Thanksgiving at the Beach

We had such a great time on our Thanksgiving at the Beach vacation! We are so grateful to MomEast and Pedo (MomEast's beloved -- "Pedo" is his own, special grandpa nickname) for providing this wonderful event for all of us as a family -- which they do each and every Thanksgiving. :-) We love you!

And, we are loving the pictures and posts from everyone as they are being added to their blogs/websites. Thank you!

Now that things have settled down a bit (just a bit...), here's another installment of the fun and frivolity had during that week. There will most likely be at least a few posts dedicated to this -- both because it was an AWESOME time and because I have lots of pictures and stories (or at least "snippets") that I want to share. So, indulge me and enjoy...or ignore me and come back later. Your choice. :-)

There have been others posted on the family blogs/sites but here's our "take" on the weird iron monstrosity that was in the water on the beach near 'our' house (where we stayed for the week):

Pedo mentioned that these holes mean that a crab has been there:

In Utah, that would mean a gopher, 'potgut' (I don't know the real name of these rodents), chipmunk, or more unpleasant rodent (rat, probably) had been there.

What we learned when we got there:

D'oh! Well, at least we discovered where we COULD go 'coinshooting' (using the metal detector) -- it was about a 35-40 minute drive to the north. We had a blast!

Some of my other favorite beach pictures:

Pelicans:

Cool, twisted tree in the "inbetween" area:

I love these little birds (the tiny ones, not the seagulls):

Can anybody tell me what causes all those little holes in the shells?

This isn't anyone I know...but I thought it was so cool what these kids were doing! There were three or four kids jumping but this was the only good picture I got of it. :-) So fun:

Scenery that just CAN'T be seen anywhere in Utah (or nearby):

Amazing!

Flying kites (again, nobody we knew...but the kites were nifty!):

The house we stayed in (if you look close, you can see the Zombie in the shadows on the right):

Me (Zombette) at 'our' house for the week (Thanks MomEast and Pedo!):

How we knew we had found the right place when we arrived:

Wii Time (Little DC, MickeySouth, and MovieDude):

Ariel and Cinderella open their musical cards from Nana and Pedo:

What excellent memories we made that week. Thanks to everyone who came for putting up with my 'camera-happy' ways and for making it such a wonderful time. We love you!

More to come! Love Y'all!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm taking a "bloggy" break for a while...I'll be back, though, don't you worry!

I'm gonna be here:

to enjoy some good times, great food and FUN with my family!

Take care y'all and don't forget to give thanks!

Love ya!

WTFT? Wednesday

Hey all...

Just wanted to give a quick update via my new "thingie" that I'll call "What the French, Toast? Wednesday". LOL!

There's a commercial for Orbit (I think) gum with a perky, cute-accented blonde girl whose standard phrases are "Dirty mouth? Clean it up!" and "Fabulous!" (speaking of the sparkling white teeth of those who chew the gum). Anyway... one of the commercials features a 'fight' between a wife and the husband she just caught 'canoodling' with (what one presumes to be) his secretary. One of the lines is, "What the french, toast?" which we couldn't stop laughing at -- so we picked it up.

Moving on...

The Zombie has been sick this week -- and home from work -- so I'm doing more nurse-type duties than usual this week. On top of that, the crazy-wet-cold-weird weather we've been having has done a number on my arthritis and I've been 'flaring' for the past many days. Hence, the lack of blogging.

From what I've been able to gather, it's been going around. ("It" being the odd, kinda-sick-then-better-then-sick-again illness that's been hanging over Zombie Manor the last few days.)

Basically, we're doing okay. Our holiday plans are taking shape and we're plugging along otherwise. Is it too early to say I can't wait for Spring when it's only Nov. 12th? *sigh* We really need to move to a warmer climate...or become "snowbirds" like so many of the retired folk from this area (and I'm sure lots of other areas, too). Is 36 too young to consider myself 'retired'? Aaaah, if only...

I have subbed some more with no really major (or majorly funny) stories to tell. I'm standing by my assertion a while back that it's much slower this year than last -- and it's not just ME that's slower. I used to get a call (or several calls) every single night and I could sort of "cherry pick" the jobs I wanted at the schools I wanted. This year, I'm lucky to get two calls a week -- and I still can't always take them, depending on how I'm feeling, what else is going on, and the circumstances of the job itself...there are still some assignments I just can't bring myself to accept. *sigh*

The Zombie is doing well. I'm pretty good. The babies -- Ladybug and Butterfly Baby -- are gorgeous (as usual) and Harley Mama is fabulous (also as usual). I have a funny post about banana bread in the works. I'm working on a post about Harley Mama -- cuz she just cracks me up -- almost daily. I have a little ditty I'm writing about neighbors (with the 82-year-old widow that lives across from us featuring) and more...these are all just ideas right now (except the Harley Mama one, which I'm struggling not to make 'too long') and it's possible I'm writing this now so I can come back and look when I find myself thinking, "What was that idea I had a few days ago?" to remind myself.

And so it goes...

Now That I Think About It...

There might be a few of you (or quite a few...) that aren't aware of the Zombie's blog. It's www.tubezombie.com hence the loving nickname.

That might explain a lot of things to some of you. :-) Just thought you might want to take a look at it.

Since it's *possible* that some of you like me but not the Zombie (KIDDING!), I blog over there too, on occasion...just in case that's any incentive.

Cheers!

Fling has Flung!

I am having the best time EVER with FlyLady's "Super Fling Boogie". Apparently, she does this a few times a year. I just joined the FlyLady group over on Yahoo! about a month ago, so this is my first one.

In a nutshell, a Super Fling Boogie is kind of like "spring cleaning" -- but clutter specific...and a lot more fun. :-) One of the funny things is that she has a "meter" on the front page of her website where any FlyBaby (that's all of us who've joined the group) can post how many pounds of clutter we've flung from our home.

One of FlyLady's famous quotes is "You can't organize clutter. You can only get rid of it." Amen, FlyLady! Amen!

Today I had some serious flingin' fun. My sweet sis, Harley Mama came over with her babies, Ladybug and Butterfly Baby. (Okay, 8 isn't really a "baby" -- but she's growing up too fast for my taste anyway, so I'm rebelling a little...) Well, Uncle Zombie had a fabulous time doing some screen testing with the Ladybug (he's working on green screen 'stuff' -- sorry I can't be more specific, but I'm already out of my depth) and playing with Butterfly Baby. Meanwhile, Harley Mama and I sorted through about 15 totes (I'm so embarrassed by this...) of clothing that, ahem, doesn't fit so well -- and hasn't for something between 2 and (this is killing me...gulp) 18 years. There, I said it. I've unburdened my soul. I've confessed my deep, dark, clothes-hoarding secret. I was stunned, amazed, bewildered, and occasionally repulsed by some of the things I was holding on to. I put together one BIG tote to go home with Harley Mama, a couple grocery-sized bags for the Ladybug to "rework" into a Halloween costume (now, or in the future...or possibly to share), a bag of sweaters that I 'obtained' from DadUtah (sometime in the last 16-20 years) and need to return and...here's the BIG NEWS (and why I mentioned FlyLady and the SFB meter again)...88.5 POUNDS of other clothes that I'm 'flinging' once and for all. There was another small bag of odds-and-ends and some shoes. All told, I'm relieving about 91 pounds of 'good stuff' from the burden of living, unloved, in my storage. (In case you're wondering, I'm a recent convert to freecycle. It's fantastic!)

Stay tuned tomorrow (I hope...or soon thereafter) to see a couple of photos of the "what was I thinking and why did I keep this?" hall of shame. It'll be worth checking back...I promise.

I'm off to post my flung stuff (aka: the "weight" I've lost today...) on the SFB meter.

Laters! :-)

Fun with Gadgets...or is it Widgets?

Slowly but surely, I'm getting a self-education in this whole 'blogging' thing.

Yeah, okay, I'll admit it. The more I do this, the funner it is! There, I said it.

See my side bar for the two new 'thingies' I added today. And watch for more.

This is gonna be a really small/short post today.

I've been busy:

I'm doing FlyLady's Super Fling Boogie. I've 'flung' 17 pounds of clutter (and, yes, I posted them on the SFB meter). It's on her front page if you wanna check it out.

I'm gonna try UtahJenny's Pumpkin Pops soon -- only because she added such awesome instructions, and pictures. I'm pretty visual.

And, I'm subbing again...just did my 4th day (yesterday) for this year in a 4th grade class (Huh, hadn't realized the symmetry until now) and I have another 4th grade class tomorrow (/symmetry).

And, I just figured out how to add podcasts to my iPod. Not that that has anything to do with being busy...but still...

Harley Mama and I had a couple good ideas for (low budget) Christmas presents for this year, so I need to get working on my part of those. Plus, I talked to her about a project I want to do for the Ladybug and Butterfly Baby. (Harley Mama, hint...hint...I need that 'stuff' I asked you for. I'm pretty slow. If I don't get it soon...I dunno...Christmas may be pushing it.)

I'm not gonna give it away to the rest of my (2) readers, but I'll post pictures if/when it's moving along. I'm fairly sure my 2 and 8 year old nieces aren't reading my blog (yet) so, hopefully, I won't be giving anything away.

Laters! :-)