Flushed Away!

I took Anna Marie to our little movie theater this afternoon. It's basically across the street from our house, and we've walked before, but today was a little chilly.

We saw Flushed Away. Now, when I say little theater, that's exactly what this is. There are no matinees during the week during the school year - except during Christmas break and Spring Break.

Only one of the screens has staduim seating, and we weren't in it. Anna Marie asked me why there were no steps! She sat in a seat for part of the time, but ended up in my lap because she couldn't see over the kids in the front row.

She loved the movie. I thought it would be annoyingly juvenile, but it wasn't too bad. They should give the slugs their own movie, just like they did with the penguins from Madagascar.

So, Anna Marie and I both recommend Flushed Away. We're now anxiously awaiting the release of Happy Feet!

Gah! Goodwill!

I got to go to Goodwill today!

Oh, and then I remembered why I hate going.

We went this afternoon (and by "we" I mean Amanda, Mom, and the Three Turners) after Little AM's last soccer game. I got going in there, and didn't come out for about an hour.

It isn't that I set out to spend an hour in there. It's just that, well, at our Goodwill (and by "our" I mean the one half an hour north of here in Southaven) doesn't arrange clothes by size. They arrange them by color.

Not very efficient, if you ask me.

Sure, there are times when I need a "white shirt" or a "blue skirt" or a "pair of khaki pants." At those times, it is helpful to have clothes arranged by color.

However, most of the time, especially now that I'm so wardrobe challenged, I'm just looking for something, ANYTHING that fits. Really. I'm not picky these days!

So, I needed some long sleeved shirts. I had to go through EVERY LONG SLEEVED SHIRT IN THE PLACE. It took a long, long time, folks.

(I bet you're wondering what I did with my family during this time. They spent part of the time next door at Big Lots, and most of the time down the road at Burlington Coat Factory.)

I gathered several shirts and a pair of khaki pants and took them to the dressing room. The pants fit, but only one shirt - a white cardigan. I figure you can't really go wrong with a white cardigan. Even if it's basically off-white, like this one is.

Then, I found Anna Marie what was possibly the only 5T outfit in the whole store - a pair of plum colored knit pants and a sweater that matched.

The whole experience was not helped by the "Goodwill Radio" that was playing - one minute it was Christmas music, then Contemporary Christian, and then Shakira and Xtina. I guess they're trying to be "all things to all people" but, really. It was too much.

So, even though I dislike thoroughly going on a Goodwill trip, I managed to get a pair of pants and a sweater for me, and the same for Anna Marie, all for about $14.

Now I just have to find some shirts to go under my new sweater. But that will have to wait for another day. And, I think they've got some good ones at Walmart - a place I dislike only slightly less than Goodwill.

Manda's last day

I keep hearing a song in my head from Pray For Rain (or PFR, as they later became known) from my college years called "Goldie's Last Day." Except I hear "Manda's Last Day." (We usually call her Amanda, but, well, that doesn't fit well with the cadence of the song.)

Oh. And that song is about the death of a golden retriever.

Today is my sister Amanda's last day here at the paper. We've worked together for nearly three years here, through family feuds and work deadlines. And somehow, we've managed to survive.

She was here with me when we got word of the death of our aunt and, later, our grandfather. She was a shoulder to cry on for me, because she really doesn't cry much herself, but me - oh, let the floodgates open!

It isn't like we won't be seeing each other. We're still sisters, even though we're not co-workers anymore. She doesn't have any immediate plans for the future, but she'll be traveling to England in a little less than two weeks. Yes, we have one of those jobs where you basically have to quit to get more than two days off in a row. So she did.

When she returns, she'll start looking for work, probably either in Memphis or closer to it. That's where her friends are, and it's where she'd prefer to spend most of her time. She'll also be moving closer there after she finds work. Luckily, she lives at home for now and doesn't have much in the way of bills, so she won't be left homeless by a long job search or anything.

We had a little going away party this morning, with fruit and muffins and a cake that Amanda baked herself. It was vegan, but none of us seemed to mind.

She really, REALLY wants to work at the FedEx Forum. That would be great, because she could get me some $5 game day tickets and I wouldn't have to drive up there or pay the $3.95 per order service charge.

And, she'd have a better chance of meeting her Future Husband, Pau Gasol.

As the Grizzlies played for one of the Knicks who got ejected for too many personal fouls on Wednesday night,

Happy trails to you, until we meet again…

Except, since she's my sister, that'll probably be at Anna Marie's soccer game tomorrow.

Official Thursday Weigh-In

Sigh.

I regained the 1.5 lbs I lost last week. I think it's something about that 22-POINT threshold -every time I get there, I gain weight to the 24-POINT range. I'll have to figure out what do to about that. So now I'm back up to 175.

I also think I know what this means - more exercise!

I am in total and complete shock.

Have you seen this?

Tampon Crafts

Oh.my.gosh. Disgusting.

I can't believe I'm even posting this. I guess I'm just in shock.

This is what they mean by "heartbreaker."

Wow. Amanda, Anna Marie, and I went to the Memphis Grizzlies season opener last night.

What a game!

It ended up going into triple overtime, but we left as the third overtime was beginning - it was after 10:00, and we had a four block walk back to the car and a 45 minute ride home. And a five year old.



However, we did watch the last of the double overtime on the screens in the lobby when Amanda went into the powder room.

Tell you what - $5 game day tickets rock, especially the part where they let you buy them on the internet now instead of having to go to Memphis, get the tickets, drive home, and then drive back for the game.



The only bad part - we were in Row Y, which is the very, very top of the nosebleeds. We were against the wall, people.

But no matter. Once the game started, it was all good.



I have no voice left. Neither does Amanda. Anna Marie was still asleep when I left this morning, so I don't know if she does or not.

And boy, did we splurge. Remember my "no more than $10 on any one item of clothing" rule? I broke it last night. I sprung for an $18 Grizzlies t-shirt. It's pink. It's short sleeved, but I can wear a long-sleeved shirt under it during the winter.

Wanna know why it was $18 instead of $20 like the other shirts? Cause it was a youth size, that's why! It's a nifty trick I learned from Amanda. The youth x-large fits me better than the adult medium did.

And Amanda and I went halfsies on a bear for Anna Marie that she fell in love with. It's wearing a miniature Grizzlies shirt.

And I spent $5.50 on a souvenier cup of Diet Pepsi. That was after Amanda had bought a big cup of hot cocoa for the three of us to share and some doughnut holes. Hey, it WAS the season opener!

So, the three of us watched the game. And we cheered. And they went into triple overtime.

And lo, there was much wailing, and gnashing of teeth, and pulling of hair. And yelling of "Defense!"

And they lost by one point. But they gave those Knicks a run for their money, and I have a feeling this is going to be a good season. The fact that one of our star players (Shane Battier) was traded to Houston over the summer, and our other (Pau Gasol!) is out with an injury, didn't stop us.

As Three Six Mafia sings, "Memphis Grizzlies, stay fly-yyy-yyyyy!"

At our house, even Mr. Potato Head dressed up

No, not really. That's just the Darth Tater that Anna Marie got for Christmas last year.

Well, despite the general sogginess of the night, I'd have to say that Halloween at the Turner's was a success. Some folks from church came over and we had chili and hot dogs, and we gave out little bags of candy with our church information on them.

Now, what we'll do if the candy-hoarding minions come on Sunday and completely overwhelm us, I have no idea, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Before the festivities started I took Little AM to a few houses in our neighborhood - and I do mean a few, because most people either weren't home or were hiding from the trick-or-treaters.

And, she wasn't the only leopard at the party. Observe:



That's my Aunt Debi. I wish she'd have made Anna Marie a pair of those ears while she was at it, but hey, she spent all day yesterday stuffing candy into snack-sized Ziplocs, so I'm not complaining.

And here is my mom (on the left) with our wonderful friend Barbara.



And, to show everyone what a gourmet my husband really is, witness him making turtle cheesecake - and totally blowing my brownie muffins out of the water.



Well, I happen to be pretty proud of myself. I didn't eat one.single.piece of the little leopard's candy. I didn't indulge in the turtle cheesecake like everyone else. I didn't even eat a hot dog with my chili, even though I really wanted one, because I didn't have the points left over and I didn't want to dig into my flex points for a stupid hot dog.

Plus, I got a LOT of exercise yesterday, between the 30-minute marathon cleaning session before work, the dash to the grocery store for last-minute drinks (and oyster crackers for Jason) and the six-block trick-or-treating trip.

In short, I survived! Now, tell me, how did you do?

My baby's getting glasses!

I'm having to adjust to the whole idea.

Turns out, she's EXTREMELY far sighted. I don't understand how, since it seems like she tries to get as close as possible to things she's trying to see, but, well, I'll trust the eye doctor's expertise over my own.

We picked her out some purple frames with butterflies on the side. They're very, very cute.

No on-site lab for her optometrist, so we'll have to wait a few days. She isn't happy about waiting, and she really isn't happy with the whole dialating-her-eyes thing. I told her that was the worst part for most grownups, too.

Because her case is so severe, the doctor is only giving her half the prescription now. She's going to check her again after a month to see how her eyes have adjusted.

I guess we'll have to take new fall pictures now, once the new frames come in. I told Anna Marie that since it was so early in the week, maybe she'd have her new specs by the weekend.

She really believes that no one will recognize her with the glasses on. I guess she'll be disappointed when her red hair and personality give it away.

And for those of you wondering what my daughter looks like as a leopard:



She wept bitterly when I had to wash off her spots last night before bed, even though I told her that leaving them on would dirty up her pillowcase.

"I did not want you to do that!" she cried.

Poor little leopard.

Family Fun Day!

Yesterday, we took Anna Marie to Family Fun Day at the auction where Dad, Mom, and Jason work. It was the first-ever, so we didn't know what to expect.

First, the kids went door-to-door in the offices, trick-or-treating. Anna Marie insisted that since we were inside the auction, it was safe for her to go on her own. I did get a bit nervous when she took longer coming around the corner than I thought she should have, but it turned out fine. She hung out with my Dad's assistant, Sheena, and her kids.

Then, we all went into the auction bay, which was decorated for the occasion. Anna Marie especially liked the "ghosts," which were really white balloons covered in white bags, hung from the ceiling fans.

There were basically three activities: fishing, a tatoo station (temporary, of course)and Pin Da Nose on Da Pumpkin (I'm not kidding - that's what it said - I guess it was a Brooklyn pumpkin.)

She was blindfolded.



She pinned da nose on da pumpkin. Well, velcroed really.



And she won a miniature Rubic's cube-type key chain for her trouble.



For lunch, we had hot dogs - really good, all beef hot dogs. They were really, really good - I haven't had a good dog in a long time.

If you notice, she's wearing her soccer uniform. That was her costume, partly because she'd had an 8:00 a.m. game and we didn't change her, and partly because her other costume - a leopard - had been in Amanda's floor board during a storm and her windows were down, so it was sopping wet. We didn't have time to wash and dry it before we had to leave for Family Fun Day.

They also had a pinata, and a costume contest. Unfortunately, Anna Marie was in the same division as some kid dressed like the un-dead, and he beat her.

Today Amanda came over, and we made Halloween cookies. That story is over on Anna Marie's blog (aren't you proud of me for updating it twice in one week?)

Tonight, we're going "church hopping." The local Methodist church has a fall festival, and then the Church of Christ has Trunk or Treat.

We're cancelling our Tuesday night Bible study, and handing out treat bags from our church to the kids in the neighborhood. We'll fill them with candy and toys, and put a sticker on the outside that says "Jesus loves you and so do we" and has the church name, number and address.

I'll probably make some chili or some such too, for those who come over to help make and give out the bags.

We also went to a carnival here in Senatobia on Friday night with Dad. Mom was out of town, and the rest of us went to ride the ferris wheel. It.was.freezing. We rode the wheel, and then Anna Marie rode the merry go round. While Jason, Amanda, and I went on the Tilt-a-Whirl (big mistake after eating Huddle House!) Dad took little AM on one last ride. He gave away his last two tickets, because it was so cold and we just couldn't take it anymore. I don't have any pictures, and, amazingling enough, I don't know if Amanda got any either. It was really dark, so it would've been difficult anyway.

So now we're just counting down the time until we get ready to go to the festivals. I'll have to change my little leopard into her spots, and try to get her to stay still long enough to draw some whiskers and a nose on her face with my eye liner.

ROAR!

Sometimes, my job is JUST NOT FUN

And sometimes, well, it just IS.

This morning I've experienced both.

I've written two stories about two murderers, one who killed his own three-year-old daughter just so he couldn't identify him to police for shooting the other people in the house. He wanted an appeal to his death sentence, and the state supreme court said, "Uh, no." Good on them.

I've also gotten invited to Madidi.

For those of you who don't know what that is, check out the picture at the top. Go on, I'll wait.

Back? Good. See that guy on the left side of the picture? Know who that is?

Ten points to those of you who figured out it's Morgan Freeman. (Except this is like Whose Line is it Anyway, and points don't matter. But good job!)

He lives in Clarksdale, Ms., for those of you who didn't know that already. He owns two restaurants down there - one is a blues club called Ground Zero, and the other is a French fine-dining type place called Madidi.

It will be the fanciest place I've ever eaten, and I don't even have to pay. In fact, I'm getting paid to go.

It's for a symposium on health, and since I'm a journalist, and since I also sat on the local board of our Mississippi in Motion program (ironic,no?) I've been invited.

We're going next month, and I don't even have to drive! I can ride with our local Extension Office agent! Sweet, huh?

I've already started scoping out the menu, but I don't know what they'll serve us.

And the next big decision - what to wear? I have the aforementioned black wrap dress, and the aforementioned black boots. That might be a possibility. Or, I might use the occasion as an excuse to buy something completely new and different.

And yes, I know the chances that Morgan Freeman will be on the premises are slim to none, but a friend of mine did spot him at his blues club once. So, there is always the possibility, especially since I'll be part of a big, important group.

Say it with me now: MADIDI!

It's that time again!

Official Thursday Weigh-In time.

This week's results:

Weight last week: 175
Weight this week: 173.5

For those of you who are math challenged (like me), allow me to clue you in: that means I lost 1.5 pounds this week!

Yay! That means my weigh-in did make me as happy as my new boots!

Woohoo!

You've heard of the "Fat guy in a little coat"

Well, you have if you're an SNL fan of the Chris Farley years.

Anyway, this is "Big legs in some tall boots."

I've wanted some tall boots practically forever, and now, thanks to our friends at Payless, their BOGO event, and, most especially, a VERY helpful salesgirl, I am now the proud owner of these:



Don't they just ROCK?

Here's a tip for those of you who, like me, have, ahem, large calves. I guess it only works for stretch boots.

Just like when you're trying to zip up a dress by yourself that zips in the back, and sometimes you have to bring the dress up a bit in the back and zip a little at a time (or at least that's what I do), you scrunch the boots down, zip, scrunch, and zip. Then, when they're all zipped up, just pull them up over your big ole calves.

I was really wanting some not quite so pointy-toed or pointy-heeled, but I think these will really work out nicely. I have one of those wrap-dresses everyone is wearing this season (and I see a lot of them with boots like this, which I wouldn't have thought of myself, but I think looks nice) and a peasant skirt I'm trying to get some more wear out of.

I also plan on wearing them under my new Gap jeans, when I'm trying to look, you know, saucy.

Oh, if only my Official Thursday Weigh-In tonight can make me feel as good as these boots have!

And don't worry - I'm not the only one at my house who got the BOGO lovin'. Anna Marie scored a new pair of tennis shoes, and Jason found two pair on sale.

And not a Ricki Lake in the bunch.

(When I was in college, I had many, MANY people tell me I look like Ricki Lake. I even had someone at church ask me if I was her.)



I don't know who most of these people are, but Britney Spears? Really?

Oh, and I've definitely decided I want a nose job for Christmas. Brian Robertson was right in the fourth grade - my nose does take up 80% of my face!

I guess it should be called…

Anna Marie's once-a-month world.

Because that's how often I get around to updating the darn thing.

Enjoy some Potato Pie

And the baring-your-soul word for today is:

Perspecitve.

I never realized until this past week just how important your perspective can be.

It can make you or break you.

For instance, as I'm typing this, I am FREEZING. Do I have heat? Yes. Am I going to turn it on? Probably not. Why? My perspective says I'm broke, so I want to wait as long as possible before turning the heat on for the first time.

Am I broke? Not really. It's just my same old cheapskate perspective. I was broke for so long, I haven't gotten out of that mentality. Until now.

Is my life really the big, ugly mess I thought it was a couple of weeks ago? Probably not. Did my life change in the last few days? No.

What changed? My PERSPECTIVE.

You know what makes it harder to see when your perspective is all messed up? That perspective is what you're seeing, so you don't know it's wrong.

Like the Newsboys song that says "They don't know they're breathing bad air."

I didn't know I was looking at things the wrong way. Someone had to tell me. Several someones, actually.

I'd like to thank those of my friends and family who helped me "snap out of it" and/or just generally listened to me. Sometimes, when you talk something out, it helps you come to the conclusion you're after.

Sometimes, that conclusion is helped along by the input of others.

This week, I've had both. And both helped me immeasurably.

I'm not saying that I won't ever lose perspective again. I did it just a couple of nights ago, when I couldn't find Anna Marie's soccer socks, the ones that go with her uniform.

Those things have found some black hole of oblivion. I promise, they are NOT in this house.

She has another pair of soccer socks that she wears to practice, and she could wear those. But I just about came unglued looking for the others. I'm not kidding - it was NOT pretty.

After the smoke cleared, I looked back on how silly it all was. Like Jason said - they're just socks. They aren't worth getting as upset over as I did.

I just felt like the inability to find the socks somehow reflected on my mothering skills. Moms are supposed to be able to find stuff, right?

Well, not this time. I still don't know where those little buggers are.

My BFF, Marcia (we've been friends since we were 13) and her boyfriend came down yesterday to watch Little AM's soccer game. Afterward, we did a couple of things in town and then had lunch at Quizno's.

We talked about how hard it is to keep the right perspective in this day and age. The world would tell us that to be successful we need a new car, and a big house. We need perfect measurements and never a hair out of place.

Problem is, those things just aren't important. I was bellyaching to my husband the other day about the standards we use to measure success. Know what he said? (He's the strong, silent type).

"Do you have what you need?"

That's all. I may not have a complete wardrobe (partly because of the weight-loss process) but I have clothes. I don't have a new car, but I do have transportation. I don't own a big home, but I do rent a cozy little bungalo from a sweet older woman.

I have a job. It isn't the best-paying job in the world, but it's inside a (relatively) climate-controlled building, not in the elements. I'm not on my feet all day, and I'm pretty much left alone to do my job. I also have the flexibility to take off if I need to, and Anna Marie is always welcome to come in and get some water from the water cooler.

And that job gives me practice, and credibility, for what I really want to do - be an author.

I wish I was at home instead of working, but I don't have to send my daughter off to daycare every day. With my husband's schedule, he only works outside the home one or two days a week. She goes over to Ms. Kim's to play with her son who is the same age, and will be starting kindergarten at the same time - so she already knows at least one kid when she starts school. The rest of the week, she's at home with Jason or at my mom's.

I have family and friends who care about me. Some of them have never met me in person, but they still care.

I have a good husband and a bright, beautiful daughter. We're all healthy.

And we all have a relationship with God. What more could I want?

How about a little perspective.

Official Thursday Weigh-In

Sigh.

I re-gained the half pound I'd lost last week.

I'm going to chalk it up to my "little friend" coming to visit today.

Although, I'm NOT willing to chalk up all my "soul baring" to that too.

I'll do better next week. I promise. In the meantime,



Get thee behind me, candy corn.

I want a monkey to play peek-a-boo with.

Although, Jason told me I already have one, and her name is Anna Marie.

(Har, har, honey.)

Seriously, we watched Curious George last night, and this is a movie I'd watch even if I didn't have a kid.

It was that good.

I almost cried several times.

Oh, how I wish that monkeys in real life were as intelligent and cute as George, and made good pets, and helped us see the lighter side of life! No, in real life, monkeys are dirty, and smelly, and, as I understand, don't make very good pets at all.

While we were watching the movie, these were in the oven:



I know what you're thinking: "She's on Weight Watchers! What is she doing with those?"

I'll tell you a little secret: they're made with pumpkin.

I got the recipe from the Hungry Girl. I took a box of mix (the lowest fat I could find, with 1 gram per serving) and added a 15 oz. can of pure pumpkin. Not the pie filling, just the plain stuff. That's all. Nothing else. The pumpkin replaces the egg, oil, and water.

I am a brownie fiend. The fudgier, the better. I've been known to undercook mine so they'd be gooier. And those little ones from Little Debbie? MY FAVORITES!

These were good. Usually, lowfat brownies tend to be "cakey" but these were actually pretty good. The serving size on the box was 1/20 of the mix (hello?) but my servings were more like 1/10, so I doubled the NI. They clock in at (my calculations) about 4 POINTS each. They would be fewer, but the fiber cap is set at 4 grams and these have 6.

I think I've found my new favorite dessert. In the future, I might make them in muffins, so that portion control is better. And really, who doesn't like a cute little muffin? I also may get some Cool Whip to go on top, and make it all fancy-like.

Oh, and apologies on the picture - my "food porn" skills aren't as good as my sister's. She takes pictures of nearly everything she makes and posts it to all her vegetarian/vegan friends across the globe. Me, I was just trying to find a corner of my kitchen that wasn't covered in drying dishes or brownie mix. I now realize I should've put the white plate on something other than my white washing machine lid.

Stay tuned for the Official Thursday Weigh-In!

If you take a kid to Oxford…

She's probably going to end up in the lap of a Nobel Prize winning author.



Acting very silly.

Or maybe, she'll just be investigating a British phone box.



Whichever. She will, however, have a really good time, except when she's complaining that her Aunt Manda is "wasting her time" taking pictures.

In Amanda's words, "You knew how I was when you married me."

The not-so-itsy-bitsy-spider

This was living in the bushes near my front door on Saturday morning. In fact, I think it's still there.

Don't know if you can tell, but it's GINORMOUS. It's about the size of my hand.

So, all you spider experts out there - what is it, or, how can I find out what it is?

HELP!

Wherein the Turners do fondue

Wow - what a weekend.

I'm posting from home today, because I have a dentist appointment and decided to take the whole day off.

Yes, my appointment is at 3 p.m. Shut up. I have three sick days and three vacation days left, and my time resets on November 11.

Plus, it's one of those rainy, nasty days that I always wish I could stay home. And so I am. Anna Marie is over the moon.

Anyway, on Friday night, Jason decided that his fondue pot (a gift from mom)had gone unused long enough. We had some raspberries from the auction (which I'd been pairing with Dove dark chocolate - yum!) and some fondue chocolate. We didn't have any fuel, but we had some tea lights.

Anna Marie saw us trying to get the chocolate to melt, and we tried to explain the whole fondue concept, but she didn't get it. In fact, she said, "I just don't get it. I wish I got it, but I just don't get it."



This is Jason explaining the fondue process, and telling her that it's considered bad form to let your mouth close around the fork (since you'll be putting it back into the chocolate).



And this is Anna Marie taking her first taste of a chocolate-covered raspberry.



What's gonna work? Teamwork!

On Saturday morning, we had an early soccer game (8 a.m.? That's crazy!) and then decided to go to Tunica. No, we weren't trying our hand at the blackjack table - Anna Marie had gotten a Gap gift card for her birthday, and it was just as close to go there (and help the money go further) as it was to go to Memphis. Actually, it was closer.



Before we left, we went by mom's house to get Amanda. Dad was having more concrete poured in his shop.

This is how Anna Marie felt about it before the truck started pouring:



And this is how she felt after:



Anyway, Gap was a sucess, and I even found a pair of jeans for $12.50! I have never bought anything from Gap, so it was quite exciting.

Yesterday Mom, Amanda, Anna Marie and I went to Oxford to walk around the square. I got a couple of gifts at Square Books, Jr., and we ate at the San Francisco Bread Company.

As you can see, I needed a day off after the weekend I'd had.

Now I just have to make sure I don't squander the day by sitting around in my PJs drinking coffee all day.