IRREVERENT

Greetings to those of you still doggedly hopeful enough to check in here...

I just got home from church, giggling all the way, because of several things:

One, church is over and a nap is imminent.
Two, a friend gave me both a ride home and a green Christmas cookie.
Three, Joshua was wearing his tie on his head.

I giggled through the last 20 minutes of church, as well, all due to the antics of an 11 year old boy in my Primary class. Usually this child does nothing but make me pull my hair out, but every now and then I may admit to the few sporadic moments of enjoyment he provides. Young Master M is one of those frustratingly interesting people who know just the right buttons to push...on everyone. He annoys the grown ups, he annoys the kids. He annoys his parents, he annoys the dogs.

But today he made me laugh.

In our Primary room there are some wooden blocks with cute paper letters pasted to them, displayed each week to read the word:

F A M I L Y

but when I came in the room just after Master M today, the blocks instead read:

IM A FLY.

The leader in charge, not paying any attention, simply moved the blocks closer together; but not before Claire, one of my favorite youngsters, looked at the crafty wordsmith and said, "Fine. Shoo, fly, don't bother me."

Awesome.

Also pretty entertaining was when Master M correctly answered a questioned directed to him, but then, when the leader of the discussion tried to elaborate, he interrupted her with, "Yeah, yeah. We got it. Can we move on now?"

I confess, I adore it when people say what I am thinking.

So, it's been a pretty good day so far. And now, my friends, I nap.

Rather than sugar plums, this just might be what I envision instead. It makes me giggle, too.

FULFILLED

A dream come true...

Last night I was here
(forward FDD, row 22, aisle seat)

to see this

which was this.

Seats on the floor, next to my dear friend Rebecca,
it was a night to make my dreams come true. Michael even took us out to dinner beforehand!
(He then went to the movie theater to watch G.I. Joe...)


And everyone lived happily ever after.

GRATEFUL

Here's to you, Lindsay!

Monday night the male counterparts and I got together for family night and made this:

A Gratitude Tree!

We each had several little tags upon which to name any variety of things for which we find ourselves particularly grateful. I then oh-so-artistically hung them upon a dead tree branch, put the branch into a vase of very cheap/after Halloween clearance priced/quite stale but still lovely candy corns, and stood back to admire our new centerpiece.

All artistry was lost on said male counterparts. However, the humor of some of the tags was not lost on me. Check this one out, written by the one son who doesn't have a cell phone:

I also smiled at the entries "snow," "my laptop," "all electronics," and "girls" (complete with smiley face). And of course my heart warmed to read, "Mom and Dad," along with four tags printed with the word "family."

(I'll admit to being the one who did not join the crowd on that one, having already inscribed my tags with words like, "lotion," "new clothes," and "toilet paper." Yeah, I'm some sort of shining example...)

But the tag that really made me stop and think was this one, written by Michael.

Do you think there is a tag anywhere on those dried and withered branches that says, "My wife," or "The woman who makes me all those wonderful meals I eat, and irons all those clothes I wear," or even just plain "Keri"!?

And yet the dog made it up there.

Serious cause for reflection.

But, the truth is, although I would NEVER IN MY LIFE have chosen to put Sadie on any list of any thing I'm grateful for, I will admit that my heart--materialistic as it may be--was touched that Michael chose to do so.

And, though I don't have too many pictures to prove it, I think these next few photos are pretty representative of how all the fine fellows I live with feel about the dog.

(I stepped in poo yesterday, right after vacuuming dog hair off a white rug, so don't even think of asking me how I feel about the dog.)

But, truth is (enough with the truth already!) I, on my own, would never have given my husband something that would have made him a happy and grateful man, would never have allowed my children the fun they have with the fur ball, and would never go outside half as much as I do now. And that means I never would have seen things like this:

or this

or this

.

So, there may be reasons to be grateful for Sadie after all.
May be.

My husband says so.

If you haven't got all the things you want,
be grateful for the things you don't have,
that you don't want.

I like that idea. Time to fill out some more tags!

ADDICTED

Now that I am back from Mexico, back from St. George,
through being sick with not-quite-the-swine-flu-but-still-yucky-nonetheless,
and done teaching for two weeks straight,

all I have to say is

that I am addicted to these:

Pumpkin Spice Hershey Kisses. They are divine. I want to live a life so good that when I die I can go to heaven and subsist on nothing but Pumpkin Spice Hershey Kisses, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory's white chocolate and cinnamon covered caramel apples, and the hot chocolate I drank on the cruise. Oh, and chips and salsa.

(It's a lovely thought to realize I can come so close to heaven while staying right here on earth!)

I would encourage all of you to run right out to your local Target to buy some of these seasonal delights,

but

some of you might live in Utah, and that means you would be depleting the amount of packages of Pumpkin Spice Hershey Kisses that are potentially mine.

So,

IF you live outside of Utah, happy shopping.

(And, yes, I do realize that it is selfish thoughts like above that will keep me from getting into heaven in due time. I guess I'll just have to eat my fill now.)

BUSY

I've been busy.
And now I'm gone on a trip.

I was not busy getting ready for the trip
(until about two nights before we left).

I was busy doing this:

Me: watching
Boys: playing

Doing this:

(I love it when my bangs look this good!)

And doing this:

Making witches.
It turned me in to one, too.


Especially when I looked up and saw the clock.
This is in the a.m.
And was about 25 minutes before I finally got to bed.

So that I could wake up at 6 o'clock
in the a.m.
for more of this:


and this:

Now that I'm on a trip,
I am just looking forward to this:

and this:

I won't be busy.

Adios, amigos y amigas. See you in a week.

CAPABLE

It can be done, folks! It can be done!

Didn't I tell you?

I should not bake.

Ever.