Healthy Thanksgiving

Hi guys ... just a quick shout out... I'm looking for healthy recipes to take to my parents' house for Thanksgiving. I mean, yes, I could do a google search for recipes... but it would be nice to know what's worked for you.

My mom is cooking the traditional Thanksgiving fare: Turkey, stuffing, pies, some sort of casserole. I'm planning on bringing a sweet bread, rolls, side dish, and a low-calorie dessert.

Any suggestions?

Ahh-Choo

This title reminds me of a funny story that I don't have the energy to write out at this moment...

But really, I'm just whining about having a cold. Again. I had the seasonal flu in mid-September, some sort of virus in mid-October, and now ... early-November brings me a cold. HATE.

I'm trying to be thankful for all of the real blessings in my life ... and not think about my stupid ears, nose and throat.

Not Much to Say ...

This just made me so happy. Hee!

Nathan watched a little too much TV while The Targo was gone. Mostly Sesame Street, but still. He now talks about the characters and talks to them on the phone. It used to be only Elmo. Now, he talks to Oooh-nee (Ernie) ... and other Oooh-nee (Bert).

Happy birthday Sesame Street.

On the Way to Work Today

Nathan is at that point where he talks ALL THE TIME. We hear him over the baby monitor, talking in his sleep. It's usually something about his pacifier (which he calls a "bao" or "bow" ... whatever your phonetic preference is) or a doggy. He talks and talks and talks when we take him for walks, pointing out everything he knows the word for. He now recognizes most uppercase letters, so he gets excited about pointing them out and saying their names too!

Anyway, on the way to work today, he was babbling. I understood about 2/3 of what he was saying. So, I started asking him questions.

"Nathan, who are you going to see today?" He started talking about the letter M or something equally important. Then I rattled off the names of two kids he goes to daycare with. "Are you excited to see X and Y?"

He started clapping and did this "YAY!" thing and said "Anna! Reed!" who are two of the other littles at his daycare. It was just so cute. And yes, I know you had to be there.

Waddle-Waddle

As hard as I tried, I couldn't get him to make a penguin noise. But, he had the waddle down perfectly... he preferred to drive.

From the Abyss

Really? That might be too dramatic. Things have been C-R-AZY. Not a bad crazy, just busy, crazy and okie dokie.

(aside: this post will be full of unnecessary punctuation, sentence fragments, and very likely bad grammar.)

The Targo spent a month traveling for work. Now, it wouldn't have been the biggest deal if it hadn't been to India. And also, the circumstances aren't the greatest. I can't go into that here... but prayers are always appreciated. He's fine and he got to experience some interesting things, but it took a lot out of him.

Like everyone else, my workplace is going through tough economic times. We get regular emails from our HR department asking people to leave of their own volition, lest EVERYONE lose their jobs. Fun stuff.

Despite these stressors, I know how very lucky we are. It's not quite Thanksgiving, but I've realized ticking off little items of gratitude has helped me recently.

• We have a healthy little boy who really enjoyed Halloween ... he was the cutest Penguin. The Targo says he'll upload pictures soon. "Soon" in Targo is like, sometime between now and the next time we change the clocks. I kid. Mostly.
• As for right now, we both have our jobs. Despite the constant threats, we're employed.
• We have a roof over our head. That makes us better off than much of the world. And, we never worry if there's going to be food on our table.
• We have parents who are both involved and concerned. We don't need help now, but if we did I know that they would all do what they could.
• We have amazing friends. While Joe was gone, several people kept me company and had playdates with Nathan and me. Many more simply called or sent "hi, how are you?" emails. While I was fine, I passed the well-wishes onto Joe. It meant a great deal to him.

So... that's about it. My life is pretty boring right now. A little frustrating and stressful, but definitely not enough of a train wreck to make it interesting. Regardless, I've learned that I need to write some of my thoughts out - whether or not they're grammatically correct or cohesive - to keep myself from falling into self-pity. It's pretty awesome to have a little space on the interweb to do that.

On Hiatus

Life = Crazy... I know it's crazy for all of you too. I'm thinking of you people and hope to be back soon!