What? No Thanksgiving?

What happened?

I don’t know – but I did not see a drop of my mother’s stuffing….so there couldn’t have been a Thanksgiving!

I wonder if there is a Thanksgiving complaint desk – because I need to speak to the powers that be.

I didn’t see Uncle Pat. I didn’t collect pecans out in the woods. My kids didn’t jump in the leaf pile at my brother’s house. And I didn’t see one lick of my side of the family.

So I don’t care what you say – Thanksgiving couldn’t have happened!

Yum! Yum! Yum!

Breakfast at McDonald’s – alone! While the kids are at school!

Could there be anything better?

I love getting to go places and do things alone – all by myself – it is such a rare treat.

Taking a trip to McDonald’s when the kids are around – unless you’re all just getting $1 ice cream, which is sometimes fun, you can count on spending at least $20-$25 and putting up with a lot of BS along the way. Someone isn’t sure what they want. Someone wants to eat outside. Someone didn’t get their ketchup. Someone got onions on their burger and they will absolutely, positively die if they have to eat it like that. You get the picture.

So on a quiet weekday morning, sitting and peacefully eating my #3 is a lovely treat for this tired mom. It’s the housewife and old people hour. I just love it.

This is a college town here in Alabama, so often there are others besides housewives and old people, but, we make up the majority at that time. And it is a lovely crowd to be amongst.

It is my private, sneaky (I always try to hide the evidence, lest I hear cries of “MOM! You went to McDonald’s WITHOUT ME!”) self-nurturing getaway time!

Not the healthiest thing I could do for myself physically, but mentally – oh yeah! I’m all there on that one, babe!

Not really big news, as she is 10 and the boys are 12 and 13 – so we have been dealing with this for quite a while….

and could quite possibly be almost done dealing with this.

The newsworthy part, which cracked Mark and I up, at the same time breaking my heart – is in her grown-up attitude.

Mark: So, are you gonna put it under your pillow?
Sam: No
Mark: Why not?
Sam: Because you don’t have any money, Daddy.

Well then.

My precious little baby girl went and turned 10! How could she do this to me?

She getting so ‘young-ladyish’ – even in spite of me and my ‘unladylike’ ways – this ‘ladyness’ is just so natural to her. It is really an amazing thing to watch grow and blossom in front of you.

But she really should have just stayed five. Not totally a baby, but, still a baby. I suppose I’ll just have to steal my nieces for a day or two and get this whole munchkin thing out of my system.

Because none of my angels are munchkins anymore. I’m not sure how that is possible, since I am just out of my teens, myself. Strange….

Anyhoo – this precious young lady, whom I am blessed enough to call my daughter, just had two birthday parties. One for the family – a quick impromptu, school night family gathering. And one with three of her friends – a sleepover party.

Included are some of the pics – the two cakes, the guests (well, scratch that one – I haven’t asked the girls’ mothers – I forgot, this is the web….very cute and funny pic of them, though – with Sammie on one of the girl’s shoulders…ah well….) the silliness – and a very precious pic of Sammie with her Great-Grandmother, Sybil.

Oh my goodness gracious! My poor grammar-lovin’ heart is a ‘bleedin!!!

My darling son brought home a test in language arts. He got a perfect score on said test.

The test, more specifically, was on pronoun vocabulary.

Ugh….I’m cringing just thinking of sending this out into the blogosphere, out into the universe, information that could, in one fell swoop, kill a librarian.

The horror!

As I said, the child received a 100 on this test. When asked to list two reflexive pronouns, he listed ‘ourselves’ (good, good…) and *cringe* ‘hiself’.

My eyes are hurting looking at that and my fingers are all cramped up and in disbelief that I would go so far as to make them type such drivel.

My husband has always used this ‘word’, which we all know is not really a ‘word’, and I distinctly remember threatening him before our first child went to school.

“If this boy comes home and the teacher has admonished him for using that ‘word’, I WILL KILL YOU!”

And actually, after 14+ years with this man, I must admit (before my mother comments it love you, Momma!) that the ‘word’ has fallen from my lips once or maybe even twice.

Oh, the hairs on the back of my neck…they not standing up, they ache!

I’m ruined, completely ruined – this man has ruined me!

However, back to the darling offspring. Now, one could surmise, quite easily, really – that this was merely an oversight. Our precious teachers are pushed and pushed and so overworked, that a ‘miss’ here or there is only to be expected. Or – one could just say, as my hubby did – “Well, we do live in Alabama now. That is a word in Alabama.”

Now my neck is cramping up.

Chevy Chase just rocks! There’s just no two ways about it! I love that guy!

And National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation is a scream! I can’t wait to watch it with the kids this year – I know we all be laughing so much – it will make for a great family night full of silliness and fun!

And what would make it even better — and so very cool! – would be to get to drink out of a Melk Mug – right along with Clark and Eddie!

The kids would totally dig that and I can just picture all of the crazy giggliness trying to position our mouths on the edge of the cups just so…all the while screaming with laughter!