Thanksgiving at Sundance

This year (yet again) we had a fabulous Thanksgiving feast at the Sundance Resort. I will not admit to how many trips I made to the buffet table. I did partake of the expected food...turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, butternut squash, and Diet Coke with lemon. However, this year the wonderful chef included the breakfast fare. So, I indulged in blueberry cream cheese filled french toast and yummy, crispy, bacon. I totally stayed clear of the salad table. Who wants salad on a day like today (or any day for that matter)? The desserts were divine, I had an undisclosed amount of sugary sensations. When we finally rolled out of the restruant, we strolled around the grounds at Sundance trying to burn a few calories. The only snow that has fallen is all man-made, but the kids had a great time playing in it.

Upon arriving home, I was shocked to see a holiday monstrosity. Someone (who will be very sorry) put the inflated tackiness in our front yard where the whole world could see it, while we were enjoying our Thanksgiving feast. I had my husband and son immediately remove it from the premises. We are now holding it hostage. The culprit/Holiday Bandit will be forced to turn him/herself in.

The old quiver chin trick

So it is over, Dancing with the Stars has announced the newest winner. While watching the final dances I saw Lance mess up a few times in his dance and Warren appeared to do the same. Then it was Brooke's turn. I wondered to myself if she was going to pull thru or buckle under the pressure like the other two. Brooke and Derek chose to do a waltz instead of something that was full of energy and excitement. The waltz was really nice and I didn't see any obvious errors with my untrained dancing eyes.

Once the dance was over I thought to myself that Brooke did a really good job and was feeling really good about Brooke's chances of winning. She has been getting my vote this season so of course I am probably biased in that opinion. And then, there it was. The camera closed in tight. It had to at least be a 15 second shot. Brooke's fiance, David Charvet, had the quiver chin. I lost it. I started to giggle at the quiver chin because I thought to myself that he stole my look.

This is the look I still give my mom when I want to comically annoy her. She gets irritated with me and just says to stop it. Sometimes she likes me to show the quiver chin to others when their kids through a tantrum or try pouting and she says that my sad face is much better.

So Brooke, I'm sure that your man's quiver chin was a ploy for a last minute sympathy vote but if it was or wasn't in the end you are the winner! Congratulations!!

Go into the light, Carol Anne

I’m back from sunny California and back to chilly Utah. It is so hard to come back into reality after you have spent a few days at the happiest place on earth (minus my bickering children). As I walked around Disneyland, I noticed how many different lighting fixtures they had. I LOVE lighting fixtures, you could even call it a fetish (but only if they are cute)! I know I didn’t even come close to getting pictures all of them, but I hope you will enjoy the ones that I did capture.

Thursday Quiz - well, it's a question this week

When growing up in Kansas we ate dinner with whatever family was within an hour’s driving distance but I also remember a girl from Japan joining us one year. Then there was the family from Tonga. It was fun teaching them about the holiday and learning about their culture’s holidays. Then there were those good family friends that we invited over to join us so that they would not be alone for the holiday. But my mother reminds me of when my brother and sister and I were just small kids and my kind, loving father would invite people over for dinner that they didn’t even know. My mom would feed them and these guests would fall asleep on the floor watching football with my dad. She was a little nervous to let us play around people that she knew nothing about but the people came, ate, slept, and then went on their way.

I wouldn’t say that my family is steeped in tradition but the meal itself is pretty basic with the roasted turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, yams, pumpkin pie, etc. When I lived in Louisiana I learned about turduken. If you don’t know what that is well you stuff a chicken inside of a duck and that goes inside of a turkey. This is what I would call untraditional food. I never tried it but I heard that it was really good.

So the Thursday quiz/question is: How do you celebrate Thanksgiving? Are you traditional or untraditional? Do you eat only roasted turkey or do you fry it? Do you eat steak instead of turkey? Let us know and give us some fresh ideas.

Fun pics

Greetings from sunny California! The weather is so warm (as in t-shirts & shorts). It's a big difference coming from wintery Utah. The Christmas decorations are up and looking fabulous. Most of the pictures for today's post were taken in New Orleans Square, also known as the French Quarter. One of my favorite spots to wander around. I love Disney's attention to detail!

Joys of the season

I love this time of year. The leaves have changed and the gold and red colors seem to be so vibrant against the drab brown of the mountains. Sadly, the trees in the mountains have lost most of their leaves but to drive around the valley I can still catch some of those amazing colors.

I used to not like to wear sweaters. They felt so bulky and scratchy but in the last couple of years I have grown to love them. When I lived in New Orleans I had a gray sweater that I wore just about every day. It has since gone away but I would love to get a comfy sweater like that one but without the holes that seemed to have found their way to Old Gray. But now, when I leave for work in the morning I have to have a sweater on because the brisk air touches my skin of my face and gives that great shock to my body to remind me that I am still alive and the sweater gives me that bit of warmth that keeps me comfortable.

Autumn makes me want to sleep in and never get out of bed. I want to drink hot chocolate and the yummy spiced cider from Starbucks. Fortunately, I have a family that I love to spend time with so the holidays are always filled with family. I love to find out which family members will be coming to Thanksgiving because even though we live minutes to a couple of hours from each other it seems like the day will be more enjoyable with more people there.

What I don’t like about this time of year is that spiders seem to show up inside my home. I wouldn’t say that I have a fear of spiders but I feel that we have this understanding: you stay away from me and I won’t kill you. When I lived at home I used to make my sister kill them but I haven’t been able to abuse those services for quite a while. A few years ago I was watching TV while sitting on my oversized chair. I don’t know what made me do it but I looked over the armrest and saw the biggest spider that I had ever seen inside of a home. It had to have been 2 to 2-1/2 inches across. My heart started racing and I had to take a moment to plan my attack. I thought to myself that I could use the vacuum but then I realized that he would likely clog the vacuum hose and that would not be acceptable. There was NO WAY I was going to step on it because I could imagine hearing his exoskeleton body cracking under foot. Then it came to me, I had spider spray! I jumped up and ran to get it. I think I used half of the can of spray on that guy and he wouldn’t die but just ran from me. Finally he started to convulse and then flipped over and died. I had to sit there for another hour or so with the can of spray just in case he came alive to try one last attack like at the end of a horror movie. I hate spiders.

Pure delight

Since arriving home from Paris about a month ago, I’ve been on a quest to find chocolate croissants like we had every day for breakfast. I finally found some that are flakey perfection from Williams-Sonoma online. They are made by pastry chef Jean-Yves Charon. They arrive frozen & you let them thaw overnight. The smell of them baking in my oven is heaven on earth. And of course they had to be enjoyed on Apilco porcelain with a nice cup of hot chocolate.

http://www.williams-sonoma.com/

Secret agent man

In honor of the new James Bond flick coming out tomorrow.

Is James Bond a sex addict or just a slut. Please feel free to elaborate.

Ding, ding, ding…..BONUS QUESTION: Who is your favorite Bond?

It's starting to get good

That’s right, Maurice Green & Cheryl Burke were voted off Dancing With The Stars this week.

* Which couples do you think will be competing in the finals?

* Who is your favorite celebrity and/or professional dancer?

* Which professional dancer would you like to “train” with?

* And which dance would you perform together?

A large popcorn, Diet Coke, & Butterfingers, please

Changeling, Starring: Angelina Jolie

Rating: Excellent

Favorite things: Angelina's hair, clothes, hats, and her home.

Surprising element: John Malkovich's teeth, hair, and entertaining wardrobe.
I was worried this movie would be scary but it wasn't (unless you are talking about the jerk policemen that were working in Los Angeles during the 1920s). There are some disturbing scenes but nothing so graphic that I had to close my eyes. For those of you who don't know the story, it is the true story of Christine Collins and due to her horrible experiences with the police department; laws were changed in the police department. She was a very courageous woman.

Here's a link to watch the trailer http://www.changelingtrailer.com/

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Role Models, Starring: Paul Rudd, Seann William Scott, and Jane Lynch

Rating: Fabulously Raunchy

Favorite things: The Kiss make-up & costumes, new dirty words/phrases, Whispering Eye, and everything about Sweeny (which was mostly disgusting, yet funny).

Surprising/disappointing element: I was happy to see Seann William Scott in the nude, until the camera panned to his bum. Very disappointed, very flat, not at all what I imagined.

This movie was great for mindless entertainment. I didn’t have to explain anything to my dear husband (who I ALWAYS have to explain thinking movies to). The only bummer (no pun intended) was the awkward boobie/sex scenes while sitting next to our neighbor friends. Needless to say, we all looked straight ahead during those parts. And to answer your next question, no, the boobies were not nice to look at (flapjacks & fried eggs).

Check out the trailer: http://www.rolemodelsmovie.com/site.html#/videos/

Thursday Quiz

Is it more embarrassing to burp in public, to fart in public, or to walk around with your fly open?

Monica said: I pick farting. Because you can’t tell if it will be loud or stinky. You can swallow a burp. There is nothing to see if my fly is open because I am a female (no embarrassing floppy parts).

Kim said: I like burping so that is not embarrassing to me, unless it is a surprise burp. I think it is funny when people have their fly open, not really embarrassing. It would be embarrassing if the person didn't have underwear on. The worst thing that could happen would be to fart in public. I don't come from a family that farts a lot. We even get frustrated with my mom's dog when he farts. I hate farts.

Potty thoughts

This license plate cover inspired some questions.
1. What kind of person drives around with this on their car?
2. When home alone, do you shut the door when you use the bathroom?
3. Do you replace the toilet paper roll immediately?
4. Do you like the toilet paper roll over or under?
5. Do you put down the toilet seat lid?

Monica said:
1. A crazy, poop obsessed person.
2. Shut, a robber could be in the house.
3. Yes
4. Over, then I can fold the ends in a cute triangle.
5. Yes, because a rat, snake, or squirrel could get in the sewer and then appear in my toilet. And if the lid were up, it would escape into the house at night when I’m sleeping.

Kim said:
1. A person that wears Depends
2. Yes but get concerned when I realize that the front door is not locked
3. Yes
4. Over
5. No, I don’t want any mishaps when I’m up during the night and my eyes are still closed.

Sweaty palms & tears

Over the weekend I was looking through a high school yearbook. While laughing at the really bad hair in some of the pictures, I saw a picture that brought back a horrible memory. It was my senior year and I was taking a Family Life class. You know the class I am talking about, it is supposed to help you prepare for life after high school but in reality is just a joke class that you screw around in.

During the year we had to fake marry one of our classmates. I don't know why this was necessary and I don't remember that there were any specific assignments to this fake marriage but I will share what I do remember.

Our crazy teacher invited some non-denominational minister to come to our class to talk to us about the importance of marriage and how he helps couples understand what a commitment marriage really is. I remember thinking to myself, "Yeah, I've heard all of this before."

Then came the actual fake ceremony that our entire class was going to participate in. There was a guy for every girl and so the teacher had each of us matched up with someone in the class. I remember thinking this will be kind of fun and luckily he was someone that I thought would be kind of fun to fake marry.

Then the horror began, the teacher said that we were going to start but that some of the classmates had invited their parents to come and witness the fake marriage. I thought to myself, "What loser would have their parents come to watch a fake marriage?" Apparently, my fake fiancée invited his mother to witness the farce. I swallowed and thought to myself that this is no big deal. Then when the "ceremony" began my future-fake-mother-in-law started to cry. I started to question if this whole thing was really fake. My future fake husband had total shaky hands and sweaty palms when he tried to put the fake wedding band on my finger. I really was getting nervous. Thank goodness I didn't have to kiss him. This was starting to freak me out too much. Needless to say, we didn't talk after that experience and I am still single. Sigh.

Let us know if you have any horror stories from high school that might have scarred you for the rest of your life.

Pics from Paris

Hope you enjoy these pics of Paris.