Let us give Thanks

Well, I can't lie, I am really looking forward to the 2-day work week coming up. I have never had the Wednesday before Thanksgiving off! I'm also really looking forward to family, food and Friday! Black Friday that is...great deals, long lines. Patience and perseverance required. This year, Miss Baleigh gets to make the trip out to the early morning frenzy. She is really pumped! As soon as we get some Starbucks hot chocolate in her, she'll be good to go. I did warn her that it will be dark and people will be psychotic:)

Here is what we do in the evenings in the winter - Dance Dance Revolution. It's great exercise and it's fun. We will be graduating up to Wii Fit this winter! WooHoo! I have heard that it is really cool. It weighs you everyday, does your BMI, and graphs it all! It has yoga, strength training, aerobics, and balance games. Cool stuff.

On Friday, the Powder Puff Victory video and pictures finally appeared on our school's website. The video begins with the juniors vs seniors game with the faculty vs seniors game following. It may bore some of you to tears, but the pictures depict the fun AND the seriousness of the competition. Good times peeps, good times. Here is the link http://www.cchs165.jacksn.k12.il.us/

Saturday night, I got to hang with 3 of my classmate buddies. Kathy, friend since first grade, hosted the gathering at her house. She just had her third child, A.J., last April. He is soooo sweet. He pretty much provided the entertainment for the evening. We had a great time, catching up and laughing at the past.

Now, let me be sappy for a minute as we prepare for our great Thanksgiving feastssss, let us all remember and be grateful for the many blessings in our lives. Number one on my list of thanks, is that my family and I remain healthy and safe. We have been very blessed and I pray for us to continue to travel safely and remain healthy - happiness is up to ya'll:)

I look forward to the memorable moments with the fam over the holidays.

Have a very happy Thanksgiving everyone! I love you!

PPuff Power!

I apologize again for having technical difficulties! I have had a horrible time coordinating my pictures with my text. Although you may not find it as enjoyable, somewhere in here there are pictures to go along with my text. I even called two of our bloggers to get technical support today because I am so tired of this battle. I am declaring this the last time that I blog on my laptop. This HAS to be the prob!

This may sound crazy to some of you, but I had one of the best times of my life last Thursday! I got to play on the Faculty Powder Puff team! It totally ROCKED! It was straight outta "Friday Night Lights", "Remember the Titans", We Are Marshall", oh, I could go on people! And, lucky for you, it was filmed. I will add the link as soon as the video is downloaded onto our school website. There will also be action photos for your viewing pleasure. I will be available for autographs after Thanksgiving dinner :) Dan coached us to the victory over the senior girls, who were quite vicious! They were sooooo mad that they were losing to us, that they pulled out all the stops, including wrapping their flags so that we couldn't pull them! Luckily, one of our math teachers saw them doing it and told the officials. Those dirty dogs , pun intended (it was muddy and we're all the TERRIERS - haha!!), were penalized for that little charade. Anyway, I think one of the reasons I had so much fun was because I got to meet and bond with some women that I will probably be friends with forever. The victory was a true team effort and I was fortunate enough to be the quarterback. What a blast! The ages of our teammates ranged from 24 to 56! The 56-yr-old played EVERY down!

Here is a cell phone pic of my friend Michelle and me celebrating with the team at Buffalo Wild Wings after the game. Michelle is our team captain! After our victory and some confidence-building, celebratory beers, we made plans for our faculty basketball, volleyball, and softball teams. Bring it on girls! LOL! It's all fun 'til someone gets hurt :)

On to other "sports", Baleigh bought some Heely's and within 3 days she became a master. She has been wanting them since early summer. We found them at the Foot Locker Wednesday night. The first night she had them, she could skate about a foot at a time. Now, she can go the length of of our driveway and down to the neighbor's house.

As we prepare for The Great Thanksgiving, it's difficult to ignore the Christmas decorations popping up in the stores. Baleigh has been slowly dragging out some of our decor. This is the Christmas therapeutic box, much like Lindsey's sand box she used to have on her coffee table at her apartment on the canal.

Here are Baleigh and Sadie passed out in our bed. I found them this way last Sunday night and had to capture the moment.

Lastly, Baleigh and I got to hang out with Krista Friday afternoon! Krista and I went on a tour of John A. Logan College and then we picked Bay up from school and went to O'Charley's for supper. Krista really liked JALC and may be transferring down here next semester!

Have a great week everyone!

Welcome November!

Word is that November is going to be unseasonably warm! Then I say, Welcome November! There were some yucky days toward the end of October that made me get my winter coat out! and I don't like that (use your Forrest Gump voice for the "I don't like that").

Our weekends have been pretty crazy lately. Last weekend, after our final football game of the season, we (Dan, Lori, Baleigh, & Sadie) left Carbondale at 6:30 am alnd 55 degree warmth to head to Taylorville (42 degrees) to watch Kaid play in the sophomore football game. Kaid played a great game. We eventually thawed out. Then, we headed to Effingham for a volleyball party at our friends Mark and Donez' house. We visited with Lindsey and met the cute little Lady Bonnie Stevenson at Ma-Ma's. Sunday, Baleigh and I had breakfast with Lindsey. Then Dan and I had lunch with Jensin, Kaid, and Dan's mom and dad. With our bellies full, we headed back to Cdale in time for homework and Sunday night football.

Tuesday, Baleigh's flag football season ended. Wednesday, Baleigh created this wonderful halloween house and finished carving her pumpkin.

Friday night Baleigh and I went Trick or Treating with Elissa and her mother, Jill. Baleigh was Lady Liberty again because no one in Carbondale has seen that sweet costume yet. Elissa was an 80's Diva Girl, or what I called a "valley girl" - haha. Elissa spent the night and the girls exchanged candy. Saturday morning, I took the girls to Elissa's house and Dan and I met Kaid at Cahokia, where Effingham played their first round playoff game. It was a beautiful 75 degree day, but Effingham ended its season with a 40- 8 loss to Cahokia. Afterward, we travelled to Effingham to watch Jensin's volleyball team win the regional championship against Mattoon. They play in the sectional against Waterloo at Salem Tuesday night. Dan and I ended up driving back home to Carbondale Saturday night to complete an approximate 350 mile day trip without leaving the state of Illinios. Wowzers. Good thing we got that extra hour of sleep last night:)

This week is going to be another crazy one and I promise to bring my camera!