10 ON TUESDAY! (if by Tuesday, you mean Wednesday)

Well well well.  Did we all survive Thanksgiving '11?  Hope so.  We went to my BFF's house on Turkey Day.  I am kind of a holiday orphan, my mom and her husband don't really do anything (I guess if I was a halfway decent daughter I'd put on a spread over at their house but we can get into the issues I have with that idea a little bit later), and of course the father/daughter relationship between Dad and me is still pretty rocky.  So it was off to my friend's house for me and the kids.  Great food (she could make a sock taste good, for reals), lots of kids, lots of wine and lots of laughs.  My only complaint (sorry Michelle, you know I love you!!) was NO PIE!!!  I made pumpkin bars (thank god) but there was no pie, pumpkin or otherwise.  One of my fabulous co-workers made me a sweet potato pie that I will inhale get from her on Thursday. Drooling just thinking about it.

Anyhoo.  On with the 10.

1.  I wish I could figure out how to remove songs from my iPod (I know it's like I just admitted I can't read, but whatever).  I have a massive amount of vagina music on there, from my maudlin "I'm all out of love" post-divorce phase (lots of Maroon 5, Coldplay, Kelly Clarkson, etc.  God help me.).  And yes, tons of Alanis Morisette but I kind of still like her.  One of my kids should be able to help me but they just laugh when I ask how to do it.

2.  I.am.OBSESSED.  With Walking Dead.  Do you watch?  The mid-season finale was on Sunday night, and yes, I wept a little.  No spoilers from me, but can you say "A mommy's worst nightmare?".  And then I had a zombie nightmare, where I was literally fighting them off.  Probably didn't help that I had two growing boys in bed with me, along with an 80 lb. dog.  In my dreams I was ripping legs and arms off of zombies, in reality I was being poked and hit and kicked by flailing kid limbs.  Hmm...maybe it wasn't zombies in my dream, after all.  Cannot wait for the show to start back up in February.  I have now read most of the comics (excuse me, "graphic novels", apologies to my geek friends especially Jeff), so it's hard to watch knowing what is coming, but they've changed things up a bit so ya never know.  And may I also add, meowwwww Daryl!  Redneck never looked so good.  Hope they keep him alive (and human).

(and yes, I did just tell all 16 of you that my boys slept in my bed.  And I'm ok with that.  Just don't give them crap about it, Walking Dead really is scary.)

3.  So I've picked up some extra hours at work, in the Sibling Care room for the Early Childhood Classes on Mondays.  That means I get to play with, hold and LOVE some adorable babies.  The two youngest ones are about 8 months old, and I adore them.  But I will say, the sheer enormity of how AWARE you have to be around little ones had completely left my train of thought.  I will also say, it's amazing how quickly your body remembers how to do everything with a sweet baby on your hip.  But I won't lie:  it sure is nice to hand them over to mommy when they are sobbing or stinking.

4.  Read labels, people.  Last week I mistakenly bought SHAVED parmesan cheese instead of the usual shredded.  You'd think I was trying to put flakes of human skin on the spaghetti.  My kids are usually pretty flexible but not a one of them will eat this stuff.

5.  So I may be going to the (say this in a haughty British accent, please) THEATRE with Cabin Boy this Thursday.  I'm pretty sure I've already hinted around to some of my hens about being my date, but I'm hoping they'll understand if he can go.  Dinner and a show could turn into dinner and a show with benefits!  Not that I don't enjoy the company of my lovely friends but come on...I could use a little Cabin action. He had invited me over for dinner Monday, but Henry had a choir concert.  I'm still leery about getting together here in "Real World" as opposed to the fantasy world that is "Up North".  Up North is like the midwestern version of Vegas:  what happens there, stays there.  Unless you write about it on a blog.   

6.  Took the boys to see "Real Steel" last week, and if you have boys (or like to see Hugh Jackman in a wife-beater) I highly recommend it.  I don't particularly care for boxing/wrestling/fighting movies but this one was good.  On the way home, William declared it as "the best movie I've seen in my whole life".  That's high praise.  It took a lot of effort (ok not really but the thought did cross my mind) to not just drop them off at Real Steel and then park my big butt over in the theater showing "Contagion".  Guess that will be a Red Box feature. 

7.  Molly and I are watching "Wife Swap" right now.  Dear God, it's like a car wreck.  One of the wives on right now is one of those reborn doll people.  Like they carry these eerily life-like baby dolls around and treat them like real babies.  I can't look away.  Have you ever seen these dolls?  Take a look here.  But be warned:  they are creepily real looking, and the way some of these chicks write about their "babies" (like birth weights, sleeping habits, etc) may send some serious chills down your spine.  Wife Swap is never what you'd call highbrow but the reborn doll lady and the Loozeeanna backwoods husband made this one particularly horrifying.

8.  So I am now preparing to sell my truck and get a new ride.  Yes, I'm still feeling aftershocks of hurt and bitterness over the "mom offering me her vehicle and then selling it" thing.  I know, I know, grow up Jenny.  But I'd be a big fat liar if I said it didn't still sting a little.  However, the truck needs to go.  I have pumped over $100 worth of gas into that beast over the past 9 days and it's almost on E again.  During the other 10 1/2 months of the year it's hard to see those dollar signs going into the gas tank, but at this time of year as I stand there at the pump and watch the dollars increase all I can think of is "There's another Christmas present, and another, and another".  The only rub with selling my vehicle will be the interim period between vehicles.  Too bad there isn't a Car Swap show, huh?

9.  Tonight, I'm taking my 8 confirmation girls out shopping.  We do this every year, our church buys new gifts for a local Youth Center.  They have a big shopping day where "disadvantaged" youth can buy Christmas presents for their families (the center marks everything for like 25 cents a piece).  It's one of my favorite things we do at confirmation, and the girls LOVE it.  We go to Big Lots (a giant store with closeout things, lots of random stuff which is perfect for our mission) and then go get ice cream afterwards.  There's irony for ya, huh?  Me, crapping my pants worried about Christmas, going out shopping for other people.  But (and I'm not being sappy here) you cannot believe how fun it is, watching these 14 year old girls doing something like this, for strangers.  Henry is going with his confirmation class, too, and even though we're strapped I will make sure he has $$ for this.  You can't put a price on the warm fuzzies this shopping trip produces. 

10.  Hug a teacher.  (ok, if you know a homeschooler, hug them too)  Underpaid, overworked, dealing with 25-30 distinct, sometimes frustrating personalities.  If there was fairness in this world, teachers would get doctor-like salaries.  A good teacher is probably one of the greatest things a child can have.  My kids have all benefited from several of them, and I am eternally grateful for that!

Enjoy your Wednesday, people!  And check out Lin's awesome blog for more Ten on Tuesdays (except she always does hers on actual Tuesdays).