Life with Gling

Well Thanksgiving came and went…and was yummy and wonderful…as always.  We stuffed ourselves silly with ham and turkey and noodles and potatoes and pie…etc. etc.  We really are blessed to have family that live so closely…and that we’re able to make it to both sides for all holidays.  On the other hand…we always eat WAY too much!  We had fun hanging out with and staying with family.  Mom and I did some shopping on Friday…and somehow managed to avoid any really huge crowds.  We got some good deals…and ate some delicious food…again.  DVD’s were on sale all over the place…so we bought some to watch while we were in Emden.  I got a chance to hang out with my good friend Amy while she was in town as well.  Nothing like catching up with a good friend after what seems like forever.  We made it back to Greenville on Saturday night…in time for me to finish up some homework and get to bed early  for church the next morning.  I decorated the house for Christmas most of Sunday and Monday….and I’d say that we’re ready for the holidays to start!   I finished up the decorations on our front porch last night as well…and I must say…I think it looks pretty good this year.  I made some fun luminaries out of old mason jars…and put candles in them.  I lit them all last night too…and it looks pretty festive!  Hopefully tonight I’ll have time to put the decorations out around the back door as well.  (Yeah…yeah…yeah….I’m kind of addicted to decorating for Christmas!  Or anyhing for that matter!) 

So I’m sitting here in my cozy office…just waiting for 4:30 to get here so that Thanksgiving Break 2007 can commence.  There’s only a few of us in the office today…which is always fun.  We got to wear jeans today too…which is also great.  (Because seriously…we get to wear jeans to work like 2 times a year.)  I even wore my ripped jeans today…just to enjoy the whole “jeans day” thing that much more.  I’m waiting on a visit to show up.  Part of me wants the student to now show up…but the other, and smarter, part of me knows that if the visit shows up…that’s an hour that will go by much faster.  Jared and I busted out some homemade pizza again last night.  It was delicious…as always.  We tried a new crust, which was better than the old recipe we’d be using.  We also made some breadsticks to go with it as well.  Also yummy.  So anywho…here I wait…anxiously…for turkey.

It’s true…I can’t wait until Thanksgiving!  I’m most pumped about seeing all of our family…but part of me just can’t wait to gorge on ridiculous amounts of food.  Primarily, turkey.  I’ve been trying to get the house completely cleaned before we leave for Thanksgiving break.  My main motivation is that if the house is completely cleaned when we get home…then I can put up the Christmas decorations!  (They’d be up already if Jared would let me!)  So in the mean time, I’m dreaming up fun ideas on how I want to decorate this year.  I’m also trying to devise a plan to keep the kitties from stealing all of the ornaments from off the tree.  (They’re devious little boogers…that like to steal things.)  So needless to say…I’m anxiously awaiting Wednesday…when we’ll finally get to travel home and start the Thanksgiving goodness!  Until then…there’s much to be done at work…a homework that needs to be finished. 

So last night was a girl’s night out for me and a few of my friends.  We got all girlied up and headed to Delmar (in St. Louis) for some good times.  (Probably my favorite place in the city!)  So the first stop was the Melting Pot…for some delicious fondue fun.  They had a special deal for ladies last night…so we got a good deal on what would typically be a stupid-expensive meal.  However…4 courses of fondue for $35 was totally worth it and a steal if you ask me.  We sat and talked and fondued (is that a word?!) for a few hours.  When that was done we headed over to the Pageant (a great concert venue in the loop) to see the Regina Spektor concert.  She’s got an amazing voice…and was just as great live as she is recorded.  She has lots of fun songs…so even though we didn’t know all of them…they were still fun to listen to.  The show was done by 11:00…and so began our drive back to lovely Greenville.  I felt like the mom of the group…as I quickly noticed that everyone in the car had fallen asleep on the drive home.  (But not me…I was driving…no sleeping and driving for me!)  It was a great night though…and will probably become more of a tradition.  Yay for female bonding!

1.) Where do you go for Thanksgiving?
Back to Central Illinois….lunch in Emden and Supper in Danvers…more turkey that we should consume will be consumed.
2.) What does your family traditionally eat/make for Thanksgiving?
The traditional items (ie. turkey, stuffing, potatoes, cranberries, loads of pie…etc. etc.)

3.) Do you like this holiday?

I love any holiday where I can feast on homemade goodness and hang out with family!

11.)Do you decorate your bedroom for Christmas?

I put greens around all of the doorways in the house…maybe that counts. 

12.)Do you go shopping on Black Friday? Black Friday- the day after Thanksgiving.?
We usually go to IKEA that day…but I’m not sure if we’ll go this year or not. 

13.) Do you go sledding?
If there’s snow I do!

17.) Plans for New Years Eve?
Undecided as of right now.  We’ll see!

So today, 1 day short of a month has gone by since the car accident.  And today, we got back our Grand Prix.  (Holla!)  We left the Buick club today…after spending a month in a beast of a Park Avenue.  Though it was a fun month in a different car…I shall not miss that boat car…not at all.  No longer will I feel like my car is going to eat the other cars on the road around me.  No longer shall I feel like I’m going to take out the flower pots on our patio when I’m pulling into our driveway.  No more!  Our car is back…and I completely didn’t realize how much I missed it.  The car looks great too…like nothing ever happened to it.  It was all body work…so she still runs like she used to.  Oh Grand Prix…how we missed you! 

So we’ve been busy busy busy this whole week…with lots of fun things to do!  So here’s  a quick recap…

Monday-Small Group…great fellowship, as always.

Tuesday-Pumpkin Party at the McPeak’s barn.  I helped serve food (chili in frito bags…hot dogs…pie…etc.) to lots of fun people looking for a family friendly Halloween alternative.  Costumes were optional…so I took that option and busted out my bee costume yet again.  Little did I know…that I would be the only person over the age of 8 in a costume.  I felt slightly out of place for a bit…but then quickly realized how fun it is to be child-like.  The evening even brought about some face painting, which I gladly participated in. 

Wednesday-Halloween…and possibly one of the best Halloween’s to this date!  (I know that’s saying a lot…but seriously…it was great!)  We had a goulish Halloween feast at Steve and Nicoles.  On the menu were mummy fingers and blood drippings (ie. pigs in a blanket…with almond slivers for fingernails…and ketchup for dipping), eyeballs in blood sauce (meatballs with olive “pupils” in bbq sauce), Halloween mac-n-cheese (fun shaped pasta), goulade (yummy green drink with whipped cream on top) and spider cupckes….delicious and lots of fun!  After we stuffed ourselves silly…we headed down to watch the parade in downtown Alton.  It was fun…but really busy…so we headed back to the house half way through.  At that point one of Nicole’s friends took all of us on a spooktacular tour of haunted Alton.  We saw lots of creepy places and heard all of the stories…and even whitnessed one creepy van…if you want more details on the van…just ask…creepy stuff.  After that we ate some pie and had cider…and headed back to Greenville

Thursday-Praise band practice and relaxing.

Friday-Cookout with the Coulter’s  and then a late showing of the “Bee” movie.   The cookout was delicious…and the movie was absolutely adorable!  I definitely recommend it…and wouldn’t mind owning it at some point. 

Saturday (today)-Cleaned around the house all morning…and actually got quite a bit done.  My dad came down around noon and tilled up what will be our veggie and flower garden next spring/summer.  I’m really pumped!  Dad’s definitely got a green thumb…and I’m hoping it rubs off on me.  We still have to decide on what we’d like in the garden…but we’re definitely putting in some potatoes, peppers, onions, tomatoes, lettuce and cucumbers….and a few sunflowers around the edges (so my garden can be just like dad’s).  He also brought me some more flower bulbs for the yard.  I now have a few more rows of day lillies and a new row of daffodiles.  I can’t wait for them to come up this spring!  And now we’re relaxing…and the cats are sleeping.  Good times!