Savings I Experienced Grocery Shopping Today

(this is dedicated to Kerry)
1. $1 Off Organic Valley Cheese
2. $1 Off Organic Valley Butter
3. $1 Off Nasoya Tofu
4. $1 Off Food Should Taste Good Chips
4. 75cents Off 365 Brand Pasta Sauce
5. $2 Off Gardein strips
6. Chex Mix coupon...don't remember
7. Saved 50cents at Whole Foods for bringing my own bags
8. Odwalla Juice Smoothies were 2 for $4, so we stocked up
9. Apples were 1/2 price
10. 75cents off Buttermilk Biscuits
11. $1.50 Off Gorilla Munch cereal

My Lazy Day

1. Slept until 11:30

2. Ate lunch- Gardein strips and brown rice with cheezy sauce

3. Took a two hour nap

4. Quick run to the grocer

5. Popcorn and movie with the kiddos...The Land Before Time

6. Supper- PBJs and apples for the kiddos, baked sweet potato with greek yogurt, walnuts, and salsa for me

7. Watching the Razorback game on the computer. GO HOGS!

8. Bath and a magazine

Things I Don't Like Thinking About Because They Freak Me Out

1. How telephones work...how do our voices travel along phone lines???

2. Don't even get me started on cell phones

3. Acrobats and Contortionists

4. And, how do radios work?

5. Kidnapping

6. The production of weird foods like Twinkies and Cheese Puffs and marshmallows

7. The solar system

8. This weird recurring dream/image/daydream I had my whole childhood that years later showed up in a David Gray song

9. How our bodies work...we don't really think, "You have an itchy leg. Okay, brain, make your arm scratch that itch." It just all happens.

10. Airplanes

11. Boats

12. My information that's just out there for anyone to hack into

13. Lady Gaga's meat outfit

14. Those big black round earrings that guys pierce their ears with

15. Okay, and how do TVs work? Clearly I have a problem with any type of technology

Always Room For Cute Little Girl Clothes

1. Little cozy sweater

2. Party dress

3. This whole outfit

4. Dress

5. Love

6. Sweater

7. Puffer Vest

8. Boots

9. Love it

10. Leggins

11. Cool

12. Cute shirt

13. Sweet

14. Forget W, I want these

What I'm Stocking Up On To Brace For The Colder Months

1. Magic Nuudles

2. A beading set

3. Disney/Pixar movies

4. Dried beans (for me to eat:)

5. Root vegetables

6. Tickets to COCA Family Theatre Series shows

7. Blocks

8. Fingerpaints

9. Dance music

10. Frozen fruit

11. Musical instruments

12. Snuggly socks and slippers

13. Max and Ruby episodes

14. Stickers

15. Bath toys

16. Pasta to dye

17. Snowsuits and snow boots

18. Yummy recipes to try

What I've Managed To Do Today Despite My WHINY Children

1. Clean all of the glass tables

2. Clean the kitchen

3. Make some lentils

4. Do 4 loads of laundry

5. Take a shower

6. Do all the dusting

7. Watch the Today Show and The Best Thing I Ever Ate

8. Unload the dishwasher

9. Straighten up the bathroom

Updated Celebrity Crushes

(to accompany this previous one)

1. Fred Savage

2. Bob Harper

3. Matt Lauer

4. Should say Taylor Kitsch, but I will insist only on Tim Riggins

5. Tyler Florence

6. Tom Colicchio

What's For Lunch At Our House

1. Gardein strips

2. Brown rice

3. Pumpkin puree

4. Lentils

5. Salad

(Debatably) Interesting Things I Know

1. I can recite the states in alphabetical order pretty quickly.
2. I can name many of the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders.
3. I remember many of my childhood friends phone numbers.
4. Psalm 62
5. I had a strange obsession with the stages of mitosis when I was younger. I still go over them from time to time.
6. I know almost every word of the movie "My Best Friend's Wedding."
7. I memorize license plate numbers of the cars in front of me and recite them keep them in my memory for a while for some reason.
8. I remember most of the people's addresses who came to our wedding.
9. I remember what everyone gave me as a wedding gift.
10. I can say the Greek alphabet really fast (thank you DBS)
11. In the 6th grade, I knew all the capitols of every country in the world.

Appearance Changes

1. Trying to let my hair be more natural- not as much straightening, letting it just be curly or wavy

2. Using my Chi straightener to tame the frizz

3. No more nail biting. This is really hard for me...I'm trying so hard. Even painting them to keep them out of my mouth.

4. Also attempting to not wear make-up. I will always wear mascara, and I need to put something under my eyes to mask my huge dark circles. They are not from a lack of sleep...I've had them since I was little.

Why I Don't Drink Coffee

1. It tastes disgusting, mostly.

2. I would not want one more thing (coffee maker) on my pretty minimal counter.

3. I hate the breath that it gives people.

4. It would be too tempting to always stop by Starbucks and pay $5.00 for a coffee. It does not cost anywhere near that to make a coffee drink. Highway robbery.

5. I have no room in my cabinets for coffee cups.

6. I have no room in my budget for coffee beans.

7. I feel as if there is a 30 second window between when the coffee is too hot to drink and when the coffee is too cold to drink. I wouldn't want to drink a coffee in 30 seconds.

8. I wouldn't like it just black, and I hate to drink my calories.

9. I was behind someone on the road today that had a bumper sticker that said, "Watch out...I haven't had my coffee." I would never want to be that person.

10. I avoid caffeine.
11. At Kanakuk work week one summer, a girl I was raking with kept numbering about "needing her coffee" or "needing her Starbucks." It was like 90 degrees outside. It makes people crazy.

Movie Sequel Trivia From The Today Show This Morning

1. The highest grossing animated movie sequel is "Toy Story 3."

2. The 6 Harry Potter films have made more money than the 22 James Bond films put together.

3. "The Godfather: Part II" was the first movie sequel to ever contain a number in the title.

4. Renee Zellweger gained 30 pounds to reprise her role in "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason."

5. Carey Mulligan plays the daughter of Michael Douglas' character Gordon Gekko in "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps."

I found this to be completely uninteresting, but I've got nothing else

What's On The Counter Right Now

1. Panini press- it's A's new thing

2. My dirty lunch dishes

3. Laptop

4. Cloth napkin

5. Sugar pumpkin

6. Container of muffins

7. Yesterday's mail

8. 9 apples

9. Fruit basket with the following:

10. 2 avocados

11. A spaghetti squash

12. 2 cloves of garlic, waiting to be roasted

13. 3 sweet potatoes, waiting to be made into fries

14. 8 bananas

15. 2 googly eyes

Right Now

1. Eating a bowl of cereal...Kashi Go-Lean Crunch mixed with Uncle Sams mixed with Nature's Path Blueberry Cinnamon something
2. Watching R eat his breakfast...O's and a banana
3. Telling Puddy to stop begging for food
4. Freezing
5. Listening to "Home" by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
6. Needing a shower
7. Remembering my dream last night...I was in high school and in Beauty Review, but when I got out on stage, I had one of those t-shirts that made you look like you were wearing a bikini and everyone was boo-ing
8. Thinking about our day. Monday Funday.

What's In Our Bathroom's Top Drawer

1. A comb

2. My contacts case

3. Contact solution

4. Contact cleaner

5. My Alba facial moisturizer

6. A's Crest toothpaste

7. The kid's Tom's fluoride-free toothpaste

8. My tea tree toothpaste

9. My glasses

10. My deodorant

11. A's deodorant

12. R's eczema cream

13. Tweezerman tweezers

Ways My Dad And I Are Alike

1. We both love coconut cream pie

2. We are both practical jokers

3. We are both married to people who do not like practical jokes

4. We love North Face coats and jackets

5. We both have a lot of clothes

6. We love a good breakfast sandwich (PB, smooshed up banana, fruit, cereal/granola)

7. We love Mexican food

8. We are both bad dancers, but think we are good dancers

9. We both appear first to be quiet or shy, but are not really

10. We both desire to eat very healthy

11. Well, we both eat really healthy but love a sweet treat

12. We love history

13. We like things to be nice and organized, even to the point of being anal

14. We both are slaves to our routines

15. We like getting gifts

16. We both love to travel

17. We both love small towns

18. We are both extremely cool

Things I Like To Make In Bulk And Have On Hand For Easier Meal Prep

this is a nod to my sister's vegan blog

1. Homemade veggie burgers

2. Soy Taco or some type of meat alternative crumbles

3. Beans (I like to have a couple types at a time)

4. A grain like quinoa, wheatberries, bulgur wheat, brown rice, etc.

5. Cheezy Sauce from Veganomicon

6. Baked sweet potatoes

7. Cubed watermelon

8. Oatmeal

9. Pancakes

10. Pressed and cubed tofu

11. Beet cookies

Top 10 New Foods At The Arkansas State Fair

(from Serious Eats, if you want to see slideshow photos. Or Little Rock through this weekend if you want to taste)

1. Chocolate Smoochies- battered and deep fried Hershey's Kisses, dusted with powdered sugar

2. Battered and Deep-Fried Hard-Boiled Egg

3. Bacon Bombs- deep-fried cream cheese and bacon served on a stick

4. Cabritas Wraps- goat meat and tomato chunks with barbecue sauce, served in a tortilla

5. Tater Dog- hot dog on a stick inserted into a spiral cut potato

6. Steak Hubcap Sandwich- one pound country-fried hamburger fried steak on a bun

7. Chocolate Cream Cheese Bites- deep-fried milk chocolate and cream cheese, dusted with powdered sugar

8. Beer Butt Chicken- whole chickens roasted over coals on a beer can. Served with the beer can.

9. Cheeseburger on a Stick- just like a corndog, but instead of a dog...hamburger and cheese

10. Giant Cream Puffs- pastries the size of a baby's head with Bavarian cream filling...you can get them chocolate covered (Aaron, that is right up your ally)

Today's To-Do List

1. Go to Wal-Mart, buy Mason jars

2. Go to Banana Republic, exchange shirt

3. Go to grocery store

4. Pick W up from school

5. Make pumpkin bread and cinnamon butter

6. Make my little sister some David Gray and Van Morrison cds

7. Shower

8. Head over to in-laws for dinner

9. Organize bathroom cabinets/drawers

10. Download photos from digital camera

Some Righteous Tunes I Belted Out On My Road Trip Thanks To My Radio's Scan Function

1. Almost Paradise (from Footloose)

2. For A Little While- Tim McGraw

3. The Rhythm is Gonna Get You- Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine

4. Red, Red, Wine- UB40

5. Break It To Me Gently- Brenda Lee

6. I'll Be- Edwin McCain

7. Don't Close Your Eyes- Keith Whitley

8. I Can't Dance- Phil Collins

9. Someday We'll Be Together- Diana Ross and The Supremes

10. Livin' On A Prayer- Bon Jovi

11. Forever Young- Rod Stewart

12. Fool Hearted Memory- George Strait

13. What Might Have Been- Little Texas

14. Sundown- Gordon Lightfoot

15. Fast Car- Tracy Chapman

16. Right Here Waiting- Bryan Adams

17. Love Shack- B52's

18. There She Goes- Sixpence None the Richer

19. I Can't Remember- The Thorns

20. Is This Love- Whitesnake

21. I Want To Know What Love Is- Foreigner

Numbers

1. 2- number of avocados I ate yesterday

2. 116- pounds I weigh

3. 9- pairs of black yoga-style pants I own

4. 14- cardigans hanging in my closet

5. 67- apps on my iPhone

6. 3- trees I'm excited to decorate for Christmas (one little one for the kids, 2 big)

7. 5- times I woke up last night to go to the bathroom

8. 15- months my two children are apart in age

9. 80- dollars of "fun money" I have to spend each month

10. 2- Mason jars in my pantry that have unidentifiable powders/flours/grains (?) in them

11. 14,580- dollars that my favorite private elementary school in STL charges for a year's tuition

12. 4- what I consider my "lucky number"

13. 90- years old my sweet Grandpa is

14. 7- nieces and nephews I have

15. 37- recipes I have bookmarked and am waiting to try

16. 15,500- liters of water it takes to make a kilogram of beef

17. 12- things of my Christmas list so far

18. 13.1- days of music I have in my iTunes library

19. 15- emails in our inbox

20. 10- on a scale of one to ten how much I love Little House on the Prairie

21. 11- number of Leonardo DiCaprio films I love

22. 24- my favorite age that I was

23. 2000-pieces in my puzzle

24. 7- R.E.M. albums I have

25. 40- people in the US who share my name, according to howmanyofme.com

26. 107- million dollars Robin Carnahan's brother got in stimulus dollars for his wind plant (do you think they overplay that commercial or what?)

27. 4- unwatched episodes of "Caprica" we have in our queue

28. 1- surgeries I've had

29. 2- snacks I have each day

30. 32- years I will be old on my next birthday

A Perfect Thanksgiving Dinner For This Vegetarian

1. Stuffin'

2. Mashed potatoes and mushroom gravy

3. REAL cranberry sauce (with a little bit over my stuffing)

4. A big soft roll with honey and butter

5. My mom's broccoli and rice casserole

6. Sweet potatoes (I'm trying a new recipe this year from the whole deal flyer from Whole Foods)

7. Collard greens

8. Pumpkin pie

My Favorite Bravo Stars

1. Bethenney Frankel

2. Jason Hoppy

3. Trace from Flipping Out

4. Brad from Rachel Zoe

5. Jeff Lewis

6. Zoila!

7. Tom Colicchio

8. Gail Simmons

9. The whole Novogratz family

10. Tabatha the hair lady

11. Nina Garcia

Qualities I Especially Dislike In People

1. People with chips on their shoulder

2. Overly defensive people

3. People who have a short fuse/quick to anger

4. When people always think their opinion is fact

5. People who flaunt their intelligence as a way to feel important

6. People who always play the victim

7. People who can't take a joke

This Weekend

1. A's leaving this afternoon for a weekend with his man friends

2. Puddy, W, R, and I are leaving tomorrow after preschool for Branson

3. Dinner and spending time with my brother and his family

4. My whole family and a family we grew up with- reunion in Crane, where I grew up

5. Over to Hurley to see my Grandpa and Grandma Winnie

6. Silver Dollar City on Sunday morning

7. Come home Sunday night or Monday morning...I don't know

The Recent Text History Between Me And My Neighbor

1. Me: It was in the fridge

2. Her: Oh good! Thank you so much for checking!

3. Her: Do you have my baby monitor?

4. Me: Yes. I have had it lying here for a week.

5. Her: Oh good bc I have been trying to find it for a week! Sorry Beau must have left it there.

6. Me: Yeah. Linda left it here last week when Beau got home I just turned it off.

7. Me: Are you home this morning?

8. Her: Yes till 1130...what's up? It's just me and Hope.

9. Me: Can we come over later- like at 10? I haven't seen you in forever!

10. Her: Come whenever...door is open!

11. Her: Will you bring me a bread pan when you come?

12. Me: Yes

13. Me: Could you feed the fish?

14. Her: Sure!

15. Her: Do I need to feed the fish today?

16. Me: We are back. You are relieved of all fish duties.

17. Her: Hey...Mom is in town and she brought her Canon camera but forgot the battery charger. Could she borrow yours?

18. Her: How was your trip?!

19. Me: Yes! I'll bring it over in a minute.

20. Her: Hey, my mom needs to get Al, but Hope is sleeping...is there any way you could listen in for her?

21. Me: We're at Forest Park. Sorry

22. Her: Can I borrow some butter?

23. Me: Just saw this! If you need some still- text Andy. He's home.

24. Her: I called him! Thanks, I owe you some butter

25. Her: Hey we are going to the market this morning too! When are y'all going?

26. Me: We're not going anymore bc we are going to the greentree festival in kirkwood.

27. Her: What is that?

28. Me: We'll come by after nap! I'll call you.

29. Me: Are your kids awake?

30. Her: yeah

31. Me: May I borrow your food processor? BTW, Grey's starts tonight!

32. Her: Yes...I am not there, just go grab it. I am so excited. I get home at 930 want to watch it?

33. Me: Sure. Just call me!

34. Me: We're taking the kids to Laf. Park in about half an hour if y'all want to go.

35. Her: Oh, I didn't get your text! Thanks for the invite.

36. Her: We are going to the park around 9, want to join us?!

37. Me: Sure. See you there!

38. Her: Can I borrow an egg?

39. Her: This butter is amazing

40. Her: Do you have a skinny belt I can borrow?

41. Me: No. I only have a thicker brown leather one.

42. Me: I can't figure out tour food processor. Help!

43. Me: Your food processor. Not tour food processor.

44. Me: Got it! Hallelujah!

45. Her: Yeay!!!

46. Me: If you were going to a "business casual" party, what would you wear?

47. Her: Slacks

48. Me: Sometime can we borrow that toy horse that R could ride on? Also, the cinnamon butter=good on sweet potatoes!

49. Her: Yum...need to make some...And I am happy to continue having you make the butter for us, it's just that we go through it so fast you might not be able to keep up.. :)

50. Her: I will have Beau bring home the horse

51. Me: W ate your family (you were biscuit bites today) for breakfast. Baby Hope is always first to go.

52. Her: That is scary.

53. Me: Aren't y'all going somewhere this weekend?

54. Her: I could smell the biscuits this morning in the hallway...yum

55. Her: Iowa

56. Her: Did you taste my soup?

57. Her: I don't like it...need to cook the rutabaga longer

58. Me: It's good! Linda called it a "bowl of health." Works for me!

59. Her: Haha

60. Me: And I agree about the rutabaga

Recent Art Purchases

1. A medium-sized Alicia LaChance painting that is darker than our other ones. Her black flowers, a red block with a navy curve, green flowers, a mustard stripe, and a orange ring over a tarnished black square.

2. An Aaron Hequembourg 2D piece...old hymnal pages on wood salvaged from a cotton gin. It has a plower and horse etched on it. It's definitely not my "style," but I love it.

3. A Nathan Falter, from Springfield Pottery, piece. Black and white container shaped like a trough that has the number 33 painted on the side.

4. A black and white photo of a grasshopper's body from the side. It's been colored with pale green pigment. It's tacked onto a piece of plaster with these old tacks. I wanted it for two months. That's as long as I could wait. The artist, Michael Paul Cole, is resetting it for me, because I did not like the frame he was showing it in.

Right Now

1. I am wearing gray socks, black yoga pants, and a volunteer t-shirt from the St. Louis Art Fair

2. R is a little stuck in Puddy's bed. I'm letting him work it out.

3. W is watching Diego save the baby polar bears

4. Puddy is stalking R because he is holding onto the last bite of his beet cookie

5. It's cold in here

6. I'm listening to Ray LaMontagne...God Willin' & The Creek Don't Rise

7. I'm drinking the last of the orange juice

8. R got out and has moved on to the books and puzzles

9. I need to clean all the glass tables and vacuum the rugs

10. Maybe I'll make some cookies

11. Puddy has seen something outside and is standing at attention at the balcony window door

12. W just told me not to sing so loud

What I Have To Do This Week

1. Clean out my car

2. Pack for SW MO

3. Deep clean the bathrooms

4. Do all of my handwashing

5. Wash my car

6. Get a hair cut

7. Make muffins, lentils, and veggie burgers

8. Find a big piece of cardboard so I can start my puzzle

9. Figure out what I'm going to be for Halloween

How I Stayed Way Up At Blackjack Last NIght

1. A 90-year old taught me the way of the game

2. The dealer liked me

3. My husband's co-worker and I were exchanging/loaning cards

4. The owner of the company was stealing chips and passing them out

5. The dealer would sometimes tell us his secret card

6. If I had a good hand/number/whatever, I would add lots more to my bet

7. My dealer was quoted as saying things like, "You don't want this next card," or "I would just stay right there," and "We're gonna need to burn this one."

This Weekend

1. Zoo this morning with Susannah and some kids

2. Casino night at Andy's office tonight, and the kids spending the night at Grandma and Grandpa's

3. Working at the Shaw Art Fair tomorrow morning-afternoon

4. Over to Kirkwood Saturday night to spend family time with our friends, the Lacinys

5. Sunday morning pumpkin patch with the Reinbergs

6. Church on Sunday night