hmmm.....

Holiday Blues
I know that the holidays are supposed to make you all warm and fuzzy, but seriously, I just really feel like punching someones lights out!!!  This is my freakin' favorite time of the year and crappy things just keep happening!  Here is how I spent my Thanksgiving vaca.....not at all how I'd imagined (it wasn't that bad, I guess I'm exaggerating, but still).

"Forgetful Jones": Why Can't My Child Remember Anything?!?!
So, Ben goes w/his grandparents for Thanksgiving and comes home Friday, minus 1 coat and his brand-new pair of shoes I just got him!!  It gets better...I didn't realize any of this until 8:20am, they leave for school at 8:25.  I was so mad!!  He's 7!!!  He should be responsible enough to bring  home his ONLY pair of school shoes and the ONLY hoodie he has that fits him, but also, why was no one checking to make sure he had everything?!?  I'm on a budget, I can't just go out and buy new shoes and coat at the drop of a hat- especially considering that not even 1 month ago, he got the shoes, shirts and jeans!  So, yeah, I called grandma about 9am, to try to arrange a meeting to get back Ben's things. I STILL haven't heard back....
**it's now 7:19pm and I have YET to hear from grandma about his stuff.....typical.
**he has shoes and a hoodie.  I found a pair of basketball shoes I bought him years ago but were too big - they fit now & the hoodie is just his "winter" one - lined with wool & kinda hot, but still...

Thanksgiving With The Family: Why Do I Think It'll Be Different Every Year?!?
I spent Wednesday evening sifting, stirring, breaking, mixing and baking pies!  This was the first time I've ever made pies, let alone homemade pies!  They all turned out excellent!  I made 2 pumpkin pies, using my mom's recipe (everyone LOVED them), a pecan for my dad and for Karl (which turned out to be everyones 2nd fave), and finally, I made chocolate delight; a chocolate, cream cheese, cool whipped and graham cracker crumb crust made into the most heavy, delicious thing ever!  Feast your eyes on these beauties:

Ingredients for my famous
Chocolate Delight

Finished Product
Top: Layers from the side
Bottom: What the top looks like

Pumpkin Pie Ingredients

Pecan Pie Ingredients

Finished Pies!  YAY!!
(yes, those are little pumpkins on the top of the pecan's crust)

But anywho, back to why my Thanksgiving was less-than-stellar.  One word: DAD.  This man who I camped out beside for 2 months straight and put my life on hold to nurse back to health for did NOTHING but bad-mouth my pies "I hate pecan pies - they're way too sweet!" (I made it especially for him, I've never even had a pecan pie - my grandmother made them for dad every year, I thought I was doing something nice for him, guess not)!  He went out of his way to stick in nasty comments every so often (like "nobody cares what your blood pressure is" when the ENTIRE house was taking theirs on his BP cuff)!  Then, he made sure he sprinkled in a few choice comments about how I was "evil" and shit like that...It WAS a fun day, don't get me wrong, but for once, just once, I would love it if my dad wouldn't treat me like a freaking murderer!!  I love that man so so much.  I just WISH he'd love me back (or at least pretend for the freaking day)!!

Black Friday Shopping: Not For Me!!
While most of you across the country were waiting in line for days, some of you "smart" shoppers even braved the elements and camped out for weeks leading up to the biggest shopping day of the year, while I slept in!  I DID, however, go out to buy one very important thing for the holidays:  Car Insurance!  I'm such a middle-aged mom!!  I was actually excited to get it outta the way!  What a responsible adult!  Seriously, I would've LOVED to hit the mall, outlets and shops, but I'm on a very limited budget and have to watch every penny.  So, in a way, black Friday sucked too.  I miss having money, but LOVE being a stay-at-home mom....it's sooo worth it!

The Blog: Really Wondering If I Should Continue???
The last time I posted was almost a week ago.  Why?  You might ask, well, because of the lack of participation.  Guess how many of you entered the cupcake contest?  The same number of you that entered the Outfit of the Week contest and all the others......a big, fat 0!  I have held multiple contests and have had so many open-forum styled posts, asking for feedback, comments, participation, etc.  Plenty of you have read it, many of you from all around the world! I HAVE gotten feedback, it's all been super-positive, but, I guess that I thought it would be a bigger deal than it is.  It's a HUGE deal to me, I love this, but, shit.....it takes up a lot of my time I could be using to spend with my family or whatever.  So, I really don't know.  Maybe I'll give up, maybe I won't.  

Peace, Love & Light,
Katie