thursday's ten or so: currently (9.6.12)

currently listening to: mostly pandora, bryan and katie torwalt, Jesus culture, etc

currently reading: um, a little behind in that. a book i need to review on here and the hunger games.

currently looking forward to: football, fall clothes and foods, making pumpkin scones with natasha and (crazy!) our first anniversary

currently craving: pumpkin foods, butternut squash soup, and other fall things. unfortunately heat and humidity will keep me from making some of these for awhile!

currently thankful for: amazing husband, wonderful friends, a great job, former nanny families who still call me first for babysitting, and all the other blessings in my life!

currently discovering: all the great new local coffee shops! natasha and i went to the well last night and barista parlor is another new favorite!!

currently organizing: just finished the kitchen (again...really i love doing it so it's ongoing). now working on my closet and getting ready to start guest bedroom 1/office...that will take awhile.

currently watching: america's got talent, switched at birth and jane by design. and more than ready for my main shows to come back.

currently wearing: lots of head scarves, belts, and dresses with leggings. and toms.

currently wishing for: more toms, a great blender, a tv stand for the living room, and bookcases.

what about you? anything currently going on that you want to share? :-)

hey, it's ok tuesday

one of my favorite bloggers, amber, has been doing this for awhile and today i'm joining her!

hey, it's ok

... to still type in www.cingular.com when going to pay your at&t bill, simply because you liked cingular better

(and it still works, so other people must think it's ok too)

... to sleep in on tuesday because you were up for 20 hours on monday

(that's more than ok.  that's *necessary*!)

... to cry on a fairly regular basis while watching ellen

... to be focused on getting your living area clutter free for the sole reason that you want to put a Christmas tree up stat

(and by "stat" i mean the day after thanksgiving, of course)

... to pretty much subsist on a diet of soups and other hot foods for the next 3 months

... to absolutely HATE the fall back time change.  

(seriously, these are the saddest months of my life. getting dark between 4 and 5 is just NOT ok)

... to literally roll out of bed and go to work in yoga pants and a tank top/sweatshirt most days, especially if you change into "real" clothing and put on makeup before you actually see anyone except the 15 month old and his parents -- who are good friends of yours anyway.  

(are you telling me you'd do anything different if you had to be at work at 6 am?!)

... to really, really, really miss having a bathtub instead of just a shower stall.  and to really, really, be considering posting a facebook status about trading an hour of free babysitting for an hour of tub time.

... to have loved the oprah show (which you never watch) with the sound of music cast reunion SO much that you're trying to figure out how to get a dvd copy of it since you watched it on someone else's tivo

Fitness Friday: well, that just makes sense

i'll be the first to admit that my sleep cycles are not normal

i'm working on it though

and this last couple of weeks, i HAVE noticed an improvement

besides biting the bullet and actually crawling into bed a bit earlier

the only other thing that's changed is that i'm exercising more

not a LOT more, just more

and then yesterday i stumbled across this article from msnbc

one of the people mentioned states that an hour of exercise can make up for an hour of sleep

so sleep 7 hours, exercise for one

apparently it's the same benefits

erm, i'll have to work up to 7 hours of sleep a night...

but i think that's a definite possibility

especially since my complaint about going to bed earlier is that i can't fall asleep...

same study shows that regular aerobic exercise can improve ability to sleep

well, fall is in the air

time to put on those running shoes!

dear.9

dear kraft foods:

this may be america, but that is most definitely not my cheese.  or "cheese food" as the packaging says.

signed,

one who isn't buying that commercial

dear finn:


you are so sweet, cute and adorable.  however, taking off both your pants and diaper first thing in the morning...while still in your bed?  not so charming.  funny.  but not so charming.


signed,
thankful it was just wet...

dear cable company:

i have been your advocate for the last 5 years.  when others complained about crappy customer service and bad experiences, i stated i'd never had a problem with you.

well, not so much anymore.  since april, i've faithfully paid my bill every month, and you've faithfully cut off my service every month.  come to find out (shocker) you screwed up in the first place.  and from july through the end of september i've been calling every week to try to figure out when you're going to fix the problem.  and let's not mention the number of times you've cut my service off in that process.

pretty much, i hate you right now.  save that one nice person i talked to last week who gave me her personal extension and days/hours she works.  believe me, i'll deal with her from now on.  except when you cut my service off in the middle of the night like you did tonight...

please restore my faith in the system and just STOP CUTTING ME OFF when i'm freaking paying you.  the end.

signed,

if i wasn't sharing space with someone else i'd have SO cut you off by now

dear cancer


would you just back off my friends please?


signed
tired of you

dear fall weather,

could we make a deal and YOU just stick around til spring?

signed,

loving these cool breezes

dear social networking,


i can barely keep up with facebook and twitter...and gave up myspace loooong ago.  now there's something called foursquare, not to mention skype...what?!  

but seriously, i'd like the job that controls the twitter and facebook accounts for a company.  i mean, seriously -- how do you get hooked up with that one?!

signed,
i was late to the twitter party, so expect me at skype in 2014

Thursday's Ten: my dvr cue

oh, how embarrassing this could be :)

is anyone else WAY excited about fall tv?

here's my current DVR lineup...at least the 10 that i'm most excited about!

1.  law and order: SVU

(and holy mess, what a premiere!)

2.  the mentalist

(swooooonnnnn)

3.  criminal minds

(speaking of season premieres.  w.o.w.)

4.  grey's anatomy

5.  glee

(as a former music/choir teacher, i know that this is SO far from reality...but it's fun :)

6.  30 rock

(i haven't finished season 4 yet, so this one will just sit in my cue waiting until i finish it...but it's my new love)

7.  modern family

8.  csi

9. desperate housewives

10.  private practice

 ok, and one more.  the middle.  they have NAILED both small-town, and indiana life.  i.love.it.

i'm pretty sure you're not as addicted to tv as i am...but feel free to make me feel like less of a couch potato and participate with your own top 10!









(all photo credits go to google images...i just searched the show names)

Wordle, etc

(visit Shannon to join in the fun)



Enjoying a beautiful Tennessee fall day!

(visit Cate to join in the fun)

Thursday's Ten: I Truly Believe

Hi all! Welcome to this week's edition of Thursday's Ten. Today's list is called "I Truly Believe"

you can be serious
silly
or do a combination of the two (which is what I did)
and please include pictures if you can!



1. That all coffee should be this pretty
2. That I should not see the moon on my way home from work at 4:30
3. That rain is for dancing in...and kissing in.
4. That there is healing power in cuddling a baby
5. That freshly grated cheese is MUCH better than that store packaged shredded crap
6. That men are just as attractive when they show their nurturing side...and that they ARE born with it.
7. That the Colts may just go to another Superbowl this year
8. That hearing children sing may be one of the most beautiful sounds on earth.
9. That a person (especially this person) should see the ocean at least once a year.
10. That I am blessed beyond measure.

You know the drill! Grab the button, sign MckLinky and share your list with us!

Recipe of the Week: Almond Frost Jack

Thank goodness for facebook! I became a "fan" of Jack Daniels a few months ago. (ok, I was already a fan, but facebook makes it official, right? ;)

Anyway, they posted a recipe on facebook a couple of weeks ago, and I just HAPPENED to have a friend over a few nights later (right before our 5K!) We decided to try the recipe and I think we were both pleasantly surprised by how much we liked the Jack in it's alternate form!

Now, straight up Jack and Jack and (diet) Coke are going to be the staples...but this one will be a good "go-to" for fall especially!

Almond Frost Jack

1½ oz. Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey (I use Gentleman Jack)
½ oz. amaretto
2 oz. cream
1 teaspoon super fine sugar

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake vigorously. Strain into a cocktail glass or serve over ice in a rocks glass. Sprinkle with nutmeg.

It's the Weekend...

Go see Shannon to make your own wordle and link up!



Sleep is all I wanna do.

I have been SO TIRED this week. I blame it on the time change and the subsequent depression I sink into every year...it gets dark before I've left work, and I need my sunshine...I've been trying to keep my head above water, but really...all I wanna do is sleep.

So, sleep this weekend. That's the prescription. Unfortunately I won't be able to do a lot of that :(

Nerds, Nerds, Nerds...

What a weekend!

My friend Nicole came into town for awhile this weekend, and we made a trip to Cheesecake Factory, Teavana (a new love for both of us!) and of course, the ever famous Trader Joe's.

I was glad to see Nicole for a few hours! We've known and loved each other since middle school so it was a great time of catching up.

Yesterday evening was spent simply hanging out with my beau. I was going to cook vodka pasta, but I kind of forgot about defrosting the sausage...oops. We'll be doing that meal Monday instead.

Today has been a rather busy day, beginning with a service at one of my babysitting clients churches (their baby boy was baptized today) and ending with Trunk or Treat at our church. Our kids came up with the idea to be nerds, and they actually pulled it off really well.

In the middle of the day we ran some errands, but managed to stop at an overlook to admire the fall colors that appeared here in TN this week!


We're cute, aren't we? Keep that image in your mind...you'll need to remember that we actually look like THIS.

Because...



Transformation into complete and utter nerdiness.

Our friend Pat actually found a Geek Squad shirt (label and all) at Goodwill.



To further prove our nerdiness, we built a pyramid out of the nerd candy boxes.
And handed them out as the night went on...


Our "Bully Toss" -- threw beanbags at a cool kid who hates nerds. The kids LOVED it.
I didn't want to post pics of our students faces on a public blog, so I'm sorry you can't see how incredibly well they pulled the nerdy look off, but this girl cracked me up. Kick Me sign and all.

By the end of the evening, however, I was freezing and my feet hurt (I don't know WHY I brought heels to wear tonight when I'd been wearing them all day. 9 am to 9 pm is not a good plan for heels.

I only wish Anthony or Kat had taken photographic evidence of how I burrowed once we got back to their apartment. 3 blankets piled on me and I STILL couldn't get warm! Fall has arrived.

(Oh, and to prove that I'm a klutz...somehow I managed to catch my shoulder in the car door as I was leaving their place. It HURTS still! Something tells me a bruise is forthcoming...

But the cold and pain were worth it. The kids had a BLAST.

Bad Haiku Friday

titans disappoint
but oh my what a great game!
glad football is back.

(go here to participate!)

Thursday's Ten

This is my first ever Thursday's Ten that YOU get to link up to!

I'm going to try to make a button for this little meme soon...but I'm pretty positive that one of my readers would be much more suited to this task, so if you have any suggestions about templates/websites to use for it PLEASE let me know!

Today's theme is a pretty easy one, I think.

Fall

10 things you love (or hate) about this season!
(if you're in another season, you can write about that...or you can choose not to follow the theme at all! Just please participate with your own list of ten things!)

Things About Fall in Tennessee

1. Lots of orange...not only in the trees but on the TN Vols fans!
2. Titans stadium is packed for every game, and early services at area churches see a big boost since people want to be there (or at home) for kickoff!
3. Squirrels throw acorns at you
(or at least the one that lives in the tree between my neighbor Mattie and myself does...)
4. It finally gets to be nearly perfect weather. Humidity is down, but there's still a nice warmth in the air
5. I finally get to pull out all my fun fall clothing!
6. AND I have an excuse to buy a couple of new items in the "new fall colors"
(which have been nearly the same for years, but who cares?)
7. Pumpkin spice lattes are back!
8. Less sun = more hiking with the boyfriend
(right honey?!)
9. Regular TV comes back, thank goodness
10. Soups are back in season. I LOVE me some good soup!

Also, school starts again, and while that means no traffic, it also means no teenyboppers at Target on my lunch break...which is rather nice!

So...that's it! Please sign Mcklinky and join in!!!