Rub a Dub Dub, Thanks for the Grub! Yeah God!

Have I suddenly turned blasphemous? Nope. It's the prayer my dad offers every holiday before we eat. (I promise I don't make this stuff up) I really do love my family, and I am never bored! EVER! Thanksgiving was good this year. Especially since I decided to give myself the day off my diet and eat carbs. I just can't resist the stuffing (especially as I made it) a recipe from my grandmother that goes a little something like this:

Take 1 loaf of bread and tear into small pieces
Mix with one egg
Fry in skillet with oil and butter and salt until brown
Place fried bread in a pan and cook in oven until slightly toasted but still moist.

It's deeee licious! You can add veggies or onions or whatever if you want to, but we don't it's pretty good the way it is. In fact one year we didn't make enough and there was almost a mutiny. So this year we made 3 loafs! Better to have too much than not enough I guess. I'm back on the wagon now so no more carbs (until Christmas). I also do not believe in getting up before dawn to elbow my way into a store to save a few bucks. I slept in and then got a pedicure with my mom. Now THAT is a happy holiday! :)

PS here are some things I am thankful for:
My family! They have always been so good to me. I am sure they think I am crazy but they still love me and let me live with them (until I grow up) and mom always asks what I want from the grocery store. I finally have gotten to a place where I am happy to take care of them, b/c it's the least I can do to pay them back for taking such good care of me.
My job. I love what I do, I have a great class this year and job security!
The Gospel. I can't count the number of times each day where I realize how blessed I am. I quit counting the tender mercies the Lord has bestowed on me a long time ago. I'm greatful for the knowledge of who I am, where I need to go and how to get there!
Vacations! Less than a month until Christmas break woo-hoo! 2 weeks off hurray!

At last!

It's finally cold enough to light a fire in the fire place! It's supposed to get down to the 40's tonight which is SUPER cold for Tampa! For those of you who read my blog on a regular basis you may remember that when it got cold here a few weeks ago I said I didn't have any long pants. Well I sucked it up and bought some on sale (I am cheap about clothes right now b/c I am hoping that I will keep dropping in size so far I am at 41lbs and counting!) but they were long so I hemmed them and a pair of jeans too! I hemmed them with my trusty old sewing machine purchased while on the mission! :) Ahhh if that sewing machine could talk! Ha! She'd tell you about the ARMY of Elders it took to carry her and the rest of my stuff. I may have a gypsy heart but I pack like a girl scout! I am super proud of my hemming and I'll probably post some pics of me wearing the pants or jeans soon!
On a sadder note it turns out that most of you think I am stubborn! But guess what? I am too stubborn to change! :) Stay warm!

Steadfast

Sssooo my friend Joanna and I have the same realtor. If you are ever looking for a place in Tampa I would highly recommend her. But that's not the point! I guess Joanna and my realtor were talking about what a great gal I am (insert giggle here) and my realtor said that I was very flexible (among the other nice qualities I possess) and that Joanna was very specific about what she wants. (For those of you who are color code fans I am white/blue she is red/blue) Anyways Joanna did not contradict her but she told me that she disagrees. She thinks that I am the stubborn one and she is the flexible one. I am known for being very laid back and she is known for being more aggressive. But what Joanna was referring to is that once my mind is made up about something, short of an act of God I probably won't change my mind. I asked her to give an example (because I can think of lots of times when I have gone with the flow for the sake of peace) and she gave an example of politics. She said that if I had made up my mind about a candidate it wouldn't matter what kind of evidence she presented (she said something about showing me graphs and flip charts) nothing she could do or say would change my opinion. I wouldn't argue (in fact I would probably thank her for her time and sharing) but I wouldn't change either. And she is right about that particular example. I told her that wasn't stubborn that was being steadfast! :) But it did get me to thinking.....am I stubborn? I mean why should I change my mind about a candidate? I like to think I am open minded though. I don't know so I am asking you. Do you think I am stubborn? Lemme know! And don't hold back I can take it! (Besides if I am as stubborn as she thinks I doubt this will change me:) )

Elections

(sigh) I voted. If you know me then you should know who I voted for. Let's just say that I usually cast my vote based on the moral platform and leave it at that. Man I am tired of getting fliers in the mail. And people have been calling the house 2 - 3 times a night to remind us to vote. We don't even pick up anymore. One message told me that they would give me a ride to the voting place if I needed it. My mom got a recorded message from Matt Damon (yes the famous actor) urging her to vote for Barack Obama. I have to say that this election has left a sour taste in my mouth. I feel like if the candidates spent half the time actually doing something about important issues instead of harrassing me by phone maybe the world would be a better place. And please don't get me started on all the money it costs to print and mail those stupid fliers! It costs ALOT of money to print in color and mail the stupid things. And what do we do with them? We throw them away! What a waste. Both candidates day they are going to change things for the better. But both are just conducting business as usual. And don't even get me started on the "unbiased" media. Why does everyone believe what they see on TV? I'm over it. Let's just hope the next president doesn't jack up out country!

Fall Back!

Can it really be November already? Seriously where does the time go? We had a cold snap here last week. It actually got down to the 40's at night which for Tampa this time of year is record breaking cold! It turns out I don't really have any long pants! :) But I do have long skirts so I was OK. :) Halloween was anti climatic. (thank goodness) We didn't make a big deal out of it at school so the kids were fairly normal. I did make them goodie bags and they made these cool spiders too so at least we got to have a little bit of fun. I am officially done with my Saturday class! Woo-hoo! It really wasn't that bad, but I hate giving up Saturdays. And my after school club on blogging and desktop publishing is going VERY well. The kids are really enjoying it and so am I. I am taking them on a field trip to the apple store in a few weeks. I thought it would be a fun way to end the club and I get a year of free one on one coaching from a Mac genius. Needless to say I am excited!
I am being observed twice this week in class as part of my new teacher program, but after that is over I can just teach! Who knows maybe things will even calm down? But I doubt it! :) I very much enjoyed the extra hour of sleep on Sunday too! And now it's 6am Monday morning and I'm ready to go! Have a great week!