Black Ops Friday

So here's what I'm thinking our plan is for Black Friday. I'm going to give Beau like 5 of those Starbucks cake pops for lunch, and wash it down with some of that Orange Leaf- what is that stuff, anyway?

ANYWAY, then we'll head to the closest pet store, buy up all the puppies, and then go to Kenwood mall and let them loose inside of what I can only imagine is a very busy Apple store.

Then we'll yell out, "take a puppy home instead of an iPad!" and go racing out of the store before mall security (whatever, Glenn, nice "badge") catches up with us and holds us remotely responsible.

BOOM.

Also, for those of you who don't know me well, the chances of any of the above happening aren't even remote. Well, except for maybe getting a cake pop, but I digress.

See, what *will* happen is that we will be avoiding any and all retail locations until, say, mid-February, when all of the shoppers/ buyers/ returns have all been accommodated. Instead we will be staying home, hanging up artwork, and playing outside in the leaves. There may even be a pizza/movie night in our future, because that's how we do around here.

So for all of you crazy brave people who are committing to the Black Friday maelstrom in an effort to save $50 off of a flat screen TV (that will require a $100 kit to mount it), to you I say, have fun with that. 

She's baaaaaaaack! Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving!

What's that, you say?

I've been off the grid for more than 18 months?

Huh. Well then. Let's get on with it, shall we?

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving 2012. I have to remind myself of the year, because last year Beau and I were welcomed into so many of our friends' homes when we lived in Washington. We would have been invited regardless, I'm sure, but they also knew that we- rather, I- had meager plans for a full turkey dinner in the midst of what can only be described as an acrimonious divorce. {See: War of the Roses}

So in preparation of this particularly significant Thanksgiving, I'm going to take full advantage of bullet points, because, as my ex-boyfriend Mark Hennessy of PAW once sang, 'save the last bullet for yourself"...

In NO particular order, I am thankful:

• for My amazing son. Beau- you are my everything.
• for great music
• that I have such a wonderful family
• my mom is cancer-free 
• that I have so many f*ing friends. I'm so grateful...
• my car continues to get us from point A to B
• a good chardonnay
• that I get to walk, head held high, into the doors of my employer. (I can't speak for others, but I finally feel as though I am involved in not just an agency, but a family room......with VISION. A family room filled with all of the smartest, funniest, most talented people. BOOM!)
• for the house my parents have allowed Beau and I to live in (and continue to love!) and make our own
• that the truth prevailed from the previously mentioned divorce. (Oh, and while it's impolite to rub anything in, let me just say BOOM!)
• for tall MF shoes.
• for gourmet pizza (see: kalamata olives/pesto/prosciutto/goat cheese)
• hikes full of colorful leaves for Beau to kick through
• for Christ Church. It now holds four generations of Burdell-King-Hartwigs, and we are all so grateful
• for new tattoos that I love (@troycoe), that still rattle my dad. Well, you'll have that from time to time :)
• to be closer to friends: Halls, Mendez, Krafts, Landolls, Weisemans, et al
• Given
• Sassy
• all my KinderMama$
• reading on the front porch
• that my heart is still open to a great love

So that's my list. Go make your own.

;)

I'm thankful for each of you who took the time to read this all the way through. 

Happy Happy Happy Thanksgiving!

xoxo,

s.

Thanks @acupofjoe!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zOrV-5vh1A&feature=player_embedded

this blog is huge in malaysia...AND canada!

one of the great things about having an account with Blogger is that you can very easily check and see how many people are actually reading what you're putting out there {vs how many people 'say' they're reading it, but really they're watching football....um, EVERYONE ELSE!}

so imagine my surprise when i read where my audience is concentrated and of course, yes, my core followers are in the great U.S.of A, but i have two people in Canada AND one person in Malaysia that are keeping up with Besa, too! this is inspiring! makes me want to do a special Canadian post {an homage to DeGrassi Junior High, perhaps?}, and i'm not sure what the heck to post for my Malaysian reader. maybe they're sick of their own surroundings and would like to see a little slice of where it is i am? {let's hope so, otherwise i'll immediately lose my international fan base, a la David Hasselhoff}

so Gig Harbor is where we are fortunate enough to live. it doesn't rain all the time as some of you suspect, the community is awesome and the people are truly wonderful characters. add to it, it's not an ugly place to live. {except when the Seahawks get pounded; then it gets really ugly}

come visit some time, won't you?

we've found Nemo, and tonite he'll be served in a lovely tomato butter sauce with capers.

today is much the same as any other day wherein my son and i go stir crazy at about 5 o'clock, give or take. you see, here on our planet, by the time 4:30p rolls around, it is inky black outside and cold here. our day is essentially done, except for the fact that we have oh, about four more hours left to fill with still more learning and togetherness.

(oh, we do origami here. we bake cookies. i make homemade play dough. we draw. we read and read and read. we're not sitting idly by, i assure).

this is also the time where Beau has finished his snack and tossed the house and wagged the dog's tail (literally), and so one of two requests fall from my son's delicate lips.

request number one: "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhnnn't Thomas! aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnt Thomaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaas!"

request number two: "ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhn't Me-mo. aaaaaaaaahn't Me-mo! Me-mo! Me-mo!"

*sigh*

this evening (and my ability to blog about it) is brought to you by a sympathetic friend and good soul who gave Beau the Ratatouille DVD for Christmas. {because before Remy, my choices were limited to a talking train or a talking fish. at least now we're adding in a little variety with a talking....... rat. excellent.}

i have always had an uncanny (read: ANNOYING) ability to remember television and movie dialogue. i'm the friend who lends you the movie and then wants to rewatch it with you, and then surreptitiously (and inadvertently, i might add) turn into the over-dialogue-talker, or (much, much worse), the 'oh-my-god-this-next-part-is-so-funny!' girl.

i have two Ikea bins on the living room shelves {ask anyone who knows me. i hate clutter}. one is full of kid-friendly movies, and one with my DVD's. strange thing is, this kiddo has only been actively 'watching' shows for about the last six months, yet he has more DVDs than i do at 31 39 years old. huh.

so imagine my fright at having my recall abilities turning on me as i now can quote any Pixar film ad nauseum, but i can barely remember which character wore what color in Heathers. gah! Pixar is the kryptonite to my ability to quote from every season of Sex and the City! Miranda has been replaced by Marlin, and i can easily name off six...no, eight(!) of the train names in Thomas. this is a slippery slope, my friends.

now if you'll excuse me, i need to post this before i trip over 17 Matchbox cars on the way to flip the laundry. {my days are SUPERGLAMOROUS. i'm pretty sure i speak for lots of SAHM's out there when i ask- 'um, what are these bon bons you speak of?'}

well, a girl's got to eat, after all

while the pictures that i posted from my surgery yesterday elicited some upset stomachs* from some {read: most}, i am here to redeem myself!

i decided to pay it forward and cook dinner for my good friend and neighbor-foodie, darci. after all, she surrendered herself yesterday as well, to the hospital regulations of no cell phones, no internet, long wait times and very few answers. basically, she gave up a solid 7 hours of her life to be there for me.

so the least i could do was make her this little number from the Barefoot Contessa: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/crunchy-noodle-salad-recipe/index.html

hope you all enjoy!

*ironically, i added chicken to the recipe. go figure.

 rough chop of parsley, julienne red peppers from Harbor Greens

 sugar snap peas in a cold bath after a quick steam

 nummy peanut sauce {see all ingredients in Ina's link}

 added in rotisserie chicken from Costco

TAH DAH! dinner for darci & the big guy!

surgery, schmurgery {that sounded better in my head}

so today's surgery was a success! for the prelude, see:  http://besary.blogspot.com/2011/01/youll-never-eat-chicken-tender-again.html

anyhoo, i have a bandage on my upper shoulder and 14 needle pricks on my hand and in my arm, plus i scored a pair of non-skid hospital slippers out of the whole thing. DEAL!

the only low point for me was not being able to see what it is they pulled out of me. so i Googled it (of course i did.) if you're not of the faint of heart, look here for what they may have gotten:

or since i was totally under and i never got to see it, maybe they got this: 

{which is cool, because my cell has been a little cumbersome these days}

either way, thanks to everyone for the well wishes and prayers upfront (they clearly worked!) special thanks to kristi for watching the kiddo and sending me home with a vegan (!) dinner, and to darci whom everyone should take with them to hang out with, waste time with (and get lost with, but that's a story for another time!)

that said, it's time for me to scrub off some of this iodine. just because i'm a fan of george hamilton, doesn't mean i have to look like him.

will follow up with real before and after pics once bikini season rolls around (read: probably never).