The Gravy

Hilarious to me that my mothers response to my last post was to coach me on the gravy. She knows me so well. The serious anxiety has set in about Thanksgiving. When it comes right down to it, I'm only worried about one thing...and she nailed it. We are expecting between 15 and 20 people and am I worried about where they will all sit? The turkey? Parking? No, nope, not at all. I am worried about the gravy.
The gravy is God people. Mind you as of yet I've never bombed the gravy. It has always turned out perfect. I am blessed to have the Goddess of Gravy as my mother...and she taught me well. And yet still...I worry. As I lay in bed last night, planning my Thursday chronology, I considered buying canned gravy as a backup plan. I quickly put that aside, canned gravy would be as much a sin to me as botched gravy. You see, nothing else has to be perfect, as long as the gravy is. The stuffing, the turkey, the mashed potatoes...all could be mediocre and if the gravy is perfect the meal will sing. I, quite literally, could put the gravy in a glass and drink it. The worst part of this whole worrisome debacle, is that the gravy is the climax of the Thanksgiving supper story. It is the very last thing I make, right before dinner is served...which leaves me worrying about it right up until the very moment of "the meal". In my obsessive mind, Thanksgiving dinner is the single most important meal of the year...so if the gravy is the saving grace of the most important meal of the year, then Thursday's gravy is the most important thing I will cook ALL YEAR! That's a LOT of pressure!!! And I am spending an insane amount of time thinking about how to do something that I KNOW how to do!! I am a hot gravy mess right now.

Catch Up...

What's up with us, you may wonder. Or you may not. You're about to find out regardless.
This year, I am hosting the Garrett family Thanksgiving for the first time. I'm extremely excited and anxious about it. Excited because Thanksgiving is my absolute favorite meal of the year, anxious because I have yet to get a firm headcount. The only drawback has been that I am unable to put up my Christmas trees in the kitchen and living room due to space considerations. I have put up the tree in the basement, out of pure desperation to have at least one tree up.
The biggest change in our house recently has been Sam. Sam has a girlfriend. No, y'all I don't mean a girlfriend. I mean a GIRLFRIEND. Like, he's completely smitten. And my head is spinning. He pauses his video games for her. I know, right? Unheard of. She's a super sweet girl, and while I approve, I just don't know what to think about this stranger she's brought out in my son. This new, strange young man who showers and shaves and brushes his teeth without being reminded. Who talks, not texts, TALKS on the phone for HOURS every evening. Who preferred her company to his brand new, released that very day, Assasins Creed 3. It's absolute insanity, and I'm torn daily between angst and pride. I'm so impressed not just with Sam but with Jon. I see the way Sam treats her (Lyndsey) and what I see is that my husband has set an EXCELLENT example of how a man should treat a woman. At the same time, where is my baby? Who is this 6'2" young man, who shaves daily and is ready to go get his drivers permit? And how can I be old enough that all this is possible?
Well, I guess I just have to get used to it...

My Lucky Day

Despite all indications to the contrary, Monday, July 9th was my lucky day. At 6pm, you could not have convinced me of that in 20,000 words or less. Let me paint the picture for you, which will paint me pathetic and extremely ill prepared but hey, that's ok. Around 5pm I learned that not only did they not have our van fixed and ready to go (they said they did, but somehow forgot to do what we originally made the appointment for) but they don't even know if they will have it fixed today. Major hurdle, since I have to drive Liam to West Virginia tomorrow. Ahh, the stress. So, I'm sitting at Sam's game at 6pm. I have no money for concessions. I have not eaten dinner. Somehow, eating dinner myself when I was feeding the kids slipped my mind, as did the fact that with no money, I would NOT be able to eat at the park. I have no money for concessions and thanks to the unmerciful heat and sun, I have drunk my entire 24oz water before the game even began. Somehow, we lucked into the baseline that faces the aforementioned unmerciful sun. And I have a headache. So, to recap, I'm hungry, I'm thirsty, I have no money, I'm staring into the sun and nursing a headache...and a friend overhears me telling Katie that if I had my phone purchase to do all over again, I would go the extra mile and get the iPhone. Which he promptly jumped on. An hour into the conversation, I discover that he has already tried to trade phones with several people. All turned him down. Why? Who the heck knows. I suspect the unfair, but very real Apple bias.

You see, I have learned that there are two kinds of people in life. Those who use (and LOVE) Apple products and those who hate Apple products (mostly because they cannot learn how to use them). I will say, for me Apple products  were an acquired taste. And had I not received an iPad from my employers for Christmas a few years ago, I don't know that I ever would have converted. I had an uneducated bias against them, mostly due to their exclusivity. I have since learned that their exclusivity is a safeguard...a moat if you will, that protects me in my happy little Applecastle.

I, did NOT turn him down. I offered up all my phone's quirky behaviors, full disclosure, ya know. And then I told him, I absolutely would LOVE to trade him my Droid3 for his iPhone4. So, after the game, he and his wife and family came over and we called Verizon and got it all straightened out. And here I sit, the proud owner of a 4 month old iPhone, a happy Apple user. Sorry Bobby, I can't help it.

I <3 Apple.

Love you all!

Summer is...

The Ohio State Fair to me. Always has been, always will be. The Ohio State Fair has no competition in the summer and can only be rivaled on my excit-o-meter by Christmas the rest of the year. 

http://www.ohiostatefair.com/

So, naturally, everything reminds me of the fair lately. We are in countdown mode, opening day T minus 16 days. Especially in my neck of the woods. I see corn fields, I think Fair. I see cows, I think Fair. Today, I was browsing their website and discovered that Maggie, Liam, Jon and I get in for free if we show their report cards as proof they are exiting 4th grade students. Of course, this leads me to think, Hey, maybe we can afford to go twice then!! Opening day is $3 admissions. So, I figure we go then and do the freebee over the following weekend and it still costs less than if we paid full price for us all to go once! 

The sheep agree, that's not a baaaa-aaad deal! 

In the meantime, we have 3 kids baseball tournaments to get through. Not to mention, Liam is getting SERIOUSLY excited about his San Antonio trip with Grandma Debby and PaPa James. He spent  the better part of a conversation in the car yesterday mulling over what style of "real cowboy hat" he plans on getting in big bad Texas. 

I will do my level best in this busy season of our year to keep you all posted. For now, I can tell you that Sam will begin tournaments Monday or Tuesday and Maggie begins on Wednesday. Liam does not start tournaments until after his trip. 

I love you all! 

The Latest Health News...

Went to the Dr. this morning. The official weight loss right now, per the Dr's mac daddy scales is 25lbs. I am not able to quit taking my blood pressure meds yet, which was a big disappointment for me, but she wants me to keep doing what I'm doing and come back to see her in 3 months. She thinks at that point we can probably halve my dosage and eventually work me off of them altogether. Let's hope. 

We had a nice weekend. Ate out too much, but got all the yard work done. Well, actually Liam got all the yardwork done, but we supervised him. Ahem...

This week will be busy. Sam, of course, will have track practice everyday...everyday he doesn't actually have a meet. Liam has baseball practice tonight for 2 hours and Maggie has softball practice tomorrow night. 

In the hopes of continuing my weight loss journey to get off the blood pressure medication, I bought tofu today at Costco...if any of you have the slightest idea what in the hell I'm supposed to do with it, feel free to tell me! 

I love you all...

Out of Sorts

Things have been a bit wacky around here lately. I have not been able to settle into my normal schedule. It's making my cranky. (Poor Jon. Poor Liam. Poor Maggie. Not Sam so much. He lives entirely in his bedroom these days...hiding works in this case.) Consequently, I am looking forward to tomorrow. I have a normal schedule tomorrow. What's normally on the Friday schedule?, you ask?? Scrubbing toilets. Toilets and tubs and cleaning the kids rooms and emptying all the trash cans. Are you questioning my sanity? It's true, I am looking forward to it. On Fridays, I crank Pandora and dance around the house, scrubbing and dusting and sweeping as I go. I occasionally stop to play a Scrabble word...or let the dog out (or in). I often stop to answer Jon's texts. But mostly, I exist in my own little world.  And my world is clean. Until the kids get home...all told it usually lasts (from finish until they arrive) for about 1 glorious hour. Then, all my hard work is undone. In 3 minutes flat. 

But, that's ok, I think I'll do it anyhow. 

I love you all! 

Waz Up!!!???!!!???

Wow! I just checked my blog and could NOT BELIEVE how long it's been since I posted. I think with the advent of Google+ I just let it go. So, here's "waz up" ...

We had a great visit to North Carolina for Easter weekend. It was wonderful to see family and especially sweet baby Alex. Sweet baby, Alex, who is loving and generous...generous with his cold. He gave it to his mama. He gave it to his Poppy. And he gave it to me. It was worth every little sniffle to see him though. He's positively yummy! 

While on vacation, I ate like I was on vacation. Whew, I enjoyed not thinking and analyzing my every bite,  BUT....I was really happy to get back to my fruits and veggies too. The "not dieting" did a real number on my salt intake. My ankles were swollen on the way home. One day of eating right and I managed to pee all that out. Things are back to normal, but out of pure self-defense I have NO INTENTION of weighing myself this week. ;)

Today, I'm taking a friend to some Dr's appointments in Columbus. The friend is Angie, or some of you may recall her as "The Cooley Daily News". She is the one who had a stroke last August and was responsible mostly for my new healthy eating habits, Easter weekend notwithstanding, of course. 

Liam has baseball practice tonight, Maggie's first practice is scheduled for next Tuesday. And it's cold...now. Now it's cold. It's been warm all winter...now, when we have to sit outside a couple times a week in the evening...now it's cold. Sigh. So cold in fact, that we had flurries yesterday...enough for Sam's track meet to be cancelled. Which was a blessing, because I was freezing, developing a cold and scheduled to work the concession stand. 

I will try real hard to do a better job keeping y'all posted. 

I love you all!!! 

An Angel Attachment

Had some running around to do today. The pneumonia is receding, but due to some unsightly stuff I am still coughing up occasionally, the doctor wanted me to tack 5 days onto my antibiotic regimen. They had the good stuff in the office so all I had to do is run in and pick it up. Thank God for doctors who care...

While I was down that way I planned to stop in and do our monthly Costco shopping. Which was an exhausting ordeal, and not really my best idea ever... when you're healthy and you have normal energy levels, you don't really give any thought to how much "work" is involved in buying bulk foods. By the time I pushed the 576lb cart thru the warehouse, loaded it all into the van, got it home and made a dozen trips between the van and the house...then put it all away, which included at least half a dozen trips to the basement pantry and freezer I fell onto the couch in a near coma. 

The entirety of this post thus far, was to tell you that while I was right in the area, I stopped into Hobby Lobby. I do dearly love Hobby Lobby. My goal was twofold...I wanted to check out their Valentine's Day decorations, and I wanted to see just how clearanced they have their Christmas decorations. Because, God knows, I NEED more Christmas decorations. (Rolling my eyes). It's an illness I think, because this year I actually decided to weed through the decorations I already have. Nearly 10 rubbermaid tubs full of garlands and santa's and I don't even know what all. Half of which I didn't pick out, some of which I display out of habit and NOT because I lovingly chose it...or even like it. Every year there are things I do not display...things I just never get out. 2012 is the year of the purge in the Garrett house...if I don't use it, it's GONE. So, I have been assessing each decoration as I pack it away...Do I love it? Is it tradition? Will my kids fight over it when I'm dead? And if I don't love it...it goes in a box for goodwill. So, despite the fact that the last damn thing I need is more Christmas decorations I went in and headed straight for the clearance. And was immediately drawn to the angels...80% off...lovely elaborate angels. Angels with white puffy gowns and boa feathers... our angel, is old. Old and broken. Her lights quit working a couple years ago and last year, in an effort to make do, I cut all the light cords off. She was holding two gold lights in her hands, and after I cut off the lights she held her hands out to us...imploring...as if to say...stop, take in the glory of this tree. Or, perhaps, Please help me. help me find my lights. She's kind of small, not really proportionate to our tree. And she has blue eyeshadow. But somehow, in Hobby Lobby, I just couldn't replace her. 

She has always been there, on the tree Jon and I share...and she has watched over our Christmas seasons faithfully. And when it came right down to it, I got all sentimental and couldn't replace her. So, she stays, with her blue eyeshadow. Because I love her...