Thankful. Thankful. Thankful.

Here's my Thanksgiving post. Late. Like a lot of other things around here!
This year was a year for super thanks. I'm grateful and thankful each year, but this year with the addition of the tater tot, I'm really thankful. She has brought so much joy and contentment into our lives that I'm at the point where I can't imagine my life without her. I'll stop there. I could go on for days. And it's the same old, same old every proud parent says. Nauseating.

Unfortunately for The Chief's family, we go to Victoria every year for Thanksgiving. I didn't make this rule. It was just in place when we started dating, and I've never been approached about compromise or change. I have been 28 of the 29 years of my life. It's what we do. It's where my peeps are. And when I say peeps...39 to be exact when we're all there. It's fun. Ridiculous fun.

The Chief is a football watching, gambling, drinking man. Those are three major bullet points in this family. Wholesome, right? A bunch of Polish Catholics, that's all. The Chief calls it the Polish Mafia. And when my Grandpa Kalinowski was alive, I'm sure the poker table was much that way...Mafia style. The Chief digs it down there. He fits right in. I think there are some family members that enjoy his company more than mine. That makes my heart sing.

Lucky news for us, my closest cousin {also Julia's God Mother} and her husband live there. So we always have a landing spot and a place to plant when we arrive. They just bought a super cool, gorgeous, new pad. It's like the kind of place where you can envision lots of little feet running around. I kindly asked that they get on that sooner rather than later.

These two are trouble. This was back when Clint had what we call "The Larry David Glasses". Not sure that will make sense to everyone...but the good news those glasses are gone and the creepy tint when indoors is no longer.

Here's what happens after they're together all week.


I always hit depression mode when we get home. I'm sad it's over. This year was no different. We had way too many nights of staying up way too late. Drank too many bevies and spent too many hours laughing uncontrollably. It took me days to recover. Oh, and I haven't even mentioned the food. I swore I was going to get a picture this year. Totally spaced. Let's say this, there are two fried turkeys, one baked, three cheesy casseroles, all the regular Thanksgiving trimmings and a roaster full of dressing like you've never seen. It's ridic. I have no idea how much wine I consumed, but by the size of my headache the next day at our bloody mary lunch I would say it was a lot. You gotta just plow through. Stay strong and keep on goin.

It's for sure a crazy family, but for that crazy bunch I am thankful. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving yourselves. Would love to know what traditions you and your family share.

What's the Haps Friday!

Man, lots going on around the world. We could discuss the UPS bomb threats, Miley Cyrus's folks heading for Splitsville or even Mariah Carey being pregnant. But the dilley is this is Halloween Weekend! I know fall started long ago, but deep in the heart of Texas this is the first weekend it actually feels a little crisp. You never know if you'll bundle up in some wool costume and sweat your keyster off or have to put your parka on over the tinkerbell get-up. Welcome to Texas, I tell ya.

Speaking for myself, I really don't care all that much for Halloween. Getting dressed up in costume just never really hit my hot spot. At a previous job I think it was mandatory to dress-up. First, I'm not a big fan of anything that's mandatory and second, grown-ass adults shouldn't typically be in costume or at least not against their will. Agree or no? Goes along the lines of that restaurant "The Magic Time Machine". When Superman waited on me and The Chief years ago {we didn't know any better that no one ever needs to go to The Magic Time Machine} and his yo-yo below was at table height in blue spandex...needless to say, we lost our appetite and rolled out. I think I left a whole drink sitting on the table. Very unlike me, that's how appalled I was.

I digress, so at this said job where it was mandatory to show up in costume, I did dress up as Addison Shephard from Grey's Anatomy. {We also need to discuss how AWFUL Grey's Anatomy has become. My gosh, it's like a train wreck, but I can't stop watching.} A group of friends was the whole cast...and I will say, it was cute. Not that I was rockin Addison Shephard, MD even remotely, but it got some chuckles. Okay, okay, so not rockin Addison Shephard AT ALL, but it was easy to pretend.

Starting from back row: Moi as Addison Shephard, Elizabeth as Meredith Grey, Kristin as Callie Torres, Jessica as Izzie Stephens and Heather as George O'Malley. I'm sure that was all very self explanatory and you didn't need any help, right?!
We made name badges and all. We thought we were cool. And we were.

Halloween was fun back in the day when you pulled the pillowcase off the bed and Trick-or-Treated for hours. Is that over? Is it too dangerous to Trick-or-Treat? I have such nostalgic memories of Halloween as a kiddo. We'd race home from school and eat dinner super early so we could roll out. Our dads went with and drank beer the whole way...stopping at each other houses for a fresher. Will The Chief do that with the princess? I hope so. It was so much fun.

I have four nephews. Three of which are related. They are going as two cowboys and a little pony. Little pony is a pint-sized version of the big brothers. It's pretty darn cute. The other nephew is going as Baby Elvis. I'm about on the edge of my seat to see this. Should be a regular riot. The Jules baby is going as a sweet little flower. Well, to the neighborhood party that is. We're not getting all crazy this year. I'm certain I'll have plenty of time for the whole shebang.


So what are you up to this weekend? Hitting a Ranger Game? Watching the Cowboys embarrass themselves some more? Fall Festival? Whatever it is, I hope it's fun and you find yourself in bed with a stomachache sized amount of candy. See ya on the flipside.

Happy Halloween!