perfect bubble bath. Seriously. It has total healing powers. Calm One Calm All is completely fabulous. It has a not too flowery/not too fruity scent and the bubbles last till you reach the prune-y stage.

I have a serious craving for the shortbread chocolatey goodness of Milano cookies. I can't keep them in my house because I'll eat the whole bag. They are the perfect amount of sweet and bitter. Deliciousness.

My new palm centro. It's hot pink. It's got a facebook application. It's my new bff.

Palmer Cash tees. Quirky and irreverent. Just like me :)

I've learned that middle schoolers will talk simply to fill the silence. I just have to make sure there's never silence. Pandora Radio lets me create my own radio station and prevents random conversations about people getting poked in the eye. I have a station for just about every situation (tests, independent work, group work, study hall, fire drill).

Ninjas, Grills and Racecars

We spent last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, just out of Ft Worth for the Dickies 500. My family has always been involved in racing, from dirt tracks to driving school, and we've been to a race at TMS every year since it opened. With this year's race falling on Halloween weekend, the young un and I decided to hit the road for a little "truck or treat" at the racetrack. Unfortunately, traffic slowed us down (one of the things I DO. NOT. MISS. about DFW) and we didn't get to walk around. The boys did get to haunt the campsite though. Mine is the ninja, of course...look at those sweet sword skills :)

Race weekend is difficult to put into words. There are trailers set up from every major sponsor (Coca Cola, Nicorette, U.S. Army, Red Cross, Lowe's, etc) and a ton of freebies to be had. One of our favorite tents is Brookshires, where you can spin the prize wheel for eco-bags, playing cards, or a chance to be in the money booth. Another is the Lowe's trailer where the kdis can make a pine wood car and the adults can play games for free tools. And when we go to the track, it's all about the freebies. Free t-shirts, license plate frames, TUMs, sun visors, coozies, key chains, pins, lanyards, and posters. We turn nothing down. We haul our stash back in one of the thousands of plastic bags they hand out and make sure everyone got one of each. This year we wer efortunate enough to have garage passes that allowed of access during the entir race. It was mom's first trip into the garage/pit, so we tried to give her the whole experience.

My favorite thing about race weekend? The food! Dad loves to bring out thr grill and the dutch oven for a little breakfast.

Tagged.

I was tagged by CL in a weekend post. I misunderstood and thought it was freeze tag, so I've been sitting at my computer not moving. Now that I've thawed out, here's 7 random things about me, because I do not have C's OCD issue with even numbers :)

1. I can quote every moment of Steel Magnolias. Seriously, I'm like a one woman show and sometimes don't even realize I'm doing it. I can slip it into every conversation. I love it more than my luggage.

2. I stay up all night looking through blogs I find by hitting the "next" button on blogger. I once found a blog of a guy who took a photo and wrote descriptions of his outfit each day. I also find a lot in languages I don't understand.

3. I make random lists all day long. "Things to make for Christmas", "Songs to download for my i-pod", "Recipes to try", "Craft Projects to create", "Hit lists", "The best 80s albums", "TV shows to record", "favorite paint colors", etc. I keep them on post-it notes in my desk at school.

4. I can't write with plain wood/graphite pencils. I've tried. They creep me out. I can use mechanical pencils, but no # 2 Ticonderoga for me!

5. I ate Lucky Charms for three months while I was pregnant. Every. Single. Meal. My brother worked at a grocery store and I would have him bring boxes by on his way home from work. I haven't eaten them since.

6. I have shoes in my closet I have never worn. I look at them all the time. I move them around to different boxes. I even put them on my feet. But they have never left the house. I know I have a problem, but I think they are happier sitting on my shelf than they were sitting on the department store shelf.

7. I used to rodeo. Like Rocky Mountain Jeans rodeo. Growing up I had a horse (for 4-H) that I took to a couple of shows and another that I rode in play days. During one barrel race my cinch broke and the saddle slipped underneath the horse. I fell off and the horse stepped on me. I did not get back on for a while.

I tag:
Casey @ Casey's Southern Fried Blog
Jessica @ The Great Northwest
Monica @ Monica's Musings
Carrie @ Oh Happy Day!

It's Time!

Today is the day to put democracy in action. It doesn't matter who you are voting for, just that you're making your voice heard. Think one vote doesn't make a difference? Think again. So what's so great about 2008?

• This is the first time in history that the two main opponents in the general election are both sitting Senators. The last time a Senator was elected President was John F. Kennedy in 1960.


• Our next president will become the first to be born outside the Continental United States! Barack Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii and John McCain was born at Coco Solo, Panama Canal Zone, a U.S. naval base.


• This is the first election in which the Vice President is not a candidate for either the presidency or the vice presidency since Nelson Rockefeller in 1976.


• Barack Obama and John McCain are 24 years and 340 days apart in age. This is the biggest age difference between the two major party presidential candidates in U.S. history!


• McCain would be the first president from Arizona, while Obama would be the third president elected from Illinois…the first two being Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant.

Who doesn't want a chance to be a part of history? If you're still one of those undecided voters (you procrastinator, you) Check these links for some questions to help you make your choice.

Candidate Match II

Vote Match

No matter the outcome for today's election, it will have an impact on you. Why not do something about it? V-O-T-E!

It's official...I'm saucy!

Remember when I won this from those fabulous SITS girls? Well, guess what was waiting in the mail yesterday?

My picture doesn't begin to do justice to this beautiful hand stamped piece. Here's a better shot, used with Kristen's permission of course):

I could not wait to wear it, and let the world know "hey, there's a saucy lady!" I think I accomplished just that :)

If you want to be saucy too, be sure to visit Kristen's store and get your self a little happy day to me gift. She has some incredible pieces that would be great Christmas gifts! Kristen- I smiled all day wearing this necklace... Thanks for donating it for blogathon day!

Drug Free?

I wish I could say I'm doing this for the kids, but I jump all over theme days for my own enjoyment. Today was mismatch day, but I renamed it "drugs are tacky and so am I" day. Here's my look (and you can blame the pint sized photographer for cutting off my head)


Because if you can't have drugs, you might as well have spirit(s)!

And not to be outdone, here's how the young un went to school for crazy hair day:

*Funny story about the hair spray color. When we leave home in the morning it's still dark. The hair color was done outside right before we hopped in the car to minimize the mess. I sprayed enough color for me to see it in the streetlight and gave the young un strict instructions not to touch his hair, or to lean his head against the seat. About five minutes into the ride I hear him ask from the back seat "What if it drips?" When I finally got enough light to see him he had bright green drips right down the center of his face rolling off his nose! And purple running down his neck. He looked like the Joker on some crazy rampage. I couldn't stop crying to take a picture of it, and was trying not to laugh directly at him. Needless to say we made a pit stop at the gas station restroom to clean up. Moral of this story- don't put hair color on by streetlight.