Or at least a slice of pie.  Whoops.  That would probably defeat the purpose.

You see I made it through the entire holiday weekend without a SINGLE slice of pie.  No pumpkin.  No apple.  Nuttin’.  I didn’t even have any cookies.  Or cake.  Or anything sweet.   Go me!

I didn’t even have any bacon!  Even when a plate full of it sat just inches away from me, I resisted the temptation to grab a slice.

This is pretty major!  I mean, not that long ago, I wouldn’t have thought anything wrong with having a slice of pie for Thanksgiving, another slice the next day, and then another slice the day after that.  Bacon with breakfast?  Of course!  Why not!

Well, the “why not” is that it really isn’t very good for you.  And it’s so easy for me to fall down that slippery slope.  Right now, I want to lose weight and the best way I know how (besides getting more active) is to stop eating things that have too much fat/calories/etc.  This often means I have to cut out things that I truly enjoy.  But I figured if I could make it through Thanksgiving without giving in then I would be on the right track.

And you know what?  It wasn’t really that hard.  No, not really.  Every time I refused a slice of pie, I felt a small sense of accomplishment.  It’s baby steps.  It’s moving in the right direction.  And it’s setting me up for the BIG TIME Christmas season.  I mean, fudge is on the horizon.  I might have to make an exception for a piece of fudge.  But right now, I’m thinking I’ll be able to make it through Christmas and stay on track.

Yeah, I’m almost EXCITED about it.  Go me!

So… I’ve been a little remiss with this here blog.  But November is busy.  Especially with the knitting 24/7 that is going on around here.  But we’ve had birthdays, and there’s Thanksgiving and other social things going down, visits from family, visiting family… Oy.  You get the picture.  I feel something akin to a chicken (turkey?) with it’s head cut off these days.  I have several projects that I want desperately to get done by December.  I don’t think that’s realistically going to happen, but I am hoping to get as much done as I can.

Who knew that a year later, I would be a knitter bogged down with projects?

Anyhow, Thanksgiving is tomorrow (!).  We’re driving down into California to spend the day with some family and then we’re driving to San Jose that evening to stay at my parents’ place for the weekend.   I don’t think we thought the details of this endeavor all the way through as we neither have $ at the moment (we will… eventually!) and we also didn’t consider that we needed someone to watch the dogs.  WHOOPS.   We have it all figured out now, thankfully, but for a minute there I was wondering what the heck our problem was.  It’s almost like, “Oh yeah! We’re going to be gone for several days!  I forgot!”

Lame.

The good thing about not being paid for a few more days is that we won’t be tempted to try to do the Black Friday thing down in San Jose.  To be honest, I was a little nervous about attempting it.   Here in Reno, Black Friday is one thing.  But down in San Jose, it’s something else altogether.  I just don’t think I’m up for it.   Weep not, for Cyber Monday follows and I full intend to take advantage of that to the full extent of my abilities.

So far this year?  Not really feeling it yet.  I hope that happens soon.  So far it’s been stress, stress, stress.  You try to rise above it, but it’s hard when everyone else around you is stressed too.   I’m sure it’ll ease up.   For the moment, however, it’s hard to see beyond obligations, shopping and dollar signs.  I definitely don’t feel as with it as I did last year.  I guess you can’t have it together all the time, right?

So how is everyone else doing with the holidays this year?  Please tell me there is someone out there who is more together than I am.

I can’t believe how quickly this month is passing.  Normally, I’m excited for Christmas to come and anxious for November to be over so we can get to the “good stuff”.  But this year, I wouldn’t mind a few extra days, just to catch up!  There never seems to be quite enough time to finish everything that I would like to get done.

And yes, the blog does suffer.  Perhaps it’s good that I didn’t do NaBloPoMo this year!

But I do have some things to bring to your attention.  First off, I have a couple of new reviews up over on my review blog.  I took part in a blog tour (yes, really!) for a wonderful, festive and romantic novel, “Lakeshore Christmas” by Susan Wiggs.  I suggest all book and Christmas fans go read the review and then go buy the book because I had such a good time reading that one.  You know it had to be good if I’ve actually READ a book these days!

I also have reviewed, yet again, the custom holiday cards over at Minted.com.  I was lucky enough to get to review them last year and to get to do it again this year?  Just awesome.  Rest assured, Minted will be the first place I look should I need custom cards in the future.  And their holiday card designs this year?  Awesome.  Definitely go check it out.

I know you hear about my knitting all the time and how busy it keeps me (REALLY REALLY BUSY).  Do you want to keep up with how it’s going on Facebook?  I have a page for that!  Become a fan and make my day.  Please?

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to my knitting.  I swear, I’m such a slavedriver!

This is a safe place, right? And you all aren’t going to judge me too harshly because we’re all friends here, right?

Good.

Because I have something that I need to fess up to here. It’s not pretty, and a few of you may be quite dismayed to learn this about me (whom I know you have held in such high esteem all this time).

See, the truth is that I sort of love the song “Party in the U.S.A.” by Miley Cyrus.

There. I said it. Whew.

But really, it’s a great song with a catchy tune and a great message.

Why are you looking at me like that?

It’s Harrison’s birthday today. He turns 10.  I’m not entirely sure how I feel about this.  I mean, on the one hand, he’s officially a “tween” now and that sorta scares the pants off me because “tween” is right next door to “teen” and I’m DEFINITELY not ready for that.  On the other hand, I like to see him growing out of little boy-hood and into bigger boy-hood.  He’s into different things, more responsible, more independent and in certain cases, more helpful.

Still, I’m having a hard time believing that it was 10 years ago that he came into our lives.  It feels much more recent than that.  He turned our lives upside down, and in a very good way.  We haven’t been the same since, and I’m so grateful for that.  I think back on the years when it was just us and him and while those years were marked with grief and a deep desire to add to our family, those were also wonderful years spent as a close family.  We went everywhere and did everything together.  He was such an easy kid, we could take him with us anywhere we went without much fuss.  During the day, I never thought anything of taking him with me the store and around town and to doctor appointments.  He was my little side-kick.

I miss those days now.  Now he’s less interested in spending time with me.  He comes home, does his homework, and is outside riding his bike or playing with the boys up the street.  It’s more and more challenging to find things to connect with him on.  But I’ve done my best, opening the world of “High School Musical” to him, and talking about important subjects like music and movies and all that.

Ten years.  Double digits.  This is huge.  I’m so proud of him, every day, for what a great kid he’s growing up to be.  We expect a lot from him, and hold his feet to the fire on a lot of things, but it’s only because we know he’s capable of it.  And as sad as I am that the little boy is no longer here, I am excited to see what sort of man he grows up to be.