Where to begin....

As you might have noticed it's been a while since I last posted. I just don't know where to start if I should just omit what has happened during Christmas and New Year's or if I should go a head and do a few posts about it...I'll probably do a few posts w/ pics so you can at least see what the little boy got for Christmas. He isn't so little any more and personally I think he is tanking up to have another huge growth spurt cause he has been majorly chowing down...

Ok well here goes. For Christmas Lowell had a very Thomas Christmas...

He got so much Thomas stuff he isn't even sure what to do with it all.

Lowell playing with his BIG legos!

His new Thomas Tracks = )

His Thomas books.

My New Pitcher

It snowed just a bit on Christmas Eve...we had to help get a couple of people unstuck from the street cause there was that much.

Thanksgiving & Black Friday

Well, Thanksgiving is over and it was pretty tasty here!!! Ya just gotta love the turkey and the super yummy gravy...we had different kind of stuffing this year and it was ok. We had LOTS of potatoes...and I do mean LOTS!! I keep telling everyone that we need a smaller turkey and yet every year we end up with quite a few left overs...which in a normal year isn't all that bad. This year though it was a little bit bad. My mom, dad, sister, and her fiancee are leaving town to go and go on a cruise.

Black Friday was just stupid crazy. There were so many cars parked at the Walmart store that you could almost stroll into the other stores...

You had to HUNT and HUNT for a parking spot and when my mom and I finally got into Walmart the line to check out was at least a 45 min wait cause the lines went all the way to the back of the store. Like I said stupid crazy. We didn't wait because it just didn't seem worth it to us to wait like that. We did manage to take advantage of at least one deal that was going on which was a plus.

I hope that all the rest of the people who went shopping this morning were able to get what they wanted and that they were able to avoid injury...I honestly have heard on the news about some injuries already occurring during the Black Friday Sales...

Hope you all had a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving!!! Enjoy the start of the Christmas Season...

Holiday Mix Up??

Starting last Saturday my favorite local radio station started playing Christmas music...I'm just not sure what to put after that but I am thinking that they are going on the banned music list until after Thanksgiving...every morning when I wake up and hear Christmas Music I just start to feel all dazed and disoriented cause I'm not really sure if Thursday is Thanksgiving or if it is really Christmas Day. I think it is sad because Thanksgiving is becoming just another day (because we don't buy presents at Thanksgiving is why I think retailers and others are trying to push it out of the picture). I think that Thanksgiving should ALWAYS be special!!! It is a time for giving thanks for all that you have...a time to reflect on the year and take a pause out of your busy life and just be with and think about friends and family. I know most people do that at Christmas but I am one who starts that sort of thinking at Thanksgiving time.

I think that Thanksgiving is the ONLY way to kick off the Christmas season! Without Thanksgiving...I'm just not sure if everyone would be in a truly thankful type of mood for Christmas. That and Christmas is NOT about the presents...I mean comon...you show your kids how much you love them by how much you get them??? That is beyond stupid and absurd!!

I think I am going to go kill our radios or else change them to the country stations until after Thursday because the lady DJ who started the whole let's play Christmas music before Thanksgiving thinks that this is totally wonderful that they are playing the music now...I usually find it a treat when on Friday, black Friday, I get up and I can listen to Christmas Music while I beat my way through the crowds....not really....JK!!!! I do like to listen to it while I am waiting for that one store that I was going to go to opens...it is nice...but this year it has just been ruined for me with them playing the Christmas music sooo early!!

Ok I guess I am done ranting and raving...plus I still have to go help my Grandma clean up her kitchen to get it ready for Thursday... have fun and don't zonk out too bad from the ultra yummy turkey!!!!

Work Type Updates

Max's work schedule is just all over the place and I guess the recession that is going on has "finally hit home" and so they are going to be shutting down the plant for a few weeks between now and April.

In November he will be "laid off" on the 24 & 25 for the 26th he has vacation.

In December it is 3, 4, 5 22, 23, 24, 29, 30, 31. Yea that's a lot of days I know but there are a few days with holiday pay and I didn't put them on here.

In January it is 2, 15, 16, 19, 20 and possibly 21, 22, 23. This month is subject to change though.

In February it is 2.

In March it is 23, 24, 25, 26, & 27.

From January on it is subject to change though. About the only week that is really kind of set is the week in March. What I mean by change is they might change their mind and have more weeks off or they might change their minds and have more lines up and running.

As Heinz's usual type thing they usually give out Turkeys and this year because the whole factory will be shut down they are instead giving away turkey certificates good for one turkey up to 18 lbs but you do have to ask the receptionist for this certificate. We are going to redeem ours and donate our HUGE turkey from last year because of all the many many reports of how empty the food banks are. I know that we could keep the thing and cook it but it is about 30 lbs and I just don't think that we could really handle eating all of a 30 lb turkey for just three of us!

Decisions Decisions

Yesterday I went to the Orthodontist and got new bands put on my teeth so they pull once again. He also decided that he wants me to have 2 more teeth pulled so that my front teeth will be able to slide back...yes slide back so I will have my braces on longer and I was hoping he might tell me that I might have them off for Christmas this year. Yay my hopes have been shot down = ( . I'm just not sure if I should have my other teeth pulled I mean really gosh! The ONLY reason why I have braces in the first place is because of some quack dentist who drilled too deep and caused a tooth to abscess (he thought he would get a lot of money by putting a crown on it) and so I had it and my baby tooth pulled, the baby tooth just never had an adult one to replace it. I guess if I do have them pulled I won't be looking at getting more screws put into my jaw, yes I said screws. I guess because my lower jaw is set back far (I didn't realize this, dang I hate it when people point out physical flaws like that and make me feel all weird about it) that I couldn't afford to loose anymore um I guess...well I dunno I guess I just couldn't do what is usually done and having the teeth meet in the middle when they close a gap; here is where the screws come in. They are anchored in my jaw so they won't move and then they attach powerful bands to my back teeth and pull them forward. It only hurt a bit, Tylenol is my best friend now, and the gaps have been totally closed. My orthodontist isn't pleased with my overbite. I told him that I have always had one but he wants me to think about having 2 of my upper teeth pulled and I just really am not sure! I don't know what the heck to do cause I know that if I agree my smile will be a bit better but on the down side it means more pain because of the gaping holes that will be created in my jaw. Yes those holes will be filled faster because my teeth will be pulled back into them and they won't have a chance like on the bottom to fill in on their own. Woe is me? If I don't have the teeth pulled then he will just work with what I have and I might end up with a bite that slips a bit because it doesn't match up quite right. Dang it I wish I wasn't faced with these kinds of decisions. I'll probably end up getting the teeth pulled cause I want my bite to be good again and I'll probably just have to put up with the pain I just wish he hadn't suggested it...I hate that. Curse you Summers! He knows I don't really mean it. I am at least going to see if I can get a lot of the stuff that needs to be done when he pulls the teeth. How I am going to pay for it is a whole other matter but I'll probably just have them pulled and stop worrying about it.

Other News

I found out that my Grandma needs some help so I am thinking that I am going to see what I can do to find Lowell something that will hold his attention and then go up to my Grandma's house and pull all her bedding off her bed and send Max home with it to wash it and while it is washing have him do his online learning that he is getting behind on. Then while Lowell and I are up there I would do laundry for her up there and possibly even see what I can do to make sure she gets a shower because she just doesn't feel safe without someone standing outside the bathroom door as a just in case type of thing. I am just hoping that my plan will work and I would also not only wash her clothes but I would make sure that they ALL got put away such as hung up, her closet is standing almost empty right now, or put into their proper drawers. I figure it is something that I can do to kind of repay her for all that she has done for me.

I am going to give it a try and we shall see what happens.

Halloween

Halloween has come and gone and I'm not sure if I am glad. This year has gone by so fast I just don't know what to do anymore.

Lowell went as Thomas the Train again this year. This year however the costume fit better than it did last year.

He was posing for the pictures but he was also trying to watch the Adventures of Ichabod Crane

He got quite a bit of candy cause we went to Main St. and did the business Trick or Treating that they usually do. It was so crowded that it was almost like a small scale New York City. I told Max that that was how it was in NYC and he just couldn't believe me esp the part where I told him that the sidewalks are wider and yet still full and that the pedestrians CAN and WILL stop ALL traffic because there are so many ppl crossing.

I haven't been posting because I have been playing Puzzle Pirates. They had a REALLY fun Halloween competition and I was busy working on getting the biggest prize which is the Overstuffed Pillowcase of Candy and I got it after working on it for most of the week leading up to Halloween! Then I even got proof that I got the Trophy so that no one could say that I didn't cause not too many pirates got this trophy.